...Composers of texts often seek to present their opinions in such a way that influences the responder to agree or empathise with the composer. In both Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth, the composers’ perspectives on these historical figures and events are portrayed in unique ways which contradict and are contradicted by perspectives from other sources. Reasons for these differences can include the form of text and context of the composer, both of which affect not only the composer’s perspective, but the way in which they present it. Both Julius Caesar and Elizabeth are forms of text which serve primarily to entertain the audience. Even supposedly ‘historical’ plays and films do not have to adhere strictly to the ‘facts’ of history, but often stray from such accuracy in order to enhance entertainment value. For this reason, the viewpoint they may present on historical events or personalities can often conflict with accounts from other, more strictly historical, sources. For example, Julius Caesar was largely based off and echoes Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, and yet the two differ notably in many respects, such as the depiction of the funeral oratories given by Brutus and Antony. In Plutarch’s history, events are recounted very drily and matter-of-fact: “Brutus… came down from the capitol, and spoke to the people.” There is no direct quotation, details of the speech, or emotive language. Shakespeare on the other hand has both men give a detailed and well-crafted...
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...The Manipulation of Gender Performance and the Gendered Body by Shakespeare’s Volumnia and Lady Macbeth In both Coriolanus and Macbeth, powerful women exploit their power over important male figures through their manipulation of gender roles and performance. In “Identity-Formation and the Breastfeeding Mother in Renaissance Generative Discourses and Shakespeare’s Coriolanus,” Victoria Sparey compares the symbolic relevance of breast milk and blood in Shakespearean literature to explain the immense power Volumnia holds over her son Coriolanus. Ralph Berry argues the sexual motivation behind Volumnia’s control in his article “Sexual Imagery in Coriolanus.” Berry states that “from Volumnia, we derive a strong impression of the interlinked impulses of sex and power” (316). Lady Macbeth’s character and influence over her husband is explored thoroughly in William T. Liston’s "Male and Female Created He Them": Sex and Gender in "Macbeth." Liston outlines the ways Lady Macbeth manipulates both her husband’s masculinity and her own femininity to achieve her personal ambitions. Although Sparey and Berry examine the motives and character of Volumnia and Liston recounts the ambitious incentives of Lady Macbeth, this paper will focus on the performance of gender and how it is used to manipulate the masculine body, the feminine body, and to overcome the societal boundaries set out for individuals at the time of Shakespeare’s writing. Using Judith Butlers concept of gender performativity,...
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...William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is one of the most famous men who ever lived, yet much of his life is a mystery to us. When he died people knew very little about him. He never kept a diary and none of his personal work was ever found. The only things people really knew about him was his poems, business transactions, court papers, and his will. We know a little about his family and the date on which his baptism was registered, but no one knows exactly when he was born. When he died his friends and fellow writers left information in their books and letters about him, but we still to this day do not know if they are entirely true. Some people may find Shakespeare to be controversial in the aspect how he portrays women. The women do not play the traditional role that people were used to seeing in their society. The men in Elizabethan England were in charge of the social power, political power, and arranged marriages. In a lot of Shakespeare’s plays women played a powerful role and break away from the...
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...Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth (c.1603–1607). She is the wife to the play's protagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, but later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime. She dies off-stage in the last act, an apparent suicide. According to some genealogists, Lady Macbeth and Duncan's wife were sisters or cousins, where Lady Macbeth had a stronger claim to the throne then Duncan's wife. It was this that incited her jealousy and hatred of Duncan. The character's origins lie of the accounts of Kings Duff and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of Britain familiar to Shakespeare. Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth appears to be a composite of two separate and distinct personages in Holinshed's work: Donwald's nagging, murderous wife in the account of King Duff, and Macbeth's ambitious wife Gruoch of Scotland in the account of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is a powerful presence in the play, most notably in the first two acts. Following the murder of King Duncan, however, her role in the plot diminishes. She becomes an uninvolved spectator to Macbeth's plotting, and a nervous hostess at a banquet dominated by her husband's hallucinations. Her fifth act sleepwalking scene is a turning point in the play, and her line, "Out, damned spot!," has become a phrase familiar to many speakers of the English language. The report of her death late in the fifth act provides the inspiration...
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...Shakespeare's Attitude Toward Women in "Othello" A quick summary of the play can be found here. Shakespeare was always wary of women and careful to give them respect, which is obvious when reading Othello. The society of Othello is strongly dominated by men who are the political and military leaders of their homeland. These men are expected to stay loyal to their reputations and to uphold the strong sense of character that earned them their positions in the first place. Women on the other hand, are thought of as weak second-class citizens or even defective males, who are in place for nothing more than to serve their men. The captivating thing about Othello is Shakespeare’s upheaval of these expectations, demonstrating his malaise over the way gender relationships were so often represented. The monstrous actions and subsequent downfall of the men in Othello show how no one is above being corrupted and how men are not nearly as powerful as they seem. The resolve of the female characters demonstrates their capacities to do much more than simply serve. Furthermore, by the end of the play, I believe the men of Othello are not the ones who represent strength; instead, this title goes to the women. From the way the play begins, women seem like nothing more than affectionate wives and pawns in Iago’s evil scheme. Emilia claims, “I nothing, but to please his fantasy,” (Norton Ed., 2157) referring to Iago, as she snatches up Desdemona’s handkerchief in order...
