...Gertrude and Helen: Wantonness in the Trojan War and Hamlet Hamlet is the melancholy Dane; Claudius, the smiling villain. Polonius is the oily courtier; Horatio, the loyal friend. Most of the characters in Hamlet are well defined and unambiguous; the character of Gertrude, however, presents us with many ambiguities and difficulties. Some critics see her as "well-meaning but shallow and feminine, in the pejorative sense of the word: incapable of any sustained rational process, superficial and flighty" (Heilbrun 10), while others see her as a stronger character, cool and calculating. The play presents many aspects of Gertrude’s character ambiguously. Janet Adelman writes, Given her centrality in the play, it is striking how little we know about Gertrude; even the extent of her involvement in the murder of her first husband is left unclear....The ghost accuses her at least indirectly of adultery and incest...but he never accuses her of nor exonerates her from the murder. For the ghost, as for Hamlet, her chief crime is her uncontrolled sexuality; that is the object of their moral revulsion, a revulsion as intense as anything directed toward the murderer Claudius. But the Gertrude we see is not quite the Gertrude they see. And when we see her in herself, apart from their characterizations of her, we tend to see a woman more muddled than actively wicked; even her famous sensuality is less apparent than her conflicted solicitude both for her new husband and for her son....Even her...
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...devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a plague that is upon the land. However, a difference between these two beginnings is that in Oedipus Rex the citizen are effected by it to the point that they look towards Oedipus for a solution to their suffering; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the effects of the plague are never shown to the audience and it seems a minor detail. Another difference is the cause of the plague in the two plays. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the hero ends up being the cause because he murdered the king; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream the cause is a fight between Titania and Oberon. Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus is searching for the truth about the...
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...devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a plague that is upon the land. However, a difference between these two beginnings is that in Oedipus Rex the citizen are effected by it to the point that they look towards Oedipus for a solution to their suffering; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the effects of the plague are never shown to the audience and it seems a minor detail. Another difference is the cause of the plague in the two plays. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the hero ends up being the cause because he murdered the king; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream the cause is a fight between Titania and Oberon. Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus is searching for the truth about...
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...One of the most unique things about the play Hamlet (with Hamlet playing the main character) is the way relationships between the main and lesser characters have not changed from Shakespeare's time period in which he wrote this play to the modern dilemmas of today. The character Hamlet relates through individualism of self to others in the play and Shakespeare uses this confusion of self and nature thus assuring many types of readers who can relate to his Hamlet characterization. Hamlet portrays himself with all his human flaws, but it is this humanity that makes him distinctive from everyone else in the story. In addition, all of Hamlet's waking hours are preoccupied with his own thoughts thus adding more intensity to his feelings and perceptions about where he sees imperfections, worry and tension as well as confusion, but without a doubt it is these human qualities which makes his situation so impossible for him to resolve easily. Another tragic role of the play is its irony. The irony allows the storyline to show humor as well as the cause and effects of each action taken. There is usually little reason for a tragedy to be funny so Shakespeare has used this type of humor to add more irony to the already tragic events of the play. Pause for thought is in the types of conflict that play a major part in the play and the relationships between Hamlet and the two people who have been closest to him; being Ophelia and the ghost. Hamlet cannot share his strong feelings and emotions...
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...Waiting Many critics consider Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, rst performed in Paris in 1953, the most important twentieth-century play in the Western canon. Despite the undeniable historical and aesthetic signi cance of Waiting for Godot, however, the question poses itself: to what extent may an absurdist play—about two bums waiting on the side of a country road for a person who never arrives— still strike us as relevant today? is question cannot be answered univocally, but depends on the interpretive choices made in the actual process of producing Beckett’s play on stage. My goal as the director of this Kennedy eatre production is to create a thoroughly contemporary experience that evades the usual clichés many have come to associate with Beckett’s style, such as monotony and leadenness. From this vantage point, I will now identify two major challenges to any stage production of Waiting for Godot in 2010—challenges relating to the historical and metaphysical background of the play. e setting (country road, tree), costume items (bowler hats, halfhunter watch), and habits of the characters (the pipe-smoking Pozzo), as well as the poverty and frugality of the two protagonists (a diet of turnips, radishes and carrots for Vladimir and Estragon), clearly suggest earlier historical periods such as the Irish Potato Famine from around 1850, the wasteland of northern France in the wake of the trench warfare of WWI, or America’s Great Depression in the 1930s. e names of the characters...
