On April 26, 1564 in the prosperous English town of Stratford-upon-Avon, the first son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden was baptized and christened William Shakespeare. John Shakespeare was a glove, wool and leather merchant as well as a prominent Stratford citizen. As William grew up he attended ...
Shakespeare, the famous English writer, left behind so many plays representing the time of absolute power. At that time, only one person ruled and had the privilege of absolutism, which is the conduction of other's lives by force. Theatre was encouraged by the queen, who gave the national identity t...
Question How violence in the play is so excessive that is ceases to have any effect on the audience.' To what extent do you find the violence in the play excessive? Response The violence presented on stage in "Macbeth" is merely just an element to distress the audience. It is suggested that "violen...
Iago With the character of Iago, Othello presents the reader/viewer with an image of absolute malice. Whatever he may once have been, he appears, when we meet him, to be almost destitute of humanity, of sympathetic or social feeling. Passion, in Shakespeare's plays, is perfectly easy to recognise...
A pioneer in his art, he flouted all theatrical conventions of his time and in doing so, altered the very structure of drama. ... Johnson's edition of Shakespeare (1765), he writes, "This is the praise of Shakespeare, that his drama is the mirror of life; that he who has mazed his imagination in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious ecstasies by reading human sentiments in human language; by scenes from which a hermit may estimate the transactions of the world, and a confessor predict the progress of the passions." ...
When someone is admired and praised as a great figure, there is a natural desire to know more about this individual. For this reason there is a question over the true authorship of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. There is ample reason to support either side; some believe that William Shakespeare, b...
Stage Drama Essay- Question One In the play Away by Richard Gow, a historical and cultural context including established connotations and characters roles from Historical Literature, and significant events in history are employed to enable the viewer to understand the play on the abstract level. ...
Henry V A historical background - In 1399, at about the age of thirty-three, Henry of Lancaster usurped the crown of his first cousin Richard II and retained power until his death in 1413. - Henry of Lancaster, born Henry of Bolingbroke, became Henry IV through some lucky odds and foolish m...
A Comparison of Time in Macbeth and As You Like It In Shakespearean drama, a dynamic and explosive fusion of jealousy, pride, anger and ambition is characteristic for heroes" behaviour. The tragedy was caused by the excessive flaw in character - self-respect and dignity combined with the feel...
In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, regarding a Danish prince whose uncle murders his father, weds his mother, and claims the throne there are many different aspects of the play which make it one of the most mystifying and all time favorite American plays ever written. Among these, some of the k...
Shakespeare was criticized for mixing comedy and tragedy and failing to observe the unities of time and place prescribed by the rules of classical drama. 20th-century criticism has tended to praise their use in later plays as adding depth and resonance of him. ...
While, as Rebecca Warren says, "Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists used language to establish and build dramatic atmosphere, to define time, place, and character", "language is not merely the medium by which the drama is conveyed: in this play language is action". ...
The respective purpose of each composer helps to illustrate their context and the pre-occupations of each. Shakespeare aims to achieve a dramatization of the historical events that lead to the overthrow of the York dynasty that justifies the re-establishment of the Tudor Dynasty. Conversely, Pacino'...
Prince Hal's representation of "self" in Part I Henry IV is deceiving to the reader. Hal is portrayed as being a cowardly drunkard and a disgrace to his father, King Henry. But, as the play progresses, the reader will soon see Hal's transformation from a low life to a noble warrior. Hall will revea...
We all know that most, if not all, of William Shakespeare's tragedies, are, well, tragic. They all seem to have the same endings. His tragedies all end in some tremendous catastrophe resulting in death. In dramas like Othello, there are certain things the author uses to add tension and suspense, hin...
Until 1598 Shakespeare's theater work was done done in the district northeast of London. This was outside the city walls, in the parish of Shoreditch. Located there were two playhouses, the Theatre and the Curtain. Both were managed by James Burbage, whose son Richard Burbage was Shakespeare...
Shakespeare is called the greatest author in the English language not only because his works are in English, but also for his profound and lasting impact on the language itself. William was a great English playwright, dramatist, and poet who lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth cent...
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, he creates different scenes that contrast the previous scene. One of these contrasts occurs in 5.1, in the graveyard. The common reader has preconceived perceptions of a graveyard. Those opinions consist of mostly unpleasant thoughts and images. Before the graveyard,...
For instance, modern readers should remember that all roles in Renaissance drama were played by men and boys, so that Rosalind and Celia (as well as Phoebe and Audrey) would really have been played by youths in women's clothing; this puts the theme of cross-dressing in a whole new light. ...
By the point of adolescence, arguably every individual in the western world will have heard of William Shakespeare in one way or another- whether it be from a play that was put on by the high school drama department, or merely by seeing his name as they aimlessly flip through HBO and come across "that one Leonardo DiCaprio movie". ...
The opening credits introduce the characters, setting and main story line in quick images and gives the un-knowledgeable viewer the basis of the movie in the simplest of terms while tense gothic music is played over the visual stimulation to increase the feeling of drama and quicken the senses. ...