... . ibid.: 3.2.170 27. ibid.: 3.2.169 28. ibid.: 3.2.149-150 29. Hattaway, Michael (edit) (2002), p. 142, cf. Bibliography 30. Shakespeare, William (ca. 1595) (Richard II) - King Richard II - The New Cambridge Shakespeare, 4.1.108, cf. bibliography Secondly, it cements the diametrical opposition between Richard and Bullingbrook, the former being an eloquent poet who, as Aumerle puts it, should ... 3. ibid.: 3.2.120 4. ibid.: 3.2.172 5. ibid.: 3.2.175 6. ibid.: 3.2.172 7. ibid.: 3.2.146 8. ibid.: 3.2.170 9. Holderness, Graham (2000), p.199, cf. Bibliography 10. Shakespeare, William (ca. 159...

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• Grade Level: High School

In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act I, Scene II, Claudius presents himself to be arrogant, authoritative, as well as compassionate, as the new King of Denmark. The role of Claudius is known to be the most intriguing and crucial ... /her benefit, strategically using them to strengthen his/her regime. If Machiavelli was indeed correct, then Claudius, from Shakespeare's Hamlet, starts off as an ideal Machiavellian prince. In Act I, Scene II, Claudius appears to have complete control over Denmark, as evidenced by his imposing speech to the court: "Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th"im...

• Word Count: 692
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... rage. When Lear declares, "No, I"ll not weep / I have full cause of weeping, but this heart / Shall break into a thousand flaws / Or ere I"ll weep. O Fool, I shall go mad!" (Act II, scene 4, 325-328), it shows that as Lear's heart breaks into a hundred thousand pieces, nature will also in the form of rain, thunder, and lightning. This disorder of nature is ... ...

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... the profanity was removed, and that that was not had just reason for being there. Some of the Bard's censored oaths are; "God's blessing on your beard" Love's Labors Lost, II.i.203 This was a very rude curse because a man's facial hair was a point of pride for him. And "to play with someone's beard" was to insult him. "God's body" 1 Henry IV ... VIII, V.i Swearing by the virgin was almost as rude as swearing by her son, especially when addressing a catholic cathedral as Gloucester did in 2 Henry VI, II.i Perhaps the two worst of these Shakespearean swears were "'zounds" and "'sblood." "...

• Word Count: 1988
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• Grade Level: High School

... described him as a snake and said of his governing: "I have not known when his affections sway'd more than his reason" (JC, II, i) By this he meant that he ruled with emotion, not reason. This would be a problem if he sat upon the throne; he would think of himself before his kingdom. Yet again, he bore no argument on how Caesar would rule ... as king, expressing this by saying: "the quarrel will bear no color for the thing he is." (JC, II, i) Portraying him as a "thing" showed his cruel nature as if ... " needed to be killed before he became king. "And therefore think him as a serpent's...

• Word Count: 581
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... and gifts, while she was still alive. Hamlet subtly hints his awareness of his dissolving sanity as he tells Laertes that he killed Polonius in a fit of madness [Act V, scene II, lines 236-250] Hamlet has violent outbursts towards his mother. His outburst seems to be out of jealousy, as a victim to the Oedipus complex. He alone sees his father's ghost ... 's actions and words have a method to them; there appears to be a reason behind them, they are logical in nature. Though this be madness, yet there is method in't. [Act II, scene II, line 206] Hamlet tells his mother That I essentially ...

• Word Count: 2716
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• Grade Level: High School

... of any other dramatist of that time. Shakespeare risked losing royal favor only once, in 1599, when his company performed "the play of the deposing and killing of King Richard II- at the request of a group of conspirators against Elizabeth. In the subsequent inquiry, Shakespeare's company was absolved of any knowing participation in the conspiracy. Although Shakespeare's plays enjoyed great ... Around the time of the fire, Shakespeare retired to Stratford, where he had established his family and become a prominent citizen. Shakespeare's daughter Susanna had married John Hall, a doctor ...

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... say this house is as dark as ignorance, though/Ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say there was/Never man thus abused."" (IV.ii.46-48). Shakespeare also shows his theme of reversed roles by making Olivia's character chase after Cesario. Olivia is of noble blood, and for her ... a dramatic approach. Instead of constantly contemplating her troubles, she sums them up in one line, "My state is desperate for my mater's love."" (II.ii.35). This theme also relates back to the Twelfth Night theme because love is a sensation of pain that suddenly overturns into an object of fulfillment, ... 67...

