William Shakespeare’s King Lear recounts a tale of a father and his three daughters as he decides to divide up his kingdom based on who loves him the most. Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres is a modern day King Lear farm with Larry Cook’s three...

In it’s traditional sense, the natural world can serve to act as the utter antithesis of the man-made human world. It is possible to consider them to both be their own microcosms, circulating in their own introspective cycles, however, it may be...

The way in which these two scenes make vivid the considerable void between the two sisters’ ambitions, and in doing so, both the good and the evil, is the evident differences they possess emotionally. In keeping with the presentation of her in...

Frank Chodorovm, an acclaimed libertarian politician, asserted after the Civil War, “The States acquire power…and because of their insatiable lust for power they are incapable of giving up any of it.” Chodorovm suggests that the reason the Civil...

Throughout the ages, many scholars have tried to explore the idea of human dignity and self-respect. Some associate one’s self-worthiness with wealth and social status, claiming that the higher the salary, the higher the self-worth. Some believe...

During the Elizabethan era, religion and social status were important characteristics of English culture. England’s rich culture and beliefs during the Elizabethan era were often displayed in many of William Shakespeare’s plays. From folklores to...

Throughout King Lear, characters intrinsically desire happiness, using other pursuits instrumentally to achieve their final goal of personal satisfaction. Through this quest, Shakespeare makes it clear that in order for one to find happiness, one...

Is there something in nothing? Is there nothing in nothing? Throughout The Tragedy of King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, readers hear multiple references to the word “nothing.” Although nothingness is commonly regarded as something...

The patriarchy denotes a system within society whereby men are provided with a dominant role over their female counterparts. Shakespeare composed his critically acclaimed play ‘King Lear’ in 1606, a time when society was deeply engrained within a...

In Shakespeare, followers will often surround central characters, sometimes remaining nameless, or seeming superfluous to the play’s development. However, such characters serve a more integral role than being ‘silent servants’ or providing comic...

Shakespeare’s King Lear tells the tragic story of a man attempting to test his daughters love for him by promising them land in exchange for words of flattery. Shakespeare illustrates a modern portrayal of femininity in the central character and...

As an audience, we crave comfort and reassurance that characters in the play, who we pity (ie. Lear) will not be harmed or the harming of them will be able to be prevented. Moreover as the tragedy in the play is unrelenting, Shakespeare uses...

Throughout Macbeth, the character of Banquo is continually presented as a contrasting foil to the character of Macbeth himself, as a noble and perceptive ally of the Scottish royal line. His presence in the play is felt in contrast to Macbeth’s...

Throughout all of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, infected by prophecy, cruises a downward spiral into more and more vile and unjustifiable acts until he is slain by the loyal hero Macduff. Because of the frequent acts of malice...

A seemingly innocent spark of aspiration can spiral into an ignited wildfire of vengeance. The play written by William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth, is set in a kingdom in Scotland during the eleventh century; once peaceful and filled to...

While history has us assume that the idea of masculinity is equated with strength, Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Macbeth epitomizes the play’s understanding of masculinity in relation to power. When Lady Macbeth commands the spirits, “...

Because of the belief in early modern England that women were more susceptible to sin than men,[1] any literary depiction of a witch – the epitome of a woman who has fallen to sin – is a manifestation of, and an example of pandering towards, this...

The snake has long been used as a symbol of sly subtlety. A serpent's presence has been characterized by cunning cynicism dating as far back as biblical times, when the snake persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of Eden's garden. Even the...

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth undergoes a profound and gradual evolution throughout the play. He regresses from a logical, compassionate, caring, and conscientious man, to an entirely apathetic, amoral paradigm of cynical numbness. Macbeth's...

A central theme of William Shakespeare's Macbeth is the title character's willingness to accept his fate. Macbeth's attitude toward the prophecies of the witches varies depending on how much he likes the prediction. At first, he follows along with...

There is truth to Duncan's line "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face," for throughout Shakespeare's play Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are not what they most often appear to be. Even Macbeth does not know the extent...

Separating qualities common to one 'set' or 'type' of Shakespeare's plays which are not common to the plays as a whole is a difficult task: it would no doubt be possible to find evidence of any feature uniting 'the Tragedies' within any of...

In Greek tragedy, inevitability plays an important role, portraying the protagonists as pawns of the fates, whose roles in the tragedy are distributed arbitrarily and without justice. The outcomes of these roles are decided before the play even...

In Shakespeare's, Macbeth, there seems to be an uncanny connection between the images of sleep and nature. The play refers to the results of nature being thwarted, and since sleep is the primarily natural function of every human being, its seems...