... audience or the reader of the play. Lady Macbeth's first soliloquy is an analysis of her husband's character and her ambition for him. "Yet I do fear thy nature: It is too full o'the milk of human-kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without ... true traits of characters such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o'th"milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without ... spiritual...

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• Grade Level: High School

... insight into what the play will be about. There has been no mention of Hamlet, who he is, and why a play has been written about him. This provides a sense of disorientation. The audience does not know where this scene is leading, something unusual for a Shakespeare play. For example, works such as Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth open to introductions or to scenes ... through the progression of the play. For example, is the ghost Hamlet's father, what does he represent, and why is this so significant? It is also strange that there is no mention of Hamlet within this opening, especially sinc...

• Word Count: 1515
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• Grade Level: High School

... . "I took thee for thy better"-this is when Hamlet was speaking to his mother. As Hamlet was intimidating his mother, she cnied in fear for help. Polomious, who was eavesdropping on their conversation came to her rescue and Hamlet, believing him to be the king, killed him. ... moral expectations of the Elizabethan audience. Church, state and the regular morals of people during this age did not accept revenge in any circumstance, no matter what the original deed was. Revenge was considered a sin and blasphemy endangered the soul of the avenger. Retaliation meant going against the ... not...

• Word Count: 3059
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• Grade Level: High School

... Shakespeare's Macbeth blood is that represents the evidence. Lady Macbeth, wife of Macbeth, shows the most strongest example of evidence using the symbol of blood in the scene. She says "Out damned spot! Out I say! One: two: why then 'tis time to do't: hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear ... for him and that Macbeth is the worst of all villains! Shakespeare uses blood as a symbol of a family, where Duncan wants his son, Malcolm, to become the King of Scotland. Even though there is no use of blood the scene, it defines the relation between father .....

• Word Count: 804
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• Grade Level: High School

... want to kill Duncan, but he did it in order to prove himself to Lady Macbeth, and to become the king. By the end he had no fear, and had killed not only Duncan but also many other people. He now had different views from which he had in the beginning of the play ... the good meeting with most admired disorder'. This comment was to humiliate Macbeth and make him feel ashamed and guilty of his lack of self. William Shakespeare's play Macbeth shows us that cheating will not get you were you want to go. Macbeth was written in the 16th century England during the ... of this the story has a com...

• Word Count: 2620
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• Grade Level: High School

... really about. Without these soliloquies understanding Hamlet would be very hard, and there would be alot of guessing about what Hamlet is really about. Shakespeare uses soliloquies to discover and explore Hamlet's feelings and internal and external conflicts. In the soliloquies in act two through four the reader learns about ... here on earth and that if he does not do it he will never be able to live a lie for the rest of his days no matter how great the fear that seems to hold him back. When honor's at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father killed, a mother stained ... now mov...

• Word Count: 1666
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... much more that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and begins to show them how he really feels.In the final act, he orders them killed in fear of his own life, and settles his mind with the simple fact that they deserved the hand fate dealt them.When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ... in his life. Rosencrantz's and Guildenstern's immaturity can be seen through many examples, like this one when Hamlet says 3"Man delights / Not me, no, nor women neither, though by your/ Smiling you seem to say so."Of which Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find humorous at the thought of Hamlet with ... on reasons...

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• Grade Level: High School

... encounter we have with Lady Macbeth is when she is reading her husband's letter about the witches' prophecies, and then her reaction to the letter: "do I fear thy nature,"to catch the nearest way."" Some of the first words out of her mouth are the beginnings of a plan to kill the King, a hell- ... to remorse-, so she knows her weaknesses, and must have assistance to rid her of them. If she were the embodiment of evil, she would need no help at all in having the gall to commit regicide. Further on in this scene there is another example of their being some good in Lady Macbeth. ... or she ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... which the play is based. Many of the sayings and slang in the play are no longer used today. The visual display of these words make it easy for the audience to comprehend exactly what Shakespeare had in mind at the time he wrote the play. For an example of slang ... the camera focuses in on the characters" faces, the audience begins to visualize the deeper emotions of each character. Benvolio looks at Tybalt with emotions of fear, concern, and unsteadiness, however, Tybalt turns to look at Benvolio with scorn, deceit, anger, and hate. Without the use of film to enhance these ... insult,...

