Ur-Hamlet

Priestley's “An Inspector Calls” is a dramatic play that investigates the case of a poverty-stricken girl, Eva Smith, who commits suicide. A rich family, the Birlings, and Gerald Croft are inspected by Inspector Goole to find their link to the death of Eva. Each character has a different reaction when they discover they are responsible for Eva’s death, which reveals their personality traits of egocentricity, denial, and naivety; hence, the personality traits show some of the attitudes of wealthy…

In Anton Chekhov’s short story ‘Heartache’ the main character, a cabby called Iona Potapov, feels painfully alienated since he thirsts for talk but nobody is willing to listen to him. He is desperately looking for someone to share his sorrow with in order to ease his heartache. However, everyone the cabby comes across, no matter their age or the social class they belong to, are so indifferent and heedless of his pain. His loneliness is a result of his sons' recent death and a lack of people to…

The execution of revenge had always had an impact on our actions and behavior. In some cases, it could be a positive influence, but in others, it could be negative. This concept applies to specific characters in Great Expectations. In the novel, Charles Dickens sends a compelling message that seeking revenge is a worthless pursuit and that the outcome is never positive nor beneficial. Not only does it harm the people who are innocent, it harms the people who seek for revenge themselves.…

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…

“Waiting for Godot” uses stage direction, parallels, uncertainty, and a tragicomedy approach in order to show that Estragon and Vladimir’s lives are meaningless. This also extends to eventually convey Samuel Beckett’s larger commentary on the purpose of human existence. Beckett wants to show how every individual’s life has no purpose or meaning. Before any thorough analysis can be made, it is important to understand the larger, extended metaphor that is this play—a metaphor for humankind. This…

What is a tragic hero? Today, a tragic hero is defined as a literary character whose poor judgment leads to their own destruction. This modern definition, although modeled from Aristotle’s version, differs from the traditional, Greek tragic hero. Aristotle stated that “a man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall,” and thus in order for a literary character to be deemed an Aristotelian tragic hero, they must meet certain qualifications. The first is, the tragic hero…

When individuals have hard choices to make and end up choosing the wrong one, they have it upon themselves to deal with the consequences in a stoic, detached manner to avoid making the same mistake again. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, characters are often clouded by their judgement and end up botching things. Victor Frankenstein is unable to deal with this moral conflict in a logical manner, ultimately harming himself and others around him. Victor Frankenstein ends up morally betraying…

Graham Baker’s adaptation of Beowulf: the unheroic hero. The epic poem, Beowulf, has been the source of inspiration to an incredible amount of artistic pieces: films, novels, songs, comic books, video games and operas. Due to the nature of the poem, every adaptation that has ever been made is different from the other, but most of them respect the epic hero prototype. Even though Baker fills the gaps of indeterminacy in a weird and twisted way, what the film brings up as interesting is that his…

Oedipus Rex is considered to be one of the world’s greatest tragedies while also being one of the oldest. Despite being written second, it was the first part of the theban trilogy written by Sophocles. The themes in Oedipus Rex are crucial to the play’s long lasting appeal. The various symbols throughout the story help to illustrate the theme that one often encounters their fate on the path they take to avoid it. Oedipus’ scars located on his feet, along with his name, are symbols representing…

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…