Discuss Shakespeares use of minor characters in Macbeth and Othello
SHAKESPEARE ASSIGNMENT Discuss Shakespeare's use of minor characters in any plays you have studied. Shakespeare tends to use his minor characters to allow a brief interlude of comic relief in his tragedies. However, these minor characters are also pivotal characters through which Shakespeare can convey much deeper and darker meanings to the audience whilst using black humour. The minor characters of the Porter in Macbeth and the Clown in Othello are both seen as comic characters whose main purpose would initially be expected as bringing comedy to the stage, yet the scenes in which they are involved and the characters themselves are much more significant than may first appear. Shakespeare is using these minor characters to contrast the element of dark comedy with tragedy enabling the two to become indistinguishable, allowing a sense of movement between the comedy, which creates the feeling of relief, therefore heightening the dramatic tension and the tragedy. The Porter in Macbeth enters the stage immediately following the murder of King Duncan. The Porter's use of prose as opposed to verse and his frequent crude jokes and poor style of language, coupled with his short appearance and lack of stage space, resulted in him generally being ignored by much earlier critics. However there is layered meanings to this scene, enabling it to be interpreted in a number of ways, for
Review and history of Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It'.
It is unknown when Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It' was first written but it is thought to have first been performed in the Globe theatre in 1599 and first published in 1623 in the First Folio. When writing 'As you like it', it was probable that Shakespeare created the character of Rosalind with the popular prose 'Rosalynde' by Thomas Lodge firmly in mind. However, whilst writing 'As you like it', Shakespeare was also heavily influenced by the pastoral and romantic traditions popular in plays and literature of the period. Pastoral traditions typically depicted the countryside as an idyllic, natural, rural paradise, which brought out the good nature of all. The country was viewed as being wholly better than the unjust, unnatural, corrupt court, where evil-doers resided. The country, as represented in the pastoral romance tradition, was a "golden world" and a place of escape, populated by shepherds, shepherdesses and exiled high-ranking nobles disguised as simple country folk. Similarly, the romance tradition prevalent in many of Shakespeare's plays (including 'As you like it') presents love as an idealised, sexless act, which often involves a couple falling in love at first sight and eventually marrying, after overcoming many trials and tribulations. Subsequently, these two much loved traditions merged together to form the pastoral romance tradition, which is predominate
War is Peace: Perceptual and Societal Death and Rebirth in William Shakespeare's, "King Lear.
David Napiorski Principles of lit. study 12/10/03 War is Peace: Perceptual and Societal Death and Rebirth in William Shakespeare's, "King Lear. In William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, "King Lear," certain characters' flawed sense of perception allows the fundamental structures of reality to be completely turned upside-down and gives shape to the play's holistic metaphor of a life cycle in ultimate death and rebirth. The world created for King Lear's story is one where the idea of perception weighs heavily on every action and every move made the characters. False realities allow ostensible evil to perpetuate itself. The very fact that the play's overarching metaphor envelopes the death and rebirth of certain perceptions symbolizes that in the world within the play, one perceives another is king. Furthermore, within the world of "King Lear," the instruments used to stimulate such rebirths of perception are natural and uncontrollable. Whether it be a natural and uncontrollable physical ailment such as blindness or insanity, or something as natural as the weather, only pure naturals that are unable to be manipulated by the perpetuators of these false realities can break these false perceptions, beginning the life cycle again. The idea of a natural stimulus only further qualifies this metaphor. Under the blanket theme of perception and the overarching interpretation of
THE ROLE OF MESSINA IN "MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING"
SETTING IN SHAKESPEAR’S “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING” Messina is a place where people find it hard to behave with appropriate seriousness and in William Shakespeare’s well known play “Much Ado About Nothing” the most important ‘character’ in the play is in fact, Messina itself, detailing as it does a Shakespearean comic world, by nature light hearted, witty, optimistic and destined for a ‘happy’ outcome for its trials. Yet Messina also deals with serious matters. Love, the impediments to love, and the pain that must be reconciled before love can be confessed, reciprocated, and fulfilled, are all a part of life in Messina. All of Shakespeare’s great comedies explore in one way or another the problems of being serious in a society ruled by laws of comedy and it is this concept that we relate to in the world of “Much Ado About Nothing”. In this witty and light-hearted play there are verbal jokes, puns and forms of word play which the characters deliberately employ in their zest for life and there are practical jokes and tricks of varying levels of seriousness which the characters also play on one another. One of the most successful jokes is the parallel practical jokes played on Beatrice and Benedick in order to trick them into admitting their love for each other and as long as sensitive feelings and serious fates are not too much at stake, which they are
In both plays love is insanity, taking over the rational and lucid mind by delusion and self-destruction, which can only be cured when the insane are stripped of what they love the most and honesty, not deceit, take precedence.
