Cassius mocks Brutus’s honour in order to manipulate him to join the conspiracy. To indicate this, Cassius says ‘we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves’. Cassius uses ‘peep’ and ‘petty’ to direct themselves as weak and helpless compared to the powerful Caesar. The strong onomatopoeia of the ‘p’ is used in order to make those words specifically stand out in order to make Brutus aware of what Cassius thinks of themselves compared to Caesar, which could upset him as he believes that all men are equal. The use of ‘walk under’ metaphorically represents that they are lower class to Caesar and that he is in control of everything.
Human flaws are weaknesses in personality which result in outcomes that lead to disreputable actions. Through the dramatic irony of the monologue, the reader is able to gain an understanding of the social attitudes and patriarchal values in the Victorian Era which the human flaws in the monologue are based on. The study of “My Last Duchess” offers a significant understanding of the male ego and a male’s desire to be in control in a relationship. The factors determining a male’s desire to be in control are evident through Browning’s portrayal of the Duke through his need to retain his pride, extreme jealousy and his need to objectify women in order to satisfy the male ego. Browning contrasts the Duke’s representation of the duchess with the factual representation emphasising the Duke’s manic state and causing the audience to strongly oppose the duke as a person.
Racism: Othello and LWT Film One of the main overarching themes in both Shakespeare’s original play of Othello and the LWT modern film appropriation is of racial discrimination. During the Elizabethan era, which is the context that the original play is set in, black people were considered to be alien to white society and were thought to be driven by passions and emotions instead of reason and intellect as white people were thought to be. They were believed to be imbalanced and dangerous and were hence labeled second-class citizens. Othello is a moor and is therefore an exceptional example of the discrimination black people received during this era, however is an unusual instance due to his high rank in the army. Throughout the play, animal imagery such as “an old ram”, “Barbary horse” and “beast with two backs” is used to describe Othello, which portray the racist attitudes held by society of the time and highlights the belief that black people were animalistic and therefore acted on emotions, lacking rational thought, like animals.
The murder was driven by lust for the queen and also a desire for power, two factors which remain with the king until the final moments in the play. “Mine crown, mine own ambition and my queen. Can one be pardon’d and retain the offence?” Claudius’ deceiving nature is central to the plot of the play, and is the catalyst for the betrayal of many other characters, such as Polonius, Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet himself is not immune to corruption, and he himself deceives those around him in his actions and in his words. Following the revelation from the Ghost, Hamlet assumes an “antic disposition”, in order to distract those surrounding him from his suspicious behaviour.
Creon’s Discrimination in Antigone Despite how prejudice and unjust, women have not always been treated fairly. In Antigone, a play by Sophocles, Creon, the king, displays an extremely discriminatory attitude to women and he unfortunately suffers in the end, undergoing a harsh downfall. He disregards the value that women have and shows lots of animosity towards Antigone, not only because of her “criminal” actions in going against his proclamation, but because she is a female. He then becomes impulsive with his decision-making and suffers immensely due to his nebulous view on female equality. Sophocles characterizes Creon as a sexist ruler who has little value for women, which consequently leads to his downfall.
This seems that it is the gender that affects the conflict and as traditions followed then, it was the men that ran society and made the decisions for women. Romeo and Juliet also takes place in a masculine world in which notions of honour, pride and status are all major to everyone and these factors can escalate to violence. The violence in the play’s social environment is a dramatic tool that Shakespeare creates to make the lover’s romance seem even more precious, valuable and fragile: their relationship is scene by society as an insignificant feeling of love in a significant world of hate. The fights between Mecutio and Tybalt and then Romeo and Tybalt are surreal. Passion outweighs reason at every point and Shakespeare wants to highlight the young love in this masculine society as well as show it is the men that cause conflict and a world of hate.
“My Last Duchess" and "To His Coy Mistress" shows the act of the men in these two poems. Both the characters in these two poems have a certain attitude towards women, which is that they both see women as objects but in different ways. Also they both can hurt anyone for their profit. Both the speakers of “My Last Duchess” and “To His Coy Mistress” use poetry to create an argument. The Duke in "My Last Duchess" is an arrogant, disrespectful man, who cares more about status and wealth than love.
Who knew Tybalt's unwelcome demeanor towards the Montagues would give out a quick backlash? In Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt's resentful, turbulent and belligerent disposition caused him chaos, and eventually, death. Tybalt's resentfulness towards the Montagues was one of the main causes of his early demise in Romeo and Juliet. As an example, as Tybalt saw Sampson and Gregory talking to some servingmen of the Montagues, he questioned them (referring to Abram and another servingman of the Montagues) and asked, "What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?" (1.1.67) In a way, this tells the reader that Tybalt showed his annoyance of the Montagues by insulting them and calling them unworthy peasants.
He is too focused on gaining his “manhood “or proving himself to both the community and others, which is an inherent need for someone who is low on the hierarchy of people. Mayberry articulates her analysis of the effects of all of these relationships very well in her article, and I generally took the main idea to be that the black male turns to be underdeveloped due to his position at the start (disdained by whites) while at the same time, envying them and wanting to be better than
Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it” (1.5.59-62). In other words, she desperately needs Macbeth to transfer over to his evil, cruel side. Lady Macbeth is power hungry; she desires wealth and fortune, so she manipulates the dubious Macbeth into a cruel, man-eating machine. Cruelty drives Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to do terrible deeds throughout the play. These acts of cruelty include the ambush of Banquo, the slaughtering of Lady Macduff and her children, and the poorly treated servants.