Even though Shakespeare opens The Tempest with thunder and lightning, evil was present before the play ever began. This can be recognized in Prospero’s words to his fifteen year old daughter, Miranda, when he tells her of the story in which his brother, Antonio, pushed him out of power by evil deeds, tricking him of his title, the King of Milan. Trusting Antonio to run his state, Prospero was deeply hurt when he learned of this betrayal. Prospero goes on to explain that it was the combination of good and evil which brought him and Miranda safely to the island in which they have resided on for the last twelve years. Ironically, the same books used by Prospero before his treachery betrayal by his brother Antonio, as “good” books, are the same “bad” books that caused the horrific events to occur in Prospero and Miranda’s life.
Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace use a painting of a ship to as the portal to enter Narnia and end up landed in the ocean, specifically where The Dawn Treader is at sea, the ship of Caspian X King of Narnia. After boarding the ship, the children are reunited with friends and characters from the last book. After introductions and reunions the set sail to find the lost worlds of Narnia. They stop at the rogue Lone Islands who practice slave trading. Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep are captured by a slave trader and are bought by a man who turns out to be the first lost lord, Lord Bern, who moved to the islands after being banished by Miraz.
1887). Outline In this play Othello is a noble Moor that has just eloped with the love of his life “the fair Desdemona” as this play opens they leave Venice so that Othello may command the Venetian armies against the Turks on the island of Cyprus. Along with him is his new wife and his faithful aid Cassio. Upon their arrival they find that due to a dangerous storm that the Turkish fleet has been destroyed. Lago a standard bearer continually tries to upset, and
The dream and storm that night was just a sign of what was to come next. The play All My Sons written by Arthur Miller is set in a Mid-West American town in the 140’s. The thematic intensions of the play evolve from a true story which occurred in WWII; a man who struggles with the pressure of making money and dealing with ethical and personal responsibilities. Joe Keller a wealthy businessman knowingly shipped out faulty cylinder heads to the navy, which lead to the death of many soldiers and the arrest of his deputy manager Steve Deever and himself. Joe sacrificed his honour in his struggle to make his family wealthy and strong as Joe denied his part in the shipment and blamed it all on Steve.
As a playwright, actor, and manager, Shakespeare’s influences are still evident in Western theatre today. He wrote comedies, tragedies, and various combinations of the two; but, The Tragedy of King Lear is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays (Wilson & Goldfarb, 2012). Over the years, there have been countless stage productions, as well as many films adaptations, of King Lear. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Ronald Harwood would choose to use, as a performance piece, in The Dresser – a story about the highs and lows of life in the theatre, circa 1940. There are obvious comparisons that can be drawn between King Lear and The Dresser, for example: both are tragic stories about an egotistical protagonist, Lear/Sir, and his descent into madness.
Summary ACT 1 SCENE 1 A violent storm rages around a small ship at sea. The master of the ship calls for his boatswain to rouse the mariners to action and prevent the ship from being run aground by the tempest. Chaos ensues. Some mariners enter, followed by a group of nobles comprised of Alonso, King of Naples, Sebastian, his brother, Antonio, Gonzalo, and others. We do not learn these men’s names in this scene, nor do we learn (as we finally do in Act II, scene i) that they have just come from Tunis, in Africa, where Alonso’s daughter, Claribel, has been married to the prince.
In response to this the unpopular King invited the most popular man in the country, William Shakespeare, and his theatre company to be titled The King’s Men, under which they produced new works under his patronage; Macbeth and Othello being two very important examples. When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, he must have had James’ views in mind as some parts of the play were designed to be complimentary to him. Firstly Banquo (not Macduff) was a non-historical figure that James’ family considered being an ancestor of theirs, therefore Banquo is treated as a saint in the play. Secondly James had a great interest in witches and witchcraft- he published a book on the topic- so when Shakespeare wrote the play the
Foil Characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet By : Sassi Saddam Outline : • Introduction • Hamlet • Foil Characters in Hamlet • Conclusion I) Introduction : William Shakespeare is the most read, studied and famous English playwright. The majority of his plays share one very important aspect which allows them to be considered masterpieces: Rich and deep characters. Shakespeare’s characters are usually deep, because he takes the time to develop them throughout the plays; they are more real, less predictable, less linear in their behaviour. That is one characteristic that takes Shakespearean Drama one step away from Classic Drama where the plot and characters, as brilliant as they might be, were most often Manichean. This brings us to another trait these characters share: They are incredibly rich; their unpredictability and randomness makes it easy to make them behave in almost any way, his heroes are not super and omnipotent people, his antagonists are not the devil himself, hence, there is black and white, good and evil everywhere in Shakespearean Drama.
The Tempest: Power and Changes in Character Power and the prospect of having power can cause people to deviate in their actions. In Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, this concept of being in control is one of the main themes of the play; it drives the story forward and brings light onto how each of the characters behaves and thinks. Prospero, the main character, brings most of the characters to the island for the sole purpose of manipulating them to his will to act out his revenge. Ariel, a spirit, is under Prospero’s command and does what his master asks him to in hopes that he will gain his freedom. Caliban, with the assistance of Stephano and Trinculo, plans to murder Prospero for making him his slave.
. . [I]n the productions of genius, nothing can be styled excellent till it has been compared with other works of the same kind. (320) With this test in mind, Johnson suggests that Shakespeare meets these criteria and “may now begin to assume the dignity of an ancient, and earn the privilege of established fame and prescriptive veneration” (321) because he has “long outlived his century, the term commonly used as the test of literary merit” (321). That he deserves such acclaim can be verified by “comparing him with other authors” (321).