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...Sarkovski ENG4U1 January 15, 2014 Hamlet as a Tragic Hero In Shakespeare’s plays, many factors create a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must be a person of high character who faces his destiny with courage and nobility of spirit, hence the pity felt by the audience. In Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, the character Hamlet is depicted as a tragic hero because of his noble intentions, the pity he evolves and his sincere, yet, self-destructive over analysis of his predicament. In the play “Hamlet”, the death of Hamlet’s father and the suspicious remarriage of his mother bring the audience to feel pity for him. For instance, Hamlet says: “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew.” (Act I, Sc. ii, Ln.129, 130) Although, he is saddened by his father’s death, the larger cause of Prince Hamlet’s misery is Queen Gertrude’s disloyal remarriage. By viewing Hamlet’s state of depression in the Elizabethan perspective, Elizabethans believed that the human body is made up of four basic elements, called humors: phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. Hamlet’s seems to be suffering from what Elizabethans referred to as “Melancholy”. This was associated with too much “black bile” in the body. It is similar to what medicine calls “clinical depression” today, in which it is the state led to lethargy, irritability and distorted imagination. Since this is the 17th rather than the 21st century, Hamlet can’t just move on or seek medication;...
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...Anthony livingston Dr.Lemaster Final paper 05/02/14 Diversity of Love Love can be an intensive feeling of lust from one individual to another, as well as an obsession that leads to people doing unusual things. The different types of love conveyed between the stories “A rose for Emily” and “Hamlet and Ophelia” are over compassionate ties and misleading love associations. Between these two stories the true dimensions portrayed of love are both ordinary and extreme. Once reading these books a reader can conclude that love itself can make you do some crazy things. “A rose for Emily” is a fictional analysis of horror or gothic tales between an over protective father, a psychotic spoiled daddy’s girl, and her lover. The relationship shown here between the girl and her father can be perceived as a typical father-daughter scenario played into today’s society. As most fathers, Emily’s dad never saw anyone up to his standards for his beloved daughter. With this being said Emily was never allowed to date or find a man’s love beyond her father’s. This put her in a distressful emotional state when she had to come to terms with her father passing away. Emily was an extremely over-bearing individual when it came to love. Her family and father had always been highly overrated people. They looked at other human-beings who did not fit their upbringings as “outsiders” and below them. In this narrative, the citizens of the town which Emily resides in are very judgmental when it comes...
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...however, have a flaw that makes them relatable to us. Hamlet, the title character from Hamlet, is very indecisive in deciding when to kill his uncle, and King Lear is blinded by his pride and shuns the only of his daughters that actually love him. The final reason why Shakespeare is still relevant to us is the fact that his plays serve more than to simply entertain us. They teach us lessons and give us warnings. Shakespeare’s plays all have a theme to them, something that provides us as an audience an understanding of why the plot is going in the direction that it is. For instance, one of the themes in Hamlet is revenge. Hamlet’s father was killed by Hamlet’s uncle. Later, as a ghost, Hamlet’s father comes to Hamlet to ask that he kill his uncle and provide his father peace. Thus, the entire play begins and the audience is immediately able to understand why the events of the play are happening. Shakespeare’s use of simple themes, yet complex plots and characters, allow audiences to find the plays enjoyable to watch and accessible to people from different cultures. The true genius of Shakespeare’s themes are, due to the way they are written, different people can come away from the same play with different ideas on what the theme was. Looking at Hamlet again, some people will see it as dark story of revenge and vengeance, one that ultimately leaves not just Hamlet’s uncle dead, by also his mother, the woman he loved, and Hamlet himself dead as well. Others will see this play and...
