...however ways in which it is practiced in society is dependent on the corresponding culture and era. Shakespeare’s 1603 play, Othello, and Eugène Delacroix’s 1830 oil painting on canvas, Liberty Leading the People, are prime examples of texts that explore the importance of one’s self concept, particularly in fields of patriotism and sacrifice. Body paragraph 1 Actions of patriotism are often a foundation for one's honourability,...
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...significance of act 1 in Othello. Act 1 of ‘Othello’ by William Shakespeare is of extreme importance to the development of the play and the audiences understanding of it as a whole. Othello is introduced to the audience as calm, confident and eloquent individual who has deeply in love with Desdemona even in the face of adversity in their relationship. However, as the play progresses Othello is manipulated and warped by his ensign Iago. His mind begins to fracture until he commits an atrocity so foul; he believes death is the punishment he deserves. One of the most important points portrayed in act 1 is Othello’s personality and thought process before he is manipulated by Iago in later scenes. “From men of royal siege; and my demerits…may speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune…as this that I have reached”. Othello is portrayed here as calm and rational here despite the fact that Iago is attempting to rile him by giving false information about Roderigo. Furthermore, Othello emphasises his self-confidence by stating that his past glories will speak louder than Brabantio’s gripes about his daughter’s relationship with him. Othello emphasises this point again by speaking in verse “Were it my cue to fight I should have known it without a prompter.” This emphasises his supreme confidence and rational thinking as he states that he has done nothing wrong and has no reason to feel guilty about his marriage to Desdemona. Moreover, although Brabantio orders his guard to arrest Othello, he remains...
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...Othello Notes Reputation/Honour Importance of the theme of Reputation / Honour in Othello: The significant theme of reputation and honour is portrayed frequently throughout the novel Othello. Many of the characters in the novel carefully consider the consequences of their thoughts and actions in regards to their reputation and honour, making sure that they appear noble even when their actions are irrational and selfish. Such an example is shown when Iago appears to be simply stating the obvious about Desdemona, instead of manipulating Othello to believe his own fears. Othello is dictated by his desire to live up to his reputation, achieved through years of being a general in Venice. Reputation, used in conjunction with jealousy and trust, provide the key elements which provoke Othello’s mental disintegration shown predominantly by language techniques, into a world of mistrust and assumption. It is logical to assume that Othello’s suicide was a consequence of his need to preserve any traces of reputation left from his dedicated work as a general; from the characteristics portrayed of Othello it is implied that the act of imprisonment would crush Othello – he would no longer be an honourable citizen. In a similar way to Othello’s suicide, Iago’s sudden and unpredicted vow of silence could be assumed to also be a form of self-preservation, manipulating other characters by preventing any more damage to his reputation by not accidentally admitting details of his ignobility. ...
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...The handkerchief is critical within the plot of Othello, Influencing and effecting various characters inside the play. The cloth symbolizes many different things such as love, power, virginity, marriage, visual evidence, and race to name only a few of the numerous meanings. In Othello, the cloth has both physical and typical understandings. Never in the play does a character imply any meaning to the cloth. In fact anything could be put in place of the handkerchief, yet the handkerchief matters. Despite the fact that the handkerchief can be extremely pointless in a few eyes. The handkerchief in Othello assumes an essential part in the story. In light of the fact that the handkerchief is fundamentally typical of Desdemona's...
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...character’s personality and actions affect the fate of the other characters. A point much contested by critics is how Shakespeare presents Othello himself: some, such as A.C. Bradley, hold the view that the General is a noble tragic hero, whereas F.R. Leavis would contradict this by claiming Othello to be a weak man whose fatal flaw is jealousy. Iago is a key instrument in Othello’s downfall and uses deception to plant the idea of Desdemona’s infidelity. He adroitly persuades Othello to accept this idea in a very short length of time. Shakespeare first uses Iago to develop the theme of perception when Iago hints at the topic of Desdemona’s supposed affair in 3:3. Iago then claims to have asked about Cassio ‘But for a satisfaction of my thought’. The idea of ‘thinking' is repeated many times after this, and is significant because of the way Shakespeare has the characters appear to perceive each other – for example how people see Iago, who is mentioned many times to be ‘honest’ – Othello even says ‘I know thou’rt full of love and honesty’ – and this dramatic irony allows him to successfully carry out his deception. The audience alone knows he is untrustworthy until late in the play, as he appears to be helping each character while actually stirring negativity between them. This ‘motiveless malignity’, as claimed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, leads Othello to murder Desdemona. However, some would disagree with critics who claim Iago to be a simple, average bad character concocting trouble:...