Plot Outline Thesis: In both plays love is insanity, taking over the rational and lucid mind by delusion and self-destruction, which can only be cured when the insane are stripped of what they love the most and honesty, not deceit, take precedence. Point 1: The realization of the truth opens the eyes of the characters and finally allows them to see, and not be blinded. Shakespeare uses sight as a tool to cure the characters from their insanity. Proof: King Lear is insane at the beginning of the play and not near the end like one might think. It takes a series of rejections and scrutiny from his daughters for King Lear to understand that they made a fool of him for his land and riches, and that their devotion of love was a hoax. Only later when King Lear realizes this does he become sane. The love in idleness flower in A Midsummers Night Dream has a number of effects on the characters that have it used upon them. It makes all the characters a little insane or at the very least not their normal selves. Firstly it impairs both Lysander and Demetrious to love Helena and not Hermia, and also the insanity of Titantia, the Queen of Fairies, who has fallen in love with Bottom, an ass. Point 2: both plays use location to establish the mood and the location also goes hand in hand with the state that the characters are in. Proof: In A Midsummers Night dream the lovers Hermia
What effects do the woods and the city have on love in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
"Love and reason keep little company nowadays" Bottom. What effects do the woods and the city have on love in A Midsummer Night's Dream? A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the wonderful works of playwright William Shakespeare. In its extraordinary flow of events many facts and concepts become apparent. The play can be said to be based on a romantic love theme with a drop of comedy as to give extra pleasure to the audience. However, there are many more to the play and more critically, there are smaller steps taken to form the actual object of the plot. To examine that is what I intend to do in this essay. The play is set in two completely different places which sometimes, through compromise, do appear to be similar, they are; The city (Athens) and the Woods. It is in these two places I shall base my essay on, comparing how they affect the four lovers in their affairs, with its un-evolved law and its contaminated opinion or supernatural being meddling with the activities of human life. Love can be a complicated thing as quoted from the speech of Lysander (one whom was beloved of Hermia and loved her back) "Never did the course of true love run smooth", but in absolute contrast love can be as easy as ABC, "Love and reason keep little company nowadays" Bottom. And as we all know, humans are not beings of super intellect, so in the presence of events occurring with such
How far can the ending of Twelfth Night be said to mark a re-imposition of orthodoxy?
