With the end of the sixteenth century, there came a \"turning point in Shakespeare\'s life which consequently changed his plays from the fanciful ideals to the seriousness of man. The results were the great tragedies from \"1592-1609\" (Thurber 184). These tragedies consisted of deeper concepts of t...

The tragic heroes in William Shakespeare\'s plays often share the same personality traits. Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear all show similar attributes which suggest that the playwright used a basic mold to form some of his most notable characters. Beyond the hamartia of pride, which is a com...

Power is the root of all evil. According to Perry Besshye Shelley, "Power, like a disease, pollutes whatever it touches." In other words, many characters in literature become corrupted because of their quest for power. I fully agree with Shelley that power "pollutes everything t...

Madness Madness seems to be a common theme in William Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth and Hamlet. The questions I ask myself are; 1. What brings about madness in these plays, and 2. How can one tell madness when he/she sees it in a Shakespearean play? The signs of madness are visible in both of ...

There are numerous themes put forth by Shakespeare in 'Hamlet', one of his greatest tragedies. Many of these themes are relevant to life today. When man's social, political and ethical worlds are out of balance, bad things happen (at least in Shakespearean tragedies). In other words, natural illn...

Females were "the future wives, mothers, and housekeepers" (Pearson 211) of Elizabethan times. Not many options were open to them. They were dominated by men, and by society. The obedience of women to men was evidenced in their educational, marital, and household opportunities. Althoug...

A literary tragedy is defined as a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. From "Hamlet" to "Othello", Shakespeare created many ...

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE – THE LEGEND LIVES ON Shakespeare stands out alone, both in his own age when so many were drawn to the form and circumstances were favourable to this kind genius, and in all English literature, as the one great and genuine dramatic poet. ----- Sri Aurobindo C...

Shakespeare's SourcesWilliam Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. During the span of his life he worked mainly as an actor and principal playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men. His company went on to build the famous Globe Theater and were later named the King's Men, by James I. As a...

"What is the significance of the three witches in Macbeth?" In this essay, I am seeking to answer the question: "What is the significance of the three witches in Macbeth?". In order to answer this, I will look at the following things: what I believe Shakespeare intended the w...

Renaissance Humanism is the intellectual movement that began in Italy in the fourteenth century and lasted roughly until the second half of the seventeenth century. The main characteristic of this movement was, in the first place, a departure from medieval philosophy, with its superstitions and th...