Richard at the beginning of the play reveals his plot to kill his brother Clarence in order to eliminate successors to the throne. Act 1 Shakespeare’s use of pun in the line ‘Brother, farewell,’ is said by the Duke of Gloucester with such earnestness that it is interpreted as a simple departure by George, however, there is an underlying message of ‘rest in peace Clarence’ which is later exposed in Richard’s aside. In Act 5, after the brutal death of Richard, pondering how England has remained under a time of tyranny and betrayal, with the use of alliteration, Richmond says as a part of his ending speech “brother blindly shed the brother’s blood”. This, while emphasising the greed of Richard where he has lost all morality and killed his biological brother in order to gain power, further emphasises Shakespeare’s indirect intention to bring forward the theme of karma. It also targets Elizabethan audience obliquely as it displays Shakespeare as an authentic man who believes in fate.
Alcee Arobin is a lady’s man who has many affairs with different women and intends to make Edna another one of his affairs. But Edna doesn’t let Alcee take control of the relationship; she writes him when she wants and decides when they should go out. Being in control is a reverse role for Edna, but she knows it is really who she is, and it is what she wants. Alcee plays along and lets Edna take control, and Edna discovers the satisfaction of using a man the way men usually use women. Although Edna has taken control of her own life, she is still not happy with her life because of the many different types of love she has experienced.
This can be shown in the ‘Proof of Marriage’ source as the phratry must accept that a child is legitimate, otherwise property will not be given to the son. However it can also be said that it is in fact wives who fear their husbands and not the other way round. In the Eurastophenes’ murder case, Euphilites laughed at his wife when she suggested he ‘mauled the maid which could indicate women were in fear of how sexually controlling their husbands could be and how they could still get away with it. In the Naerea source is also shows men can be abusive to women with little to no consequence as Phrynion gets away with his abuse towards Naerea. You could also view the violence as a cry of fear and other controlling behaviour could emphasise that.
Macbeth is an extremly complicated character to portray. His personality changes throughout the play beginning as an honurable war-hero and being praised highly by the King; making him Thane of Cawdor even though he was already Thane of Glamis. He then becomes a hesitant murderer, constantly distressed about his situiation ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’ to actively planning the murder of Banquo and showing little contrition for the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth ‘She should have died hereafter’ and becoming responsible for the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children.it is imperative that the actor playing Macbeth understands the intricacy of his character. He must also be able to show the contrast between Macbeth’s character in Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 5, in order to portray Macbeth, the actor must contemplate the mood and tone of what he is saying, his gestures and actions to match a certain phrase or speech. Also his facial expressions are very important.
According to the book “Women, Art, and Society”, men can achieve nobility because they are good in art, but women can only be allowed to practice act when she was of noble birth. It showed that people in the past believed women’s success in art was base on the nobility in her family; it means women’s success in art was just part of the property of her family, but not because of her. It was hard for women to prove her ability when everyone believed both males’ and females’ success were credited to male. On the other hand, the economic valuing of Western art was also one of the obstacles which females’ artists had to face. In the text book “Women, Art, and Society”, author mention that “Our language and expectations about art have tended to rank that produced by women as below that
McCandless signifies the chaos and vengeance displayed by Titus throughout the play result from the failure of traditional power in Rome (490). During the first acts of the play, Titus returns a military hero and shows his beliefs in traditional Roman culture. In both of Taymor’s renderings of the play Titus shifts from armored warrior to weeping grandpa in distressed appearance (490). Titus’s shift from valiant to helpless is provides the audiences of both the film and staged production to sense the effects of a corrupted Roman empire. McCandless connects Titus’s demise from military hero demeaned by Roman society, to the Vietnam vet’s dislocation in society after the war (490).
Antigone, an outstanding play written by “Sophocles”, in this play a quote is mentioned by a blind prophet that goes by the name of Tiresias. He goes on to say in pages 111 to 112 “Think: All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil: The only Crime is pride.” Right from the beginning he wants the reader to think. That if a man has a lot or too much pride; it can be their only true crime. For example, recently a story has come out about a NBC news reporter. Who eligibly said his helicopter was shot down in the Iraq war.
In some places, women are ranked equally or greater than men, but the men feel as if that society is corrupt and men should be on the top. Ancient Grecian women were expected to be loyal followers of their husbands, but also were not treated like they were worthless slaves who had no say in anything. Aristotle, Xenophon, and Semonides each describe their opinion of how they saw the women of Ancient Greece. Women were of lower status than men in Ancient Greece. “She should allow none to enter without her husband’s knowledge, dreading above all things the gossip of gadding women, which tends to poison the soul.” (Aristotle) This depicts women as being inferior and not being able to be free to make their own choices.
Look here it is.”(III.iii.) Iago’s manipulative ways have earned him what he needs to succeed in the demise of his counterparts. By being loyal to her husband, Emilia has caused a great deal of harm to the woman she cares so deeply for. Another conversation of Desdemona is brought up between the Ancient and his general and this time Iago explains to Othello that he had seen Cassio with his ladies handkerchief. Othello later questions Desdemona about the handkerchief and she cannot answer where it is.
This might be because Ibsen’s plays could be a page out of real life at the time he wrote them. They both satirize gender roles and the consequences of “breaking the rules” of these roles. The role of women during this time was almost strictly to be a wife and a mother. She was to be dependent on her husband and she should be happy to be reliant on his superior capabilities as a man. Men had the role of the provider, the head of the house, they were supposed to be independent and were thought of as superior to women both physically and mentally.