Paul Laurence Dunbar

The settings of each of Shakespeare’s plays play a huge role in the plot and the play as a whole. For example, in Othello, the play starts off in Venice but takes place in Cyprus for a majority of the play. The people of Venice were mostly white, so Othello was definitely an outcast. If it weren’t for his position in the military and his service in the war, he more than likely would have been criticized by the Venetian people. When the setting shifts to Cyprus, known for its love, the love…

Biography: Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, in Southern England, on May 22, 1907. His family was one with strong religious beliefs. He is known for his outstanding performances of Shakespearean roles that pathed the way for his stardom (Laurence Olivier, 2015). Despite him living in England, he gave many contributions to the Hollywood film industry. For instance, modern classics such as Wuthering Heights and Marathon Man (Laurence Olivier, 2015). Starring as Heathcliff in Wuthering…

The presence of the supernatural is in The Tragedy of Macbeth, is common like the one to The of Tragedy Hamlet. Hamlet and Macbeth were both pressured into going against the natural social order that they lived in; Hamlet had the heavy task to cast justice with his own young hands, at the request of his deceased father. Macbeth was told his fate by three witches; as well was haunted by the ghost of Banqo. The presence of the supernatural influenced both of the actions of Macbeth and Hamlet. The…

As secretary William Jennings Bryan once said, “Destiny is not matter of chance, It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” Nowhere is this concept more evident than in Coelho's novel, The Alchemist. The Alchemist reveals that one must have the courage to follow their destiny, for otherwise, they will hold themselves back from happiness. Coelho uses foil, symbolism, and personification to further develop this theme. Today’s readers can apply…

A scene that shows these attributes comes after Santiago leaves a comfortable oasis in Egypt, to attend to his dream once more. As he pauses in the desert, a horseman dressed in black rushes him, with a sword raised to kill. "Who dares read the meaning of the flight of the hawks?" he demanded. He does not flee nor does he attempt to fight and protect himself. Instead, Santiago bows his head for the blow and says, "It is I who dare to do so. Many lives will be saved because I was able to see…

Unfortunately, it is simply beyond the scope of this paper to analyze the entirety of these two productions of A Doll’s House. As a result, three scenes will be compared, contrasted, and analyzed through Butler’s theory in order to examine these gender performances. The three scenes chosen for this endeavor are as follows: Nora’s discussion with Torvald in the very beginning of Act I, Nora practicing the tarantella dance before the party in Act II, and Nora and Torvald’s final confrontation in…

For my book review I read the book Shakespeare And The Problem Of Meaning written by Norman Rabkin. This book was published in 1981 by the University of Chicago Press. In this book Rabkin looks at several Shakespeare plays including The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, and The Tempest as well as many others. Rabkin uses these to support his argument that the plays do mean something more than can be conveyed by description alone. He shows that there are many complex paradoxical elements present in…

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge towards a certain subject and it can cause great conflict. This idea is presented often in the play Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, a play about a pair of star crossed lovers who fall in love and secretly get married. As problems come their way, they decide to take hasty actions. This is all due to their lack of knowledge. Ignorance caused love, violence, and poor decisions that ultimately led to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. Ignorance…

Hamlet is a revenge tragedy play written by Williams Shakespeare. The play is all about revenge; many characters are seeking revenge of other characters with different reason and motives. In every revenge tragedy, there should be a ghost that asks for revenge. The three major themes that most of the characters are involved in are revenge, madness and spying. The three themes are related to each other, while revenge was the reason behind madness and madness was the reason behind spying. To make…

Hamlet’s presentation of madness is a way to take suspicion from himself to investigate Claudius. Hamlet’s madness is performed for the sake of the other characters. His “madness” is not necessarily a psychological problem. It is more indicative of the social attitudes of the play. Fortinbras seeks to avenge the death of his father, as does Hamlet. Hamlet and Fortinbras, and later Laertes, are in the same situation. Fortinbras must reclaim the lands his father lost to Old Hamlet. He does so for…