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...William Shakespeare, dramaturgo y poeta inglés nacido el 23 de abril de 1564, fue el tercero de ocho hermanos. Su padre un acaudalado comerciante y político local, y Mary Arden, cuya familia había sufrido persecuciones religiosas derivadas de su confesión católica. Fue educado en la escuela de la gramática de Stratford hasta 1577, cuando su padre, cayendo en dificultades financieras serias, lo retiró de la escuela. Los años siguientes estuvieron marcados por una gran pobreza. El 27 de noviembre de 1582, con dieciocho años, se casó con Anne Hathaway, ocho años mayor que él y con la que tuvo a sus tres hijos, entre ellos los gemelos Hamnet y Judith. Tubo que abandonar su pueblo por sospechas de robo y de allí partió a Londres, donde llevó una vida bastante azarosa, pues dicen que comenzó su carera teatral guardando caballos a la entrada del teatro antes de profesionalizarse como actor. Adquirió gran fama y popularidad en su trabajo para la compañía Chaberlain´s Men. El principio de su carrera literaria fue 1591, se aventuro a Italia y permaneció allí dos años, durante los cuales se interrumpió la vida de teatro de Londres. Su actividad como dramaturgo le dio fama en la época. En agosto de 1596 atestiguó la muerte, en la edad de once años, de su hijo Hamnet. En 1613 dejó de escribir y se retiró a su localidad natal, donde adquirió una casa conocida como New Place, mientras invertía en bienes inmuebles de Londres la fortuna que había conseguido amasar. Se ha considerado a Shakespeare...
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...memorize/improvise all of their lines without a notable mess-up. Before going into the theatre I wasn’t sure what time period the play would take place in. It could have been like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Romeo and Juliet or the Ethan Hawke Hamlet, in which the play takes place in modern times. Or it could have taken place in the late 1500s or early 1600s, I had no idea. When I saw Berowne, Loganville, and Dumaine dressed in what appeared to be early 1900s preppy clothes dancing and playing badminton I knew this wouldn’t be a typical Shakespearean play. As the play progressed I started watching not because it was required of me to do, but more so for enjoyment. The thing I appreciated most about this play was the use of humor. I know this play was a comedy, but just because something is a comedy doesn’t mean that it is in fact funny. Love’s Labour’s Lost was quite funny though. There were certain instances throughout the play where the entire audience—myself included—burst out loud laughing. Instances of this included when King Ferdinand of Navarre was reading a letter silently while Don Adriano de Armado read the letter aloud. Initially, I couldn’t figure out why the audience was laughing, but when I looked more closely I could see the humor....
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...Who was William Shakespeare? Shakespeare is William Shakespeare, one of the English-speaking world's greatest playwrights and poets, who possessed a great knowledge of human nature and transformed the English theatre. Yet many facts of his life remain a mystery. Some have been acquired from painstaking looks at the records of the time, so that this summary is based on generally agreed facts. It has been said that we only know three things about Shakespeare: that he was born, married and died. He was baptised on April 26, 1564; we do not know his birth date, but many scholars believe it was April 23, 1564. His father was John Shakespeare (who was a glover and leather merchant) and his mother Mary Arden (who was a landed local heiress). John had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the late 1570s. William lived for most of his early life in Stratford-upon-Avon. We do not know exactly when he went to London but he is said to have arrived in 1592. There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. It is surmised by scholars that Shakespeare attended the free grammar school in Stratford, which at the time had a reputation to rival that of Eton. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's...