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...Luhrmann’s Modern Day Shakespeare The 1996 film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet provides viewers with the same theatrical influence as the original play. Baz Luhrmann was able to accomplish this through modern filmmaking techniques and visual imagery. Luhrmann’s adaptation maintains much of the same elements of the original play. However, Luhrmann was able to make it more appealing to modern audiences by integrating modern elements into the film, thus turning Shakespeare’s original love story into a more modern yet controversial, interpretation of the original love story. In today’s society Shakespeare’s poetic language would leave viewers perplex. Luhrmann is able to keep Shakespeare’s original language by incorporating creative cinematography, editing, and style. Luhrmann recognizes early on that it is imperative to modernize the prologue in order for viewers to fully comprehend the film’s plot; any misperception would leave viewers confused and not emotionally involved. He is able to accomplish this through the use of dialogue, written text, and visual images. In order to reach modern audiences, Luhrmann has to be inventive in his filmmaking techniques; therefore he integrates modern-day media language. By adding news media and displaying selected pieces of text onscreen he is able to intensify the romantic teen tragedy, thus turning Shakespeare’s original play into a distinguishable film for modern audiences. Luhrmann’s use of visual imagery...
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...The Shakespeare Code Through the years, the works of Shakespeare have been subject to numerous reinterpretations - latest in an episode of the television show, Doctor Who, in which the prominent English poet and playwright himself makes an appearance, constituting it as an excellent opportunity for introducing younger generations to his crafts. The portrayal of the Shakespeare, however, might differ a great deal from the prevalent idea of the widely known figure, describing him as rather foul-mouthed and possessing rude manners very unlike the deep and thoughtful plays he produced. Having the character appear more down-to-earth, it is obvious that the producers intended to depict him as a man of the people rather than simply a roundabout aristocrat. Nevertheless, certain parallels are drawn to the present-day by having the famous author almost possess rockstar-status among folks, forcing him to handle similar situations, like constantly attempting to maintain his good reputation by creating new plays on a weekly basis. The episode also contains references to the numerous debates concerning Shakespeare’s controversial sexuality. At one point, he subsequently flirts with the title character of the show, at which the Doctor hastily observes, "Fifty-seven academics just punched the air", referring to the polemic disputations concerning this subject. Shakespeare is likewise seen romancing with the female protagonist, Martha, for whom he ultimately composes Sonnet 18, calling...
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...that his entertain plays for Elizabeth I would one day become a masterpiece in English literature. It was in the 1500 when the Renaissance was in its initiation. The entire world was going through this moment where the rebirth of cultural ideas such as the study of literature and ancient values brought interest to the people living in this era. William Shakespeare became one of the most respected playwrights for his famous plays such as Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth among other respected and famous works. (www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9376718, www.britannica.com/shakespeare) Born the 23rd of April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, Shakespeare has captivated reader’s hearts by his romantic, humerous, and historic plays. During the 1500s, the Renaissance was a massive curiosity for everyone. Renaissance era was a period where everyone was interested in the affairs of the Greek and Roman cultures and when William Shakespeare was born. Being the middle brother of the Shakespeare’s, William son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden was interested in writing since he was a child. Baptized in the Holy Trinity Church, William was raised in a family of seven children in the town of Stratford. Shakespeare attended the Local Grammar School, a free school located in a town in where Shakespeare and his brothers and sisters learned Latin and Greek until he was thirteen. Shakespeare did not go to the university, and it was certainly unlikely that the scholarly...
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...This is a good article. Click here for more information. The Tempest From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from The tempest) This article is about the Shakespeare play. For other uses, see The Tempest (disambiguation). The shipwreck in Act I, Scene 1, in a 1797 engraving by Benjamin Smith after a painting by George Romney The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skilful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio's lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso's son, Ferdinand. There is no obvious single source for the plot of The Tempest, but researchers have seen parallels in Erasmus's Naufragium, Peter Martyr's De orbe novo, and eyewitness reports by William Strachey and Sylvester Jordain of the real-life shipwreck of the Sea Venture on the islands of Bermuda, and the subsequent conflict between Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers. In addition, one of Gonzalo's speeches is derived from Montaigne's essay Of the Canibales, and much of Prospero's renunciative speech is taken...
