Essays on Plays

1521

Motifs that Represent The State of Women in Susan Glaspell’s Play- Trifles

5 pages / 2377 words

Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, reflects her fixation with culture-bound notions of gender roles and the complexities of inequality prevalent in the home as well as the public sphere during 1916. The competing roles and perspectives of men and women work to create a social division...

Trifles

1522

Character Analysis of Shakespearean Moorish Characters (aaron and Othello)

6 pages / 2762 words

While certain of William Shakespeare’s plays have so ingrained themselves into popular culture as to be ubiquitous, others are rarely performed or read and are, in fact, largely ignored. Shakespeare’s Othello, one of the former, and Titus Andronicus, one of the latter, are vastly different...

Character Othello Titus Andronicus

1523

The Mix of Fact and Fiction in "The Woman Warrior" and "Fun Home"

5 pages / 2334 words

In its creation and consumption, literature involves an inherent contract between reader and author. The parameters of this contract are often set by the work’s genre, and help the reader to determine whether the text should be interpreted as truth or imagination. When an author...

Fun Home The Woman Warrior

1524

The Role of Minor Characters in Doctor Faustus and The Tempest

2 pages / 1081 words

Shakespeare’s minor characters are as often as diverse and essential to the plot as their protagonist counterparts, used within his plays to illuminate the main characters’ goals and feelings. The presence of these personages also expands upon the audience’s experience while giving audience members characters...

Doctor Faustus Faust The Tempest

1525

Power in Doctor Faustus and The Tempest

4 pages / 1951 words

Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare’s The Tempest present similar definitions of “power” through the differing circumstances of their protagonists. Power, in these plays, can be thought of as “control of the unknown.” If one character has control of something another character has no understanding of,...

Doctor Faustus The Tempest William Shakespeare

1526

Analysis of The Character of a Faltering Father in The Taming of The Shrew

3 pages / 1614 words

The wealthy Baptista Minola of Padua, Italy is one of the most prideful characters in William Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of Shrew. Baptista’s pride stems from his large estate and untaken daughters who will inherit his capital, assets of which he misuses in attempt to...

The Taming of The Shrew

1527

Roles Switching in The Taming of The Shrew

4 pages / 1964 words

Shakespeare’s comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, focuses a great deal on the character of Kate, the “shrew” of the story, and her transition from an unlovable, temperamental harridan into the picture of a perfect wife. Surrounding this tale of Petruchio and Kate are the...

The Taming of The Shrew

1528

The Theme of Deception in "The Taming of The Shrew"

3 pages / 1684 words

In Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece, The Taming of the Shrew, the theme of deception weaves a complex tapestry, as characters don various disguises that conceal and, ultimately, reveal their true selves. This pervasive theme of deception showcases Shakespeare’s skill in using both psychological and physical disguises...

The Taming of The Shrew

1529

The Reality Paradox in The Taming of The Shrew

3 pages / 1533 words

One of William Shakespeare’s earliest romantic comedies, The Taming of the Shrew, focuses on the courtship and marriage of two sisters, Katharina and Bianca. While the play provides a somewhat lighthearted commentary on matrimony and the supposed roles of husbands and wives, the lightheartedness of...

The Taming of The Shrew

1530

The Use of Stories as a Literary Device in The Tempest and Othello

3 pages / 1321 words

Characters in Shakespeare’s Othello and The Tempest use stories to explain personal history or change the course of events. These are no simple tales; rather, they are complex and thought-provoking means of enriching each play and carrying action forward. This paper examines some of the...

Othello The Tempest William Shakespeare

1531

Manly Friendship as Depicted in as You Like It and The Taming of The Shrew

5 pages / 2339 words

In many of Shakespeare’s comedies, we see people from all social ranks being portrayed – from the highest of nobles, to the lowest of servants. In cases of male friendship, there is a common pattern to see friendship develop through master-servant relationships, which aid and...

As You Like It The Taming of The Shrew

1532

Analysis of Katharina, The Shrew in Shakespeare's The Taming of The Shrew

2 pages / 912 words

A shrew, a scold, was in fundamental nature any woman that verbally defied authority in public and obstinately challenged the “axiom” of male rule. The late sixteenth century was harsh to deviants of social role and standing, and the penalty of having an association with...

The Taming of The Shrew

1533

Analysis of Petruchio's Language in The Taming of The Shrew

2 pages / 1040 words

Petruchio’s multifaceted role in The Taming of the Shrew illustrates various themes of the play, such as the concept of domestication, the economy of marriage, gender roles, and the nature of language. Through his experiences at Padua, interactions and marriage with Katherina, and the conclusion...

The Taming of The Shrew

1534

How to Tame a Shrew According to Petruchio

4 pages / 1980 words

One reading of The Taming of the Shrew may cause women to shake their heads in disbelief of Kate’s changed behavior for the pleasure of her husband. A closer reading and an analyzing of the methods used by Petruchio in taming his wife, however, provide...

The Taming of The Shrew

1535

The Reflection of Marriage in Shakespearean Society in The Taming of The Shrew

2 pages / 1029 words

The Taming of the Shrew gives the reflection of marriage in Shakespearean society. Ideas of patriarchy, female domestication and submission, economic interest, and the employment of noise and love all unite in the plot of the play according to the roles by which the shrew,...

The Taming of The Shrew

1536

The Hierarchy of Love as Reflected in Petruchio and Catherine's Relationship

3 pages / 1632 words

In her famous speech at the end of The Taming of the Shrew the formerly shrewish Kate proclaims: Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance commits his body To painful...

The Taming of The Shrew

1537

The Significance of The Induction in The Taming of The Shrew

1 page / 777 words

The Role of Power in the Induction Perhaps the unknown purpose behind an induction, which even the most experienced readers have failed to explain, has finally come to light. Christopher Sly, the principal character in the brief Induction of The Taming of the Shrew by...

The Taming of The Shrew

1538

The Taming of The Shrew: Gender Roles in Shakespeare's Play

1 page / 479 words

Shakespeare’s renowned comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, often provokes scholarly debate due to its portrayal of gender dynamics, particularly through the character of Katherine Minola. This essay critically examines the play’s treatment of misogyny and gender roles, focusing on the controversial theme of taming...

The Taming of The Shrew William Shakespeare

1539

An Idea of The 'Great Chain of Being" in The Taming of The Shrew and Richard Iii

4 pages / 1770 words

Shakespeare’s Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew both teach audiences a lesson about “the great chain of being” — by showing Richard and Kate’s refusal to accept the doctrine of passive obedience and the consequences that follow. In Richard’s case he is unwilling...

The Taming of The Shrew