First Folio

Gaius Phaedrus, a Roman author, had said, “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many.” While reading Othello, this quote recurred in my mind as the realities of many situations differed from what is experienced by the characters in the play. Similar to the characters, I also have a tendency to conclude that something is real, when it is false, based on how it appears. By recollecting events in the play and my life in which the appearance of a situation overshadowed…

Orlando is a story that spans across many ages. We begin in the Elizabethan era and are brought age through age into the 20th century. Even more, the plot is based on a book written by Virgina Woolfe in 1928, yet all the while the theatrical experience of Orlando was constructed barely two decades ago. It plays with the past while remaining aware of the present. Sarah Ruhl's stage adaptation of Orlando is a postmodern exercise in deconstruction. Ruhl removes the veil of time away from Virgina…

are two that are often debated on. The first is the version created by Michael Radford in 2004, and the second is the version created by Trevor Nunn in 2001. Overall, the Michael Radford version of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is better because the acting was of a higher quality, there was a better use of production elements such as costumes and set, and the setting of the story stayed true to the original Shakespeare script. After watching just the first 10 minutes of both Nunn and…

separate eras. The first, early era would contain the poems “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Gerontion” (Ackroyd 705). “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” was first published in 1915 (collected in “Collected Poems”, 1909-1962). This was one of Eliot’s most interesting but challenging poems to comprehend (706). Eliot dedicated “Prufrock” to his close friend and neighbor from his lodgings Jean Verdenal. He decided to dedicate this poem to him after he was killed in the first World War…

“Hamlet’s madness, whether genuine or not, adds to the fascination of his character for the audience.” Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the play, Hamlet. The more I explore Shakespeare’s work, the more I am convinced that he had more wisdom in 1616 than we have managed to accumulate since. The lesson I derive from Shakespeare’s exploration of madness in Hamlet is that sometimes one just has to fight fire with fire. It is how Hamlet’s (probably)…

The famous Shakespearean tragedy King Lear depicts King Lear of Britain’s rollercoaster path from foolishness to wisdom and his eventual tragic downfall. Lear divides his kingdom amongst his three daughters: Cordelia who is banished for not correctly expressing her love for the King, and Goneril and Regan who turn against him in order to gain more power. Likewise, Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres tells a tale molded around King Lear where the owner of a 1000-acre farm named Larry agrees to hand it…

Throughout time, there has been many tragedies caused by romance. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a great example of romantic tragedy. In the play, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, two feuding families cause tragic results for their children, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The events contrast hatred and revenge with love and a secret marriage, forcing the young lovers to die tragically in despair. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet can be blamed upon Friar Lawrence, the…

Romeo and Juliet is a play written by Shakespeare that was about two young people falling into an unbreakable love. Were Romeo and Juliet really in love with each other? Romeo and Juliet could not have been in love, they were both young, barely knew each other, and they were willing to die because they thought that was the only way they could be together. Juliet was only 14 years old when she decided to marry Romeo. Her father Capulet said, “My child is yet a stranger in the world. She hath not…

The term “honour” is defined as “high respect, esteem or reverence, accorded to exalted worth or rank” (Green lecture). The concept of honour plays a very important role in the William Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing. As the play progresses, one begins to discover that the concept of honour and how one goes about defending one’s honour differs substantially between genders and thus, honour is “gendered” (Green lecture). Therefore, through analysis of the play, this essay will discuss…

Karnad’s The Dreams of Tipu Sultan, the first focus is the structure in dramatic sense. Dramatic structure is a basic form in which a presentation is setup. It includes elements like theme, action, character. Basically, it is the way that the playwright sets up the actions of the piece of theatre. In this play, the dramatist uses dreams, historical events, memories, diary, motifs and the division of play in to two acts without scene division. In addition, the first focus is on the dreams which…