Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Antonio: Well, niece, I trust you'll be ruled by your father.
Beatrice: Yes faith, it is my cousin's duty to make curtsy, and say,
father as it please you.
Does this extract reflect Shakespeare's presentation of women in the
play, and what is your response to this presentation 400 years later?
The presentation of women in the play is varied. Shakespeare has
produced two very different presentations of women. One being
Beatrice, the assertive, outspoken, almost masculine female and the
other being Hero, the 'modest young lady' who does whatever she is
asked.
Beatrice has no mother or father in her life and therefore lacks a
sense of duty. She doesn't have a father to control her and tell her
what to do, which is a major contrast to Hero. Beatrice is perceived
in the play as a threat to the masculine world. She engages in verbal
battles with Benedick and openly criticises men, which goes against
Elizabethan ideals. In that society, people would have disapproved of
this and she would be perceived as lacking modesty, a great virtue of
the time.
It is so indeed, he is no less than a stuffed man; but
For the stuffing-well, we are all mortal.
Beatrice doesn't seem to offend anyone except Benedick. The other
characters are amused by her wit.
She speaks poniards, and every word stabs. If her
Breath were as terrible as her terminations, there
Were no living near her; she would infect to the north
Star.
When the soldiers return from war, Beatrice almost mocks them. Since
she has no man in her life to dominate her, she is full of strength,
intelligence and g...
... middle of paper ...
...nd how Beatrice changes. He is
challenging this conventional role of women; for example, Beatrice
controls Benedick in the relationship. In that sort of patriarchal
society, the women would usually conform eventually. Beatrice has this
strong, intelligent, witty and sharp character that slowly just fades
away towards the end.
I think Shakespeare has used this contrast of Hero and Beatrice for
comical purposes to show that there were women like Beatrice.
In Shakespeare's England, courtship was not the prolonged and romantic
affair it is now. The young folks did not make and unmake engagements
as they pleased, without consulting their parents. The etiquette of
betrothal was almost as formal and rigid as that of marriage is today.
Today, women are more like Beatrice the 'normal' female, independent
and sociable.
In the fair city of Verona, two rival families, the Montagues and Capulets were involved in a nasty family feud that goes back years before any of the members were born. Even the townspeople were involved in the dispute, because the families were always fighting in the streets and causing disturbances. They disrupted the streets of Verona and even Prince Escalus tried to break up the fighting. They were given a warning, by him that another public fight would result in death. While this was occurring, Romeo, (a Montague) the main character, was getting over his last love, Rosaline, and was very upset. Juliet of the Capulet household had just been introduced to a wealthy young man, Paris, whom her parents wished her to marry. Yet she did not love him. Romeo goes to a party in an effort to forget about Rosaline. At this party he met Juliet, and immediately fell in love with her. He later finds out that she is a Capulet, the rival family of the Montagues. He decides that he loves her anyway and they confess their love for each other during the very famous "balcony scene" in which they agreed to secretly marry the next day. Friar Lawrence agreed to marry them in an effort to end the feuding between the families. Unfortunately, the fighting gets worse and Mercutio (Montague) a good friend of Romeo ends up in a fight with Tybalt (Capulet), Juliet's cousin. Tybalt killed Mercutio, which caused Romeo to kill Tybalt in an angry rage. For this, Romeo is banished from Verona. At the same time, the Capulet's were planning Juliet's marriage to Paris. Juliet didn't want to marry this man so she arranges with Friar Lawrence to fake her own death with a sleeping potion that would make everyone think that she was dead. Friar Lawrence promised to send word to Romeo to meet her when the potion wears off and to rescue her to Mantua, where Romeo was currently staying. There they would live happily ever after. Unfortunately, Romeo didn't receive the message on time and upon hearing of her "death" went to Juliet's tomb where he drinks poison and dies. When Juliet's potion wears off, she wakes to find her lover's dead corpse. She then proceeds to stab herself with Romeo's dagger. The two families find the bodies and with their shared sorrow, finally make peace with each other.
Based on the classic Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Roman, Julie, and Friends displays a new theme on becoming friends with children of all genders, even if it is not expected or allowed by their friends. There were many changes made to create a story that resembled Romeo and Juliet but also changed the meaning to a more positive and age appropriate moral. For example some of the original characters are resembled in the remediation, while others were completely new for the purpose of the new plot. The classic play was changed to a children’s book to provide a positive message to children by using pictures and designs that would suit a child’s liking. The design of the book was happy and cheerful, with basic pictures that resemble the words but are similar to the other pictures in the book. The book also uses ethos, logos, and pathos to sell the moral of the story. Ethos is mainly used by the creditability of Shakespeare. While pathos is the ability for the reader to connect with the characters personalities and stories. Logos is used by providing the child realize that friends can be any gender or personalities, but if given the chance a friend can be found in anyone. The target audience is for children around the reading level of 3, with the purpose being the idea that children can become friends with children of any gender.
