Claudius, who is “won to his shameful lust”, marries his brother’s wife. This act was forbidden by the church and was most likely considered sinful by the audience and by Shakespeare himself as it implies adultery. We see that Hamlet’s comparison of Claudius to a “satyr” to be quite accurate due to Claudius’ lecherous character since he commits sin to feed his shameful lust. Claudius commits these acts with one thought in mind: to reach his own goals. This
Shakespeare presents the concept that deceptive decisions lead to tragic events. Romeo’s rapidly changing character makes irrational and unwise decisions which link up to a strong and prominent theme in the play; deception. Through Romeo’s character Shakespeare juxtaposes true love against infatuation, he does this by showing his melancholy state over his loss of his infatuation Rosaline, then shows how he has found “true love” with his “bright angel” Juliet through his poetic dialogue, although they are from feuding family’s they decide “what’s in a name”, and she implores him to “doth thy name” and “swear by the god of [her] idolatry”. Shakespeare shows the changing of Romeo’s moral compass throughout the play, he goes from an elated state of mind as life was perfect with “thee”, and then, as the “plague on both (their) houses” is begun by the death of Mercutio, Romeo’s unchecked emotions cause him to commit the disloyal act of murdering his wife’s cousin, Tybalt. Despite of his blundering, Juliet see’s this only as dreadful because of his “banished”.
Revenge is often seen as a person’s way to “get even” after he or she has suffered, in attempt to harm the wrongdoer in retaliation. The only purpose of revenge is to gain satisfaction in seeing the wrongdoer suffer. Through ethical, religious and legal perspectives, revenge is not ever justified. The act upon taking revenge is unethical. For instance in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the feud between the Montagues and Capulets caused pain and suffering towards the innocent characters such as Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio and Tybalt.
However, Claudius had a chance to make a choice, but since his desires for power and treasures were so overwhelming, he chose the murderous path. Knight states "Claudius cannot be blamed for his actions/ they are [rather] forced on him," (Knight, 6-7) and he argues that Claudius's murderous actions and plot of killing were backed up by self-defense to protect from Hamlet from taking away his throne and love of his life. Knight argued that his human sins of greed and envy foreshadowed his rightful judgment which leads him into these behaviors of wanting everything for himself. Furthermore, Knight claims that Hamlet is "inhuman, whose consciousness is centered on death/ As King of Denmark he would have a thousand times more dangerous than Claudius" (Knight, 9-10) because of the impact of finding out the truth
They are corrupt because they have social status but then they abused this power. Furthermore, the villains in both The Duchess of Malfi and Measure for Measure have the characteristics of Machiavellian villains. Per contra, Angelo is not like the villains in The Duchess of Malfi because he does not have an assistant to help him and does not have a personal vendetta against another in the play. He just wants to eliminate crime but, eventually, contradicts his own laws he is enforcing by asking Isabella to give her body to him sexually to save her brother: ‘You must lay down the treasures of your body To this supposed, or else to let him suffer: What would you do?’ (Act 2 Scene iv) This quotation tells us that; females of that day and age would have done exactly what they were told to do, on command if told to. We can see this by looking at the language of this quotation.
In William Shakespeare’s Othello, racism is seen as a stereotypical aspect towards Moor; Iago is one character that uses Othello’s race as an infrastructure to build up his plan. Othello, the main character is affected by his race as a Moor. The term Moor described a person who was inhuman. Even though Othello has a high position as the General of the Venetian Army his race is the reason why he gets looked down upon. As a general, Othello is seen as someone who has power but as a Moor he is given no respect.
How does Shakespeare explore the theme of revenge in The Tempest? Revenge appears to be quite an important theme in The Tempest, as it is at the heart of the play; Prospero wanting to get revenge on Antonio, Alonso and the other men, for banishing him from Milan. Although Prospero’s revenge is the most notable case of vengeance in the play, there are other examples, coming from Caliban and Antonio, as in some ways, they both want revenge back on Prospero. Most examples of revenge in the play also contain significant links with the theme of power; to get revenge you are gaining back the power that has been taken from you. It appears through Shakespeare’s writing, that he is depicting his thoughts and attitudes towards life and ruling in the Elizabethan era.
Evaluate the importance of the relationship between Macbeth and ONE of the following characters. William Shakespeare’s, 1606, play; The Tragedy of Macbeth explores the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, as it is essential for the outcome of the play. The influences, which contribute to the development of Macbeth, are Lady Macbeth corrupts Macbeth’s morality, Lady Macbeth’s brutal nature encourages Macbeth’s nihilistic attitude and the guilt imposed from murder. Shakespeare establishes and develops the setting of the relationship by utilizing language techniques and stagecraft. The author demonstrates his opinions and concepts of the Jacobean times through the difficulties in which Lady Macbeth and Macbeth endure.
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, Iago who is possessed by jealousy and evil necessity of destruction, including his own, has two main objectives: to plot and to deceive. He hates Othello because he believes the Moor made love to his wife and also he is jealous that Cassio was chosen to be Lieutenant instead of himself. Iago is everything about evil. He manipulates to get whatever he wants. In addition, he also claims for being honesty, even though he acts against this reputation.
Shakespeare's Presentation of Othello as Responsible for his Own Downfall Shakespeare’s Othello consists of the themes betrayal, love and dishonesty. At the centre of this play is the tragic downfall of Othello at the hands of his so called friend Iago. In this essay I will be discussing the reasons for and against Othello being responsible for his downfall through looking at critical interpretations of his character and actions. In some ways you could say that Othello was highly responsible for his own downfall as he was easily manipulated by Iago showing him to be gullible and naïve. Iago manipulates Othello by making him suspicious through inference, “Ha I like not that”.