...I do think that by doing so it looses a lot of its original meaning. I believe that literature can be interpreted in to many different meanings and ways that other people don't see. To one person Shakespeare can be a legendary writer and to anot her person he can be some idiot that wrote a lot of garbage. After reading this section, I find it interesting that Shakespeare can be interpreted in several various ways. I have seen a few different productions of Shakespeare plays and I can understand the different ways that people have perceived the various plays. Personally, I believe that the difference between a “more faithful” versus a “more free” adaptation of a Shakespearean play is that a show that is “more faithful” tends to follow the time frame and setting that the play was placed in, whereas a “more free” adaptation can change to different time frames and have different surroundings than the play was actually placed in. With a more “faithful” adaptation of Shakespeare we learn more about the history behind the play and what it truly is about. Unfortunately, with a more “freer” adaptation we can lose the history behind the play because the context of the play can change based on the decisions of how the play was interpreted. In a faithful version of a play, the language, setting, costumes, and all other major aspects remain as the author originally wrote them; a free adaptation may change one or more of these elements. A more faithful adaptation has the advantage of...
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...the play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’? ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ contains comedy throughout but it could be argued that seriousness is present in equal measure. They are portrayed simultaneously by Shakespeare in his play: where one scene is comedic to one part of the audience, seriousness could be interpreted by others. The writer uses comedy not only to entertain but to portray and challenge concepts of gender, class and other norms dominant in Shakespearean times but also remain evident in contemporary society. He also uses a leading male and female character to construct this gender challenge, with a woman who will not marry until ‘God make men of some other metal than earth’ and a man she refers to as ‘no less than a stuffed man’. The forwardness with these lines are delivered in contrast with the passive expectations an Elizabethan audience would expect from the leading female, however comedy remains as the moment is unexpected. Furthermore, class and status issues can be identified in the play, an obvious example being the Prince’s brother a ‘bastard’, marginalised from society because of who he is, and a ‘watchman’ who is described as an ‘ass’. Through their comedic interchange of insults, two of Shakespeare’s main characters demonstrate the negative impact of gender issues in Elizabethan times. Benedick and Beatrice are constantly sparring with each other, starting from Act 1, Scene 1. It could be said that Shakespeare started his play with this couple to create an ambient...
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...Sonnet 146 Denise Kontara William Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 146' reads as an internal monologue, fundamentally the protagonist is addressing himself. Although the use of transition between multiple metaphors has often been critiqued. As Fred Hasson (2013) suggests “The metaphors are choppy, jumping quickly from the mansion to the worms, and then to Death eating man and vice-versa. The "cost" theme mixes uneasily with the soul/body comparison.”, through a powerful use of metaphor as well as religious notions, the poet brings light to the idea of materialism and earthly greed as catalysts for the souls entrapment in the body and furthermore addresses the potential escape from such boundaries into eternal life. Despite it's ability to appeal to both Christian and Non-Christian audiences, Sonnet 146 has been often declared one of Shakespeare's more Christian poems (David E. Anderson, 2005). This very accurately acts as a reflection of the poems context, with legal requirements on churches to read Psalms from The Book of Common Prayer monthly at the time. Richmond Noble (1940, p4) in 'Shakespeare's Biblical Knowledge' lists at least 135 Psalm references in Shakespeare's plays, also vouching for other such references in the sonnets. Shakespeare's awareness and furthermore use of several Pauline paradoxes becomes apparent through the close study of the thematic structure and development...
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...Name:Darrion Duhart Date:2/7/16 Graded Assignment Research Paper First Draft Type your name and the date at the top of this page. Type or paste your draft into this document. Be sure that your draft is double-spaced and in 12 point, Times New Roman font. Save the file as: ENG402A_S1_5.1_Research Paper First Draft_FirstInitial_LastName.docx Example: ENG402A_S1_5.1_Research Paper First Draft_M_Smith.docx Total score: ____ of 200 points (Score for Question 1: ___ of 200 points) Answer: In his poem, 'Scorn not the Sonnet' (Poetical Works, 1827), Wordsworth famously said that the sonnets were the 'key' with which 'Shakespeare unlocked his heart' and whilst this can certainly be seen to be the case, the sonnets do much more than that. Writing of various forms of love, and indeed of love itself, using the contemporary sonnet form, Shakespeare develops the aspects of love which the sonnets reflect into an all-encompassing discussion on the major themes of life itself that continue to inform and direct the human condition, a fact which is perhaps partly responsible for their continuing popularity with both public and critics alike. This dissertation sets out to discover, through close reading of carefully selected representative sonnets and critical context, the way Shakespeare accomplishes this. The sonnet form as Shakespeare, whose 154 sonnets were first published in 1609, and his contemporaries used it was introduced into England in the sixteenth century by Sir Thomas Wyatt...
