William Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest play writers of all time. He had extraordinary talent and is widely known for his plays. The ironic part though, was the fact that Shakespeare only went to grammar school, he didn’t have any further education and never went to a private school. Yet, with great plays, there are always great characters within these plays. First off, in Macbeth, a play about an ambitious man named Macbeth who is told by a witch that he will be king someday, so he kills the current king, Duncan, and takes the throne, however he gets paranoid that his throne will be taken away from him so he starts having other people killed and he himself gets killed in the end. Another play by Shakespeare is The Tempest which is about the King of Milan, Prospero, and his daughter Miranda living on an island far from home because twelve years ago, the kings brother along with the king of Naples, took his throne. “He explains that twelve years previous to this day - the day of the
Tempest, that is - Prospero was the Duke of Milan and held the position now occupied by his brother Antonio.” (William, Shakespeare). Both of these plays have great characters; however, some are more favored than others. In Macbeth, it is hard not to feel sorry for Banquo because he gets everything taken away from him even though he is brave and noble. In The Tempest, Miranda is favorable because she is so innocent and immature, which makes her charming and funny. In both Macbeth and The Tempest, Miranda and Banquo both have different roles in their plays, they have similar qualities, and they have different outcomes in the end of their plays.
To begin, Miranda from The Tempest, and Banquo from Macbeth, both have their own separate rol...
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...milar because they are both innocent in their roles and actions and they are also caught in the middle. Lastly, they both have different endings. Miranda having a happily ever after and Banquo getting killed and reappearing as a ghost. Miranda and Banquo are both very important characters from two very important and popular Shakespeare plays.
Works Cited
Als, Hilton.. "STORMY WEATHER ; The Theatre." New Yorker, The. 29 Sep. 2008: 92. eLibrary. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Bell, Millicent. "Macbeth and Dismemberment." Raritan 3(2006):13. eLibrary. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Jericho, Jeremy.. The Tempest. Barron's, 2004. eLibrary. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
Scott, Robert Owens. Macbeth. Barron's, 2004. eLibrary. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
William, Shakespeare. Comedies of William Shakespeare: The Tempest: Act I. MacMillan General Reference, 1963. eLibrary. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
For instance, the characters Hero and Claudio could easily be compared to Romeo and Juliet. Both Hero and Juliet are innocent, quiet, and beautiful young women who fall in love instantly without conversing with the other person. Likewise, Claudio and Romeo decide to marry these women within twenty-four hours. Because of these characters’ lack of unique and interesting qualities, I am intrigued by Beatrice. Beatrice is by far the best character Shakespeare created because of how effortlessly she lightens the mood.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 1996. 1135-1159. Print.
Different loves, and different bloodlines; William Shakespeare is able to utilize the differences and similarities of the characters Hero and Beatrice as well as Claudio and Benedick to craft a renowned comedy that not only applied in shakespearean times but in modern times as well. Despite the many differences between the two sets of characters, lines of similarity can be drawn as well.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jeremy Hylton. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans, et. al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974.
William Shakespeare is seen to many as one of the great writers in history. More specifically, the characters in his plays are reviewed and criticized and have been so for nearly four centuries. The character that many have revered Shakespeare for is perhaps the greatest such character ever in literature, Hamlet from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The commentary and response to this legend of literature is of wide array and opinion, though most, such as Pennington, believe him to be a truly magnificent character: "Hamlet is perhaps the cleverest hero ever written, the subject of the first European tragedy, a form of genius. A type Shakespeare despaired of writing thereafter, having perceived that the heroes of tragedies must be sublime idiots" (185). However, despite his clear gifts and aura, Hamlet was a doomed character from the beginning: Hamlet is dominated by an emotion that is inexpressible. It is thus a feeling he cannot understand, he cannot objectify it, and it therefore remains open to poison life and to obstruct action" (Eliot 25). Thus, Hamlet, while possessing the traits of no other men of his time, a true Renaissance man, was doomed from the beginning of the play partly by forces he could not control, and also partly by his own character. It leads to a slow but definite ending to one of literature's great characters, one that he could not control. In the end, Hamlet was out of place in his environment, he was simply not meant to be.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1997: 3055-3106.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Oxford Shakespeare Complete. 2ndnd ed. USA: Oxford University Press, 2005. 6024-135. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Second Revised Ed. United States of America: First Signet Classics Print, 1998. 1-87. Print.
Shakespeare has created stories that are so powerful, emotional, comedic, tragic and romantic that they are still continuously remembered and studied in the modern era. Though the essence of his talents does not lie in the simple themes behind his plays, but more so in
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997. 3055-3107.
The character of Miranda in "The Tempest" is extremely compelling for two reasons. First and foremost it is important to note that the Miranda is the only female character who appears in the entire play. This is the only Shakespeare play where a character has this kind of outstanding distinction. This is not just a fluke on the part of Shakespeare, for it is very important that the character of Miranda appear by herself. The reader is not able to compare her beauty and virtue to any other female in the world of "The Tempest", and this serves both to show her value as a character and the fact that no other living women has the virtue of Miranda. While Miranda may not have many outstanding lines or solioquys, she makes up for this in sheer presence alone. Miranda's character encompasses all the elements of perfectionism and goodness which is lacking in all the other respective characters. All of the other characters in "The Tempest" are reflected by Miranda, and even if she did not speak one line she would still serve this important purpose.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest, edited by Louis B. Weight and Virginia A. LaMar, published by Pocket Books, New York, 1961.
In his time, Shakespeare was the most popular playwright of London. As time passed, his smartness covers all others of his age; Jonson, Marlowe, Kyd, Greene, Dekker, Heywood—none had the craft or the kindness of character. He was the master of poetry writing and he did it well. He created the most vivid characters of the Elizabethan stage. His usage of language, both high and low, shows a remarkable fun and insight. His themes fit all generation even to this day.