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...to develop the Early Modern English language. He is the insightful genius of coined everyday phrases that is used in this generation. Shakespeare’s literary works used the world around him to disseminate the concepts of social class and human behavior. These concepts are demonstrated in The Tempest and Une Tempête. Une Tempête is a play by Aimé Césaire who shadowed Shakespeare’s, The Tempest. The problem is not Aimé Césaire’s version of Shakespeare’s play but it is the comprehension of Early Modern English. When students study the Early Modern English language, there is a debate of whether the use of SparkNotes embodies the understanding of what Shakespeare is exploiting. The use of SparkNotes only translates the plays in simplistic form; it does not give definitive historical facts about the words that Shakespeare uses. Shakespeare distinctively incorporated rhythmic patterns, play on words that exposed a character’s purpose in the play and his ideologies about society. Each play Shakespeare produced emphasized a specific theme that the audience or reader had to search for. The theme The Tempest is political romance about two individuals that are of a certain social hierarchy. Aimé Césaire’s Une Tempête is about social domination and the role of colonization. Students in high school would not be able to figure that out the basis of Shakespeare’s language with the use of...
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...A recurring theme in both Webster’s Duchess of Malfi and Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the concept of female honour and chastity, even though the women of the plays are secondary to the main plot. A woman’s necessity to marry is a negative message in Hamlet, and proves to be the hubris of the Duchess- it is her marriage that, in part, leads to her eventual death. Ergo, Wiggins’ statement about ‘second marriages troubling the male imagination’ is certainly true from the outset. The second scene of Hamlet opens onto a celebration, but in Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he distains his mother, for her ‘frailty’ in needing a new husband, likening her to worse than a ‘beast’ wanting ‘discourse of reason.’ Bearing in mind, the contemporary society where women spinsters and widows were stigmatized, yet, according to these plays, a woman’s remarriage was socially unacceptable. However, such is the misogyny and class based prejudice that a high-ranking woman is not socially stigmatized but merely gossiped about in private. However, the famed serial monogamist Henry VIII married six times; even introducing divorce, yet Hamlet is troubled by his mother’s single remarriage, even before learning of his uncle’s treachery, despite the fact that his father is dead. Perhaps then, it is the line ‘or ere these shoes were old’ that demonstrates his trouble with the hastiness of the remarriage, rather than the concept of the marriage itself. Throughout, the Duchess is defined not through her ideals, as noble...
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...gender has, at some point, had to fight the repression brought upon by the other. Most examples involve men as the dominate force over women in a patriarchal society. Less than a hundred years have passed since women gained the right to vote in the United States and just a few years ago women in Saudi Arabia were finally allowed the same right. The theme of a “battle of the sexes” has been around in literature for hundreds, even thousands of years in works such as Shakespeare’s comedies to various mythology. In the novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken...
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...looks at dating Kat like a paying job at first, but then falls for her when he figures out how witty and clever she is. Both characters are subject to a lot of rumors about them and they take comfort in the fact that they’re both basically rejects. Kat puts on the attitude of being super tough to hide the fact that she has been hurt in the past and also to protect how sensitive she really is. If she actually did not care about what people thought she would not try so hard to make them think she is unapproachable. Which, in fact, is not true because...
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...‘dangerous seductress’, ‘cute but essentially helpless’, ‘unworldly’ or the ‘self-sacrificing angel’ as stated by Bertens. Feminists stress the utmost concern towards gender divisions in society and although Duffy portrays this division I do not agree that The World’s Wife is nothing but feminist propaganda. The noun ‘propaganda’ suggests that her work is agenda pushing and overall has a negative impact. Although it could be argued that Duffy’s attack on literary stereotypes of women being either the seductress or innocent is feminist propaganda, a more convincing argument would be that it isn't feminist propaganda and she is simply giving a voice to women who have been ignored creating equality in both genders in the light of my readings of Delilah and Anne Hathaway. One could argue that in Delilah Carol Ann Duffy is illustrating feminist propaganda through the adherence to literary stereotypes of women as the immoral seductress’ and the man as the ‘warrior’. As Millet found that the ‘relationship between sex and power’ clearly shows ‘the distribution of power over the male and female partners mirrors the distribution of power over males and females in society at large’ this can be applied to this poem due to several references to sex throughout. In stanza four, ‘He fucked me again’ the verb ‘fucked’ suggests an emotionally detached act which illustrates ‘Delilah’ as using her body in order to attain power which further establishes the idea that women must use sex in order to change the...
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...madness. The movie begins in the middle of a story. The King of Denmark has died and his brother is taking the throne and the Queen as his bride for the sake of the country. Two guards see an apparition coming in the night. The apparition is seemingly like that of the deceased King, so the guards callto Horatio and the son of the King, Hamlet, to confirm their visions. When Hamlet arrives, the apparition takes him away and demands that he put his father’s soul to rest for his "most horrible and foul murder." Alone, he is faced with the duty of exacting revenge for his father's death on his uncle, and the commission likely throws him into insanity. The character of Hamlet is wrought with complexity and divisions. He is the height of Shakespeare's character sketches and is every thespian’s desired role in the theater. Kenneth Branagh played this role in the theater before he brought him to the screen. Although we learn most of the story through the story's dialogue, it...
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