'El medico de su honra is best considered as a play to be read, rather than performed.' Discuss.
'El medico de su honra is best considered as a play to be read, rather than performed.' Discuss. With the recent revival of Golden Age plays as performance texts, there has been much debate about whether these plays are richer as reading texts or performance texts. The two different mediums through which to show the author's art give the audience or reader completely different experiences. Calderón's El médico de su honra is no exception. As a play to be read it has clear advantages and disadvantages. The complexity of the plot and inherent contradictions of Calderón's play allow the reader a depth of analysis that the audience cannot access. These contradictions occur chiefly in the portrayal of the play's protagonist, el médico de su honra, Gutierre. Gutierre could be seen as a tragic hero, much like Othello. The tragic hero, built on Greek and Roman epic models has a fatal flaw which inevitably fashions the chain of events leading to final tragedy. Calderón gives Gutierre the flaw of his pride in terms of honour, displayed in the way that society traps and silences him. Gutierre cannot say what he wants to in the play; when he mentions 'celos' in a moment of emotional weakness he immediately wants the words back 'celos, celos dije'. Gutierre's way is 'sentir y callar', in one way showing noble control over his emotions. He is also a victim of higher powers in
Consider the significance of the Hamlet's ghost to the play in relation to the characters and the audience, both contemporary and Elizabethan.
Susana Corona Cruz Consider the significance of the Hamlet's ghost to the play in relation to the characters and the audience, both contemporary and Elizabethan. Hamlet was written some time between 1599 and 1609. During those times revenge tragedies were very popular and ghosts were not an unusual feature. Similarly to the Senecan ghost used in Elizabethan times, Shakespeare's ghost acts as a prologue and sets up the action of the play, it introduces the plot line which irremediably leads to the later tragic consequences. However Hamlet's ghost was in many ways a "revolutionary innovation" and broke previous conventions of ghosts. Unlike its predecessor, the Senecan ghost, a "kind of Jack-in-the-box" (J.W.D) which was no more than a spook puppet used to scare the audience, undoubtedly adding "to the intense edification of the groundlings"; Hamlet's ghost had a much more human and realistic appearance. It was said to have been the figure of the old king Hamlet, still dressed in his old armour "Together with that fair and warlike form" and surrounded by an edgy, cold and frightening environment in which typically ghosts appear "'Tis bitter cold". The ghost disappeared at the sound of the cock crow, when the morning dawned; "(...) Fare thee well at once. The glow-worm shows the matin to be near" This is another typical convention, as people perceived that evil creatures and
Swept by Passion
Swept by Passion Passion drives people everyday. Sometimes people are suddenly attacked by this emotion to where they will do anything to satisfy it. Passion can take someone as far as to killing someone or destroying one's own life. This tragic result occurs in Home and the World. Trapped by the "purdah", Bimala has seen little of the world. Oblivious to what is going on politically or socially, Bimala lives her life being a servant to her husband, Nikhil. He decides to release Bimala out into the world, wanting her to place her steadfast worship and allegiance somewhere else. Nikhil then introduces Bimala to the British way of life. Through Learning mannerisms, reading and writing, and everyday knowledge, Bimala starts to rise up from her domestic existence. At this time Nikhil has a close friend, Sandip, come over and stay with his family. Sandip is a political revolutionary of the "Swadeshi" and dislikes the English ways amongst the Indian people. Sandip's charisma and passion for stopping English influence sweeps Bimala off her feet. Because Bimala is swept away by passion she creates the circumstances of her tragedy. Nikhil shelters Bimala from the outside world, causing her to be oblivious. From an early age Bimala has been sheltered from everything around her. As a woman in India, she is not allowed to live her own life but must live it fully with her
"The main action of Hamlet is the attempt to search out and destroy the hidden imposthume which is poisoning the body politic of Denmark." Consider this view.