How far can the ending of Twelfth Night be said to mark a re-imposition of orthodoxy? Critics when referring to the play Twelfth Night have taken to classify it within the boundaries of one of Shakespeare's transvestite comedies. In so categorizing the play, they are acknowledging the fact that this play clearly shows rebelliousness towards societal norms, which are within any given society. The fact that this play does express these extension of societal boundaries was seen at its time of first production to cause problems and so by creating an ending whereby there is a re-imposition of orthodoxy Shakespeare was able to express his views and thoughts of identity in a manner which was acceptable by society. However, while the end of the play can be shown to be re-imposing the orthodox approaches society requires it can also be seen as not fully obliging all of its characters with these rules. The main characters within this play script can be categorized into two different units, those who can be shown to be returning to what is considered normal in the main, such as Olivia and Viola, and those who fail to fully achieve this, such as Orisino and Malvolio. Twelfth Night is primarily a play which gives a very critical view on societies impressions of gender and how they can be altered to suit a purpose with dramatic effects. The character of Viola can be seen both as a main
King Lear Is a Play Based Upon Love, Betrayal and Conflict. Discuss how King Lear’s Role as King of England Deteriorates
King Lear Is a Play Based Upon Love, Betrayal and Conflict. Discuss how King Lear's Role as King of England Deteriorates From a King to a Man. Aim During the course of this essay, I will be discussing the role of King Lear and his deterioration from being a King, to becoming a man as a result of Ignorance and Dignity. King Lear is a rather complex character, who was neither all good, nor all unpleasant. He was simply a combination of the two. His role as King places a great deal of stress upon him From the opening chapters of King Lear, one is able to deduce that the Kings role is paramount to that of other characters. Shakespeare portrays King Lear as the dominant character in the first stages of the play. This is obvious especially when the Earl of Kent, someone the King had trusted and respected, intervened over the situation where King Lear banished Cordelia. You can see through the manner in which he spoke to Kent that there was something about the King that was not right, which we assume is caused merely by old age, i.e. his ignorance towards a friend, and even more so his ill-treatment of his youngest daughter Cordelia, who was his joy. Lear: "...Now, our joy..." (Act 1 Sc 1) This is the reference of Cordelia prior to the dilemma, a reference of joy that can only be seen as a most pleasant reference for a father to give to a child, and he also says 'our', from
Discuss the ways in which Grotowski's proposals for 'Holy Theatre' can be related to the ideas about the function and purpose of performance which came out of the historical avant garde.
DISCUSS THE WAYS IN WHICH GROTOWSKI'S PROPOSALS FOR 'HOLY THEATRE' CAN BE RELATED TO THE IDEAS ABOUT THE FUNCTION AND PURPOSE OF PERFORMANCE WHICH CAME OUT OF THE HISTORICAL AVANT GARDE. Grotowski's work on a 'Holy theatre' with his Theatre Laboratory took place from 1959-70 after which he stopped producing theatrical work to carry out paratheatrical work. The term 'Holy Theatre' is focussed on making theatre more like ritual. Actors had to be trained thoroughly, not just rely on inspiration for their performance. In the search for ritual within the theatre, Grotowski sought a collective experience for the audience which, as a result of the decline of religion, is rarely found in late twentieth century societies. It is also important to establish that by using the term 'Holy theatre', Grotowski does not intend any religious connotation, he was in fact an atheist, 'holy' refers more to the ritual aspect of the theatre and the experience of the audience, which could be compared to experience brought on by a religious ceremony. The historical avant garde is the name given to the collective ideas and methods of theorists, writers and directors working in Europe from (for the purposes of this essay) 1895-1930 who saw opportunities for performance to act as a counter-culture and be like ritual. I have looked in particular at the work of Jarry, Apollinaire and Artaud, especially
Antony and Cleopatra Question: Explore Shakespeare's presentation of Domitius Enobarbus
Antony and Cleopatra Question: Explore Shakespeare's presentation of Domitius Enobarbus. Traditionally Shakespeare's use of the role of a chorus is seen to have been used as an insight for the audience into the prophesy of future events and what to expect throughout the play, usually by a secondary character. In 'Antony and Cleopatra', Shakespeare expands the role of the chorus within his presentation of Enobarbus. Enobarbus does not merely illustrate what consequences Antony and Cleopatra's actions will have, but plays a significant and vital character whose actions earn the admiration of the audience. Amid Antony's entourage is Enobarbus. Enobarbus is a high ranking officer who within the play is one of Antony's closest aficionados. Among the audience Enobarbus is seen as the thematic and moral centre of the play. Through the admired Enobarbus the power of love and loyalty are seen to overshadow the logical reason and common sense of the mind. For example his emotional break down and reaction to his betrayal and desertion of Antony and of Antony's munificent response creates a sense of desolation behind his death. "I am alone the villain of the earth, My better service when my turpitude Thou dost so crown with gold!" At times, Enobarbus is very much a chorus figure observing the behaviour of those around him. His interpretation of certain situations brings