English Literature

Source: https://onehundredpages.wordpress.com/shakespeares-hamlet-context/ Shakespeare�s Hamlet: Context 1. Shakespeare's Theater In Shakespeare�s time, a stage wasn�t just one type of space; plays had to be versatile. The same play might be produced in an outdoor playhouse, an indoor theater, a royal palace�or, for a company on tour, the courtyard of an inn. In any of these settings, men

Character and role of Desdemona in Othello . Is Desdemona a pathetic character rather than tragic? Discuss. It is very easy, as several recent critics have noted, to canonize Desdemona, a fate rather common to a number of Shakespeare�s particularly appealing heroines. Desdemona, however, is made of stern stuff and not all her characteristics are quite so saintly. This is far from giving credence to Iago�s insinuations. It implies rather that she is human. It is a little too easy to consider Desdemona as not much more than the object of Othello�s love and the victim of the passion. This is ironic, for Desdemona�s chief quality is her independence, a characteristic not uncommon in a number of Shakespeare�s female characters. She is no shy, reticent creature when it comes to standing up for herself before the senators of Venice . We have to consider that she is brought at night to speak for herself and Othello before an angry and distressed father. Her language is firm, temperate and...

According to Aristotle, �A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty�� The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.  In Julius Caesar Brutus displays the traits of a tragic hero through out this play. His tragic flaw is his being too naive. He makes an error in judgment, and when this error occurred it causes his own downfall. But Brutus causes his own downfall when after killing Caesar all of Rome turns against the conspirators. And all these events cause his death. However, the factors that have made him a tragic hero are discussed below: The main reason that Marcus Brutus deserves the title of tragic hero is his noble personality. First of all, throughout the play, he never deceives anyone. Although he did murder Juli...

Macbeth was a true Shakespearean tragic hero. He had many noble qualities as well as several tragic flaws. He was a courageous, brave and good nobleman who was haunted by superstition, moral cowardice and an overwhelming ambition. The three points which contribute greatly to Macbeth�s degeneration are the prophecy which was told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth influenced and manipulated Macbeth�s judgment, and finally Macbeth�s long time ambition which drove his desire to be king. Although he was so far courageous and brave and he is seen as the hero at the beginning of the play, his sky high ambition causes his damnation. And ultimately he becomes a tragic hero. Macbeth was a courageous and strong nobleman. He and Banquo were leaders of King Duncan's army. His personal powers and strength as a general won him the battle as described by the captain, "But all's too weak:/For brave Macbeth -- well he deserved that name � /Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,...

Macbeth is a very exciting story containing all kinds of plots and murders. The characters that are killing and are planning murders are all very deceiving and treacherous. Two of the most dangerous criminals in this play are Lady Macbeth, who is considered and said to be the forth witch of this play, and Macbeth, who is evilly ambitious for gaining power. Together they commit the most dreadful murder by killing the King; Duncan. Together they planned and committed the murder. This is why it is difficult to determine which one of these two is more guilty, because they each do their own part in committing the crime. Lady Macbeth would prepare the plan and then encourage Macbeth to go through with it. Lady Macbeth encouraged her husband, Macbeth, by saying, "When you durst do it, then you were a man;/And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man" (I,7 )The three points which contribute greatly to Macbeth�s degeneration are the prophecy which was told to ...

Lear�s relationship with the Fool is no mere static pictorial contrast, but part of the tragic movement of the play: the movement downwards towards that ultimate exposure and defeat when the king is degraded to the status of the meanest of his servants. It is the presence of the Fool which reinforces the meaning of Lear�s loss of sanity. As his wits begin to leave him, Lear begins to see the truth about himself; when they are wholly gone he begins to have spasmodic flashes of insight in which during the momentary comments on the storm in revengeful personal resentment, he sees the truth about the world. It is important to remember that it is the Fool who points out at the beginning of Lear�s misfortune��Thou would�st make a good fool�. In saying so the Fool also speaks as a prophet. Here Shakespeare makes the fullest possible use of the accepted convention that it is the Fool who speaks the truth, which he knows not by ratiocination but by inspiring intuition. Hooker h...

Published in 1919, Hamlet and His Problems may be considered an example of �destructive criticism� in the sense that it challenges the age-old established critical perspectives on a work of art. Eliot puts forward his contention that much of the critical has been devoted to analysing the character of Hamlet, rather than analysing the play, which should be the primary business of the critics. He cites the example of two great minds, Goethe and Coleridge, who also who were not immune to this kind of fallacy and who have substituted �their own Hamlet for Shakespeare�s�. Eliot alleges that instead of studying it as a � work of art�, they have imposed their personalities on Shakespeare�s Hamlet and �made of Hamlet a Werther� and � of Hamlet a Coleridge� respectively. Eliot, on the other hand, praises J.M. Robertson and Stoll, who, according to him, tried to shift the critical focus of Hamlet to a right direction by pointing out the genesis of Shakespeare�s play from his predecessors: � H...