Study Like a Boss
Anna Quindlen, Bill Bryson, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Tertullian, Thomas Paine, 1984, A Raisin in The Sun, Animal Farm, Beowulf, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, George Orwell, Hamlet, Into The Wild, Lord of The Flies, A Modest Proposal, All Quiet on The Western Front, Allegory, Antigone, Between The World and Me.
Background/Context: William Shakespeare was born April of 1564 in England. He was followed by 8 younger siblings. He is well know around the world for his tragedies. In early 1606 Shakespeare composed Macbeth which will become one of his best known plays. Shakespeare died in 1616 on April 23rd. Macbeth is last and shortest of … Read more
Human ambition is often a double-edged sword, on which many people fall. Without drive, humanity would be lost in the dark ages, doomed to stagnate. However when ambition is left unchecked, humans pay a grave price. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the tragic characters often have ambition to thank for their fatal or perilous ends. Ambition … Read more
The star-crossed gnomes meet in a garden while Juliet was trying to sneak a flower back to her side and Gnomeo was on a mission to poison the well water when they find out they’re from different gardens. This parallels to the act of Romeo crashing a Capulet party and meeting Juliet, them falling quickly … Read more
Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies from the early 1600’s. Macbeth, once a nobleman who was the epitome of loyalty takes a turn and is overcome by ambition which can be attributed to the witches and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth rises to power but covered in blood. A major theme throughout the play of Macbeth … Read more
Sister James, a nun in her twenties, consistently deals with multiple problems in the play Doubt: A Parable by John Shanley. She is at the heart of the focal conflict in the play, but deals with personal conflicts. She is extremely impressionable and makes the audience aware of her uncertainty throughout the play, rather than … Read more
1. Of all of the burdens that the men have to carry to war, I find the most evocative to be the weights of memory and one another. They had lives before the war, and some will not live to the end of the conflict. Memories are a true burden. They’re the remainders of a … Read more
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is composed of a plethora of characters with varying personalities. Romeo and Juliet is a tale of a boy and a girl from feuding families who fall in love with each other, and end up killing themselves. Shakespeare ends with “Some shall be pardoned, and some shall be punished” (Cite). Among … Read more
Love and Despair The ideas of love and passion are ever present in almost everyone’s lives nowadays, this intimacy can be felt for your parents, a lover, or any number of things, and many authors use these topics in their novels. William Shakespeare, author of Romeo and Juliet, does not shy away from the effects … Read more
In Shakespeare’s popular drama Julius Caesar, a group of senators ferociously murder the Roman dictator Julius Caesar at the Capitol in Rome. Marcus Antonius(Antony) is one of Caesar’s most-trusted friends, and one of the few who does not betray him. At Caesar’s funeral, Antony motivates the citizens of Rome to turn against the conspirators and … Read more
The theme of destructive love within a relationship that is seen in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are presented through sexism, jealousy and betrayal. A lot of women are being used for their bodies and mind. Sexism plays a role within a relationship, in which women get hurt. Jealousy can be seen in both … Read more
The Role Patriarchy Plays in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Stephen Evans’ “Study guide for Romeo and Juliet” quotes Anthony Fletcher’s definition of patriarchy as: “the institutionalised male dominance over women and children in the family and the subordination of women in society in general (xv)” (Evans, 4) Looking at this definition, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet … Read more
The comedic play entitled “The Taming of the Shrew” written by William Shakespeare, is an antifeminist story of how a man named Petruchio tames his wife Katherine Minola into submission. There are many aspects of this play that appear to be sexist toward women; parts pertaining to the organization of marriage, the taming of a … Read more
Everyone in this universe seeks power. The more powerful a person gets, the higher rank they are in this world. In the theater play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, he exemplifies power throughout the entire play. The three main characters that had power was Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and The Weird Sisters. In Macbeth, power is the … Read more
Lady Macbeth: “Here’s the smell of blood still: all the / perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this / little hand. Oh, oh, oh” (V. I. 50-52). Lady Macbeth has become berserk from the murders she assisted in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and she is attempting to wash imaginary blood off of her hands in her … Read more
How do different poets use the voice of the speaker in their poems to reveal their ideas and engage their readers? The speaker’s role in a poet’s expression and engagement of readers is essential. It influences a story’s direction, the emotions invoked in the reader, and how themes are shaped into ideas. Robert Browning’s dramatic … Read more
In Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, women are shown to be objectified and subservient to men, conforming to the accepted gender roles that are expected of them. Patriarchal views of femininity support the authority of men in society, as well as subjugation and subordination of women. Yet through the story Shakespeare subtly presents a … Read more