Fate or choice? Choice or fate? How does one separate these ideals? Can one? Shakespeare could not. Nor can we. Fate and choice are so intertwined that our choices determine our fate, and our fate determines our choices. William Shakespeare trusts the audience to scrutinize whether it is fate or choice that rules our human life. Shakespeare aptly conveys this oxymoron (with which people have been dealing for ages) through the evidence and structure of his play, Romeo and Juliet.
scene 1 'If he send me no husband for which is a blessing…Lord I could
should do now. He says, "Is it e'en so? Then I defy you, stars!" Romeo
Acts 3 scene 1 of the play is a turning point. How important are the
William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing is clearly a classic comedy; lots of wit, puns, a group of stupid characters (Dogberry and the Watch) and although there are complications during the middle Acts, everything turns out right in the end. The first scene contains a lot of witty jokes and uses puns to show that right from the start of the play it is a comedy. Messenger: 'And a good soldier too, lady. ' Beatrice: 'And a good soldier to a lady. ' Beatrice and Benedick appear to have a 'teasing relationship'.
of a fight "let us take the law of our side let them begin" Sampson
A different type of love is seen prior to Scene Five. It is the more
Love in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Shakespeare is well known for presenting the full repertoire of human emotions, and love is no exception. Much Ado About Nothing is unquestionably a play about love. Shakespeare provides the audience with a whole gamut of lovers from the banal Claudio and Hero to the rebellious Beatrice and Benedick. It is this range which allows Shakespeare to critique the conventions and perceptions within his renaissance society This variance in love and lovers also serves to inform the audience of the many different faces of love, and to further the plot, for example, it is Margaret's brand of free love. causes the turning point in the play.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare The first scene of the two film versions of Romeo and Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli is a very unusual and interesting interpretation of the 16th century play, written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare. Both Luhrmann and Zeffirelli capture the love and tragedy story in different ways. Baz Luhrmann very cleverly manages to weave the past into the present by setting the movie in Shakespearean language and yet giving the film a very modern twist. It is set in, the very heart of a modern American city that is quite threatening and urban. Here crime thrives in the city centre, violence rules the streets and becomes a part of daily life and where people are bred not to reveal their true feelings living a life of fear, chaos and full of illusions.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, by William Shakespeare, based on the theme of the love of the world. This love is presented in many different manifestations. such as infatuation and unrequited love. This play is carefully written to show desires, emotions and family life. To the start of the play Romeo is talking about how his love has been Vexed.
In the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, love is an important and consistent topic. The topic of love advances throughout the play as the central characters go through the stages of their relationships. Love is important because, from a very young age people experience love as a natural part of life. People want to know what love is. How do I get it, and what does it feel like? It is something one anticipates and waits for, much like the experience of a first kiss or saying the words “I love you” for the first time. Love is made up of many different emotions: joy, pain, compassion, understanding, longing, and tears. All of these emotions are felt throughout the play by the main relationships: Hero and Claudio and Beatrice and Benedick. Through the ups and downs in relationships between Hero, Claudio, Benedick and Beatrice, Shakespeare uses the idea of love to show us how important trust and loyalty are in any relationship by creating distrust.
In Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy written by the great English playwright- William Shakespeare- “a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,” due to rivalry of two families (Crowther 1). Simply put, the hatred between two families causes a pair of lovers to commit suicide. Although this case is a suicide, the blame might not be all on the lovers- Romeo and Juliet. The tragedy might be the fault of other people involving in this event, specifically the adults around the lovers. There are three adults around the lovers that might have influenced them and lead them to their death: Friar Lawrence, the nurse, and the apothecary.
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare as a Satire This essay will analyse the way in which Shakespeare makes this comedy bitterly satirical, and a comment on not only the pretentious style and swank of Spaniards, namely Don Pedro and his gang, but human stupidity as a whole. Much Ado About Nothing portrays the issues of sex, war, marriage and chivalric courtly love in an ironic and satirical way. On a topical level, the play satirises Spanish, Sicilian and Italian aristocrats in the 16th Century, and their comical dress sense, style of speech and general outlook and their anachronistic concepts. The appearance of Don Pedro's group of friends from the outset would be funny, as not only do they affect this aristocratic culture and lifestyle, but also they are complete travesties of it.