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...dramatist around the world. Among all his works, many literary critics regard Othello as the peak of his tragedies. Othello is not only a tragedy of family, but also a tragedy of love. Jealous psychology of the characters ultimately leads to the marital tragedy. Iago was jealous of Cassio and Othello, so he slandered and entrapped Cassio and Desdemona, which directly brought about the tragedy. Othello’s true love to Desdemona was utilized by Iago who had an ulterior motive. Driven by jealousy, Othello readily believed Iago, and personally killed his own wife, and eventually drew his sword to cut his own throat. Therefore, the tragedy in Othello’s marriage is largely rooted in jealous psychology. We analyze the reason effect this tragedy of marriage by following the premarital objective situation and the subjective married life. Othello and Desdemona’s marriage is doomed and dysfunctional from the beginning because of acute differences in marriage and due to Othello’s flaw of characters. We analyze the reasons which affect this tragedy of marriage by following the premarital situation then Othello’s characters in married life. To pave the way for detailed analysis, it is necessary to know about two types of marriages at that time. Jessica Tvordi says in “In quarter and in Terms like Bride and Groom”: Reconfiguring Marriage, Friendship, and Alliance in Othello “In its treatment of marriage, Othello introduces and creates tensions between two models of marriage: the dynastic or...
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...Drama Essay “Othello, the Moor of Venice” Jami Bruno Liberty University In the drama “Othello, the Moor of Venice”, written by Shakespeare around 1604, we find Othello in a downfall that was fed by a villain named Iago. Othello soon becomes the tragic hero of this story. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is “someone who is a noble soul, from high estates, and has a downfall in the result of his hamartia or tragic flaw” (Kennedy, & Gioia, 2007). Othello is easily persuaded with bad advice, that his wife is being unfaithful and is in love with another man. Othello being insecure, is crushed when he is fooled into believing that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. With anger and jealousy in his heart he finds himself causing a downfall in the result of his own tragic flaw. Desdemona continues to stay faithful to her husband even as her husband accuses her of being in love with another man. She is a sweet, kind and intelligent woman who is truly devoted to loving Othello. Heartbroken to find her husband has turned against her and plans to kill her, she tries to defend herself with the truth. She is unable to dismiss the lies told to her husband by the villainous Iago. Iago’s hate for the Moor stems from several different directions. He plays the main reason Othello has a tragic flaw. Fueled by his own jealousy, Iago has started a rumor about Othello’s wife and Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Emilia is the wife of Iago and Desdemona’s maid. She is submissive...
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...burden of present reality. Williams Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tale of a man who eventually falls from society because of a tragic flaw that exists within the Moors’ innate nature. The main character Othello is often viewed as a tragic hero and is often compared to Aristotle’s concept of what a tragic...
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...Who was William Shakespeare? Shakespeare is William Shakespeare, one of the English-speaking world's greatest playwrights and poets, who possessed a great knowledge of human nature and transformed the English theatre. Yet many facts of his life remain a mystery. Some have been acquired from painstaking looks at the records of the time, so that this summary is based on generally agreed facts. It has been said that we only know three things about Shakespeare: that he was born, married and died. He was baptised on April 26, 1564; we do not know his birth date, but many scholars believe it was April 23, 1564. His father was John Shakespeare (who was a glover and leather merchant) and his mother Mary Arden (who was a landed local heiress). John had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the late 1570s. William lived for most of his early life in Stratford-upon-Avon. We do not know exactly when he went to London but he is said to have arrived in 1592. There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. It is surmised by scholars that Shakespeare attended the free grammar school in Stratford, which at the time had a reputation to rival that of Eton. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's...
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...Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, and is widely regarded today as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet. As quoted in an article,” The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry"”. In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance, and is currently an active part of education curriculums. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world. It is safe to say that although Shakespearean plays were set in the Renaissance Era, they are still the epitome of English literature and are revered by theaters, performers and audiences alike due to their remarkable credibility in portraying everlasting political, social and moral issues. http://www.neptunetheatre.com/content/Shakespeare_hat_trick His plays move from romantic to tragic, humorous to serious so much so that he not only caters to all tastes but also all times by portraying the political situation of his times as well as the way of living. Even Romeo and Juliet, considered by many as a die –hard romantic scripture actually highlights political issues. One of the main political aspects of the play was when count Paris uses...
