Essays About William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s poem “Shall I compare thee to a summers day?” or “Sonnet XVIII” as it is commonly referred to was composed at the end of the sixteenth century in the renaissance period. It is an Elizabethan love sonnet. In this era, the people had a taste for witty poems with a common stance for…
“To his Coy Mistress”, By Andrew Marvell, “Sonnet”, By Elizabeth Barrett Browning and “Sonnet 138”, By William Shakespeare, these group of poems reflect both the negative and positive aspects of love. How do the poets you have studied use language and structural choices to affect the readers perceptions of what love is? The traditional stereotypical…
Racism, feminism, power, religion, justice and mercy; Shakespeare’s complex moralistic notions fill an eventful and crucial scene in the play-“The Merchant of Venice”. The first scene of the fourth act completes the separate storylines and brings them all to an end, producing a scene with immense impact and a frenzy of morals. However the audience’s…
In the Merchant of Venice, Shylock is presented in many forms. The first question one must ask is whether the play is Anti-Septic or not. This enables us to see how accurate Shylock’s portrayal is. In my opinion the play is not. Shakespeare displays Shylock in both positive and negative ways. In turn, during the…
Antonio has entered into a bond with Shylock. In return for 3000 ducats which he wants for his friend Bassiano, he agrees to repay the money within three months or allow Shylock to cut a pound of flesh from anywhere on his body. His ventures fail and Shylock claims his forfeit. Antonio is arrested and…
Shakespeare has presented Shylock as an interesting character, he appears in only 5 scenes yet to many people he is the center of the plays interest. The audience’s feelings and reactions towards Shylock are mixed throughout the play. On the one hand he is hard to like as he is a cruel and miserable villainous…
I have chosen to direct Act IV Scene I because it is very much a climatic scene. It has lots of potential to produce an excellent piece of theatre due to the emotional pace of the scene, and the extremely passionate language used. May different characters display different views, which can be portrayed to good…
At the time this play was written anti-Semitism was very common in England. Anti-Semitism is essentially anti Jewish feelings and prejudice towards them. It existed because the Jews were originally seen as ‘Christ killers’ so therefore the hatred between Christians and Jews has existed ever since then. Nowadays it is not as common as it…
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, written in 1596 deals with themes such as anti-semitism, love, hatred, Christianity, Judaism, mercy and justice all of which were very relevant to an Elizabethan audience. These themes were juxtaposed throughout the play to create contrast and controversy and also to convey this polarity to the viewing audience. The acts…
Over hundreds of years, great men and women of English literature have spent countless hours debating one of the most simple yet controversial questions: What did Shakespeare mean by Shylock? When he created him Shakespeare could not have anticipated that Shylock would become the emblem around which so much contention would rage. Shakespeare’s money-lender is…
In the Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a wealthy Jew and moneylender. Bassanio, a young Venetian, is a spendthrift, and asks his friend Antonio to lend him money in order for him to pay off his debts. Antonio agrees, but as his wealth relies on his ships, which are at sea, and therefore needs to…
The overall climax of this play is brilliantly displayed because the realism of the discrimination and prejudice towards Jews helps us to develop a sympathetic feeling for them. Shakespeare has included the historical and incorporated the biblical references in the speeches of this play. Examples such as the story of Jacob and his sheep from…
The Merchant of Venice is a play by Shakespeare set in Venice in 1592; at this time the English looked up to Venetian’s and they were seen as very fashionable people. Venice was also the trading capital of the world as there was an increase in overseas trade and merchants became very well respected. At…
In this essay the theme of prejudice will be carefully analysed, by focusing on Act 4 scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice, or as it is also known as the court scene. Though this play is a ‘Romantic Comedy’ it also highlights the darker sides of human nature: greed, prejudice, hatred and deception. Prejudice…
In Venice during the 1590s, Jews were really badly discriminated against; they had to wear a red cap whenever they went outside and they had to live in the ghetto. They were not allowed to own any business nor to interact with Christians. In the play, Shylock didn’t adhere to these and was obviously hated…
