who hides and what is hidden? how does deceit function in the world of the play, and how does it help the play comment on life in general? a central motif in the play is trickery or deceit, whether for good or evil purposes. counterfeiting, or concealing one's true feelings, is part of this motif. everyone seems to lie; good characters as well as evil ones engage in deceit as they attempt to conceal their feelings: beatrice and benedick mask their feelings for one another with bitter insults; don john spies on claudio and hero; don pedro and his 'crew' deceive benedick and beatrice.
Sir Andrew fits this description perfectly therefore he is the real fool in twelfth night. His name (“Aguecheek”) itself implies he is a character that shouldn’t be taken seriously by the audience. Aguecheek means pale face which shows he is a vile character. He is constantly being manipulated by Toby, is very slow witted and lacks wisdom. All of these things make him a very comical character enjoyed by the audience during Shakespearian times and in the present day.
The characters IL Capitano and Tartuffe both display similar characteristics in terms of them both being pretenious, cowardly liars that are very hypocritical. Certaintly they manipulate people in order to gain a higher social hierarchy and talk themselves up to make them seem more superior to others, when in reality they are obviously not. The themes of a performance are used to express emotions and essence of life, they dramatically influence the audience. Through the main themes of love, lucre, lust and laughter it is clearly evident that Molieres Tartuffe is influenced by Commedia Dell'arte. Furthermore, through this evidence it
Early on in the play (Act 2 Scene 3) the audience enjoys the jovial atmosphere alongside the characters until Malvolio abruptly ruins the mood. “Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night?” Malvolio seems to relish scolding Sir Toby and the others as he includes the simile “gabble like tinkers” which proves he has taken the time to select the right words to insult them with. The audience dislikes him for disrupting the fun of the scene whilst it provides a specific motive for the conspirators to plot his deception. Shakespeare uses one detail about Malvolio to instantly turn the audience against him: Malvolio is a puritan. At the time the play was written, puritans were not popular with the general public because of their miserable rules against most forms of entertaintment.
Charles Lamb states that Malvolio “becomes comic by accident”. His criticism portrays Malvolio as a tragic character. Lamb describes Malvolio’s dialect as “that of a gentleman, and a man of education.” Predisposed with Malvolio’s dialect and seemingly noble manner is hubris which leads to his downfall in the play. In Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’, Malvolio is not a tragic character but, the fool of the play in that he is a scapegoat for mockery and entertainment. Aristotle in ‘Poetics’ defined comedy as “an imitation of inferior people-not, however, with respect to every kind of defect; the laughable species of what is disgraceful.
It is suggested by this then that the play holds no deeper meaning or message of morality; it is simply designed to fulfill a purpose through usage of traditional comedic techniques. However, some have interpretated themes of sexuality and a gentle mocking of Victorian customs ultimately leaving the play open to assumption. The Importance of being Earnest certainly maintains many traits of a great comedy of manners, "A comedy that satirizes behaviour in a particular social group"(dictionary.com). In fact many people have hailed it as "the greatest stage comedy of all time", this triumph supports the viewpoint that Wilde merely succeeded in entertaining his audience rather than channeling a deeper understanding. The use of slapstick by Wilde produces a contrived and absurd plotline that is in every way unrealistic.
"As a protagonist, Hamlet has many flaws that contribute to his downfall." In what ways is Hamlet an antihero? An antihero is the 'hero' or 'heroine' of a play or novel that has negative qualities that separates him or her from a typical hero such as Superman. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet is depicted as an anti hero. He has the good traits and flaws of a typical hero such as loyalty and intelligence.
He’s useless tricks display vanity and indicate his wastefulness to the audience. The Tempest is a problem play; Prospero is presented with the opportunity for spiteful revenge but realises the importance of forgiveness. Doctor Faustus is a morality play; he never realises the importance of repentance and banishes any opportunity to save himself, which results in his eternal damnation in hell. In the first act of the play, the audience is confronted with a magic fuelled spectacle. We see Prospero with the help or Ariel conjures the tempest.
It is due to his feelings, Orgon rejects any logical explanation of actions of Tartuffe, he is absolutely unreasonable in his judgments concerning Tartuffe because he is guided by his emotions and feelings. In stark contrast, Tartuffe perfectly understands the power of emotions over Orgon and he uses this weakness for his own benefits. Even when Damis, the son of Orgon, denounces Tartuffe’s plans to seduce Elmire, the wife of Orgon, Tartuffe effectively uses his reason and plays with religious feelings of Orgon admitting the weakness of his spirit. Overall, this was a very enjoyable play to read and review. I was thoroughly entertained
Creon’s good fortune diminishes into miserable luck due to his destiny. Due to Creon’s imperfect qualities, it leads him to make wrong decisions. In the play Antigone, Creon is seen as the real “tragic hero,” because his fate unravels and he is oblivious in his own flaws. As a result of Creon’s providence, his success decreases throughout the play. From the start of the play Creon gains support from his city when he states “