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...any steps to preserve his writings past their immediate use. (Fortunately his friends did.) With all the academic study of Shakespeare and the trappings of fine culture that have been wrapped around productions of his dramas over the centuries, we often forget what a rollicking, bawdy and entertaining spectacle his plays presented to their original audience — and still can to a modern audience, in the right hands. The timelessness of Shakespeare's themes continue to keep his plays fresh. He dramatized basic issues: love, marriage, familial relationships, gender roles, race, age, class, humor, illness, deception, betrayal, evil, revenge, murder, and death. The essential question that Shakespeare explored in his plays is, "what does it mean to be a human being?" The genius of Shakespeare is that he manged to show us ourselves in every conceivable light. It really doesn't matter when the plays were written since they are about the human condition which is timeless. Shakespeare was an incredible observer of his fellow human beings. We, as human beings, may dress differently or have more technology than people in Shakespeare's day but we are still motivated by the same desires and have the same feelings. The themes of his plays are as universal as his characters. For example, in his history plays, he explores the...
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...nature of the main antagonist, Richard as he overtakes the throne of England through vile methods. Despite being deformed since birth and looked down upon for that very fact, his determination to be a villain replaces his lacking factors. Naturally, actions and dialogues of the characters in the play help the audience paint a portrait of other characters and the roles they occupy in the play. They uncover the unknown side of the characters and show the thoughts which these characters hold as they progress. There are conflicts and contrasts that vary but they are all essential to unifying the play as a whole. Without those factors shaping the play, one would hardly be able to find more about other characters of the play and understand the dynamics of the play. By including monologues and dialogues amongst characters, Shakespeare fulfills all the traditional functions of a play in presenting thought and actions. The play begins with Richard delivering a soliloquy in which he first explains his situation and then proceeds to accounts of his evil deeds. When Richard mentions his deformed body and poor conditions that make him hard to live as a “normal” human being, audience may at first feel sympathy, only to have this temporary emotion shattered later on. Shakespeare uses words such as “deformed” and “unfinished” in order to explain the pitiful state in which Richard is in. In addition, by adding how even non-humans display enmity toward him; dogs “bark” at him as he walks by (Act...
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...adapted a Shakespearian play in 1989 with Henry V. “Branagh's "Henry V" emerges from the darkness with the rip and sputter of a struck match. It's a magnificent beginning and a startling metaphor -- an inspired equivalent for Shakespeare's "muse of fire" -- and the first stroke of brilliance in this audacious, resonant, passionate film” … Well that’s what Hal Hinson of the Washington Post thought anyway. Some might say that Brannagh therefore had a lot to live up to with Much Ado, his second Shakespeare adaptation. Do I think the film lived up to the expectations? Well I guess that depends upon your motives for watching, for fun? Or like me in an attempt to understand the complicating language and humour found within Much Ado, if the latter sigh no more students, Branagh’s film makes the understanding of Much Ado far easier. If you wanted a nice night in with a film, however, under no circumstance would I recommend this film, plagued with wooden acting, confusing, casting and more over a boring, predictable and somewhat unbelievable plot. Brannaghh’s decision to cast Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, the heroic, noble fighter is somewhat bewildering, considering traditional audiences’ connotations of a black man; however as a contemporary audience we are able to look beyond the colour of Don Pedro’s skin. I however was unable to look beyond Washington’s poor, unconvincing acting – making him stick out like a sore thumb against the brilliance of Benedick (played by Brannagh...