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... the King of Scotland, Banquo fearful of his own 'cursed thoughts' observes that: "There's husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out." (Act II, Scene I) The darkness itself, which is ironically equated with Heaven, but seemingly appropriate for the acts of Hell, provides the natural cover for the ... begins with MACBETH's 'borrowed robes' and has its central emphasis in Macduff's ironic words "Lest our old robes sit easier than our new" (Act II, Scene IV), referring to MACBETH's new title as King of Scotland, thus MACBETH's ambition achieved. MACBETH now has the ultimate power he onc...

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• Grade Level: High School

... king is somewhat unwanted and he still yearns for the fun of his past. When his father, Henry IV, usurped the throne from Richard II, Henry IV set the precedent for his own possible usurpation, and Henry IV then has to fight off all sorts of upheavals throughout his ... being used as a political pawn, and she barely understands the language in which her suitor is courting her. This type of transaction was a common practice among the aristocracy of medieval and Renaissance Europe, though the modern reader may revile it. Katherine's eventual consent can be read as being given with ... En...

• Word Count: 3298
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... technically, Shylock is right. It is not stated in the law that he should be merciful if the debt is not repaid, but perhaps morally he should be obliged to practice it, as Portia explains to him at length. His ruthless pursuit of revenge on Antonio exposes him as an extremely callous and evil man. Nevertheless, upon losing his case, he ... all dignity, humanity and religious identity. He is reduced to something less than human; something other than human. He is explicitly demonized in the rhetoric of the text. In Act II, scene ii, Launcelot Gobbo identifies Shylock as "a kind of devil,...

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... this, / And say besides that in Aleppo once, / Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk / Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, / I took by th' throat the circumcised dog / And smote him thus. (V.ii.352-365) Here, Othello very poetically leaves the world with a few very meaningful remarks. He remarks with a stern, yet dignified and respectful manner. He remarks about how he always felt ... military operation in Cyprus (Bradley n. pag.). Because the uncertainty of not knowing whether to trust Iago or Cassio was so intense, Othello was driven to very uncharacteristic behavior, as he sat on...

• Word Count: 2635
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• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare's "Othello" can be read from a feminist perspective. Othello serves as an example of the patriarchal social status, the practice of privileges in marriages, and also the suppression and restriction of the Elizabethan woman. The women in that era were raised only to marry and bear children. As this being ... roles in society. Emilia appears to contradict all the things Iago claims to know about women. She does this by displaying a quiet and calm demeanor at all times. In act II, Iago states, "give you so much of her lips/ as of her tongue she off bestows on me/you would ha...

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... because of the incestuous relationship between Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude, and uncle, King Claudius. Even in Elizabethan times, Hamlet was disturbed by his mother's quickly new found love. In scene II of the first act, Hamlet's disgust with his mother's incestuous relationship and pain over his own father's death is no more clear then in the lines of his speech: "But ... wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheet! It is not nor it cannot come to good: but break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue."" (Act I, Scene II, line 138-158) Hamlet's feelings are very clea...

• Word Count: 1494
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... opening scene we see a man amid political instability with a crack in his power, which is due to his own fear that his rule is illegitimate. The deposition of King Richard II would have been seen by many as an offence against God; as the ruler was seen as God's representative. An ominous undertone resounds through this: the power that Henry has ... of a monarch-governed society. Power can grant such an immeasurable array of opportunities that it takes a true leader not to exploit it for selfish reasons. Henry IV Part One also tests sincerity, of both leadership (the illegitimacy of Henr...

• Word Count: 2671
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... with such phrases as, "That I can keep your counsel and not, mine own. Beside, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of a king?" (IV, ii, 12-14) The reference to the sponge reflects the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are easily ordered by the king and do not have minds of their own. Hamlet does ... the reader to side with Hamlet. Another incident of Hamlet's high intelligence is shown when he tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, "I am glad of it: a knavish sleeps in a foolish ear." (IV, ii,24-25) This statement leaves Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ...

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... " on Lysander's and Demetrius" eyes. When Robin put the "love juice" on them they do not love Hermia anymore and they both loved Helena. While in the forest the fairies practice the play that they are going to perform for the lovers. The play causes Bottom to act like an "ass" which then a spell is cast on him and he gets ... Hermia is asleep in the forest and she has the dream about the serpent. When she awakes from her dream she says "methought a serpent ate my heart away, and you sat smiling at his cruel prey". While she was having this dream Lysander was falling in love with Helena s...

