Kent's most notable characteristics are his loyalty and bluntness. Discuss?

Q Kent's most notable characteristics are his loyalty and bluntness. Discuss? The character of King Lear's Kent is a formidable one. Whether it is the extent of his service to the King, the harshness and imagination with which he fights to defend the King or his character progression throughout the play. His most notable characteristics are definitely his incessant loyalty and his use of blunt language when his respectful interjections are ignored. It is his loyalty that motivates him and his bluntness that lands him in trouble. He speaks up to the King and warns him about his 'hideous rashness' in the treatment of Cordelia and is blunt and to the point "What wouldst thou do, old man?" - Act 1 Scene 1; but only uses this language when he is not being taken into consideration. We normally hear Kent referring to the King in a respectful and loyal manner 'my lord' and 'my leige'. His bluntness and forwardness towards the King leads to his banishment, which Kent accepts but not without a final word of advice "See better Lear, and let me still remain the true blank of thine eye." - Act 1 Scene 1 We notice that his advice and speeches are justified by the subsequent events of the play. His reference towards the Kings daughters prior to leaving the court is a sign of what is still to come . "...the gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid, that justly think'st and hast

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Kingship and leadership and their absence have major implications in the play King Lear. Explore how Shakespeare presents these themes.

King Lear Kingship and leadership and their absence have major implications in the play King Lear. Explore how Shakespeare presents these themes. Jonathon Dollimore (1984) focuses on Lear's identity throughout the play. 'What makes Lear the person he is, is not kingly essence, but among other things, his authority and his family. As the play progresses Lear is forced to question his identity. "Does anyone hear know me?...Who is it that can tell me who I am?". Dollimore believes King Lear is about power, poverty and inheritance. Shakespeare focuses on what happens when there is a 'catastrophic redistribution of power'. At the start of the play Lear has a rich, powerful and complex social identity. He is King and Patriarch of his family. Being the king he was therefore looked upon as being the source of meaning and order in society. The opening scene represents a strong theme of authority and kingship. A sennet marks the arrival of the king. He enters accompanied by attendants and is greeted as 'Royal Lear' and 'Most Royal Majesty'; "Royal Lear, Whom I have ever honoured as my king, Loved as my master followed, As my great patron thought on in my prayers". "Most royal majesty, I crave no more than hath your Highness offered, Nor will you tender less". We see here how a great image of kingship and authority are presented. When Kent is banished from the kingdom,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare - Summary of Theme and Narrative

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comic play written by Shakespeare. It is set in the ancient times. The play begins and ends in the Greek city of Athens, but most of the action takes place in a nearby wood. This is a magical place where a series of tricks are played on several of the characters by a group of fairies and spirits. The play is about the nature of love. The theme of love provides opportunities for comedy, and serious social comment. Shakespeare portrays a clear difference between the natural state of genuine love and the illusion generated by love that has no substance. Nothing can stand in the way of true love, even if 'the course of true love never did run smooth.' A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in three groups. The groups contrast vividly: the sophisticated yet earth bound Theseus and Hippolyta; the homespun vulgarity of Bottom and the workmen; and the ephemeral delicacy of the fairies. The first to come forth on stage are the Athenian nobles, which sub-divide themselves into four lovers and the rest of the court. Next, are the fairies; the fairies embody the force of nature. The effect of this personification is to make the cosmos seem a place, which, though it may be unpredictable and dangerous, is ultimately friendly to the humans, and finally the Athenian craftsmen. The play-within-a play that makes up most of act 5 scene1 it is used to represent,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The question to be answered is whether or not Midsummer Night's Dream suggests happiness is to be found in marriage.

A Midsummer Night's Dream. The question to be answered is whether or not Midsummer Night's Dream suggests happiness is to be found in marriage. In Act 1,Scene 1 Hermia has been brought to court by her father Egeus. This is because Hermia refuses to marry her father's choice of husband, Demetrius. Hermia is deeply in love with Lysander, Egeus won't let be Lysander be Hermia's husband. Egeus hates Lysander and won't let him marry Hermia shown by this ". Egeus gives Hermia three choices either to become a nun, obeying her father's wishes or face the ultimatum of death. Theseus, the Duke of Athens confirms that the Athenian law demands that she be obedient to her father, following his wishes, her death or to live her life as a nun. Lysander and Demetrius state their claim to Hermia. Lysander who Hermia is still deeply in love with tries to win her father's trust by getting Demetrius distrusted. Lysander tries to get Demetrius in trouble by saying that he has had a love relationship with Helena and broke her heart. Helena still cherishes the as a love idol. While this is happening Hermia has been given four days to decide her own fate. Lysander and Hermia both agree to run away together to his aunt's house and marry away from the city where Athenian Law cannot reach them. This shows that they have a very strong love relationship and are desperate to get married. Lysander and

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Analyse an extract of not less than 500 words from a text of your choosing, commenting upon the use of language and reflecting upon the relationship between the nature of the extract and the era from which it comes.

