John of Scotland

The object discussed in this paper is a two-sided red-figure bell krater – a vessel used for mixing water and wine. Side A depicts Artemis aiming her weapon at a vulnerable Aktaion, who is being torn apart by a pack of dogs. This side is particularly notable because it relates – depending on the version of the myth told – to the Greek idea of hubris, the concept of fate, and the presentation of women in Greek society. Side B depicts the goat god Pan with an erect phallus chasing a young shepherd…

The common man is essential to nearly any piece of literature like how humans need oxygen. This need is exacerbated in plays and novels where the plot is essential in the evaluation of interpretation. This is shown in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by the plebeians in Act 3 Scene 2. Plebeians in the dramatic text are looked down upon as how they are treated in the first act and how easily they are swayed and stirred. Within the dramatic text the Plebeians are shown weak,…

In Macbeth, the prophecies the witches make and the negative effects they have on other characters, namely Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, demonstrate that entities outside of our control have the power to determine our fates. When the witches predict that Macbeth would rise to the position of king, he becomes power hungry, insecure, and paranoid, which results in his mental instability and eventual death. The witches’ revelation of their prophecy to Macbeth and the events this action set in place…

Act I, Scene i Analysis: The opening scene of Macbeth is super short but it introduces the 3 most influential characters of the play. The witches’ presence in the play is very small but they remain a constant and a powerful beings throughout. This first scene establishes the witches’ connection to Macbeth. It makes the reader curious to discover who he is and also what is “the hurlyburly” (I, i, 3) that the witches discussed. Shakespeare creates dramatic irony, in that he informs the…

Why Macbeth Fails to Maintain His Power William Shakespeare often creates a protagonist that falls from the highest positions in society, such as a king. He also will add a tragic flaw to these protagonists which explain why one would fail to manage their power. One example from one of William Shakespeare’s plays is Macbeth, and how one man fails to sustain a high position in society. In the play, Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth; a war hero, encounters three witches called The Weird…

Let us start with what is free will? Well free will is acting independently in spite of outside influences. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare there were many tragedies Including the death of Macbeth. But now it is time to talk about the free will and the differences women and men had against it. Women had more of a hold on manliness in this play because they were more controllable when everything started going crazy. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth had a couple things in common starting with…

Shakespeare used multiple omens to foreshadow the deaths of Caesar and Brutus. One such omen was the symbolization of the female characters of the play. The women of William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Portia and Calpurnia, are portrayed as weak, not as women of power. Portia was unable to get Brutus to tell him what was wrong with him, even after getting on her knees and begging him. “And upon my knees I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, by all your vows of love and that…

This recontextualisation of hijras in Macbeth permits a new interpretation not only to British South Asians but also to British audiences by breaking the previous pigeonholes created by either South Asian playwrights or other media. While reviewing Verma’s Macbeth in an online blog, Farrah Chaudhry, the 1623 Associate artist, feels ‘guilty’ of creating British South Asian pigeonhole characters on the stage (Chaudhry, 2015). Surpassing Chaudhry’s list of stereotypes, Verma engages the…

Coping with Trauma; The Emotional Differences Between Macbeth and Macduff In the story of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the author tells a story of a man who was once a brave soldier, that later succumbs to the witches prophecies, becoming a murderous tyrant. Macbeth’s response when he hears the news of his wife’s death is pessimistic and bleak whereas when Macduff hears about the death of his wife and children he reacts with heartache and fury. Their contrasting reactions towards…

How is the character of Lady Macbeth presented in the text of Shakespeare’s play & in Roman Polanski’s 1971 film? In this essay I will be discussing how lady Macbeth is portrayed in both Shakespeare’s version as well as Polanski’s 1971 film. The play was written abruptly after the latest accession of James I, meaning that there was a lot of tension regarding a male leader over a womanlike one. Furthermore, there was a lot of suspense with the regarding of witches. If you were alleged to be a…