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... are many confines, wards, and dungeons . . . Denmark's oath" worst . . . I could be bounded in a nutshell and cut myself a kind of infinite space [thought]. (II.II.243-255) A man who is a mere "prince of philosophical speculators," as F.E. Halliday puts it, would not feel at home in an incestuous tomb of politics. Hamlet is so out ... wittingly, Polonius is assured that it was the talk of a mad man. "Do you know me, my Lord? . . . excellent well. You are a fishmonger . . ."(II.II. 173-4) For in the ordinary sense "it is . . . Polonius . . . breed . . ." A fishmonger being a honest trad...

• Word Count: 2932
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• Grade Level: High School

... , "But two months dead, nay, not so much, not two! / So excellent a King; that was to this / Hyperion to a satyr". [I.ii.138-140] This reveals the depth of emotion and turmoil within Hamlet's mind. This is also shown further at the end of Hamlet's soliloquies. Most Shakespearean characters ... Hamlet's prevarication and ultimate confusion is that Hamlet is unsure whether his father's apparition, "may be the devil" [II.ii.597] and that, "the devil hath power / T"assume a pleasing shape". [II.ii.597-598] By this, Shakespeare creates dramatic tension through pretence of madness, as it can al...

• Word Count: 1550
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• Grade Level: High School

... Claudius in such haste, causing such internal torment for Hamlet. This leads Hamlet to make a generalization about all women. Frailty, thy name is woman(I, ii, 146)! Here, Hamlet is beginning to loath his mother for marrying Claudius only one month after King Hamlet's death. Hamlet loathes his mother and begins ... the actor exhibits for the death of his character's father. What would he do, / Had he the motive and cue for passion/ That I have (II, ii, 566-68) Hamlet is amazed that the actor can evoke these emotions without a real purpose, while he is incapable of doing anything in res...

• Word Count: 1492
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• Grade Level: High School

... and he must continue to live in the 'unweeded garden, / That grows to seed' in order to fulfill the obligation he has to his father (I.ii. 135-6). Making Hamlet more a story of personal growth than a dark murder mystery, Shakespeare emphasizes the emotional, rather than the physical, obstacles that Prince ... ta'en with equal thanks. . . .Give me that man / That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him / I my hearts core' (III.ii. 70-79). Hamlet must become like Horatio. He must learn that evil is a necessary part of the harmonious order that God created. When Hamlet can become impervi...

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... "Should a villain say so, The most replenish'd villain in the world, He were as much more villain: you, my lord, Do but mistake " (II.i.694-697). She is clearly intelligent enough to comprehend what she is being accused of and it, therefore, is not a matter of misunderstanding, but rather her ... as in honour he required Which not to have done I think had been in me Both disobedience and ingratitude To you and toward your friend " (III.ii.1277-1283). The recently imprisoned, post-childbirth Hermione then delivers a flawless speech, responding to the threat of death at the hands of her hus...

• Word Count: 2519
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... if Gertrude continues to sleep with Claudius. Figuratively, Hamlet assumes a gardener role, hoping to eliminate the rank "weeds- from the garden. In Richard II, the gardener gives instructions to his helpers to prune the weeds from the king's garden. The third reference to "weeds- in Hamlet displays a ... new element introduced in Shakespeare's garden metaphor is the rationality, referring to a person's will as a gardener. Just as the gardener in Richard II prunes the excess branches in the garden, the gardener in Iago's metaphor controls desire. In other words, Iago believes the control ...

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... play. At the start of the play Demetrius does not love Helena. (II ii,line 188) Demetrius says, "I love thee not, therefore pursue me not." (II ii,line 194) "Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more." In III ii, Demetrius after being juiced begins to love Helena. (III ii,line 169-173) Demetrius says, "Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will ... love for Helena. Helena is a fool because Demetrius does not love her but she still persists in chasing him. Demetrius shows no love for Helena. (II i,line 227-228) Demetrius says, "I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, And leave thee to th...

• Word Count: 724
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... Signor Lucentio. Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, Shall win my love. And so I take my leave, In resolution as I swore before."" (IV.ii.35-43) So Hortensio finally admits his faults and decides to leave and marry the woman who has loved him all along. This act finally separates him from the ... she knows this. The complexity of her character is demonstrated in many ways throughout the play. Katherine was considered to be "a shrewd, ill-favored wife- (I.ii.55)and she was definitely not what the men were looking for at the time. She was always loud and spoke in a harsh manner to...

• Word Count: 2530
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• Grade Level: High School