Essays on Plays

1407

The Shakespearean Gender Identity and How It Has Altered Over Time

3 pages / 1313 words

Present day conceptions of gender would appear to be different to what they were in Shakespeares day. Clear cut divisions of male, female and neuter are apparent. One would need to look back to the time of Shakespeare to try and see the different view...

As You Like It Gender

1408

Elisen as an Aristotelian Tragic Hero

6 pages / 2533 words

Introduction In the realm of dramatic art, cultural influences often shape the narrative, giving birth to captivating tragedies that resonate with audiences. Wole Soyinka’s masterpiece, “Death and the King’s Horseman,” is no exception, as it delves into the intricate web of religion, tradition, and the...

Death and The King’s Horseman Tragic Hero

1409

Unholy Mothers: Mothers as Negative Characters in Richard Iii, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest

6 pages / 2581 words

The mothers presented in Shakespeare’s plays encompass a broad range of social positions, personalities, goals, and prominences in their respective plays. From young and powerful to old and vulnerable, to long deceased, mothers in Richard III, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest act in ways...

Hamlet Macbeth William Shakespeare

1410

Name Brand - The Use of Names as Metonymy for Actions in Coriolanus

2 pages / 887 words

Mention Tonya Harding, Timothy McVeigh or Monica Lewinsky, and immediately the infamous deeds of each individual come to mind. Each of these names meant nothing until actions such as sex and violence became associated with them. Monica Lewinsky’s name became so recognizable that she used...

Coriolanus William Shakespeare

1411

Sympathizing with Coriolanus

5 pages / 2138 words

“What he cannot help in his Nature, you/account a Vice in him.” 1. This is the reason it is so difficult, and yet so necessary, to sympathise with Coriolanus. His virtues work in conjunction with his vices and for a modern reader, with little empathy...

Coriolanus William Shakespeare

1412

When in Rome, Do as Coriolanus Doesn’t

2 pages / 1079 words

Particularly interesting in a genre that by its definition is meant to be a crowd-pleaser, Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus provides a protagonist who is not particularly likeable. Constantly insulting in his speech, prideful and short-tempered, Coriolanus, unlike his mother Volumnia, is neither able nor willing to...

Coriolanus William Shakespeare

1413

The Gendering of Tragedy: Honor in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus

8 pages / 3565 words

Introduction In the tragedies of William Shakespeare, themes of vengeance, chaos, uncertain honor, and untimely death permeate the narratives, whether portraying the downfall of a noble king, impassioned general, or valiant warrior. One such tragedy, “Coriolanus,” explores the societal and self-destruction of a Roman warrior...

Coriolanus William Shakespeare

1414

Humanity Versus Heroism in Shakespeare’s Richard Iii and Coriolanus

4 pages / 1877 words

Shakespeare’s Richard III and Coriolanus are both characters who possess all the qualities of potentially invincible, fearless, and heroic warriors. They fail to emerge as heroes because neither of them are able to live beyond their idealistic motives as warriors, and incorporate humanity into their...

Coriolanus Heroism William Shakespeare

1415

Comparison of The ‘coriolanus Asks for The People’s Voices’ Scene in The Film and Text Versions

3 pages / 1471 words

Introduction Despite the adaptation of a text to film benefiting from the opportunities and abilities bestowed to a director through the visual aspect of the medium, narrative complexity and depth of literary themes almost inevitably suffer a condensation. Ralph Fiennes’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus...

Coriolanus William Shakespeare

1416

The Course of Law: The Legal System in The Merchant of Venice and The Comedy of Erros

3 pages / 1323 words

William Shakespeare includes a Duke to represent the utmost authority figure in many of his plays. In The Comedy of Errors and The Merchant of Venice, both Dukes hold complete control—or, at least, what they perceive to be complete control—over their respective regions. Shakespeare uses...

Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare

1417

An Exploration of The Nature of Decision-making in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde

2 pages / 981 words

In Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer presents decision-making in a variety of ways, including through the relationship between fate, knowledge and freedom of action, ideas that are at the centre of medieval philosophy. Troilus claims to not believe in total free will, but rather a passive...

Troilus and Cressida

1418

The Portrayals of Sexuality in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and a Streetcar Named Desire

6 pages / 2583 words

After seeing a play such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or A Streetcar Named Desire, a viewer may be hard pressed to remember that there was once a time in Western culture when the revealing of a woman’s bare foot proved entirely scandalous....

A Streetcar Named Desire Human Sexuality

1419

Engaging The Reader’s Judgement in The Bluest Eye and Hamlet

1 page / 641 words

Introduction: Literature and Controversial Issues Controversial issues such as incest and murder are tough to discuss and even more difficult to resolve. Literature often employs such realities to leave the reader in a state of thought, rarely offering answers or even stances on the issues....

Hamlet Reader The Bluest Eye

1420

Comparing Social and Ethnic Tensions in a Streetcar Named Desire and Blues for Mister Charlie

4 pages / 1955 words

A Streetcar Named Desire and Blues for Mister Charlie are both concerned to a large extent with tensions between different ethnic groups and, since in both plays the ethnicity of each group defines its social position, different social groups as well. The two plays are...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1421

Deceiving Appearances in "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "Arms and The Man"

5 pages / 2369 words

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw are both satirical plays meant to criticize Victorian society and war, respectively. While both plays were written by Irish authors familiar with London and both were first performed...

The Importance of Being Earnest

1422

Corruption of Innocence in ‘great Expectations’ and 'Pygmalion'

8 pages / 3459 words

The societal aspects of their writing made Dickens and Shaw two of the most influential figures of revolutionary and socio-political writing. William Blake, however, was also significant, especially through his work Songs of Innocence and Experience where he gave the marginalised figures of society a...

Charles Dickens Great Expectations Pygmalion

1423

Compare of Pygmalion by Myhtihcal Form

2 pages / 722 words

Pygmalion, written in 1912 by George Bernard Shaw and initial performed 2 years later, tells the story of Henry Higgins, an academic acoustics (speech), United Nations agency bets his friend that he will pass off a poor flower woman with a Cockney accent as a...

Mythology Pygmalion

1424

The Role and Function of The Inspector in an Inspector Calls

2 pages / 1103 words

An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J.B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. The Inspectors name is Goole which...

An Inspector Calls Character

1425

Analysis of Film Adaptations of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

6 pages / 2538 words

Romeo and Juliet – as characters, as symbols of love, and as symbols of innocence torn apart by a hardheaded society – are cultural icons so ingrained in society that they are often synonymous with the very concepts they represent. After centuries of study and...

Film Analysis Romeo and Juliet