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...Vishal Bhardwaj, a filmmaker and composer of Bollywood scores, has achieved considerable popular and critical success worldwide with his two adaptations of Shakespeare,Maqbool(Macbeth) andOmkara(Othello). Both films are very different from those postcolonial adaptations that tend to "talk back" to Shakespeare; instead, Bhardwaj represents the strain of a transcultural adaptation of Shakespeare whose beginnings lay in the nineteenth-century Parsi theater's first forays into indigenizing Shakespearean plays for local audiences. WithMaqbool, Bhardwaj creates a film that is unique among those few global cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare that have successfully indigenizedMacbethat the level of setting, plot, language, and generic conventionswithout diluting the complex issues raised by Shakespeare's play.Asian Shakespeares on Screen: Two Films in Perspective, special issue, edited by Alexa Huang,Borrowers and Lenders4.2 (Spring/Summer 2009).Vishal Bhardwaj, who began his career as a composer of Bollywood film scores, is now regarded as one of India's most innovative young directors.1Based onMacbeth,Maqboolis Bhardwaj's second film and his first adaptationof a Shakespearean play. Although it is set in themurky underworld of Bombay (Mumbai), featuresBollywood actors, and draws freely upon the conventions of the Bollywood film, the film remains close to Shakespeare. In its extremely complex and successful reworking ofMacbethin a different medium (film), language (Hindi/Urdu), time...
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...most credited screenwriters of our generation, Peter Moffat, to discuss his mesmerizing, gripping version of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. Throughout the film it manages to hold on to many important foundations of the text and also captivates an audience from young to old; thanks to his modernised and current adaption. Peter welcome to our show. It’s an honour. So what made you decide the setting of the story should be in a high-end restaurant? Yes! My team and I sat down thinking, how can we make this adaptation different from others? How can we add a contemporary spark into this gory story? And then we thought, “O yes a restaurant will be good” then we went from there. This is the era of TV chefs where all your family follow recipes from the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Heston Blumenthal. It is something easy to understand and show the story’s themes of blood which symbolizes the guilt like a stain on the Macbeth’s conscience. We thought there’s no other environment that can translate Macbeth in a modern way better than a restaurant kitchen as Shakespeare’s Macbeth was a soldier who slaughtered others at war, so we made a modernised scene of the chef, Macbeth chopping up a pigs head, showing the similarities. Peter, the audience and I realises you tried to answer one of the greatest Shakespearean mysteries, did the Macbeths ever have a child? Yes, I think the audience pick upon this whilst watching the film. I wanted to show both ends of the spectrum of Ella, her unruly manipulative...
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...San Francisco’s Premiere non-profit theatre company, American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T) presented Shakespeare’s classic, Taming of the Shrew. When watching the play I noticed that most of the time Petruchio was shirtless and wearing tight tights basically. I wondered who chose that and what was their reason for having him shirtless, since in other versions of the play Petruchio is well dressed. A director is in controls the artistic and dramatic aspects, in saying this I want to dig deeper into why director Kirk Browning chose to have a shirtless Petruchio. Sexuality and interpretation are possible reasons to why Browning chose to show the play the way he did, he also made sure the actors played the part accordingly. As I do not have...
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...In terms of performance, musical theatre is an exaggerated form of reality; a “life plus magnitude” (Deer and Vera, 2008. pp.10), therefore it was essential that my portrayal of Maureen was externally magnified in expression, yet detained a sense of truth, internally. ‘Over the Moon’ allowed me to let go and be free, which allowed me to truly enjoy exploring the expressionistic aspect of the monologue. It was also vital that my delivery was passionate and my gesticulation animated, so that the audience would be completely immersed in Maureen’s vision, as I knew my presence would have to hold the stage and the audience for a long period of time (5 mins). I created a choreography which I felt would enhance the monologue; however it was crucial...
