Riverside Shakespeare Company

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Leonato gives a long monologue in Act 4 Scene 1 after his daughter, Hero, faints from her fiancé’s accusations that she was seen with another man the night before their wedding. The words Shakespeare choses Leonato to say in that moment are telling about how women’s purity, trust of nobility, and honor were treated during the Elizabethan era. One of the first things to note is the way Leonato speaks about Hero recovering. He says, “Do not live, Hero, do…

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another, or empathy can be found while examining the play Legend by Stanisław Wyspiański. The play depicts a story of self loss , family loss, and the loss of a hero. These three forms of loss in combination with the various devices used in the play that are character, dialogue, detail, and perspective all work conjointly to evoke a feeling of empathy in the audience. Each type of loss can be associated to a specific moment in the play, these…

Setting The Scarlet Letter was a very eventful book. The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the 1600’s. The Scarlet Letter is a story about a woman, Hester Prynne, who committed a sin which caused her to have a child. The child’s name was Pearl, she was the biggest influence on the book because she was a living representation of the scarlet letter. The book has many settings from the forest to the scaffold to the brook to Hester’s cottage plus…

Shakespeare’s Caliban as an Analytical Tool in Post-Colonial Poetry Since his creation Shakespeare’s Caliban has famously informed a number of reinterpreted and expanded characters in major literary works spanning multiple centuries. Some works, such as Robert Browning’s “Caliban Upon Setebos,” explore the character in an outright and explicit manner that expands Caliban’s experience in new or different settings, whereas others, such as Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa,” indirectly explore…

During the story, A Raisin in The Sun, holds two influences, Walter, and Mama, who have the most significant impact among the plot. Here’s why; Lorraine Hansberry has created this play to prove what life was like before our modern generation had come about. As to why Lorraine brought Walter and Mama to help make up the conflicts and rising action to the plot. If the play was created without Walter, it would only be a story based upon, Beneatha, and Mama. There’d be no Ruth, no Travis, or new…

The main point of The Crucible, which was written by Arthur Miller, was to show the irony of the time period it was written during, which was the red scare. The origin of the story leads to it containing an abundance of unreasonable ignorance and hysteria. At the middle of all of this societal chaos is a character who is willing to sacrifice not only his reputation, but his life, in an attempt to show the truth and save the innocent, bringing the justice in the eyes of the ignorant. This…

Sanjuro, a movie published in 1962, was a sequel to Yojimbo. This movie stars same character as its samurai from Yojimbo. This movie suggests that in this modern world having wisdom is consequential. Sanjuro lacks samurai qualities and does complete opposite of what samurai are known for. This makes everyone question his loyalty but he shows he has great wisdom throughout the movie. He is just very smart and the fact he has capability of analyzing the situation to come up with a solution is…

Othello’s marriage, seemingly for his friend Roderigo, but mainly for the self-satisfaction he’ll receive from harming Othello. The secretive nature of his acts requires Iago to work in the dark, “at this odd-even and dull watch o’ th’ night” (Shakespeare 1.1, 75-76). However, Iago’s continuous desire to ruin Desdemona and Othello’s relationship causes him to betray his wife. When Emilia goes to their room at night, her husband isn’t there, because he’s attempting to cause distress within…

Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres was based off of William Shakespeare's King Lear. Smiley’s work is more modern, though there are several corresponding events and characters. One such set of characters is lawyer Ken LaSalle, from A Thousand Acres, and advisor the Earl of Kent, from King Lear. The two characters share many qualities and abilities. Yet, they are not entirely identical in nature. These shared qualities and abilities include candor and loyalty. The pair shares several contrasting…

John and Elizabeth Proctor’s marriage evolves throughout the play. The Crucible is a love story at heart about Proctor’s adulterous relationship and overall betrayal towards his wife Elizabeth (Palmer). The couple goes through many obstacles throughout the play, that causes their relationship to go through many changes. John and Elizabeth’s relationship changes throughout the entire play in a positive direction. Elizabeth found out about John’s affair with Abigail Williams seven months…