Antithesis is a rhetorical device in which two contrasting words or concepts are juxtaposed within a parallel grammatical structure (literarydevices.com). In this case, the repeated use of this literary convention and the balanced structure it...

Throughout both Shakespeare's Hamlet and Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, the disparity between how things seem and how they really are is a constant underlying motif; the depth in which both plays examine the concept of appearance and reality...

A revenge tragedy is a genre of play, popularized in the seventeenth century, in which the protagonist pursues revenge for real or perceived abuses. Thee tragedies typically employ a number of the same conventions, such as escalating causes for...

We face moral dilemmas every day of our lives—whether it’s giving money to a homeless man or taking a peek at a peer’s chemistry test. Fortunately, the stakes aren’t high. The tragic figures of Hamlet, The Once and Future King, and Oedipus...

“Hamlet will be Hamlet, a fabled tragedy of the human spirit that still resonates, even today (Slings and Arrows, 1.2).”

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of the very few plays that have survived throughout the ages and is still referenced in...

Two years before Fathers and Sons was published, Turgenev gave a speech titled “Hamlet and Don Quixote,” in which he cross-analyzed Hamlet and Don Quixote as two antitheses of basic human tendencies. For Turgenev, Don Quixote represented the...

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet ends in a dramatic cataclysm as four crucial characters drop dead in a murderous scandal of “deaths put on by cunning and forced cause” (5.2.369-371). It is in this skirmish that Hamlet achieves his long-sought revenge...

One of Shakespeare’s legendary plays, Hamlet, conveys a significant conflict between a parental figure and their respective child. One theme that is embedded with this particular conflict is perception versus reality. This theme comes into play in...

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...

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an illusion refers to “the fact or condition of being deceived or deluded by appearances, or an instance of this; a mental state involving the attribution of reality to what is unreal” (“Illusion, n.”)....

Historically, women have been characterized by their apparent weakness, their subservience and their dependence on men. Exploring literature from the past, writing often reflects the degradation of females that has marred society for centuries....

In his play Hamlet, there is no question that William Shakespeare crafts complex and distinct characters. However, because the story is a play, the reader is left to guess the reasoning for many of the character’s actions and the truth of what is...

Compare the relations between older and younger men in the following extracts; pay close attention to the use of dramatic language and the opportunities offered by the text for different emphases in production: 1 Henry IV, 2.4.109-62 (Bevington...

Within Hamlet and 1 Henry the Fourth are examples of Shakespeare including the trade of acting within the text as a central theme. Hamlet certainly shows us his skill as an actor throughout the play, but there is a more blatant preference to...

The relationship between a father and his son is an important theme in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One, as it relates to the two main characters of the play, Prince Hal and Hotspur. These two characters, considered as youths and future rulers to...

In his histories from Richard II through Henry V to Richard III, Shakespeare depicts the English monarchy as a game between family and friends of vying for a gold ring -- the crown. Shakespeare gives his reader a central metaphor through which to...

"I want to be invisible...I paint my face and travel at night." Ralph Reed, as quoted in The Virginian Pilot and Ledger Star, 11/9/91

Attaining "invisibility," or privacy from the glaring eye of the public, remains a distinct desire of modern...

The world of Shakespeare has many beloved heros and loathed villains, but never so beloved a villain as Sir John Falstaff. Through his comic appearance and endless witticisms, this incorrigible rouge has won the affection of audiences for...

In Part 1 of Henry IV, "blood" is the defining characteristic, separating the players into two distinct groups easily designated by their relationship to blood and providing the basis for the two lifestyles that Hal leads. The nobility's obsession...

In spite of its title, Henry IV, Part 1 is, without question, the story of a prince as he stands, however uncertainly, on the threshold of kingship. Yet Shakespeareâs literary account of this historical figure is not merely a diary of a royal...

In Henry IV, Shakespeare presents a troubled England with a king whose grip on the throne is tenuous at best. Those who had supported his rise to the throne when he overthrew Richard II are now turning against him. The king even doubts the loyalty...

Known as a fine interpreter of human thought and action, William Shakespeare often relied on gender roles and stereotypes to create within the audience an opinion of a character or event. Since Elizabethan society made such great distinctions...

In the study of three of Shakespeare's plays, Twelfth Night, or What You Will, The Tragedy of Richard II, and Henry IV, Part 1, one of the themes that is presented is the contrast of "appearance vs. reality." Sometimes the confusion is comedic,...

Vestiges of Hal in Shakespeare's Henry V

by, Anonymous

October 17, 2004

Over the course of Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V plays, the character of Henry V evolves from a reckless youth to a great King and revered hero. In 1 Henry IV the Prince...