A profuse amount of relationships have problems regarding having a flow of trust and honesty between one another, and this is why one in three marriages end up with divorce. An example of this can be seen in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, where there’s a complete and utter deterioration of Macbeth’s relationship with his wife. … Read more
Before a writer can create a brilliant story, he must conjure up a provocative idea. Before he can have that idea, his brain needs the fuel to process that idea: Influence. It’s obvious that Shakespeare didn’t just completely make up the story of Macbeth on the spot, he was clearly influenced by the history of … Read more
Throughout the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, one of the main themes is love. Shakespeare takes this theme and twists it around, showing how he perceives love based on how his characters react in the presence of it. One of the first things that Shakespeare says about love is that it’s messy. … Read more
Dreams Do Come True Many people have hopes and goals that they would like to accomplish. They may desire powerful positions or jobs, while others may desire prosperity and riches. This is known as ambition, the spell binding force that leads people towards success. However, ambition may result in harmful acts to get their satisfaction. … Read more
Revenge without guilt – The complete and perfect scheme. (or Heaven Bound Hamlet) In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the intensely introspective character, Hamlet, purposely uses an internal dialogue and calculatingly waits and plots to cope with the moral issues, draw out his enemies and manipulate the situation to exact revenge without guilt, all while feigning madness. Shakespeare … Read more
Examine the way conflict between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is portrayed throughout the course of the play, paying particular attention to the way Shakespeare shows the development of their characters and the changing nature of their relationship. During the play, Shakespeare presents the theme of conflict in various ways. From the conflict between the characters … Read more
William Shakespeare: An Analysis of his Progressive Messages It was not until the 20th century that the topic of poor treatment towards minorities and women began to make recurring appearances in legislation and US Supreme Court decisions. Minority ethnicities and religions, as well as races, began to obtain more rights and experience less discrimination due … Read more
What is the nature of evil? Shakespeare’s Macbeth uses the seven deadly sins from scripture to answer this question. Pride, lust, envy, greed, gluttony, sloth and wrath corrupt Macbeth. Macbeth’s pride in himself and prophecy, lust for power and envy of King Duncan drive him to regicide. He becomes greedy and gluttonous, using power only … Read more
Shakespeare lived in a time of strive and many hardships, but some of the most amazing and well known pieces of literature came out of it. Shakespeare was born on April 23,1616 on Stratford upon Avon in Great Britain and as he grew up showed a great interest in the english language. The Renaissance was … Read more
A revision of Shakespeare’s tragedies Othello and Romeo and Juliet, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s comedy Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) follows Constance Ledbelly, an assistant professor at Queen’s University, as she delves into the plots of the two plays, attempting to discern the possible influence of a Wise Fool on the texts, as well as embarking on … Read more
A tragedy is a form of drama in which death, heartbreak, or any type of human suffering is inevitable. The origins where tragedies occurred were Ancient Greece, Italy, and Britain. An example of a famous tragedy are Romeo & Juliet and Mac Beth by William Shakespeare. A Shakespearean tragedy usually includes elements which are, having … Read more
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II, lines 43-44). The famous quote from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is only one of possibly many instances through which Shakespeare utilizes the distinctive characteristics of flowers, particularly roses, to … Read more
Loyalty is one of the most prize possessions any human being can offer unto you along with trust. In the book “King Lear”, William Shakespeare introduces readers to the theme of the book which is loyalty. Loyalty is seen throughout the characters Cordelia, Kent, and the Fool, due to their actions and not their words. … Read more
A Midsummer Nights Dream In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream love was a main concept. However, in order for the emotions of love to take their place, there is a need of power to generate it. Only through power is love really made evident. The power of authority, the power to transform perceptions and … Read more
Various characters in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet exhibit aspects of an “outsider”. The obvious choices being Claudius and Hamlet. Claudius appears to be freed from moral restrictions, while Hamlet represents the stereotypical isolated intellectual. However, both of them pale in comparison to the true outsider in the play: Ophelia. Both Claudius and Hamlet are too respected … Read more
Throughout The Taming of the Shrew how can Shakespeare be found to present the struggle for female identity in a comedic fashion? In the time Shakespeare was active, society was vastly different to today. Not only were class boundaries more distinct, but so too were the differences in gender and their accompanying rights. It is … Read more
Man of Twenty-Nine Thousand Words “We know what we are, but not know what we may be. ” The man with a vocabulary with over twenty-nine thousand words, William Shakespeare is one who left a lasting impact on the world and even affects the world today. Shakespeare is a writer who has affected the world … Read more