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...THE BARD & CO Book Review - The Bard & Co: Shakespeare’s Role in Modern Business Editors – Jim Davies, John Simmons & Rob Williams Published – Cyan Books Year – 2007 Place – London No author perhaps has had the kind of influence Shakespeare has had on our lives in different forms. This book is another example of Shakespeare’s influence, this time on the business world of today. Twenty six contemporary writers have paired with a Shakespeare play and one of the lead actors of the First Folio list to give us this delightful new insight of the play and the role. The book is a delightful collection of essays on Shakespeare’s role in contemporary business world. That we have very little biographical sketch to go by demands that “imagination has had to work harder than memory”. And given the “breadth, vivacity, wit and life” of Shakespeares’ plays and their performances, one cannot help but imagine that those actors would be chuckling in sotto voce behind their masks, at our attempt “to capture some sense of their lives and their contribution to the world” It is fitting that a book on Shakespeare’s role in modern business should be introduced by Dominic Dromgoole, the artistic Director of Globe Theatre. According to him, the theatre actor is the most impermanent of all artistes, considering that once a play is over, there is no remanence of his work except the printed “dramatis personae at the beginning of the published play”. He bows in obeisance to that “mysterious...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for Great Expectations by Charles Dickens i Meet Charles Dickens In addition to writing short stories and novels, Dickens wrote essays and journalistic pieces, and edited a weekly periodical filled with fiction, poetry, and essays. First titled Household Words, the magazine was later retitled All the Year Round. Dickens contributed to this publication several serialized novels, including Great Expectations, and writings on political and social issues. Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He was the second child and eldest son of eight children. Dickens’s father, who worked as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, was a spendthrift who often mismanaged the family money. In 1822 the family moved to London and soon found itself in financial crisis. The family was forced to live in poverty, and Dickens was no longer able to go to school. One of the most traumatic periods of his life began in February 1824, when his father was sent to debtors prison. Young Dickens, only twelve years old, was forced to go to work for several months pasting labels on bottles. This experience was painful and socially humiliating to him, and images of the factory haunted him for the rest of his life. These images provided a backdrop to much of his fiction, which often focused on class issues; the plight of the poor and oppressed; and lost, suffering children. As an adult, he championed social and political causes designed...
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...space throughout the paper. 6. Except for page numbers, use one-inch margins at the top, bottom and sides of the paper. 7. Type your name, the course number and date on the first page, top left, first page only. 8. Do NOT use a separate title page for essays shorter than 2500 words, or 20 pages. 9. Use a header (top right) for page numbers; your last name may be used with the page number. 10. Insert a page break before the first letter of the Works Cited or References, to keep that page last. 11. Center the specific title of your essay below the heading. If you are writing about a literary work, drama, or film, do not call your essay the title of the work, but you may use the work in your own title, for example, Humor in the Film Dumb and Dumber, Irony in the Drama Tartuffe, Imagery in the Poem “Harlem.” Your own title carries no marks or underlines. Do not bold or write in all capital letters. 12. Italicize the titles of films, plays, novels, magazines, newspapers, books, art...
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...Ramiro Martinez-Quintanilla Professor Radzikowski US History 2A 08/05/2016 American Blackface Minstrelsy of the 1800’s The Minstrel Show offers us an abnormal, intriguing and dreadful marvel. Minstrel shows rose up out of preindustrial European conventions of concealing and festival. Be that as it may, in the US they started in the 1830s, with average white working men taking on the appearance of plantation slaves. These men mocked black music and dance, joining brutal parody of black Americans with bona fide affection for African American social structures. By the Common War the minstrel show had gotten to be world popular and respectable. Late in his life Mark Twain affectionately recalled the "outdated nigger appear" with its vivid comic blacks and its stirring tunes and moves.(Lott 68) By the 1840s, the minstrel show had ended up one of the focal occasions in the way of life of the Democratic political party. Of course every beginning has its end, but by 1890 minstrelsy had shaped a little part of American excitement. Blackface minstrelsy was the first particularly US showy structure. In the 1830s and 1840s, it was at the ascent's center of a US music industry, and for a very long while it gave the lens through which the white US saw the clack people of the US. From one perspective, it had solid views; on the other, it managed white Americans a particular and wide attention to what a few whites considered huge parts of dark American society to be. Minstrel shows where...
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