"The main action of Hamlet is the attempt to search out and destroy the hidden imposthume which is poisoning the body politic of Denmark." Consider this view. In my essay I would like to focus on the actions of the characters of Hamlet and Claudius specifically. I will look at the efforts Hamlet made, both mentally and physically, to search for the truth about Claudius' offences against the state of Denmark, and his father, and his struggles to find a solution to the horrific results of these offences, in order to restore order and to destroy the corruption that is poisoning the body politic of Denmark. Also, I would like to take a look at how the actions of Claudius and the reactions of Hamlet left the state of Denmark at the conclusion of the play. Moral corruption is quite obviously bubbling under the surface in Hamlet. From the outset, there are references to adultery, murder, incest and usurpation, when the King informs Hamlet about what has been taking place at the head of their state. The fact that Hamlet's family also happens to be the Royal family means that it is not just those immediately involved in the situation who have been wronged. The ghost explains, that the actions of the new King have been an offence against the state of Denmark as a whole. The throne was at the centre of political life at this time, and as Laertes put it, the question of
Discuss the effect of the opening scenes of the text (Act one scenes one and two) of Hamlet.
Discuss the effect of the opening scenes of the text (Act one scenes one and two) The opening scenes of Hamlet tell us a lot about the play. This is done through the use of language, literary devices, pace, structure and historical, social and cultural references. I will be discussing how scenes one and two of act 1 affect the audience and their preconception of the rest of play. The first scene of many Shakespeare plays sets the scene. In "Romeo and Juliet" there was a monolog that described some of the background story behind the contents of the play, and in Hamlet the first scene sets the audience up for seconds scene, were the story actually starts. This scene, instead of supplying us with a lot of background information, gives the audience narrative elements that makes us more want to read on. The most oblivious of these is the ghost. Peace, break thee off. Look where it comes again! ... In the same figure like the King that's dead." Even without the knowledge of who the ghost represents, the sheer presence of a spectre this early in a play make you want to read on, to find out why there's a ghost. Of course, the character who represents the ghost is incredible important to the plot. This is shown though the quote above identifying him as a dead king. From social and historical contexts, the idea of a king, thought of as one down from god himself, stuck in
Shakespeare's play Othello.
Abdul In Shakespeare's play Othello many issues are undertaken and explored. The three women play a vital role in this. Only one of the women in this play survives. All the women have no separate identity within the play; all three are married or associated with a male character. Bianca is the mistress of Cassio, Emilia is married to Iago and Desdemona is married with Othello. According to the time that the play was written in and the general hierarchy within Venetian society men hold all the power and women are considered to be of low intellect. Yet it is the women that speak the most sense throughout the play and it is also the women that are able to trust other characters in the play. Each woman represents a different social level, Desdemona being the highest and Bianca being of the lowest. Each sexual relationship in the play provokes some jealousy between the couple. essaybank.co.uk Bianca does not appear in the play as much as the other female characters yet her presence is key to the death of Desdemona as well as other play themes. Iago often refers to her as a prostitute, "A house wife that by selling her desires, Buys herself bread and clothes". She has fallen in love with Cassio, yet he does not speak of his returned affection for her due to his desire for status, and her social standing would affect this dramatically. She is the jealous partner in this
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" Summary This poem, the earliest of Eliot's major works, was completed in
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" Summary This poem, the earliest of Eliot's major works, was completed in 1910 or 1911 but not published until 1915. It is an examination of the tortured psyche of the prototypical modern man--overeducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally stilted. Prufrock, the poem's speaker, seems to be addressing a potential lover, with whom he would like to "force the moment to its crisis" by somehow consummating their relationship. But Prufrock knows too much of life to "dare" an approach to the woman: In his mind he hears the comments others make about his inadequacies, and he chides himself for "presuming" emotional interaction could be possible at all. The poem moves from a series of fairly concrete (for Eliot) physical settings--a cityscape (the famous "patient etherised upon a table") and several interiors (women's arms in the lamplight, coffee spoons, fireplaces)--to a series of vague ocean images conveying Prufrock's emotional distance from the world as he comes to recognize his second-rate status ("I am not Prince Hamlet"). "Prufrock" is powerful for its range of intellectual reference and also for the vividness of character achieved. Form "Prufrock" is a variation on the dramatic monologue, a type of poem popular with Eliot's predecessors. Dramatic monologues are similar to soliloquies in plays. Three things characterize the
Contrast an Elizabethan and a modern audience's understanding of Hamlet's views".
