Similarly in The Duchess of Malfi, when the Duchess’ attempt to deceive her brothers and conceal her marriage leads to her death. However self-deception is also a recurrent theme in both of the plays, in Othello, it can be argued that Othello’s self- deception proves just as destructive as Iago’s, as by deceiving himself of his true nature and labelling himself as “one not easily jealous,” he continually supresses his feelings of inner turmoil until he breaks under the influence of Iago. F R Leavis agreed with this stating, “The mind that undoes [Othello] is not Iago’s but his own.” The role of deception would be nowhere near as essential to the play without the influence of Iago; described by AC Bradley as the “artist of evil” his ruthless manipulation of the other characters in the play ensures not only the destruction of Othello, but his own. Self- deception plays a crucial role within Othello and The Duchess of Malfi; it allows the audience to see further into the characters personality and gain a deeper understanding of them as a character. Othello himself is the most palpable example of self- deception within the plays as from when the audience is first introduced to him in Act One Scene Two, he believes
When Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, Austin writes that he spoke of, “His sense of her inferiority of its being a degradation of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.” (Chapter 11 Vol. II). Austin writes, “Her inferiority of its being a degradation” through this statement the reader can infer that he is insulting her based upon her low status. Elizabeth immediately exposes his pride and faults him as being ungentlemanly. Austen succeeds in showing how the prideful nature of Darcy is unacceptable to Elizabeth and thus the reader knows that her refusal is based on her need for respect and love in a marriage.
How does Winterson question traditional values and power structures? Winterson presents Jeanette falling in love, in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, as a natural occurrence. Jeanette’s lack of awareness of her actions linked to Melanie deliberately stresses the normality of their relationship to them. The utilisation of the verb ‘steal’ exposes the care she holds for Melanie as she carries out a deed she would view as wrong, due to her Christian values, just to please Melanie. This causes the reader to contemplate whether Jeanette’s homosexuality is wrong which coherently leads to the reader questioning the traditional values we uphold within society.
“ he is not like to marry me well and, not being well married it will be a good excuse for me hereafter to leave my wife” , this quote illustrates his unromantic portrayal of love, as he is willing to go through great measures to avoid being tied down to one woman. In this quote, touchstone implies that it will be easier to get rid of his wife because they are not getting married, traditionally, in a church. This introduces the fact that he is unromantic, selfish and his practicality. It shows his carelessness towards love, and he would rather have a sexual companion than to have a loving, meaningful relationship. He tells the reader that he is a realist, to support this he quotes,” unless thou wert hard favoured: for honesty coupled to beauty is to have honey a sauce to sugar.” Touchstone says that it is too good ti be true, if a good looking woman is also honest.
A cause for concern in Tis Pity is that Giovanni’s actions are not condemned. It is presented by Ford to be a “tumultuous passion that brings about his destruction” according to the critic Mark Stavig. His passions are inescapable it seems and so he cannot be held accountable for his drastic actions. Conversely, because of Annabella’s position as a woman, she is consciously aware of her own fate and knows that if their incestuous relationship was to carry on further, harsh repercussions would occur. The Friar tries to dissuade Giovanni from commencing the relationship despite there being little effect from his words.
Like the protagonist of Life After George, Violet’s heroic stance against a social system which seeks to control her thoughts shapes the action in Feed. Her self-perception, shaped within the context of homeschooling with her defiant and subversive father, is shown to remain relatively untouched by the dominant consumer madness of her society. Understanding that the mission of the feed is essentially to ‘make everything even simpler’ in order to market consumer goods to a brainwashed nature, Violet challenges the values which Titus has naturalised. Anderson attempts to portray characters who are so deeply embedded within their consumer context that they become ‘ignorant, self-centred idiots’, oblivious to the insights which Violet has gained about the controlling nature of corporations. When Violet articulates controversial belief statement, Titus believes that ‘it’s the
The other faction sees her as self-righteous and hypocritical. They point out that she seems little concerned by her brother's crime but is too horrified of committing the same transgression herself--even to save her brother's life. She apparently suffers no qualms, however, in asking Mariana to share Angelo's bed. The reason for which she has been most strongly criticized is her seeming lack of sympathy for Claudio when he pleads with her to save him by giving in to Angelo's desire. She turns upon him violently, revolted by his weakness.
In the play ‘Educating Rita’ cruelty and cynicism feature a great deal. One of the main characters, Frank, is cynical. Frank’s personality portrays him as a miserable old man who cannot see the good in anybody, including Rita. For example, Frank thinks that Rita is only trying to change herself because it will look good to others when they meet her rather than seeing that she is really trying to change her life for the better, not for selfish reasons. When Frank is on the phone to Julia he refers to Rita as “some silly woman” and this portrays him to be cynical because even though he has never met Rita he is already making assumptions about her in a negative manner.
Over drinks, Frances confronts him about his wandering eyes and questions his love for her. Michael’s way of looking on women as mere bodies could suggest a kind of degradation, which is to define a woman only as an erotic or sexual figure. Michael reveals that he loves the way women look and when Frances asserts that one-day he will be unfaithful, Michael agrees with her. Frances feels that the day is now ruined and resorts to calling the Stevensons. The universal truth behind this story is that the innate differences between men and women coupled with lack of communication will cause a marriage to stagnate and become an uneasy compromise.
Cordelia takes on this role by unconditionally loving her father and furthermore forgiving Lear for banishing her, which is seen when she says “No cause, no cause.” (4.7). Edgar takes on a similar role by forgiving his father for going against him when he was tricked by Edmund and taking care of Gloucester in his blindness at the end of the play. The other characters, however, give into temptation and sin more frequently. Pride, for example, is a prominent sin that affects many characters, Lear being a prime example. Lear's pride keeps him from listening to the advice of Kent, the king's most loyal follower, after he banishes Cordelia and admitting he may have been wrong.