William Shakespeare Essay - Free Biography Essays and Reserach Papers on William Shakespeare

10 Things i Hate about you and Taming of the Shrew

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The film, 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) is an adaptation of the Shakespearean play, The Taming of the Shrew. The movie is presented to be very modern compared to the play, The Taming of the Shrew (1967) in terms of setting, dialogue, as well as the names of the characters. The plot of the film shows some similarities to the play. The setting of the film compared to the play is noticeably different as it is set in […]

In William Shakespeare’s Tragedy

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The Taming of the Shrew, many readers question the importance of the induction that Shakespeare included. The induction consists of characters that are introduced only for a few pages, while the actual play is a play within the induction. Since the induction is not referenced again, many believe that it is unnecessary and pointless. While the induction is not mentioned again in any of the five acts of the play, it is resolved within the play itself. The induction begins […]

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

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The discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1493 had signified a new era in the west. With the discovery of new land, European powers grappled each other’s territory to elevate their economic and social status. To profit off of these new lands, European countries sent laborers and settlers to exploit resources, ultimately leading to establishing colonies then leading to the birth of colonialism. Sending settlers and laborers proved to be difficult, leading European powers to import slaves […]

Fate in Julius Caesar

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Fate is inevitable, unavoidable, and ultimately ends in death. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, multiple characters experience a deadly fate, but it is not completely unavoidable. People also have control of their own lives and the ability to make decisions, affecting them and others. Shakespeare uses characters in this play to illustrate the theme of fate and to project how easily it can be tampered with. Fate, as a theme in this play, is involved in […]

Macbeth’s Character Development Throughout the Play

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William Shakespeare's play Macbeth develops the theme of the inescapability of fate througt the prophecies relating to the drama’s main character, the conflict between Macbeth and Banquo, and the apparitions. The first way Shakespeare develops the theme of fate’s inescapability is through the main character, Macbeth. Shakespeare opens the play by showing men struggling to survive in a violent world. Macbeth’s actions are described by the messenger: as being “Brave” and “Fearless” once he kills the King of Norway, and […]

Themes of Omens and Superstitions in Julius Caesar

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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. This play has many omens and superstitions, they play a very prominent role that moves the story along drastically. Some examples of these superstitious are the Feast of Lupercal, the soothsayer, Calphurnia's dream, and the strange occurrences described at the end of act one. The Feast of Lupercal, The Feast of Lupercal is a festival to celebrate Pan, the goddess of fertility. The superstition around this festival is that if you are […]

Where Can we Find Hamlet in our Lives

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To say that Hamlet bears no resemblance nor relevance to everyday people's lives would be an uninformed statement. When further examined, the intuition into our current society that Hamlet provides becomes abundantly clear. For example, the many themes and motifs present in Shakespeare's Hamlet parallel issues that are relevant in our current society. Themes such as revenge, deception, mental health, etc. Firstly, the theme of revenge appears to be the most notable theme that reflects heavily in both Hamlet and […]

Macbeth: the Psychological Effects of Guilt

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Guilt plays a large role in human society and how humans work. It's a powerful feeling and if it gets put on the back burner, it might just explode. An example of this is Macbeth by William Shakespeare. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth slowly lets her guilty conscience eat at her sanity before she goes crazy. Her insanity causes her to commit suicide. Her experience is shown through words and her actions. She doesn't address her conscience which makes her go […]

Shakespeare and Mistaken Identity Struggles

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During the era of Shakespeare, often, his plays exposed controversial topics in casual ways masked with humor and entertainment. Within his time of popularity, Queen Elizabeth allowed theater and drama to flourish. Yet, she forbade political and religious topics to be a subject of conversation on stage (Stigler). However, ‘mistaken identity’- a heated political topic in today's day in age- is addressed in several of his works, and especially his play Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Over the years, […]

His Lover’s Beauty: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 Analysis

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In Shakespeare’s era, poetry was his talent, a genius many would say, but his love poems were his true masterpiece. Shakespeare’s love poetry tended for more a male audience then female, due to the fact that love poetry was created and read mostly by other male poets, thus men would write love poetry about their lovers to brag or being boastful about their lover’s appearance. In sonnet 18, Shakespeare challenge death and other factors that his lover’s youthfulness will never […]

