The Spanish Tragedy

Antigone’s Love Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. In the beginning of the book, we find out that Antigone’s brothers have slaughtered each other in war. One of the brothers, Polyneices is considered a traitor and Creon, the king, refuses to give him a proper burial. Antigone decides to disobey the king and give her brother a proper burial. Antigone loves the idea of a noble death and it drives her decision-making at the end of her life. Her death had a major impact on the city and…

Having an open mind creates the possibility of accepting new ideas, but refusing to listen to others can do more harm than good. In Things Fall Apart, Antigone, and Titus Andronicus, stubbornness of the protagonist is the main conflict that leads the tragic hero to their downfall. All three tragic heroes, Okonkwo, Antigone, and Titus believe their own beliefs are the correct ones to be followed and that there's nothing wrong with it, however as the stories progress it's clear to see that this is…

A hero can be defined as a person who is noted for courageous acts and nobility of character. The character of Macbeth is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. In Shakespeare's Macbeth we see that Macbeth is a man of respectable birth who has inner conflicts, and a strong background which leads us to see the qualities of a tragic hero. For example, madness can be described as an internal and tragic characteristic of Macbeth. This plays a significant factor in the decline and downfall…

When you reach your final destination knowledge, strength, beauty, wealth and riches, family and friends cannot accompany you, you are left on your own and only your good deeds can assist you, this is the moral I got from a 15th century morality play ‘Everyman’. A morality play according Webster (2015) is an allegorical play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters personify abstract qualities of concepts (as virtues, vices or death). Everyman is a one- act…

There are many symbols in classic literature, but those used in The Glass Menagerie, are particularly unique. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a play about the reflections of Mr. Wingfield, a man who abandoned his family in order to pursue his own future. In the play, Williams uses many symbols that signify many different things. Many of the symbols used in the play are used to symbolize some form of escape or distinction between reality and illusion. The entire play is centered…

Through their powerful renderings of war and politics, Niccolò Machiavelli's iconoclastic 1532 political treatise The Prince and Shakespeare's 1599 historical tragedy Julius Caesar mutually seek to explore the nature of human weakness. A manifestation of Machiavelli's radically realpolitik interpretation of Renaissance humanism, The Prince subverts the traditional Christian moral zeitgeist, redefining weakness in instrumental terms - that a leader's results are superior in importance to his…

Character Analysis Sir Andrew Aguecheek Twelfth Night, a comedic play, written by Shakespeare, eloquently develops unique traits, actions, and dialogue for each character to defy roles. Throughout the play, there are clear examples that convey the characteristics and the use of Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the play. He is the clueless, cowardly character who is used by other characters to create a humorous scene and plot, and the vehicle Shakespeare used to prove the stupidity of the royal class. In…

Altruistic Behaviors “My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight,” George R.R. Martin. In the film “Forrest Gump,” directed by Robert Zemeckis, a fictional character goes through a long journey, while displaying a wide variety…

Ernest Hemingway’s contemporary short story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” adopts the theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet of accepting death, rather than excessively contemplating the inevitable. The contrast of Hemingway’s central characters, Francis Macomber and Robert Wilson, mimics the contrast of Shakespeare’s characters, Hamlet and Fortinbras. While some characters overanalyze every aspect of life, others prepare themselves for life’s uncontrollable events. No matter the approach…

Machiavelli's last argument "the end justifies the means" is a quite controversial issue. In his book Machiavelli explains gives an example of Agathocles and Oliverotto da Ferma. Both of them seized the power by cruelty. They killed others in order to come to power and stay in power. Well, I said it's a controversial, because sometimes the end does justifies the means, but sometimes not. For instance, cheating in the exam (the means) in order to get a good mark and make your mother happy (the…