• Word Count: 2229
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• Grade Level: High School

... father the King, and the marriage of his uncle and mother, he has been depressed and crazed. While Hamlet's main character trait in Shakespeare's play is, perhaps, openness (he can't stop telling the audience what he is thinking) the Hamlet of Stoppard's play is much more ... themes of Rosencrantz must be what some theatre critics have called "theatrical parasitism." Stoppard's play is about Shakespeare's play, and feeds on it for its own meaning. In fact, one would have no idea what was going on in Stoppard's play without a good understanding--a complex, analytical understanding, even ....

• Word Count: 3860
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• Grade Level: High School

... With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good. But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue." - (Shakespeare, Lines 146-159) In his frail state of mind, a ghost appears to Hamlet and informs him that Claudius murdered his father. The ghost strongly urges him to ... Make mad the guilty and appal the free .. -More relative than this. The play's the thing Wherein I"ll catch the conscience of the King". - (Shakespeare, Lines 547-604) In Hamlets soliloquy in Act Three, Scene One, he ponders the value of his own life by contemplating the moral aspects of suic...

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• Grade Level: High School

... doth teach the torches to burn bright Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear For I ne"er saw such beauty till this night." Shakespeare's use of language, especially through Romeo's response to Juliet, is particularly effective, as it shows and demonstrates many different aspects of love and desire, ... natural opinion, quite different to the attitude taken towards courtly love, by both husband and wife of the Capulet house. For the majority of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet the most explored factor of love is most probably that of true, and fated love. This is the quite general sugg...

• Word Count: 2945
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• Grade Level: High School

... no single central theme that dominates over others throughout the play. There is however some very important themes that stand out and continue throughout the play to develop the story. Namely there are the important themes of Good and Evil, Greed and Power, Guilt, Fear and Ambition. These particular themes stand out from the many other themes portrayed in Shakespeare ... Macbeth was then warned of Macduff from the witches. So Macbeths immediate action was to kill Macduffs family. Macbeth was living in so much fear that he would murder anyone that dared to threaten him or anyone who even ...

• Word Count: 833
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• Grade Level: High School

... to his ulterior motives. In the early stages of the play Macbeth is able to keep his ambition in a controlled state. His actions have brought no harm to him nor to the other characters of the play. In the next scene, however, there is indication of a slight overstepping of boundaries when ... to come to his own conclusions. The first apparition warns Macbeth to "Beware Macduff," followed by two others that assure him that he has nothing to fear from anyone who is born of a woman, and that he will never "vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him ...

• Word Count: 1512
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... hands and hits her away from Baptista, who will obviously defend Bianca if he finds out. Bianca does nothing back to Katherina, and this is probably through fear. This relationship in the play is a good example of favouritism within a family and shows what it can do to certain people. Katherina despises her sister ... educated in subjects recognised as ones of intelligence: Latin and music. Another marriage within the play is between Hortensio and the Widow. The Widow is given no name, and is just referred to as "The Widow," which shows just how important to Hortensio she really is. Horte...

• Word Count: 1572
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... scene of the play. As Hamlet is dying under the hands of his uncle, he speaks his last words to Horatio. He tells him that there is no hope left for him, and that he is dying. After Hamlet speaks what will be some of his last words, Horatio volunteers to sacrifice himself and drink ... to die. Horatio believes that because Hamlet is now lying there dying, he has failed his friend. When Horatio volunteers to commit suicide it is because he would rather live no life at all, then live a life of ignobility. " Never believe it. I am more an antique roman than a Dane, Here's yet some liquor le...

• Word Count: 1781
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• Grade Level: High School

... herself, but she carried a candle so she contradicted herself. The line, "She has light by her continually; "tis her command.", symbolizes Lady Macbeth's fear of darkness and or evil. The image of blood also plays an important role in the play. From the first appearance of the bloody Sargent in the second ... oceans" will be able to cleanse his hands of the blood that stains them. "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No- Next, the image of blood is portrayed when Macbeth calls upon the "bloody and invisible hand" of night to help the murderers he had hired ...