Shakespeare’s Madness Within Hamlet and King Lear

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How do you know if a person has gone mad? How do you know if a person is telling the truth? What about intention? Nowadays, we have psychologists, therapists and all kinds of doctors that help to diagnose mental illness. We are now aware of the different types of “craziness” that a person can be. What about hundreds of years ago? Just like today, some people were truly madmen, but of course, anyone has the ability to pretend to be […]

Loyalty in Julius Caesar

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In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the character Portia, second wife to Brutus, seemed to be one of the most burdened with secrets. There were only two women in the play, and Portia was the one who proved strength over most of the male characters, both physically and mentally. Portia was born between 73 BC and 64 BC and loved philosophy and had an obvious understanding of courage (Wikipedia.org). Portia was the only wife in the play […]

Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnets

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William Shakespeare’s Sonnets is a collection of 154 poems that are delicate yet powerful in their ever-intimate tone. It is unknown whether Shakespeare wrote the collection of sonnets in an auto-biographical form or if they are merely fiction. Regardless of the intention, it cannot be denied that the collection of sonnets takes on a tone of intimacy that reflects upon a relationship between power and love. Stand alone, each sonnet can be read separately, but are found to be linked […]

Seeing Love: a Reflection on King Lear

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A tragedy is normally defined as a play that follows the series of events that lead to the downfall of a hero. King Lear is no exception to this rule. It shows the destruction and downfall of King Lear and the people who presided under him. Lear is an old man who seeks to retire and live out the rest of his life jumping between his three daughters. He plans to divide his kingdom between all three while keeping the […]

Techniques Used in Romeo and Juliet

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William Shakespeare both includes themes of drama, tragedy, and sacrifice in their love story in English literary tradition. The English poet William seeks tragedy in the end of his stories. The American novelist uses the word “love” as a real-life scenario. William Shakespeare’s Romero and Juliet’s tragic love story ends horrifically, where two young teenagers fall in love but are forbidden to be with each other. Shakespeare’s Juliet and Romeo is a tragedy so there must be a tragic hero. […]

New Historicism: the Interrelation of Art and Society in Macbeth

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In Shakespeare’s literature, the theory of new historicism is presented within the storylines. When interpreting the text, both the history of the author as well as the critic are kept in context and serve to give the most depth to the literature. Both aspects of Shakespeare’s literature are highlighted, acknowledging the author’s and critic’s influences, which cause the pieces to be appreciated as multifaceted and complex works. An author’s specific circumstances and time play an impactful role, in contrast to […]

Shakespeare’s Plays with Hidden Meanings

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Shakespeare hid facts about his real life in his most famous writings: Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. The famous humor, the many double entendres, and the mysterious Rosaline all go far beyond what is written on the page. These aspects of Romeo and Juliet, among others, contribute to the mystery of the way Shakespeare writes. By analyzing three aspects of Shakespeare’s writing: his inconspicuous jokes, his character development, and his complex vocabulary, it can be determined that Shakespeare wrote […]

Hamlet’s Love for Ophelia

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Throughout Hamlet, the profound love he once confessed at Ophelia’s funeral is now being questioned by many readers if whether or not this was true love. We have to ask: did Hamlet really love Ophelia? In this essay on Hamlet's love for Ophelia, we look at that. The word love is the intense feeling of affection toward another person. It’s a profound and caring attraction that forms an emotional attachment. Hamlet demonstrated the opposite of these characteristics; his love for […]

Hamlet’s Insanity the Masterpiece to Great Shakespearean Entertainment

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Mental or psychological influence in any literary work can heighten and alter the mood and tone. Some literary works can alter the course of the storyline as is done in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Hamlet's mental state, along with major character influence, has the ability to allow a wide range of unexpected plot twists and a touch of suspense. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet's revenge demonstrates the extent of one's mental capacity can be found amusing and […]

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre: Twelfth Night

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Throughout history, written works of books and plays have been translated into visual productions for audiences to get a glimpse of the original story without having to read it. Although when comparing the written version to visual productions of the original written stories, they never come out to be identical. Both versions may follow the same story lines but will differ in a variety of aspects during the actual storytelling. The same concept is evident in the written version of […]

Shakespeare’s Poetry Analysis

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William Shakespeare was a well-known English poet, in 1609, Shakespeare had published a huge collection of his one hundred fifty-four sonnets. Like his plays that he wrote, the sonnets were surrounded by many characteristics of what was to be known as the human experience. Shakespeare explored many aspects and perspectives; his gift of poetry that he wrote were diverse but also rich in literary devices. Specifically, in his poems “Sonnet 146” and “Sonnet 133” give an extensive amount of tone, […]