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...1. Who used the term 'Old English' for the first time ? 2. What is the name of Bede's history book ? 3. What is the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word 'scop" ? 4. What is the meaning of Anglo-Saxon word 'Wyrd' ? 5. What is the name of the only Anglo-Saxon historian ? 6. Name the Germanic tribes which formed the Anglo-Saxon race ? 7. Name the manuscripts in which Old English poems are found ? 8. Who is the author of Sermo Lupi ad Anglos ? 9. Who is the author of Lives of the Saints ? 10. Name two Anglo Saxon Christian poets ? 11. Name the 'earliest extant' Anglo-Saxon poem ? 12. When was Beowulf written ? 13. Mention one Christian element in Beowulf ? 14. Refer to one Pagan element in Beowulf ? 15. What is the name of the pleasure hall in Beowulf ? 16. What is the name of Hrothgar's wife ?(the queen) 17. Name the sword of Beowulf with which he killed Grendel ? 18. Which Anglo-Saxon poem records the fight between the English and Danes ? 19. When did the Battle of Maldon take place ? 20. Who is the author of Death Song ? 21. Who is the author of the poem Brut ? how many lines are there in this poem ? 22. Name two battles referred to in the Anglo-Saxon poems ? 23. What is the name of the monster Beowulf killed ? 24. What is the name of Beowulf's father ? 25. What is the name of the king Beowulf helped ? 26. Name two Anglo-Saxon Elegies ? 27. Name the Anglo-Saxon poem written in dream vision ? 28. Who is the author of Beowulf ? 29. When was Thomas...
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...Sonnet 18 Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well-loved of all 154 sonnets. It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. The stability of love and its power to immortalize the subject of the poet's verse is the theme. SUMMARY The poet starts the praise of the beloved without ostentation, but he slowly builds the image of his friend into that of a perfect being. The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The next eleven lines are devoted to such a comparison the beloved is first compared to summer in the octave, but, at the start of the third quatrain (9), she is summer, and thus, she is metamorphosed into the standard by which true beauty can and should be judged. The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever (“Thy eternal summer shall not fade...”) and never die as poet's only answer to such profound joy and beauty is to ensure that his friend be forever in human memory, saved from the oblivion that accompanies death. He achieves this through his verse, believing that, as history writes itself, his friend will become one with time. The final couplet reaffirms the poet's hope that as long as there is breath in mankind, his poetry too will live on, and ensure the immortality of his muse. Commentary On the surface, the poem is simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved; summer tends to...
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...this paper is going to be about. Because the sonnets written by William Shakespeare, was so beloved, all of Shakespeare’s sonnet-heritage is being called Shakespearean sonnets. There are different indicators that, helps to define a sonnet. First of all ‘Shall I Comepare Thee’ consists of fourteen lines, where the eight first lines called the octave presents which aspects the poem will regard. The last six lines called the sestet gives a personal view of what the poem really is about. ‘Shall I Comepare Thee’ is divided by three quatrains followed by a couplet and has the traditional characteristic rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. The metrical aspect of sonnet 18 is that the poem got written in iambic form with one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. The sonnet has five feet in each line and therefore it is under pentameter. For example if the 2 first lines in Sonnet 18 should be divided into the rhythm of five in stressed and unstressed syllables it would look like this: The stressed syllables, is the ‘green’ ones and unstressed syllables is the ‘red’ ones. Shall I - compare - thee to - a sum - mer’s day? Thou art - more love - ly and - more tem - perate. Shakespeare starts the poem with the question ‘shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ What actually is an actual and evident question. Shakespeare’s poem, Is about a girl, which is more lovely than summer due to the fact that she has no flaws. Through the poem...
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...ANALYSIS OF SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET 18 V. Henriet Lesson plan Class: • 3rd-4th year student’s • Intermediate level Prerequisites: • the class should have already studied Shakespeare’s biography, his main works and should also have a general idea of what a sonnet is. Lecture organisation: • Time: 50 mins. • Additional tools needed: overhead projector, one handout of the sonnet for each student in order to allow them to take notes on the text while explaining and showing the PPT slides. NB: Suggested structure: • Introduction: first reading of the sonnet • 1st part: information on Shakespeare’s sonnets collection (structure and themes) • 2nd part: crucial aspects of the chosen sonnet: themes and main elements • Conclusion: guided analysis of Sonnet 18 Texts: • Text to be read in class: Sonnet 18 • Works cited: Shakespeare’s Sonnets Collection. Objectives: • Students will learn the basic structure of an English Sonnet (i.e., the Elizabethan Form) • They will learn some figures of speech and how to paraphrase a sonnet • Thanks to the visual reinforcement they should more easily remember the sonnet, and its main themes. Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 – (Valentina Henriet) The aim of this lesson is to help students understand 1) what a sonnet is 2) some of the...
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