A character will commonly begin a play as one persona. However, by the end of the play the character will have gone through a transformation involving the personification of one or more animals. There are lessons that the characters must learn, and by going through these changes they are allowed to achieve a metamorphosis. Shakespeare often chose which animal would depict which character by their physical traits, for if a woman were timid and graceful she might be compared to a deer and if a man were heavy with a loud voice he would be c

Subsequently, in Merry Wives of Windsor, the character of Falstaff is compared to various animals thirty-one times and is made a spectacle due to his weight, as in Henry IV. In Merry Wives Falstaff is a devious letch who is attempting to seduce two loyally married women of Windsor to no avail. They insult him in asking “What tempest, I trow, threw this whale, with so many tuns of oil in his belly, ashore at Windsor?” (Act II.1 lines 58-60). A contrast example is when Falstaff is hiding from Mrs. Ford’s husband in the laundry basket and she replies “If you find a man there, he shall die a flea’s death” (Act IV.2 lines 138-139). The irony of Falstaff being compared to a flea serves to show him a fool in the eyes of the audience, and nothing as incredulous as Falstaff being the size of a flea could possibly be true. This scene is quite humorous for as Mrs. Ford insults Falstaff in his presence he can not defend himself. Falstaff’s crude behavior and his bizarre description prove to show the audience that he deserves all that he is dealt.

Shakespeare made many references to the Pythagorean theory by portraying humans as inhabiting the bodies of animals. An indication of this is found in The Merchant of Venice where he blends the tradition of the werewolf, a man who could metamorphose himself into the form of a wolf while retaining his human soul, or who might have the soul of a wolf but the form of a man, into the character of Shylock. Shylock is a greedy and dangerous villain who lends some money to Bassanio, but the bondsman Antonio is the one who will be responsible for making sure it is paid back. Shylock convinces Antonio to sign a contract that states that if the money not be paid in time Shylock can remove a pound of his bodily flesh. Bassanio thinks Shylock to be wrong but Antonio tells Bassanio to give up trying to reason with Shylock. He reasons with him; “You may as well use question with the wolf Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb” (Act IV.1 lines 73-74). This highly suggestive element of the wolf is furthered displayed in Gratiano’s speech where he says “Thou almost mak’st me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit Govern’d a wolf…” (Act IV.1 lines 130-134). This proves that Shakespeare took a great interest in the

Some topics in this essay:
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Act IV1, Metamorphoses Shakespeare, Act II4, Caliban Tempest, Caliban Shakespeare, Act IV2, Shakespeare Shakespeare, Taming Shrew, Act III2, ovid’s metamorphoses, animal references, act ii4, act iv1, animal analogies shakespeare, iv1 lines, various animals, paid shylock, ovid 519, falstaff compared, act ii4 lines, act iv1 lines, analogies shakespeare,