William Wetmore Story

Generational differences are consistent through Moliere's Tartuffe. Yet, the period in which this narrative occurs may not read well to a modern audience who may not be familiar with family dynamics of the time. Staging the play in modern-day Manhattan, New York, highlights the generational differences between characters in Tartuffe, allowing modern audiences to relate to the comedic themes in the play. In the opening scene, Madam Parnell's criticisms resemble criticisms of many Baby Boomers,…

In Miller’s The crucible, John Proctor is faced with conflict and a decision to choose what is morally correct, or the most convenient choice for him. Although he chooses his convenience for most of the play, Proctor makes a crucial decision that demonstrates he wants to do what is morally correct. Proctor, originally a stubborn and bad-tempered man becomes an honest man with principles. Even though Proctor becomes an honest man, he starts out as a sinner. John Proctor is a dynamic individual…

In Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, David abandoned his lover, Giovanni, for his fiancee, Hella. David faced pressure from society and himself to be with a woman, any woman. Queer theory can be clearly seen as David’s morals drive him away from Giovanni and other men. To begin with, David discovers that he may be interested in men when he spends time with a boy named Joey. They kiss and spend a night together and the next morning David leaves. “Above all, I was suddenly afraid. It was borne in…

A hero can be defined as someone who possesses upstanding qualities or has accomplished impressive feats. Similarly, a tragic hero in a piece of literature possesses upstanding qualities, yet also has a tragic flaw that eventually leads to his demise. For these reasons, the character John Proctor in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a tragic hero. Due to how John Proctor can be characterized as having goodness and a superior reputation, a tragic flaw, and an epiphany moment, he is the…

William Shakespeare wrote “Macbeth” and it’s about someone wanting to be king so bad that he kills a lot of people to get what he wants. Macbeth wasn’t a tragic hero because he cheated his way to be king instead of earning it. The king of Scotland was named Duncan and everybody valued him, he made good decisions for the people of Scotland. Macbeth was the thane of glamis which if Duncan dies, Macbeth takes over Scotland. Macbeth has a wife named Lady Macbeth, she was very…

Revenge for Masculinity “Away, morality!” exclaims Atreus to a servant who appears unconvinced by the former’s determination for suffering torment to be a just price for his brother’s crime (Seneca 404). With this simple statement, the king acknowledges morality as being compromised within his revenge scheme, but he thinks little of it; in fact, Atreus dismisses morality as though it were his servant. With this dismissal, he establishes that his revenge against Thyestes, tricking him to eat his…

Another example of Borgia’s wisdom as a duke can be identified when examining the period of rule after he had taken over Romagna. Machiavelli is especially enthralled by Borgia’s cunning and effective use of cruelty. He even encourages the actions of Borgia to be “imitated” by future princes (29). This example of “cruelty-well-used”, as Machiavelli calls it, is recognized after Borgia notices the civil disunity within his kingdom. The subjects were so used to having their possessions taken from…

King Lear by the time of his death at the play’s finale is an entirely different character from who he was at the play’s beginning. Initially considering himself of some significance to the the gods, it becomes clear to him by the end of the play that even kings are no more than mortal men. It is a result of his daughter Cordelia’s death, Lear eventually comes to realize what Glo’ster expresses so eloquently, and which acts as the premise of the tragic play, that “as flies to wanton boys are we…

be shaped by the power of imagination through the play making by the Mechanicals. Through the Mechanicals’ play-within-play, Shakespeare ironically included in A Midsummer Night’s Dream the idea that unreliability of human sense. In choosing the story of Pyramus and Thisbe—whose love was…

A sensational dramatist and poet in addition to the son of the town bailiff, William Shakespeare had grown to become one of the most universally-known figures, whose thought-invoking plays and sonnets have enraptured the minds of people and continue to do so even to this day. While growing up in the town of Stratford Upon Avon in a household of ___, his father’s prominent position allowed him to have an education in the local grammar school. There, Shakespeare was taught Latin, a skill that was…