However animosities within the society caused abuse of this hysteria and this was used to carry out revenge against personal hatred. The obvious example of this is the character Abigail, who is the main source of the hysteria. She wishes to get revenge on Elizabeth Proctor, who she describes as a ‘bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling, woman’. The use of commas and repeated use of negative adjectives emphasises Abigail’s hatred towards Elizabeth because Elizabeth fired her when she found out that Abigail was having an affair with her husband. In this case Abigail used the witchcraft hysteria to cause Elizabeth to be sent to jail.
Branagh’s decision to leave the script exactly as Shakespeare wrote it highlights to complexity of the story and adds to the appeal. His stage direction and added scenes add to Ophelia’s character, making her of more interest and depth. Ophelia’s infamous mad scene in act four, scene five of the 1996 version of Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh’s use of the nineteenth century setting, his verbatim script and the unique portrayal of Ophelia he creates all contribute to the intense appeal for the modern audience of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. As the camera opens on her mad scene, the audience is immediately taken aback while watching Ophelia through a trapdoor from a room above as she screams and throws herself into the walls of a padded room, bound in some nineteenth century semblance of a straightjacket. Branagh’s choice of setting, Winston Churchill’s childhood home of Blenheim Palace, offers
The unwarranted accusations that Joseph McCarthy and the citizens of Salem made are what fueled the widespread hysteria in both situations. According to Miller “It seemed that the hysteria in Salem had a certain inner procedure, or several, which were duplicating once again and that perhaps by revealing the nature of that procedure some light could be thrown on what we were doing ourselves. "(Miller) He made this statement in comparison to the present day witch hunts; which were at the time of the McCarthy trials. The people of Salem accused others of witchcraft to protect their own lives. In both eras, they struck fear in citizens due to the "guilty until you confess" attitude which were in favor of the court.
The whole event of the Salem Witch Trials is viewed as unjust because after the accusations spread, many townspeople simply accused their neighbors of being a witch to gain revenge, money, land, or something similar. In this way, the Salem Witch Trials exposed the sense of greed in humans. The Witch Trials showed that our resourcefulness includes using an event, no matter how bad, for personal gain. Also, the Salem Witch Trials showed how the innate sense of fear that humans have and how we react to that fear. Because of the fear of witches, people tried to protect themselves by sending anyone slightly untrustworthy to jail or to Gallows Hill.
Moreover, when Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about being fired by Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail denies any wrongdoings. She accuses Elizabeth as “a lying, cold, sniveling women” who spreads rumor about to degrade her social status. Abigail’s motivation in the witchcraft is thus revealed, which is jealousy towards Elizabeth. As Abigail successfully frames other people for being responsible about the witchcraft, she further imposes her domination over the other girls. Her domination is demonstrated physically and verbally.
It is obvious because of what we have read in the book about of Abigail Williams and the girls accusing the people in the town as devil worshipers or witches. A good example of the beginning of hysteria was when Tituba starts naming people who have “written in the devils book’, she was then praised for outing them and was told she was doing God’s work. This made Abigail believe that was a good way to out of trouble, and she also starts naming random names. Then the other girls see this and begin doing what she does and by the end of that act all the girls have caught on and are hysterically crying out any name that comes to mind. Another example of hysteria besides the group of girls going around pointing fingers, were the hangings of many respected men and women who were being accused of operating with the devil by other towns
While a good majority of stories and plays concentrate on setting as the environment or location of their story, the setting of Romeo and Juliet shows important ideas and ways of life in Elizabethan times, while also backing up all of the most important ideas in the play. When analysing setting, the cultural environment is just important as the actual time and place. Shakespeare uses a number of Elizabethan beliefs in Romeo and Juliet. This is to help the audience relate to the storyline so they understand what is going on. For instance, fate is one of the most important cultural beliefs in Romeo and Juliet and to show this, the prologue tells the audience that Romeo and Juliet will take their own lives.
Eyes, a Portal to the Soul What do you think of when you think of eyes? For many people, the answer is a portal to the soul. For William Shakespeare when he was writing Macbeth, there was no difference. He just knew how to write about it. From making eyes say good and bad to eyes being involved with telling the future, there is no doubt that Will ever forgot the saying “Eyes are the portal to the soul”.
Around 1603, Shakespeare wrote a tragedy, which famously known as “Othello”. In the play “Othello”, Shakespeare introduces Othello who is said to be one of Shakespeare’s most fascinating creations. Although the audience is first introduced to Iago and Roderigo, Othello remains at a distance from much of the action that concerns and affects him. As Iago and Roderigo speaks of Othello, they do so with racial epithets, not by name. These include, “the thick-lips” (I.i.66), “an old black ram” (I.i.88), and “a Barbary horse” (I.i.113).
Some people may argue that “The Merchant of Venice” is too distressing and too sad to go see at the theatre. Shylock basically wants Antonio killed. It deals with prejudice and loss and the loss of identity. On the other hand, “the Merchant of Venice” is more than ever relevant, teaches us a lot and is thus more than ever worth seeing. First of all, “The Merchant of Venice” is not a complete tragedy.