The Spanish Tragedy

s John C Maxwell once said, “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” The theme of this quote can speak largely for John Proctor, one of the main characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The reader first meets Proctor as a sinful man because of his past relationship with Abigail Williams. As the story progresses, John becomes willing to repent and act upon his past actions. Towards the end of the story, heroically,…

Marcus Brutus: A Tragic Hero Bound by Radical Idealism William Irwin Thompson once said, “Idealistic reformers are dangerous because their idealism has no roots in love, but is simply a hysterical and unbalanced rage for order amidst their own chaos.” Brutus as we generally think about him is seen as patriotic, honorable, self controlled, stoic and quite possibly impractical. In many arguments, Brutus has simply fallen victim to Cassius’s radical idealism, manipulation,and tactfulness. However…

that he feels extremely guilty for what he has done; he never wished this upon himself. This quote proves Oedipus’s remorse because he says that he’s ashamed of the outcome of his life, later on he exiles himself because he couldn’t deal with the tragedy. Oedipus also shows remorse when he learns the truth on page 257 when he says, “Of my father, when I came to the house of Death, or my mother: for I have sinned against them both so viley, that I could not make my peace by strangling my own…

When people hear the word conflict, they usually think about it in a negative context. However, Roman comedies are filled with rambunctious and silly characters that often get tricked into a situation, that go through the process of figuring everything out amid the confusion, and finding a happy ending to their troubles. Plautus’s plays tend to reflect the lifestyle and social aspects of the lower ranks of Roman people. This is significant because it gives readers an insight to what life may be…

♣ Caesar didn’t believe in Calpurnia’s premonition and completely disregarded it. He first responded by saying, “Caesar shall forth…they are vanished.” (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 10-13) In this extract, he told Calpurnia that there was no threat against him, and that all of his past threats pose no danger against him and have vanished entirely. This response indicates his feelings of comfort towards his decision. It also shows that he feels audacious and overconfident. When Calpurnia continued to…

The author, Neal Shusterman, intrinsically develops an complex character—Rowan Damisch—to parallel the brick wall of insecurity that an individual often barricade themselves from within, where the small embers of fire that one encompasses are fanned to their very notions and moralities that motivates one to remain indestructible amongst the evils of both damaging psychological and physical aspects. Rowan Damisch is an remarkable calamity waiting to unravel; the development of his individuality…

The Rash and Regret of Hercules When people know nothing they are easily scared. The early Greeks were unaware of many things in their lives so, they made stories to cope with the inability to comprehend the world around them. The Greeks were a mischievous people who made many mistakes and one man in the strange Greek stories is the perfect embodiment of this quality. One of these stories was about a very strong man named Hercules, Edith Hamilton wrote about his story in her book Mythology.…

Cynossema: A Warning for Sailors “War is a violent teacher… it reduces most people’s temperaments to the level of their present circumstances.” - Thucydides In the wake of the great chaos of war and the tragic loss of humanity, those who are left behind are often angry and hopeless, craving closure. These feelings of anger and hopelessness, sometimes even propell those who remain, to lose their own humanity in return. Euripides’ Hecuba details the aftermath of the Trojan war, a conflict that…

The Pursuit of Happyness is a movie based on the life of Chris Gardner, a salesperson with a strong commitment to his family. As Gardner struggles to get ahead, he faces countless adversities and found strength in knowing that he is going through this to make a better life for his son. Although Gardner and his son became homeless, he had a desire to have a better life. He also managed to find moments to help shape and mold his son’s education with teachable moments. Like in this movie, I found…

1. may instigate and further advance the plot as a result of the death of the protagonist’s surrogate as displayed between the case of Achilles and Patroclus. 2. “Characters are not people” but are “products of writers’ imaginations – and reader’s imaginations.” Characters are neither real nor alive. In fact, the only reason characters are present is to further serve a role in fostering the plot line and are not conclusive themselves. 3. The death of the surrogate provides an opportunity to…