Shylock, one of the most well-known characters from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, is a Jew and an Usurer, who is generally disliked within the play, and because of this he has his own distinctive way of speaking, and is addressed unusually by others. Shylock is addressed both politely and impolitely by other characters in The…
Our impressions of the character Shylock before Act III Scene 1 are of a money daft man. He seems to be more concerned about his ducats rather than the loss of his daughter, showing that he is very obsessed with wealth and most certainly greedy, and a miser in every possible way. An example of…
I will be exploring how Shakespeare presents the character of Shylock in ‘The Merchant Of Venice’ by using close reference of the text. I will also examine how the character of Shylock could evoke sympathy of a modern audience. Throughout ‘The Merchant Of Venice’ there is a clear separation between Christians and Jews. This separation…
Shakespeare creates a very powerful and dramatic for the audience in this passage. By using repetition, tri-colons and rhetorical question Shakespeare is able to make this passage both striking and intense for the audience. Shakespeare is able to convey Shylock’s emotions about what he is feeling when he is abused by Salarino and Solanio but…
In this essay I intend to examine how Shakespeare makes the prologue and Act 1 of ‘Rome and Juliet’ exciting, dramatic and memorable for the audience and how he prepares us for the tragedy to come. Romeo and Juliet, set in Verona, tells the story of how two star cross’d lovers life comes to an…
William Shakespeare was born in 1564. Elizabeth I was the queen at this time. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon. He went to the local grammar school, but did not go to university. When he was 20, he moved to London and became a playwright and an actor. In about 1603, he ‘retired’ from acting and…
There are many themes in “Romeo and Juliet,” the main one is love. The play focuses on romantic love, especially on the concentrated passion that comes up at first sight between Romeo and Juliet. In “Romeo and Juliet,” love takes over everything for example families, friends and other loyalties. “Deft thy father and refuse my…
England’s greatest poet and playwright was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, on 23rd April 1564. He died on the same date in 1616. William, the eldest son, and third child (of eight) was baptised on 26th April 1564 and probably educated at Stratford Grammar School, but little is known of his life up to his eighteenth year….
In Romeo and Juliet there is an enormous amount of tragic events which allow the play to be both romantic and tragic. There is also the importance of the audience knowing and feeling sorry for Romeo and Juliet because the play is a tragedy and the involvement of romance heightens our empathy for Romeo and…
Of all of Shakespeare’s tragedies “Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the best known one, Shakespeare based much of his play on the reality of his time by managing to encompass much of his context in the play. This was the Elizabethan era, In the Elizabethan era it was very different in the way we live…
“Romeo and Juliet” is one of the most famous plays written by Shakespeare, it is famous for its intense romance. It was written in the 17th century and by reading the play it is quite obvious that people at that time had very different views on life than the present time. At the time of…
William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a fictional play written in the region of 1594-1596. It was an adaptation of the Arthur Brookes poem, ‘The tragical history of Romeus and Juliet’ which was published in 1562. The Elizabethan audience had different expectations. They were happy to go to see a story that had been changed…
Concentrating on act 3 scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, how effective do you think the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann film versions are in relation to your own interpretation of the play? Shakespeare’s tragic tale of “two star-cross’d lovers” has survived centuries of political and social upheaval to become one of the most popular and…
In this assignment I will discuss who was to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. To get a clear idea of each aspect, such as fate, chance, notorious feuds, adolescent passion and other character’s influences, I will explore and investigate the language, social issues and historical values of each argument. The famous William Shakespeare between…
Romeo and Juliet is a play set in a city called Verona in Italy, about two “star crossed lovers”, who fall in love at first sight, Unfortunately Romeo, is a member of the Montague family who are sworn enemies of the Capulet household, to which Juliet belongs. The path of true love is not going…
