The complex exploration of homosexual relations that break the boundaries between pupils and teachers should be typically identified as scandalous, and as a form of paedophilia in a school. However, Alan Bennett presents the issue at a modest grammar school in Sheffield in a radically different manner. For Bennett’s characters in The History Boys, such contact seems to be merely...
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Alan Bennett presents the attitudes towards women in The History Boys in a variety of different ways. One way that Bennett does this is by highlighting the lack of female characters in the play. There are only two female characters in the whole of the play, with only one of these characters having any lines. Mrs. Lintott is another history...
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An individual’s self-perception varies based on what they believe is an illusion and what they believe is reality. In today’s society, this same idea is present when people interact with one another, as they may retain a different perception of what others think of them compared to what the blunt truth is. As a matter of fact, humans possess the...
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In The Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare highlights and examines issues regarding gender relationships and inequality in the Elizabethan era. The subject of gender serves as a central idea of the work and interpretation can vary from reader to reader. Shakespeare uses Baptista’s two daughters Katherina and Bianca and their suitors within the play to examine the concept of Gender...
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Arthur Miller wrote A View from the Bridge, a work set in the late 1940s, as he became interested in the Italian immigration at the Brooklyn docks. Fascinated by the life of Pete Panto, a longshoreman who challenged the work of the Mafia, Miller wrote the play in the form of a Greek tragedy, of which Alfieri is the chorus....
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Death And The King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka tells the story of the importance of tradition in African culture. The play follows the life of Elesin Oba, who had the career title of “The King’s Horseman”, and his obligation to follow an African tradition of a ritualistic suicide following the death of their king. As the play goes on, Soyinka...
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Life is full of things that humans wish to forget. Using blindness as a buffer from reality is a natural response to dangerous stimuli. The types of blindness are easily classified into many categories. These classifications make understanding stories and characters much better. The characters in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams are easily classified...
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Oedipus Rex is a sad tragedy in which Sophocles clearly demonstrates the metaphor of sight and insight, which shows that for one to see the truth and/or reality, one does not need physical sight. Oedipus was ignorant of his reality regardless of his vision. Teiresias, then again, could simply see the truth. Oedipus's mental blindness left him beaten and obliterated...
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The idea of hubris is monumental in a plethora of Greek mythological works. In many ways the excessive pride of certain characters fuels their own destruction. This is certainly true with respect to the characters of Pentheus, Antigone, and Oedipus. All three of these characters demonstrate, through their actions, various degrees of arrogance that seem to undercut the traditional role...
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In order to answer this question, it is necessary to study the character of the Duke and how he is developed in Act 3. The Duke acts principally as an observer, watching Isabella and Claudio argue before sweeping in to resolve the situation. He is also, however, involved with the characters despite his assumption of religious real authority echoing his...
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Oedipus the King begins with Oedipus, the king of Thebes. He was crowned King several years earlier after solving the Sphinx's' unsolvable riddle. He is conversing with the priest over the plague that has been on the city of Thebes. Oedipus says he will do whatever it takes to catch the murder of King Laius. In the end, we see...
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‘Different audiences respond to Isabella in different ways.’ Show how Shakespeare’s presentation of Isabella could lead to a wide range of responses. The mere mention of Isabella’s name appears to strike indignant fear into the heart of the literary critic. Her character divides them into factions of warring interpretations, just as her moral dilemma divides an audience. In the words...
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A common theme throughout the Oedipus Cycle is that of guilt coinciding with innocence. In Oedipus at Colonus however in separate instances Oedipus claims to be innocent of his wrong doings as in his fight against Laius he acted in self-defense, and he also insists he was ignorant of his sins so he cannot be punished for committing them,” I...
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Who could forget the story of Hercules? This famous story is about a son of the gods who resides on Earth as a normal human with abnormal strength. In the story, Hercules fights various monsters and is saving his city constantly. However Hercules makes a deal with Hades, god of the underworld, to give away his strength for one day....
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Isabella is the strongest female character in “Measure for Measure.” She debates with Angelo on an equal level and is not undermined by his authority. Her strength as a character derives from several sources; her chastity being one of the most significant. Isabella’s chastity provides her with a tool which most of the other females in this play lack, since...
