The Spanish Tragedy

Everyone sees the play Hamlet as this great tragedy and a quest for revenge, and it is one, but it’s also filled with so much deception. The characters lie to each other, they spy and create plans to find out information. Their use of hidden yet obvious deception just goes to show how rotton human beings can be with each other and how easily they can turn on one another to further themselves to get what they want. It eventually shows that by using all your energy towards a plan of revenge, can…

Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros written in 1959 is one of his most famous works forming a part of the Post War Avant-Garde Drama of the Theatre of Absurd. Rhinoceros demonstrates Ionesco’s anxiety about the spread of inhuman totalitarian tendencies in society. Inspired by his personal experiences with fascism during World War II, this absurdist drama depicts the struggle of one man to maintain his identity and integrity alone in a world where all others have succumbed to the beauty of brute force…

Oedipus Quote Analysis “By fate we are driven; yield to fate. No anxious cares can change the threads of its inevitable spindle.” In this particular quote taken from the greek play Oedipus,, I feel that there is more than one type of fate. One is inevitable, in example death. Death is a fate that cannot be avoided. The second, is a type of fate that can be escaped from. For example, a robber is brought to court and sentenced to jail for 30 years. During a prison break, he escapes and sneaks on…

Oedipus the King is a tragedy outlining the fall of Oedipus as he discovers his true identity. The drama focuses on his inability to see past his own ignorance, thus leading to disastrous consequences. As outlined in Aristotle’s Poetics, the mark of a good tragedy is represented by an error done by the protagonist. In the play, dramatic irony emphasizes Oedipus’ compulsion for knowledge which is hindered by his own ignorance, thus resulting in his loss of reputation. Throughout the play, Oedipus…

Friedrich Nietzsche once spoke about poets as being “shameless with their experiences: they exploit them” (109). This quote most definitely describes one of the most descriptive British poets in the world, John Keats. Autumn is the season of steady decline and sadness, a time of the year when beauty dies and despair takes over. The pride and glory of the people plummets like autumn leaves. However, John Keats believes autumn to be the season of beauty, awe, and tranquility and he backs it up…

The Mithridatic Wars were fought during the first century BC between Rome and the Kingdom of Pontus, ruled by King Mithridates VI. Mithridates was betrayed by his own son, and the Kingdom of Pontus eventually lost to Rome, after which Mithridates took his own life (Simpson). The poem “Rain of Statues”, written by Sarah Lindsay, tells a story about the soldiers who fought and died during these wars. “Rain of Statues” gives the reader the idea that people are often viewed as being no different…

In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the author perfectly portrays the effectiveness of conformity and individualism through the use of the character’s actions and the consequences that those who do not conform face. For instance, the readers are introduced to John Proctor , the poster child in this play for ‘fighting the system’. Miller uses this character primarily, along with stage directions, dialogue, and other characters, to form his idea of conformity and individualism, and how…

In one iconic and powerful exchange in the movie The Dark Knight, Two-Face, a heroic district attorney turned villain said to one of the protagonists, Jim Gordon, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” This quote eloquently describes the ideology of characters who are neither a hero nor truly a villain, but fall somewhere between. For many, morally grey characters are fascinatingly terrifying since their actions are understandable, but also condemnable.…

Through the play The Dumb Waiter, Pinter wants to convey that everyone is prone to death. No one is safe in this world. The two hit-men Ben and Gus are waiting for their victim whom they are to kill. They have been paid for the work. But they are unaware of the fact that one of them is the victim. Though Ben and Gus are partners, yet someone has used and employed Ben to kill his own partner – Gus; and this remains a secret with them until the last moment. Gus who, until the last, plays the role…

Samuel Beckett, who similarly used theatrical silence and long amplified pauses for a innovative effect, heavily influences Harold Pinter’s work. The objective of this essay is to define ‘Silences’ and Pinter’s uses of pauses as a theatrical technique used in the form of non verbal communication between characters of Ben and Gus in Pinter’s, The Dumb Waiter. His plays can be studied on various levels of in depth readings. The sheer complexity of his work is what conveys these different diverse…