He flattered her by praising her appearance, manner, and personality while he fibs. He said that he planned to marry her the moment he had met her, but in reality, he had first decided to marry his eldest cousin, Jane. Unfortunately, she was arranged to be married soon, so he settled with Elizabeth who is witty and lively. In his conversation with Elizabeth, his diction caused her to laugh because he says with “solemn composure” that he will be “run away with his feelings.” It is ironic that his words do not match his actions, which induced laughter from her. As Mr. Collins proceeded to explain his reasons for his proposal, Elizabeth, while holding her laughter, cannot stop him.
Module A: Comparison of Texts Individuals challenge the values that permeate time, in a manner that is relevant to their society. This rebellion is evident in William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew and Gil Junger’s film 10 Things I Hate About You whereby Katherina and Kat initially disregard the social expectations for women of their context. The composers portray this comparably, using textual integrity so the women’s misunderstood, shrew-like behavior is suited to their culture and society. This in turn, provokes both characters to experience a transformation of self and their values. In The Taming of The Shrew, Katherina challenges the values and themes of courtship and marriage, dismissing the female etiquette when meeting her suitor.
There is a duality to the character of Hamlet, as his madness changes from a performance to true insanity throughout the play. Initially, in Act 1 Scene 5, Hamlet is coerced by the ghost and decides that he will “put an antic disposition on”. This is the main use of dramatic irony in the play, as the audience knows Hamlet’s madness is performed. However as the play develops and changes, so too does Hamlet’s madness. Act 3 Scene 4 is the main turning point for Hamlet’s madness.
Indeed, one could view Romeo and Juliet as a transitional play in which Shakespeare merges the comedic elements perfected in his earlier work with tragic elements he would later perfect in the great tragedies -- Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. This mixture of styles ultimately hurts Romeo and Juliet, exposing the immaturity of the playwright. The heroes of the play must contend with external forces that impede their relationship, but, unlike the great tragic heroes, they are devoid of the inner struggle that makes for great tragedy. The influential Shakespearean scholar, A.C. Bradley, went so far as to neglect the play entirely in his well-known collection of lectures on the great tragedies, Shakespearean Tragedy. While no one can deny the merits of Shakespeare's powerful, inspired verse, the themes Shakespeare stresses in Romeo and Juliet also seem to reflect his immaturity as a writer.
In their day and age these characters would be judged by many factors including social and cultural backgrounds, crimes committed and personal traits. Both of these writers seem to conjure their audience into a state where it compels them to relate to certain characters. Lady Macbeth certainly loses or suppresses her feelings of cowardice. Throughout her appalling invocation to the spirits of evil to “unsex her”, proving her ambition to attain her goal. In Jacobean times women were seen as inferior and even in the Victoria era, thus she required external forces to crush her conscience to allow her to fulfil her ambition.
Moreover, the different mediums enable the audience to explore the performative nature of identity and the individualistic nature of ambition and how the different contexts respond to and portray this. Ambition and identity in Richard the Third are overwhelmingly portrayed in a negative light, ultimately resulting in dire consequences; in an Elizabethan context individualism and ambition reflected a person striving to grasp what was not due to them - ultimately, opposing God’s will. Richard, in the play, is represented as both villain and protagonist. We are made aware of Richards duplicitous nature and his evil aspirations as early as Act 1 Scene 1 where he states “I am determinèd to prove a villain” a self referential (and metadramatic in nature) pun which brings about questions of determinism and free will, themes that are explored throughout the play; there is ambiguity around whether or not Richard actually has autonomy over his nefarious deeds, which he goes about plotting. In keeping with his Elizabethan context, Shakespeare can not be seen to oppose the chain of being, the hierarchical chain of the period where a king was at the top,
A Doll’s House In Henrick Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the main relationship we see is Nora Helmer and her husband Torvald Helmer’s. Their relationship is seemingly influenced by their era. When first reading the play, one may suggest that the women in this play are victims of this era. As the plot develops, we see that the relationship is also influenced by Nora’s lies, which suggest she was also a victimizer in her relationship, aside from her era. By the end of this play, we see how Nora’s secret changes the relationship between the couple, as she violates the stereotypical role-play as a wife and mother in her era, which generates her inspirational growth.
Shakespeare uses it as opening lines to introduce the idea of love being harmful and painful from the very beginning of the play, truly making it a theme throughout the play. It conveys to the audience that he doesn’t want to love her but can’t seem to help it, which in turn makes audience question if they would love if they had a choice in it. Shakespeare creates a sense of Pity for Orsino and his situation in the audience, with him almost physically hurting because of the strength of the emotional pain love is causing him to endure. As many people will have felt a similar way before – if not as intense a pain – from the very start of Twelfth Night we can empathise with the characters.
The wallpaper is used characterically to reflect the marriage the narrator finds herself ambushed inside. At the start of the short story, the wallpaper is merely seen as an aberrant bore, but as the narrative progresses, the wallpaper becomes much more baleful and frightening. As a site of symbolism, the symbol has three functions in Charlotte Perkins Gilman s ’, “The Yellow Wallpaper”: it reveals the wallpaper including the imagery, imprisonment and symbolism. The imagery of the wallpaper in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” transitions as the short story is developed in order to emulate the increasing realization of the monopoly the narrator’s marriage has upon herself. The very first descriptions illustrate her initial animus by describing it as “one of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin” (Perkins 41-42).
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard were famous for the way in which they depicted the changing of cultures. Both plays act as a sort of social commentary during times of widespread liberation, and use the contortive nature of these seemingly stereotypical characters’ actions to speak about groups of people as a whole. Throughout the course of both plays, this subversion of how different groups of people were typically perceived created a distinct contrast which often shocked and appalled audiences of the time. However, the effects of these plays were felt long after they were presented. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, written in 1879, is set in late-19th century Norway.