• Word Count: 1290
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... a same book. An important matter in everyday life, evil is an abstraction often associated with darkness, cold, savagery, and death. In Macbeth, Shakespeare develops many themes, such as ambition or the supernatural, which all revolve around the nature of the ever-present evil within the play. The characters ... nature grows until the end, turning darker and darker. Indeed, in the second half of the play, in his soliloquys, instead of expressing fear or regret, Macbeth reveals the depths to which he has fallen into murdering, without any compunction: "To crown my thoughts with acts, be ...

• Word Count: 2650
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... scene and the development of each character, the reader discovers the complex and interesting plot, which Shakespeare has interwoven into the drama. This is first shown through imagery of darkness which symbolizes death. Second, Shakespeare draws the reader in through images of animals, which facilitate character development. Lastly, blood is ... desires" (1.4 58), revealing that he wants to kill Duncan. Macbeth's plans are to kill Duncan in the middle of the night, in darkness, where no one could clearly see. If sunlight were to spring upon him, his identity as the murderer would be reve...

• Word Count: 1305
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... then disapproves? Polonius asks Ophelia, Mad for thy love? (II, I) Ophelia simply responds with, My lord, I do not know, But truly I do fear it.(II, I) This is really the first assumption that one can make about Hamlets madness. They assume that he is insane because he is in love. Little ... Hamlet is a perfect example of madness. Later in the scene, when Polonius is confronted by Hamlet, Polonius explains to him, Through this madness, yet there is no method int. (II, II) Polonius has a suspicion that Hamlet is pretending to be mad. Hamlet describes his own thoughts pertaining to madness...

• Word Count: 1318
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... protagonist of the play. Although there is evidence to support strongly his status as an unquestionable hero of The Tempest, Prospero still can be viewed in an opposite perspective. Throughout Shakespeare's entire play, it is necessary to consider Prospero's actions and his behavior to have a better view on this character. A careful examination on The Tempest, especially on Prospero, can create a new ... that, "Prospero punishes Caliban not with love, but with hatred and anger which was strongly condemned" (379). Prospero's punishment is so savage that it becomes Caliban's fear. As Shin...

• Word Count: 2097
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Shakespeare's Macbeth is a very dark play. The first of the play introduces readers to the importance of darkness. Throughout the play most key events occur at night, often in ... in the middle of a thunderstorm. The three witches are calling to each other through the storm, and preparing to meet Macbeth. The witches create a dark force over the play. Shakespeare used nature as darkness. Nature behaves in frightening and strange ways in the play. In the first act, Lady Macbeth reads a letter that Macbeth wrote her. He tells her in ... point, Lady Macbeth invites "darkness" and evil to come l...

• Word Count: 562
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... drama created without this ideology is not tragedy, as Steiner puts forward in The Death of Tragedy where he highlights the absence of the fear of injustice and unnecessary suffering in some cultures outside of the Western tradition. Therefore it is reasonable to suppose that if/when the basic ... there. Know that we have divided In three our kingdom." - I, i, 36-38 p. 945. (All page references to the Oxford edition, 1998.) For Shakespeare's audience the reference to their current political situation is current enough, for a later audience an idea of perversity and inevitable doom is set ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Julius Caesar is mainly a study of the nature of politics and the motives of those who participate in them. Moreover, Shakespeare endeavors to embody his notion of other significant subject matters in the play in association to politics. For instance, one may suggest that the political division is the prominent theme ... air; Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan, And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. 0 Caesar, these things are beyond all use , And I do fear them! When beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. (II. ii. 1...

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... this is representing Claudius. He then has Horatio spy and observe his uncles every looks and behaviors during the play (III, i.575-576). Hamlet knew that no guilty man sitting at the play could have a clear conscience, for there evil crimes will always live in there thoughts to haunt them (III, i.569 ... most definitely sure that Claudius had murdered his father. Hamlet's predictions and actions were all very well done, and it is obvious to say that no madman could have done this so successfully. Hamlets" madness is very weird and confusing. From my point of view it is very easy to becom...

• Word Count: 1944
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School