A play within a play, a comedy of love: A Midsummer night’s dream Shakespeare was pointing out that love is maddening and that people do very eccentric things for love. In the play A Midsummer night’s dream written by Shakespeare, the characters portray the quote written by John Lennon, ‘All you need is love’ in … Read more
Shakespeare (William) was the most distinguished dramatic poet the world has had since the decline of Greece. He was the son of a wealthy woolen merchant at Stratford on the Avon, a market spot in the English. County Warwickshire, probably born on Apr. 23, 1564. His mother was a daughter of Robert of Wellington, and … Read more
His life was a good one for the times, no money struggles or divorced parents. His father didn’t expect him to fallow in his footprints like most parents, but, he would have liked it. Instead his father wanted what was best for him. In turn he fallowed his dreams of acting, writing and producing plays. … Read more
In William Shakespeares tragedy Othello, the hero, Othello, is plagued by his many hamartias. Termed by Aristotle around 330 B. C. , hamartia is a tragic heros error or transgression or his flaw or weakness of character. (p. 1296) Othellos hamartias include jealousy, a blind, unrealistic love for Desdemona, trusting others too easily, and his … Read more
In all of Shakespeares great novels there are many experiences, tragic or otherwise that one can learn from. Shakespeares novel Othello is not an exception this rule. Throughout Othello there are many examples of mistakes made by the characters that a reader can learn from. Learning from the flaws of others is one way that … Read more
Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some are more serious than others. For example, some people have addictions to gambling, while other people can’t remember to put the milk away after they use it. After a while though, a person’s flaws come back to haunt them. The tragedy MacBeth is no exception … Read more
In the first three acts of the play Hamlet, King Claudius go through a subtle, but defined change in character. Claudius role in the play begins as the newly corrinated king of Denmark. The former king, King Hamlet, was poisoned by his brother, Claudius, while he was asleep. Claudius, however, made it known to everyone … Read more
The Play: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare offers a wonderful contrast in human mentality. Shakespeare provides insight into man’s conflict with the rational versus the emotional characteristics of our behavior through his settings. The rational, logical side is represented by Athens, with its flourishing government and society. The wilder emotional side is represented … Read more
The trial scene in the Merchant of Venice is the climax of the play as Shylock has taken Antonio to court, as he has not paid back the money he borrowed. Shylock wants the pound of flesh that is the forfeit of the bond concerning the money Antonio borrowed from him. Shylock’s main motivation for … Read more
Nature, described as mysterious and secretive, is a recurrent theme throughout Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra, the ill-fated queen of Egypt, is both mysterious and secretive, and her emotional power is above and beyond natures great strength. Whether described in a positive or in a negative manner, both nature and Cleopatra are described as being … Read more
Perhaps the most interesting and exotic character in the tragic play “Othello,” is “Honest” Iago. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits him and moves him closer toward his goals. He is the main driving force in this play, pushing Othello … Read more
The four main characters in the play Othello represent four different character traits of manhood: Roderigo, the failure; Othello, the hero, yet the insane lover; Cassio, the noblemen; and Iago, the villain, yet the strongest character of the play. Of these four characters Roderigo reveals the weakest character traits. Iago effortlessly profits from Roderigo’s deficiency … Read more
Shakespeare uses many forms of imagery in his plays. Imagery, the art of making images, the products of imagination. In the play Macbeth Shakespeare applies the imagery of clothing, darkness and blood. Each detail in his imagery contains an important symbol of the play. These symbols need to be understood in order to interpret the … Read more
Macbeth consists of five major acts, each with a variation of scenes. The story tells of one man’s quest for dominance in the Scottish monarchy structure, and how his future becomes a twisted paradox that brings him nothing but trouble. In the first act, Macbeth is visited by two witches that tell him prophecies of … Read more
Macbeth by William Shakespeare has three characters that appear to be the best developed. The first is Macbeth, the main character of the story. The second most developed character is Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife. The third most well developed is Banquo, Macbeth’s friend. Banquo and Lady Macbeth play very important roles in Macbeth’s life. Macbeth … Read more
Throughout William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, many characters evolve and many disappear into the background. The main character, Macbeth, travels through utter chaos when he proclaims himself monarch. When he first meets the witches of the supernatural, they tell him of the future. One of the themes amplified throughout the play is the circle of life, from … Read more
The mystery of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a phantom of literary debate that has haunted readers throughout the centuries. Hamlet is a complete enigma; a puzzle scholars have tried to piece together since his introduction to the literary world. Throughout the course of Hamlet the reader is constantly striving to rationalize Hamlet’s odd behavior, mostly through … Read more