First Folio

What is William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, about? Is it about revenge, betrayal, good versus evil, order versus disorder, or even madness? That's the catch, it’s not about a specific topic, it’s about every one of those topics. That’s the beauty about Hamlet and every other play written by Shakespeare. Each play is about multiple themes that work in between and with each other to characterize the play as a whole. However, although each play is unique in their own way, there are similar themes…

Universal ideas, the thoughts and philosophies conveyed by the world, the little guys that allow the world to live in peace and prosperity. Shakespeare conveys them all; Shakespeare’s works remain to be popular in the 21st century due to their role in shaping and addressing matters yet significant today. One of the major issues in today’s world are financial issues and discrimination, clearly evident in William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice which talks about the financial problems of a…

works are similar, there are various differences between the two that distinguish one from the other like the Weird Sisters, Banquo and Supernatural events. The first compare/contrast of Macbeth vs Holinshed’s Chronicles are the characters of the Weird Sisters. Shakespeare introduces them as ugly, creepy sisters. One of the first descriptions of the sisters is from Banquo. “What are these, So wither’d and so wild in their attire, That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth, And yet are…

means of deceptive garb”. The second one being more used metaphorically, “To conceal or cover up the truth or actual character of by a counterfeit from or appearance; misrepresent”. The word disguise comes from the old french word, desguisier. The first meaning of disguise, involving appearance, came about in the 1400s, while the second meaning of disguise, to cover up truths, came around the 1300s. Shakespeare used the word not to leave people deceived, but intended to make the plotline more…

William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear is so appallingly devastating that the readers’ questions about justice are unanswered at the end of the play. Shakespeare’s characters in King Lear assert that villainy will eventually undo itself. This proves to be true at the end of King Lear when the Duke of Cornwall, Edmund, Goneril, and Regan have all died as a result of their own immoral acts. The audience can perceive the deaths of these characters as just punishments for their immoral acts.…

If all goes wrong, and all positivity ceases to exist, would turning to supernatural powers and beings be a beneficial solution? In Shakespeare’s King Lear, a senile king, who seeks for revenge after blindly handing his kingdom over to his evil daughters, banishes his most trustworthy servant for going against his word. As this man whips up his own chaos, a blind father was deceived by his bastard son into giving him his power and title. Most people believe that good things happen to good people…

King Lear is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare sometime in the early 1600s. The play was first performed in front of an audience on December 26, 1606 at Whitehall Palace as part of his company’s Christmas celebrations. According to the introduction of the book “King Lear is Shakespeare’s most perfect embodiment both of his own artistic vision as a “poet” and of the tragic genre he and other early modern dramatists inherited from classical authors” (Ioppolo viii). The story is about a…

A Statue of Shakespeare Johnson is known for his obsession with biography. In his Rambler No. 60, Johnson even claims “[he] often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not be useful” (182). Curiously, Shakespeare seems to be one of the few exceptions. In his “Preface to The Plays of William Shakespeare” (referred to as “Preface to Shakespeare" below), Johnson does not show any interest in Shakespeare’s life. Nor did Johnson write a…

out to him in disappointment of not being able to see the lies in his children all this time: “If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes/ I know thee well enough. Thy name is Gloucester/ Thou must patient. We came crying hither. Thou know’st the first time that we smell the air/ We wawl and cry.” (4.4.164-168). From Lear’s words, Shakespeare displays how people eventually view their mistakes from not perceiving the truth. Shakespeare’s symbol of blindness shows how regret and consequences may…

However, they do not work the same way in all his plays. Jealousy, in King Lear, seems very different than in Othello. If someone closely takes a look at the very beginning of King Lear, jealousy can be found between two brothers, Edmund and Edgar. First of all, Edmund is jealous because he is a bastard son of Gloucester. He thinks that he will be abandoned from all the assets and power that Gloucester has. Shakespeare reveals the social point of view according to this matter. For instance, even…