Shakespearean tragedy

“Next Day. Same Time. Same Place.” Thus, with an assertion of uniformity, begins the second act of the play, titled En Attendant Godot, in English, Waiting for Godot: a Tragicomedy in Two Acts. The play was written by the French dramatist Samuel Beckett and was first performed 1953. One of it’s defining characteristics is it’s complete lack of plot, so much so that the second act of the play is almost an exact replication of the first, wrought with repetitions in the dialogue and stage…

Human kindness, something truly hard to achieve as mankind is contaminated with lots of impurities. Furthermore, said impurities are gained through man’s strong influence over one another. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak reflects the products of the impurities lingering within man and its ability to collapse man’s humanity. Through man’s constant influence over one another, their humanity is lost through the fog of uncertainty and impurities. With man being lost in the fog they become distant…

In Chinua Achebe’s postcolonial story of Things Fall Apart, Achebe portrays the main character, Okonkwo, as an angry man who is unable to show compassion which becomes his hamartia. This hamartia which impacts Okonkwo throughout the novel, eventually leads to Okonkwo’s own tragic demise. The death of Okonkwo was from his own fatal flaw, as a tragic hero. Not through the cultural displacement that may have affected the people around him. Aristotle describes a tragic hero as someone who: holds…

Iago’s Success in Manipulation In William Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago is the main cause of every downfall throughout the play, enduring themes of racism, jealousy, betrayal, vengeance, and repentance. Not only did Iago tell fallacious statements, but also structured a reputation based on “honesty” and plain speaking. However, how can one be consistently honest over long periods of time? Moreover, Iago had risen through the army ranks by his achievements, which Othello accepted him due to…

The story “The Interlopers” written by Saki is also connected with Nietzsche’s philosophy on Apollo and Dionysus, which are central themes within his first major work, The Birth of Tragedy. I am going to argue that the Apollonian and Dionysian philosophy can describe not only humans and that someone can go from Dionysus to Apollo with just a few words. I am going to argue this despite the fact that in general this philosophy is applied on human beings, yet relating it with “The Interlopers”.…

Following the tragic deaths of Roderigo, Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello, Cassio orders that Iago be sent back to Venice to be tried by the Duke of Venice himself. Cassio appreciated that Gratiano had entrusted him with deciding how best to punish Iago, but given the severity of the crimes that he committed and the tragic events that his scheming unleashed, he felt that none other than the Duke himself could dispense justice that was matching with his actions. Iago vowed never to speak again, and…

him to his damnation. Having enriched himself in the ‘fruitful plot of scholarism’ (l.15-16) and become ‘ravished’ (l.103) by philosophy, the use of a traditional Greek tragedy chorus by Marlowe expresses the cataclysmic repercussions of Faustus’ unquenchable thirst for knowledge. The Chorus, being a typical feature of Greek Tragedies, gives insight to the audience of the true effects of Faustus’ hubris by conveying their belief that he is ‘glutted now with learning’s golden gifts’ (l.23) and…

In The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare physical violence and questionable abuse happens throughout the play. The play is mostly farce during the middle chunk of the play. The farcical element is shown through by the physical violence aspect. In this play there are two people who are the victims, the Dromio twins. A question that this play raises is what is the structure of the relationship between Dromio and Antipholus of Syracuse. The farcical elements often times minimizes the physical…

returned to watch it over because of the fascinating special effects. The audience members were able to escape their daily lives and be entertained by a play which contained intriguing special effects. One contemporary theatergoer stated, during a tragedy, it was “common to see members of the audiences ‘weeping and mourning’ along with the actors” (Currie 66). During comedies, he remarked that the audience “generally take up a wonderful laughter and shout together with one voice” (Currie 66).…

The Mystery Plays, depicting the creation of everything all the way to the end of this world with the judgment, are history plays more than anything else. The Morality Play Everyman; however, is an allegorical play. There are several distinct differences between these two types of plays, Mystery Plays as history and the Morality Play as allegory. Mystery Plays rely on biblical topics and stories, while the Morality Play does not rely on, or even desire, a specific background story found in the…