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Alan Bennett’s The History Boys uses the opposition created between the characters of Hector and Irwin to structure the play and question the education system. The two characters are naturally opposed - in age, teaching style and fundamental beliefs. This creates comedy which is used, perhaps to convey the playwright’s personal beliefs and relay his experience with the ‘Oxbridge’ system....
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Throughout the extensive criticism written on Shakespeare plays, the definition of these problematic plays has been a constant topic for debate. Kiernan Ryan suggests critics focus either on these plays all having in inherently ‘political implications’, or a form of deconstructive, or psychoanalytical analysis. Yet the potential for another opinion could still be valid as expressed by critics such as...
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In the Renaissance period, gender roles were one where men and women were assigned specific roles to which society portrays their standards and requirements. The value, social expectations, and personal status differed greatly between the genders. Men were the ruling voice over everyone else. Women had no control over their role in society, and their public reputation was dishonorable and...
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In this play Coriolanus by Shakespeare, Coriolanus' expulsion is the peak of a sequence of incidents in which a few powers have a role, all impelling him to his absolute destruction. As is normal in Shakespearean Tragedy, the legend, at the crest of his accomplishments, falls, because of a lethal blemish in his character. Despite the fact that Coriolanus is...
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Vengeance, chaos, uncertain honor and untimely death-whether describing the fall from grace of a noble king, impassioned General, or valiant warrior, each arises in the historically based tragedies of William Shakespeare. Coriolanus, Shakespeare’s account of the societal and self destruction of a Roman warrior paragon, proves no exception, depicting the demise that results from any character trait excess, even honor....
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Cleopatra, “Egypt’s Queen,” is arguably Shakespeare’s most resilient and enchanting female protagonist. She is personified as the embodiment of her country, ‘the soul of Egypt’, and defies the reductive Jacobean “most monster-like” perspective of women. The Renaissance stereotype of the subordinate and inferior female is in total juxtaposition to the possessive and shrewd characteristics that Cleopatra possesses, as she is...
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Many plays use the balance of power as a theme to drive the plot forward and to define their characters. In A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, the patriarchal figure of Eddie becomes a tragic hero through his loss of power and reaction to this. The character of Baroka in Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel displays...
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Eddie Carbone who is the main protagonist of Arthur Miller’s play A View From The Bridge’ has a very stereotypical view of how a ‘real man’ should be. As can be evidenced with is attitude towards Rodolpho, Eddie is intolerant and even hostile towards those who do not follow the traditional image of a man. Threats to his honour or...
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In ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ Enobarbus is a trusted follower and close friend of Antony’s, who has the freedom of speaking openly about personal issues that Antony confides in him about. Although he has limited influence over Antony when compared with the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, overall Enobarbus has an extremely important role in the play, acting as the face of...
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There is a fine line between illusion and ideals and reality and truth. This line is easily manipulated. Ideals give the individuals drive and allow them to set goals for themselves. These goals provide purpose to each individual and, consequently, allow each individual to achieve their own sense of personal happiness. Being pragmatic, on the other hand, gives individuals a...
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A problem play is a play in which the playwright portrays the social, political and economic problems of the society he lives in. The problem play is a development form of the ‘drama of ideas' (Drama of ideas is a type of discussion play in which the most acute problems of social and personal morality is revealed). It is tragic...
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In the city of Thebes, there is a plague of infertility that strikes. Just as the plants do not grow so is women not able to bear children. Creon informs King Oedipus that until the killer of King Laius is identified, the plague cannot be ended. Oblivious to the truth, King Oedipus sets to find out who the killer is...
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''We are only as blind as we want to be -Maya Angelou. There are a variety of connotations to the phrase ''blind. Some people tend to view blindness as a physical disability that resembles inferiority. Others believe that blindness defines ignorance as one is unaware of their surroundings or actions. However, the public's attitudes towards blindness are misconceptions as even...
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In the beginning, I want to introduce the background information about this play. First, the name of this filmed performance is 'Oedipus the King' It is written by Sophocles, the most famous playwright of ancient Greece. He is one of the three tragic writers in Athens. He not only believes in the supreme power of God and destiny but also...
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The world of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida does not distinguish decidedly between the Greeks and the Trojans. Though the Greek camp is a makeshift assembly of tents pitched on the shores of Troy, and the Trojan society is the courtly palace of Priam and his sons, both societies value the same ideas and objects: honor in men, and beauty and...
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