Moreover, the older sisters implicitly inferior status in his affections is immediately obvious to the member of the court in attendance.” (Newman 1) Lear does not realize that he is destroying his relationship with his daughter Cordelia, but also he is not realizing that Goneril and Regan’s mischief will lead him into insanity, which later causes the loss of father-daughter bond in the play. As a result King Lear is driven mad with regret and his life will ultimately change due to his initial naivety to the truth. Gloucester gullibility also leads him to mislead his family. As a father he is blind to see the truth
Caesar honestly thinks that he is too good to be attacked. Caesar thinks that people who threaten him won’t actually do anything because they are afraid of him. The last example where Caesar shows his hubris is when he refuses to accept Artemidorus’ letter. Artemidorus was trying to help Caesar by warning him about the Conspiracy, but Caesar once again believes that he has to act noble and prestigious. Caesar tells Artemidorus, “What touches us ourself shall be last served” (JC.
The character of Edmund in Shakespeare’s King Lear a complex antagonist whose quest for power, and the treatment he deserves from society fuels the subplot. Cunning, deceitful, and a villain, Edmund will do whatever it takes to achieve his objectives, even if it means betraying the people who love him most. Edmund plays a key role in setting the stage for the disaster waiting to unfold, which is the subplot. Initially, the audience sympathizes with Edmund’s character; society treats him poorly, and his own father publicly embarrasses him. In Act 1 Scene 1, when Kent asks Gloucester if Edmund is his Gloucester’s son, he replies “his breeding hath been at my charge” (1.1.9) yet Gloucester “blushed to acknowledge [Edmund]” (1.1.10).
As the play goes on, Macbeth slowly looses his morality as he strives for more control whilst Lady Macbeth steps into a frantic stage of guilt. After killing the king, Macbeth starts to plot other evil undertakings as he becomes nervous that someone will take away his power. At one point he goes from wanting to needing the sovereignty, which makes him loose sight of his integrity. As Macbeth begins to immorally act in order to achieve what he hungers, the line between good and evil starts to fade. “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.136-138) In this quote, Macbeth is telling himself that because he has stepped into evil so deeply, it will be hard to go back to morallity because he will never be able to rid of this guilt brought onto him.
Hamlet- Soliloquy Assignment Hamlet has many emotional soliloquies in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which include him reflecting on his many life troubles, contemplating suicide, and making plans for revenge. Hamlet’s Act II Scene II soliloquy, which is a lengthy one, is broken down into four main thoughts; the first being how upset Hamlet is over the Player’s ability to get into the role of seeking fictional revenge with no emotional investment in a play, whereas he is a “John-a-dreams” who has made no real plans for revenge. This leads to the second main idea: Hamlet is chastising himself for procrastinating avenging his father’s death. At this point his is mopey and whiney about his lack of drive to accomplish his task. Hamlet increasingly gets angrier and angrier with himself as he keeps talking, and his anger turns to Claudius.
Character Flaws Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman two plays depicting the inability of the main characters to accept the reality of their situation, often times using excuses or delusions to protect themselves from danger. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus finds himself blind to the truth of his life, and his family origin. Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman, narrates the story of a tragic character so captivated in his false belief that reality and illusion merge, resulting in an internal struggle that leads to his downfall. Each play represents the internal battle of a man struggling to come to terms with his own, bitter reality and departing from his fantasy world. In selecting the frailty of illusion over the constancy of reality, the protagonists meet their inevitable disaster.
Hamlet also knew that he could not tell anyone that Claudius has murdered his father or that he had seen the ghost of his father because no one would believe him. Throughout the play Hamlet expresses his “madness” an example would be when he meets Ophelia in the court. In the beginning of their conversation he tells her that he once loved her but then is also confused saying that he didn’t love her at all. This is due to the fact that he sees woman as deceivers because of his mother’s relationship with his uncle. When Hamlet discovers that Polonius and the King are hiding nearby he explodes in a fit of rage, violently attacking her verbally and physically almost like a mad person would.
While that may have been the final contribution to his death, his tragic flaw is what is shown throughout the play. This flaw can be plainly stated as Romeo being far too impulsive. He seems to be driven by the idea of fate, and does not thoroughly think about his decisions. His character in the play thinks of life and love as such a quick thing, as if he is thinking to himself that if he doesn’t go with his instincts, his life will not be decent or respectable. When truthfully, these instincts are the origin of his dire choices, resulting in the end of his life.
However, More also has a pragmatic side. More tries to protect himself from the consequences of disapproving the King by using the human law. He believes that if he makes no statement about the divorce, he would not be found guilty for any reason. In the play, when Cromwell and Rich are accusing Moore of treason, he defenses his innocence by stating that he has never made any public statement on whether he approves the King’s divorce and according to the law he is thus not guilty. Later in the play, More explains his silence to his wife again.
This plan backfires though, because his family and friends bend over backwards to find the cause of his madness. Every main character in Hamlet seems to have their own conjectures as to why Hamlet is acting so out of character. One obvious reason is the mourning of his father's death. In addition to this, though, they all have personal ideas of varying merit. Claudius thinks that Hamlet has some kind of secret cause for the sudden change in his personality.