Danièle Evans 29.12.01 'Hamlet thou hast cleft my heart in twain' "Most productions present Gertrude and Ophelia as sympathetic victims of Hamlet's cruelty. As your starting point, refer to either the closet or the nunnery scene, and, paying close attention to the language, show how it reveals the interaction between Hamlet and the women characters here and throughout the play. Contrast an Elizabethan and a modern audience's understanding of Hamlet's views". As the main female characters in the play, Ophelia and Gertrude are subjected to the worst of Hamlet's madness. 'Hamlet' depicts the popular Elizabethan viewpoint and treatment of women which is palpably clear from Hamlet's contemptuous and disrespectful behaviour. This is especially obvious in both the nunnery and the closet scenes, primarily from the language and exchanges between the characters. The 'nunnery' scene, mainly focusing on the exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia, is structurally similar to the later 'closet scene' of Act 3 Scene 4. 'Soft you now', says Hamlet as he catches a glimpse of his former love, 'The fair Ophelia', a comment which is instinctively tender. Notably, it also echoes his description of Ophelia at her grave, in Act 5 Scene 1, where he openly declares his love for her, admitting that 'forty thousand brothers/Could not with all their quantity of love/Make up my sum'. It is also at
Shakespeare's tragic play "Hamlet" conveys several images of both sickness and disease; these images support the theme of political corruption.
Shakespeare's tragic play "Hamlet" conveys several images of both sickness and disease; these images support the theme of political corruption. This theme can be examined by focusing on three distinct aspects of the play. These include: the foreshadowing mood in Act I, the fact that all of the novel's corruption stems from misdeeds of various characters, and Hamlet's wisdom and concoction for vengeance. The foreshadowing images in Act I, which revolve around sickness and disease, help devise the novel's central theme of corruption. Act I is critical in establishing the mood and tone of the novel; more importantly, though, the central theme of both political and moral corruption is evident from the start, and directs the course of the novel. When the ghost of King Hamlet is conversing with his troubled son, he tells Hamlet that "[he] could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood...But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood" (I.5.19-25). When the audience or reader is at this point in the play, they are completely taken in. This description is accentuated with the words "flesh," "blood," "freeze," and "soul," which adds to the general image of sickness. Though this "tale" is revealed and no one becomes gravely sick, it foretells the predicament to come, and the intricate situation that will bring
Hamlet and The Spanish Tragedy - a brief comparative study -
Hamlet and The Spanish Tragedy - a brief comparative study - The Spanish Tragedy is very often referred to as one of Shakespeare's sources for Hamlet. In fact, both are revenge tragedies and there are some very solid and outstanding parallelisms between the two plays. Some aspects of this connection are studied in this essay. As for the common characteristics, we can list for example: jealousy, the protagonist's contemplating suicide, additional scenes in which lovers are spied on by family members, characters who go insane, the ghost of a murdered man who desires revenge, the play within the play and we could continue. Both tragedies begin with the frame story of a death and have a similar structure with extraordinarily violent murder scenes. They are similar with respect to the amount of people dying on stage. So, both of them seem to follow the conventions of revenge in the Elizabethan theatre. However, they are remarkably different on a secondary level - where what is important is not the "what" but the "how" - despite the common framework. The Spanish Tragedy is categorized among the so-called 'primitive' revenge plays. While this drama can be depicted more or less in the context of the revenge and the action, Hamlet is far more than a pure strategy of revenge. This means that Shakespeare penetrates in far more dimensions than Kyd does, that is where Hamlet's