... dreams and nightmares are a "classic source of gothic inspiration. " Interestingly Horace Walpole was said to have found the inspiration for Otranto in a dream that he had. Macbeth is a play rich with Gothic images including many references to dreams and sleep. When MacDuff says "Shake off this downy sleep, ... The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast. Act II, 2, 38-43. Macbeth acknowledges the gravity of his actions with these words. He knows he has crossed a line and cannot retreat from the course...

• Word Count: 2655
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... they might have been more convincing as young girls than as more mature women (though audiences presumably found a boy playing Cleopatra or Lady Macbeth satisfactory). Shakespeare emphasizes the over-hastiness and premature nature of this love affair and probably felt he was underlining this theme at a time ... attitudes toward love as they concerned women: a woman should fall instantly in love upon first seeing her beloved, but it was highly improper for her to reveal her feelings. Instead, she should insist on a prolonged courtship during which the lover would earn her love. Her rejec...

• Word Count: 3150
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

... have been intrigued by a letter from 1581 from a prominent landowner, Alexander Hoghton, recommending a William Shakeshafte to Sir Thomas Hesketh. Some believe that Shakeshafte is Shakespeare, working perhaps as a schoolmaster for the Hoghtons, a Catholic family in Lancashire. However, no absolutely reliable historical records remain to provide information about Shakespeare's life between his baptism and his marriage. On November 27, 1582, a license ... also wrote nine history plays, treating the reigns of England's medieval kings and exploring realities of power still relevant today. Th...

• Word Count: 7010
• Approx Pages: 28

... 1602 he wrote a good beginning Ends Well, Troilus and grown and Hamlet. In 1604 he wrote Othello and Measure for measure. In 1605 King Lear. In 1606 wrote Macbeth. In 1607 Antony and Cleopatra in 1608 and Cariolano. Undoubtedly the highlight was William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, this ... ;zein (2002) Shakespeare's genius allowed him to discover the normal mechanisms of change in the English language and take advantage of the Elizabethan concern for experimentation with the linguistic forms. When we speak the language of Shakespeare, and his particular diolecto, we are referring to...

• Word Count: 2527
• Approx Pages: 10