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...since the middle ages. From Dante's Divina Commedia (1308-11) to Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590-96), purity is treated as an ideal for everybody to strive towards. It is always analogous to goodness. A character with this trait (more usually female ) is treated both by the narrative and many of the characters as being a shining example of good. Almost always beautiful, she often gives off a soft radiance that attracts people. She is almost exclusively soft-spoken, polite, optimistic, and just all round pleasant to be around. The 14th century alliterative poems Pearl , Purity ,and Patience, draws easily on the Bible for its narrative and illustrate the virtue of purity in character. In Shakespearean tragedies like Othello , Desdemona is killed by her husband Othello who thinks she was unfaithful. The gentle-hearted Ophelia, Hamlet’s unfortunate lover, lost in a world too cruel for her pure fragile soul, is driven mad and topples from a branch into her watery death.Cordelia is the epitome of goodness in King Lear , for her loving virtuous and compassionate nature and, adherence to truth, which ironically turn against her. But The Tempest is a 'dramatic romance', a world of wish...
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...Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-723-1 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4381-3425-3 (e-book) 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Criticism and interpretation. I. Bloom, Harold. II. Heims, Neil. PR2976.W5352 2010 822.3'3—dc22 2010010067 Bloom’s Literary Criticism books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please...
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...From How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster Notes by Marti Nelson 1. Every Trip is a Quest (except when it’s not): a. A quester b. A place to go c. A stated reason to go there d. Challenges and trials e. The real reason to go—always self-knowledge 2. Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion a. Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion b. Not usually religious c. An act of sharing and peace d. A failed meal carries negative connotations 3. Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires a. Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence b. Sexual implications—a trait of 19th century literature to address sex indirectly c. Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another. 4. If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet 5. Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? a. There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature—stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems. b. There is only one story—of humanity and human nature, endlessly repeated c. “Intertexuality”—recognizing the connections between one story and another deepens our appreciation and experience, brings multiple layers of meaning to the text, which we may not be conscious of. The more consciously...
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...thus name spelled in different ways • Shakespeare, Shakspere, Shackspere, Shaxper, Shagspere, Shaxberd, etc. Shakespeare: The most well known playwright of Elizabethan times is Shakespeare. But there were also other writers who in their time were just as, or even more famous than him. WHAT MAKES SHAKESPEARE STAND OUT? – The volume of his works Plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare ■ 14 COMEDIES – funny play – with amusing events – ended in marriage / or happily o Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Much Ado about Nothing… ■ 10 HISTORIES – Richard III, Richard II, Henry IV… ■ 10 TRAGEDIES – ends in death ← Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Julius Caesar… ■ 4 Romances – ( chivalry and love) Pericles,...
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...EVENT: Black Vace newspaper – in the library 2pm on Friday 4/27 Donations to PFAU library. HBCU – groups all over the world to come together. • Mixed races – either intentional or unintentional. o Mulatto – ½ black (this is an offensive term which the root word is mule) o Quadroon – ¼ black o Octoroon – 1/8 black Video – Fisk singers and early white gospel video • Literacy was a problem – acapella singing. • Gospel – “Good news” • Fisk = HBCU in 1866 Video: the history of gospel music 02 • In the African heritage it had to be the music, the preacher and the religious. o Had to be the preacher and the response • Music was to be free but then brought Christianity which was pulled out from that they say. • Involving percussion tones • Melees tone – not singing the tone right to but to shape it. We wear the mask poem: Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 – 1906) • Mask – façade, disguises you, hides you, masquerade, protection, performers. Performance v. rituals • Ritual o Gospel • Performance o For others/benefits o Entertainment o Image Video: Education on Minstrel – goes into the Images topic • Developed in 1820. • T.D. Rice • Jim crow presents himself as an African (black face) by performing how the Africans perform. Performance within a performance. • Compromise of 4, etc. o Paid performances • Call and response Images: • Co-opted • Corruption of the history image • Massive available – were everywhere. • The images like...
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