Riverside Shakespeare Company

How do we define an individual as a main character? How do we outline his or hers attributes? How do we exemplify their qualities as the foremost leader? In the Shakespeare play, Julius Cesar, most readers, writers, and most definitely even William Shakespeare himself see the main character of the play as someone such as Brutus, Cassius, Antony, or even Casca, but why? Do we perceive them as the main character, because they have more lines than anyone else? Is it because the act extensively…

The death of Cordelia, which triggers the death of King Lear. “Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, The gods themselves throw incense” (Shakespeare, 5.3.22). He had the love he needed, but he was blind to seeing it, does not accept it, and eventually loses it. As soon as he loses his only love, he ultimately loses himself. On the way, they coming back from New York, Daisy drives a car and accidentally…

Lady Macbeth 's Path to Destruction There is a common theme in William Shakespeare’s plays of characters taking their own lives. This tragic event is shown in his works of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, this theme is present when Lady Macbeth takes her own life at the end of the play. Lady Macbeth begins as a strong woman, eager for Macbeth to murder the king, but she starts to spiral downward when Macbeth breaks her original plan. As we move throughout the…

body of literature in the English language. The name William Shakespeare graces these imaginative pieces of art yet there is still dispute over the authorship . According to CSI’s Joe Nickell, “anti stratfordians [are] mostly non-academics and…‘pseudo-scholars’”(Nickel 1). With passing trends and fads, it’s clear who the real shakespeare is. Although there have been claims over the past centuries, the true writer of the plays is Shakespeare because the rest of the candidates lack in certain…

most fall short on their journey to greatness, some are able to rise above and achieve that coveted honor. However, to achieve this, some must sacrifice everything, including their morals. In East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main characters demonstrate the consequences of the temptations of greed and undeserved power. In East of Eden, Cathy, a beautiful and devious woman, spends her entire life manipulating others and moving her way up in the world.…

this play a role in Shakespeare 's writing, but also women being looked down upon in his own time. Natalie Marie DeJonghe explains, “During the early modern period women were considered second-class citizens.” (DeJonghe 4) It is hard to say whether Shakespeare meant to show the misogyny of his time in this play or if he was even aware of it. None the less it is present and shows itself in his writing. Many of these example may very well have been common practice for Shakespeare 's time or the…

wife, and caregiver. On the stage of Shakespeare, expectations are no different, save the added roles of trophy and sexual object, and when examined through a critical, modern lens, these stage roles become gender roles. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, women are portrayed as the weaker sex through their characteristics and by the murderous ending of the tragedy. Alexander Pope said, “Most women have no character at all,” (Pechter 372). Shakespeare, however, emphasized lack of…

On October 21st the JMW Theater Majors went to see Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet was put on by the Brown/Trinity MFA program. In the 2nd year of the program, the students put on two Shakespearean plays simultaneously. The cast is also in rep meaning, it is the same cast of actors for both productions. For the Brown Trinity MFA program, the leads in one of the shows will be minor characters for the other. Each year the MFA program likes to feature one area of social…

Who is the Real Hero in Julius Caesar? Julius Caesar, written in 1599 by William Shakespeare, is a great play based on real Roman history. The play does not only tell the story, but also brings the audience back to the time period to experience and judge Caesar’s death with their own eyes. There are many ways to look at truth, because there is no right or wrong. Shakespeare named the play Julius Caesar but wrote about Brutus’s tragedy, which causes the reader to question who the hero is and how…

Macbeth by William Shakespeare is credited to be one of the greatest plays ever written. The play deserves such high praise because of its near perfect fit to the standards of Shakespearian tragedy. The play exhibits multiple characters of a tragedy, however the most obvious, and arguably most significant include the use of a tragic hero, hamartia, and catharsis. Undoubtedly, the most vital part of a Shakespearean tragedy is that the play contains a tragic hero. Previously, in Aristotelian…