Analyse an extract of not less than 500 words from a text of your choosing, commenting upon the use of language and reflecting upon the relationship between the nature of the extract and the era from which it comes. My essay will be based on an extract by William Shakespeare, from his tragic play 'Othello'. I will analyse the language used in the pivotal part of the play, Act three, Scene three. I will look at it against the time of writing and also look at the effect Shakespeare's great use of language has left us with today. William Shakespeare is thought to be the greatest writer we have ever seen, but he is also the most written about. His chronicles and commentators spill over global tongues, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian etc. He is actually in more than fifty languages. He was not for an age, but for all time. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare's father, John, was an apprentice glover and tanner of leathers. His mother, Mary Arden, came from a farming family. Shakespeare was the eldest of three sons and four daughters and was educated until he was sixteen. William Shakespeare was indeed lucky to survive to adulthood in sixteenth-century England. Waves of the plague swept across the countryside, and pestilence ravaged Stratford during the hot summer months. It is unclear what he did until he landed in London in 1591. He

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Salem Witch Trials

Ragan 1 The Salem Witch Trials The year 1692 was a time of horror in Salem, MA. A witch-hunt took place after a group of girls became hysterical while playing in the woods and it was proposed that they were bewitched. These girls accused older women of consorting the devil. Before the trials were over, 300 men and women had been accused. By the time the chaotic witch-hunt was finished, little enthusiasm for the persecution of witches remained in Massachusetts and the superstition of witchcraft ended the trials (Sheffield). The trouble originated in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris who was the minister of the local church. Several girls in the community started spending their afternoons there in the kitchen with Tituba, the Rev. Parris' West Indian slave, to learn magic. The girls had been up to some mischief for some time and were curious about their futures, so they read each others palms until Abigail Williams spread the word about how Tituba could float an egg white in a glass and this unusual practice could tell " what trade their sweethearts should be of" ( Watson 116). As the girls grew closer to one another Ragan 2 something seemed to have come over them. They were no longer acting like good quite Puritan maidens but more like something possessed (Roberts 26). On January 20,1962 nine year old Elizabeth Parris and eleven year old Abigail Williams began to

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Macbeth's Downfall

: : Macbeth MACBETH Macbeth is presented as a mature man of definitely established character, successful in certain fields of activity and enjoying an enviable reputation. We must not conclude, there, that all his volitions and actions are predictable; Macbeth's character, like any other man's at a given moment, is what is being made out of potentialities plus environment, and no one, not even Macbeth himself, can know all his inordinate self-love whose actions are discovered to be-and no doubt have been for a long time- determined mainly by an inordinate desire for some temporal or mutable good. Macbeth is actuated in his conduct mainly by an inordinate desire for worldly honors; his delight lies primarily in buying golden opinions from all sorts of people. But we must not, therefore, deny him an entirely human complexity of motives. For example, his fighting in Duncan's service is magnificent and courageous, and his evident joy in it is traceable in art to the natural pleasure which accompanies the explosive expenditure of prodigious physical energy and the euphoria which follows. He also rejoices no doubt in the success which crowns his efforts in battle - and so on. He may even conceived of the proper motive which should energize back of his great deed: The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. But while he destroys the king's enemies, such

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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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

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" Fool Hearted In Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the mortal teenage characters fall in love foolishly, and the character Bottom states, "O what fools these mortals be". They are foolish because they act like children. Although Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena appear grown-up, when they are in love they act foolishly. The four teenage lovers are fools. Demetrius is a fool because he is unaware that his love changes through out the play. At the start of the play Demetrius does not love Helena. (II ii,line 188) Demetrius says, "I love thee not, therefore pursue me not." (II ii,line 194) "Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more." In III ii, Demetrius after being juiced begins to love Helena. (III ii,line 169-173) Demetrius says, "Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none. If e'er I loved her, all that love is gone. My heart to her but as guest- wise sojourned, And now to Helen is it home returned, There to remain." This proves he is a fool, because he is not aware of his changing love for Helena. Helena is a fool because Demetrius does not love her but she still persists in chasing him. Demetrius shows no love for Helena. (II i,line 227-228) Demetrius says, "I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts." (II i,line 199-201) "Do I entice you? Do I speak you

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The English Reformation.

The English Reformation that grew out of the 16th century was undoubtedly a turning point in British history. The effect it would have on English society was paramount. Centuries of religious tradition and habit were being broken with in light of new radical ideas and thoughts. Many factors contributed to the rise of Protestantism in England and one notable example stands out. Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry the VIII, was a staunch supporter of Protestant beliefs and ideals. The following paper examines the role Anne Boleyn played in advancing the Reformation's cause inside her country. Upon examination, it becomes clear that Anne Boleyn used her position of power to promote the Reformation's development within England. Before addressing the actions taken by Anne Boleyn, it is necessary to address a few of the key ideas linked with the Reformation. First, the Church of England was to operate independently of Rome. The English monarch was to replace the Pope as the head of the Church.1 Second, the concept of 'Justification by Faith Alone' was largely promoted, in place of the belief that good works would secure an individuals path to heaven. Finally, it was believed that biblical scriptures ought to be read in the vernacular.2 Anne Boleyn possessed a large degree of power in her latter years; first, as the King's preferred mistress, and then as Queen of England. It is

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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