Hamlet and Ophelia Relationship

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Revenge is an emotion that everyone will feel at some point in their life because it is natural. The article Payback Time: Why Revenge Tastes So Sweet, by Benedict Carey, explains why humans feel the need for revenge, and how it brings them happiness and a feeling of completeness. According to Carey in his article, “Using brain-wave technology, Dr. Eddie Harmon-Jones… has found that when people are insulted, they show a burst of activity in the left prefrontal cortex, a […]

Shakespeare’s Unique Writing Style

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William Shakespeare is widely regarded as an influencer in literature, culture, and media, all of which are observed in modern society. Shakespeare’s unique writing style combines natural yet magniloquent ways of speech in order to capture the sincerest form of raw human emotion. Many of his literary works—from the start of his career to the end—carry popular themes and concepts that are often mimicked today. The themes and plots of his creations transcend time and culture, which allow writers today […]

Shakespeare in Love Movie Review

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The young and spirited Viola De Lessep (played by Gwyneth Paltrow)is but a fictional cinematic creation. Many Shakespeare scholars claim Anne Hathaway was the light, love and muse during Shakespeare’s entire adult life. There is a great scene where the Queen exclaims that a playwright has finally portrayed true love, exalting Romeo and Juliet's as a timeless play for the ages. She wins a 50 pound bet with the Earl of Wessex. (I would have liked to see her give that money to Young […]

Betrayal in the Tempest

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Betrayal, unwavering ness, vengeance, and compromise are the head, interconnected subjects of The Tempest. Prospero aches for the rebuilding of his dukedom; since his sibling sold out him, he is propelled as much by a craving for vengeance concerning his and his girl's recovering their legitimate spot. Caliban too feels double-crossed by Prospero on the grounds that he has been oppressed, however, Prospero blames him for needing to abuse Miranda. Conversely, Ariel appears to be steadfast yet additionally fears betrayal, […]

Research Theatre in Shakespeare’s Time

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The cornerstone of entertainment William Shakespeare's play Macbeth was a failure -- in regard to its role as a play. Theatres and audiences at his time didn't seem to be appreciating his scripts at all. Despite their wrong criticism on this great man of letters, theatres back in the 1600s did have a wide variety of forms of plays and performances, while audiences were seeking new approaches to recreations. This provided a never-seen-before chance for the development of modern entertainment. […]

Knowledge of Sexism

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"David Hewson wrote ?Juliet and Romeo, ?a modern-day appropriation of the Shakespearean play, ?Romeo and Juliet?, bringing to attention the aspect of sexism in society and how women think of sexism. Hewson makes Juliet much more three-dimensional, giving her interests besides marriage, providing her with the courage to stand up against the sexist-based prejudices placed on her by her family and society. Despite these changes, there is still sexism in the derivative text that was also present in the source […]

Shakespeare’s Villains

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"In two of William Shakespeare’s plays: Hamlet and King Lear, the two characters who are considered villainous with great political ambitions are Claudius, King of Denmark and Edmund, the bastard son of Earl of Gloucester. These two men are resentful, manipulative, and want to ensure they obtain power; nevertheless, Shakespeare provides the audience with an understanding yet unsympathetic perception of their plot to pursue the title and land. Even though these characters are a part of two different tragedies, Shakespeare […]

Shakespeare and Gender: Traditional Gender Roles

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Shakespeare portrays gender in interesting ways throughout his work by defying traditional gender roles. Many women in Shakespearean plays are strong and rational while their male counterparts are lost, irrational and carried away by their emotions. Examples of this dynamic appear in Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. It would appear Shakespeare believed gender to be a role that people could choose to play in a variety of ways. A comedy usually contained romantic couples whose story ended in marriage. The […]

Ancient Greece Modern Comparison Project

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Since the Grecian times, poems have been a very integral and influential part of every culture. Poems have affected whole countries at a time by expressing emotion, deep feelings, and a sense of what is beautiful about the world. From India to America, people have always drawn important parts of life and history from poems. A couple of the most unforgettable and prominent poets of all time include Homer and William Shakespeare. For my comparison essay, I will analyze the […]