Essays on Plays

1863

Language Block Walls of Shakespeare

2 pages / 1037 words

Charles Forker argues that Marcus Andronicus, upon discovering the maimed, raped and mutilated Lavinia, "erects a barrier of fanciful language between himself and the object of his contemplation." It is an interesting question: does Marcus create an elaborate metaphor comparing Lavinia to a "lopped and...

Hamlet

1864

What Preceded The Storm: Hamlet

2 pages / 962 words

When Hamlet sees Fortinbras’ army headed for combat in Poland he is moved to deliver a striking monologue about the battle raging in his soul. Passion and anger drive Hamlet to avenge his father’s murder at any cost, while logic and reason turn him away...

Hamlet

1865

Heaven in Hopes Or Death of The Death Itself in Hamlet

6 pages / 2624 words

A common interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, based on the widely read Folio edition of the text, is that the titular character is motivated by darkness, exhibiting depression and suicidal tendencies. The young prince often refers to suicide, and his soliloquies contain language that indicates that...

Hamlet

1866

Questions and Secrets of Death in Hamlet

4 pages / 2053 words

In order to truly appreciate life, or recognize its value, one must be able to comprehend the powerful finality that accompanies death. Furthermore, there also must be comprehension of this topic when seeking to destroy and inflict death on another being. This complex yet crucial...

Hamlet

1867

Logic and Inaction in Othello and Hamlet

6 pages / 2715 words

Othello is a man of action. Hamlet is a man of inaction. If Hamlet were placed in Othello’s world and vice versa one could assume that both would function well in those circumstances. Othello is a man of action in a play that demands his...

Hamlet Othello

1868

Hamlet's Search for Identity in William Shakespeare's Play

3 pages / 1631 words

Why has Hamlet captivated actors, critics and audiences for centuries? What makes Hamlet himself so mysterious? Unlike most characters, who are defined by what can be seen on stage, Hamlet appears to be “constructed around an unseen or secret core.” Shakespeare characterizes Hamlet extensively, but...

Hamlet

1869

The Dishonesty of The Ghost in Hamlet

3 pages / 1570 words

Shakespeare has always been able to create characters richly dichotomous in nature. In “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” the portrayal of the ghost of Hamlet’s father vacillates through the play from Hamlet’s uncertainty of whether “it is an honest ghost” (144, l.5) or “a goblin damned”...

Hamlet

1870

Analysis of The Relationship Between Hamlet and His Dead Father

2 pages / 1123 words

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a story grounded in worldly issues like morality, justice, and retribution, begins in a very otherworldly way: the appearance of a ghost desiring vengeance from beyond the grave. The supernatural confrontation between Hamlet and the ghost of his father is perhaps the...

Hamlet

1871

"Act": The Theme of "Acting" in Hamlet

2 pages / 1150 words

Beginning with Hamlet’s encounter with his father’s ghost, Shakespeare introduces a line of “action” which his hero then follows throughout the narrative. From missed opportunities to sporadic bursts of movement and progression, Hamlet initially struggles with his stagnancy in change and his reluctance to challenge...

Hamlet

1872

The Influence of Ophelia on Hamlet in Shakespeare's Play

6 pages / 2670 words

To understand Hamlet’s insecurities, we must understand Ophelia’s point of view. It is she who makes him most uncomfortable over the course of the play, and it is her rejection of him that drives Hamlet closer to insanity. Her reasons for this rejection are as...

Hamlet

1873

How Hamlet is a Different Type of a Revemge Hero

4 pages / 1923 words

Hamlet challenges the conventions of revenge tragedy by deviating from them. Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences + experts online Get my essay – Sydney Bolt, 1985 The typical Elizabethan theatre-goer attending the...

Hamlet

1874

The Recast of Gender Roles: Subversive Identities in "Fun Home"

4 pages / 1750 words

Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home challenges both established gender roles and heteronormative identities. Gender is shown to be constructed, assigned through Western standards, and then practiced through performance. Bechdel’s graphic novel explores the destruction of feminine female/masculine male gender binaries and proposes a more fluid understanding...

Fun Home

1875

Michel Foucault’s "Repressive Hypothesis" & Alison Bechdel’s "Fun Home"

3 pages / 1264 words

Introduction Michel Foucault begins his essay “We ‘Other’ Victorians” with a description of what he calls the “repressive hypothesis” (Foucault, 1990, p. 10). This hypothesis holds that openly expressing sexuality at the beginning of the seventeenth century was considered shameless. Transitioning into the Victorian era...

Fun Home Michel Foucault

1876

Fun Home: The Absurd Paradox of Death in The Real Life Example

2 pages / 844 words

Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home is a groundbreaking piece of literature in which an audience is able to experience an autobiographical piece unlike any other. Through the illustrations in this graphic novel as well as the utterly human words and concepts discussed by Bechdel, she is...

Fun Home

1877

Valley of The Shadows of The Text

7 pages / 3234 words

The introduction of the novel – or long form narrative prose in general – granted the writer a unique, widened canvas on which to blend rhetoric and art. Here, the writer is invited to both persuade and entertain, sometimes veiling one with the other. On...

Fun Home

1878

Illustration and Text Interaction Modes in "Fun Home"

4 pages / 2047 words

It is often thought that graphic novels and comics are in some way less sophisticated or overall lesser than traditional novels, as if the use of illustrations rather than long text descriptions makes it a more simplistic medium. However, the blending of illustrations and text...

Fun Home

1879

Construction of Identity in "Fun Home"

2 pages / 819 words

Although Alison Bechdel tells an emotional story in her graphic memoir Fun Home, she also grounds various important plot points about identity construction in mythology. In this way, she is able to articulate the complex and often contradictory relationship with her father that ultimately played...

Fun Home Personal Identity

1880

Fun Home: Two Key Scenes Analysis of Ambiguity

3 pages / 1327 words

Ambiguity is present within every language as every word can be interpreted slightly differently. In literature, complex ideas are often indirectly depicted through the use of metaphors and symbols. Likewise, images also possess a sense of ambiguity, perhaps even more so than words, since images...

Fun Home

1881

Lacan’s Mirror Stage and "Fun Home"

2 pages / 800 words

The graphic novel Fun Home by Alison Bechdel opens with a series of panels portraying how she and her father used to play airplane. At the same time, Bechdel makes a connection between them playing airplane and the myth of Icarus and Daedalus. It is...

Fun Home