The qualities and motivations of a character are highlighted through the use of foils. In literature, a foil is a character whose actions and words contrast the characteristics of another character. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, various characters are foils to Hamlet, revealing his prominent character traits and the reasoning behind his decisions. Fortinbras’ haste and success illustrate Hamlet’s inability to...
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Arguably the greatest literary work written in English, William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, centers around the protagonist’s angst and indecision on avenging his father’s murder. A vital component of what makes this outstanding literary piece so famous is that it focuses on Hamlet’s personal struggles, rather than the conflicts of other individuals. Due to this close connection, Shakespeare was able to...
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We know that during the context of the original script, people were extremely superstitious, and this affected their view on everything from treating illnesses to religion. Religion was central to Elizabethan society – Queen Elizabeth made attendance at the Church compulsory. Unless you had a valid excuse such as illness, you were fined if you did not attend. Almost everyone...
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Shakespeare’s Othello presents to its audience the tragic story of a doomed interracial marriage in which Othello, the titular ‘Moor of Venice’ becomes entangled in the schemings of his malevolent ensign Iago, who convinces him of his wife Desdemona’s infidelity. By the end, Othello has murdered Desdemona and taken his own life out of grief and guilt. That Othello succumbs...
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A soliloquy is a long speech delivered by one character to other characters or to the audience. The purpose of a soliloquy is essentially to give the audience more information about events or background regarding the drama. Iago's soliloquy in the play Othello is especially significant. The audience will notice more in the soliloquy about how Iago has no regard...
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Even a small seed of suspicion placed in someone’s head can lead to horrible, destructive things. Sexual desires cause jealousy and mistrust. “Sexual images trigger chemical reactions in your brain, which in turn compel us to act in specific ways or be drawn to certain things, or motivated to engage in particular behaviors” (Kuszewski). In William Shakespeare's play Othello, sexual...
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Throughout the plot of the play, the character Othello reveals himself as an amoral character. His character is interesting from many perspectives since the protagonist develops from being a heroic and moral individual into a cruel and amoral person, who even kills, as the result of Iago´s insidious machinations. Othello can be described as a foil since he shows the...
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Throughout the play ‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare, we experience the inner mind of a very damaged prince on a path for vengeance, but to reach the end he must overcome his inability to act. Simba, being the ruler of the Pride Terrains, fantasizes about emulating his dad's example and having the opportunity to do anything he desires when he is...
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Both Claudius and Hamlet are very clever, intelligent, charming, and skilled manipulators. What separates the two into villain and protagonist are their motivations and beliefs. Throughout the play, it is a back-and-forth battle between Claudius and Hamlet as they struggle to achieve their own causes. In this essay I will show how, despite failing to eliminate Hamlet as planned, he...
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One of the most frequent reoccurring themes in the play is the idea of Lies, Deceit, and Corruption. Despite his claim to really hate these things, Hamlet finds himself coming up with quite a few lies and schemes on numerous occasions and being exposed to some deceit himself. The play Hamlet is set in a world in which political deception...
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Hamlet's plot is based on a universal element, which is the relentless complex battle. From the battle of the opening scene with the spirit of a deceased man to the bloodbath of the final scene, which leaves almost every key character dead, Death winds its way through the whole of Hamlet. Despite too many deaths, though, the treatment of the...
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William Shakespeare’s Othello explores the term 'other' to achieve his purpose of trying to question the validity of stereotypes. Shakespeare uses the protagonist, Othello to question the racial prejudices during the Renaissance and to question the validity of stereotypes. During the Elizabethan Era in England, a dark-skinned person in a position of power wasn't part of the norm during the...
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William Shakespeare's play Macbeth has themes and characters that are still relevant today and this is what makes his work endure time. People are still motivated by greed, ambition, and jealousy today just like in Shakespeare's times. Macbeth wanted to be king and some people today would do anything for money and power. It is the themes and characters that...
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Hamlet by Shakespeare is a classic five-act Shakespearean tragedy. Hamlet’s sanity and his ability to switch from sane to insane is the sum of his claim to madness. Hamlet is sane based on his actions in the play. Sanity: the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner; sound mental health, from Merriam-Webster dictionary. Hamlet uses his...
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Description While Polonius and Claudius hide and eavesdrop on Hamlet’s interaction with Ophelia in which he vituperates against her, he breaks into his third and most famous soliloquy which is dominated by reason and not emotional agitation. It questions the righteousness of life over death in moral terms, while much emphasis is on the idea of death as an escape...
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Despite being composed centuries apart, William Shakespeare’s play ‘Richard III’ (1593) and Al Pacino’s docudrama ‘Looking for Richard’ (1996) provides stark commentary on human nature. Through reimagining and reframing textual aspects, perspectives of power and ambition, and the idea of providentialism and free will are depicted. While both texts explore aligning characterizations of Richard III, the intertextual conversation through different...
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Tourism is known as the largest tourist industry. It also has great importance because of how much you can get educated in different cultures. So, the European personality that I have chosen, that has led to the creation of tourist sites, concentrating in Europe, is William Shakespeare. After more than 400 years, he is very important to us because he...
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West side story is an example of how art has been combined into a story. Arthur Laurents wrote the story as an adaptation of William Shakespeare`s classic play, Romeo and Juliet. The main plot of these two stories are very similar, however, the way they are portrayed on stage shows the differences. Romeo and Juliet is a play and does...
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“to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure” (Hamlet 3:2). This quote from Shakespeare's infamous play Hamlet seems to be echoing to us a message of power. Specifically the power of not just his own play, but...
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“Whether the spirit of greatness / Or of woman I know not, but it shows / A fearful madness. I owe her much of pity”. Cariola’s choric commentary at the end of Act 1 Scene 1 of ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ reflects her uncertainty of whether to see the Duchess’ bid for self-determination as “greatness” of spirit or as “madness”,...
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In late 16th century English drama vengeful ghosts, adapted from a Senecan drama, became a common occurrence. William Shakespeare, a well revered writer, “is unique in the fact that he is the only author who fully participates in the popular vogue for presenting ghosts onstage”. According to Stephen Greenblatt, “Shakespeare, more than anyone of his age, grasped that there were...
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In Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the intense conflict between the families of the Montagues and Capulets illustrates the theme of internal conflict present throughout the play. It is this conflict that led to the downfall of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship and their inevitable death. In the play, Shakespeare uses a rhetorical question when Juliet states, 'What if it be...
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