Poetic devices

To feign or not to feign: that is the question surrounding the behavior and actions of one of literature's most enigmatic tragic heroes. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the question is often asked of whether or not Hamlet is indeed insane, or feigning insanity for his own personal desire of investigating the truth behind Claudius and his role in murdering his father without raising too much suspicion on his part. After centuries of debate on the topic, Franco Zeffirelli came in confidently…

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a classic representation of a Shakespearean masterpiece. An Aristotelian tragic hero is someone of noble status who has a tragic flaw and his (or her) personality suffers a fall from grace due to that tragic flaw, only to redeem a small measure of that lost nobility through self-awareness. In this drama Macbeth is given the main role. He is a noble war hero who experiences a tragic flaw. Macbeth undoubtedly fits the definition of a tragic hero…

The Theme of Hubris in Antigone’s Creon In his well-renowned play Antigone, Sophocles limns Creon as a just leader whose hubris, or excessive pride, ultimately spawns his untimely demise. He initially articulates rational justifications for the implementation of his draconian laws and punishments. However, Creon’s hubris, as evident in his refusal to accept his prophecy conveyed Tiresias, proves to be his tragic flaw, or hamartia, and such experiences help Creon to realize his tragic flaw and…

In Homer’s Greek epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus possesses several characteristics that qualify him to be a man of honor in classical Greek literature. However, in Emily Wilson’s translation, Odysseus’s epithet is described as “complicated”, and in Robert Fagles’s translation, he is referred to as a “man of twists and turns” (Homer, The Odyssey, 1.1). Odysseus’s moral values encompass those of a hero, such as his outstanding capabilities as a warrior and tactician, but his negligence and exaggerated…

SHORT QUESTIONS 1. Where did Oedipus send Creon at the beginning of the play? Oedipus sent Creon to the Pythian temple of Apollo, to the oracle of Delphi to ask for advice to get rid of the plague that was terrorizing Thebes. 2. Where was Laius killed? Laius was killed at a three way crossroad out of the country by Oedipus, when Oedipus and Laius had a scuffle and Oedipus ended up killing Laius. 3. Why did not anyone investigate Laius murder at the time it happened? No one tried to find out…

Chinua Achebe's “Things Fall Apart” is a historical fiction novel that is set in the early 1900’s. This novel is about the tragic downfall of the main character Okonkwo, a well respected leader within his clan in Umuofia, who is also a tragic hero because of several flaws. Okonkwo’s most noticeable flaw is that he fears weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fatal flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. This fear was the result of the weakness and failure of his father, Unoka. He saw how nobody…

Can a murderer be a hero? Many would argue no, but such a response can be both incomplete and close-minded. While a character such as Brutus, from within Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, can very easily be judged as being evil due to a superficial deconstruction of his actions, his true character is found only upon deeper analysis. Brutus does suffer from what appears to be an objective lack of morality; however, further analysis of his motives, his internal conflicts, and…

To lack good judgement is one of the major themes Shakespeare explores in his masterpiece King Lear, a tragedy concerning the aftermath of the abdication of King Lear. The plot carries a character development; a descend into madness as a result of an act of folly. This paper further examines the origin of Lear’s madness, how the madness is externalised and finally puts the play and theme into historical context. The cause of Lear’s madness can be pinpointed to several places, depending on your…

Antigone, written by Sophocles, is a tragic play that deals with three main ideas which are: whether Polyneices ought to be given burial rituals, whether someone who buried him in defiance of state ought to be punished and whether Creon’s actions are just or thoughtless. Written around 441 BC, the play is known to have been very controversial at the time, not only because of the plot it presented but rather because the themes it dealt with challenged Ancient Greek ideals. However, not all themes…

Blame defines when someone or something holds the responsibility of a wrong committed by another person. People assign blame to feel better about themselves and the mistake they made, using it as an excuse. As shown in the play, Romeo and Juliet, a series of faults are executed by multiple people unwilling to accept responsibility, causing a chain of events that conclude in the total death of six Capulets and Montagues. Two factors to blame for the untimely death of Romeo and Juliet are…