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essays about masks
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Rosalind and the Masks
In this essay I would like to focus on Rosalind's - or rather Ganymede's - preoccupation with the outward show of things. Whether this is a result of her cross-dressing, the reason for the same, or the playwright's way of revealing his presence is not as yet clear to me, but Rosalind's constant insistence on the truth of masks and on the other hand her readiness to doubt this same truth fascinates me.
When she decides to dress up as a boy, Rosalind seems to think a mannish outside sufficient to convince the world at large (I.iii.111-118). She is "more than common tall" and therefore all she needs is a "gallant curtle-axe", a "boar spear" and a "swashing and a martial outside" to hide her feminine anxiousness. Taking it for granted that noone will have the hunch to look beyond her male costume, she reasons that since cowardly men are able to hide these feminine qualities, she should be able to pass off as a man, simply by behaving mannishly.
Being so totally dependent on her own disguise not being found out, it is funny how she proceeds to doubt anyone who does not put on an outward show fitting to their claims to feeling. The first to be put on the stand in this fashion is Orlando. As Ganymede Rosalind refuses to accept Orlando's claim to being the desperate author of the love-verses (s)he has found hanging on the trees on the grounds that he has no visible marks of love upon him.
A lean cheek, which you have not; a blue eye and sunken, which you have not; an unquestionable spirit, which you have not; a beard neglected, which you have not (...) Then your hose should be ungartered, your bonnet unbanded, your sleeve unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and everything about you demonstrating careless desolation. (III.ii.363-371)
He is, in other words, not exactly the picture of the despairing suitor. Neither does Jaques measure up to Rosalind's expectations of the melancholy traveller. She greets him with a "they say you are" (IV.i.3), and sends him off with the order of:
Look you lisp, and wear strange suits; disable all the benefits of your own country; be out of love with your nativity, and almost chide God for making that countenance you are; or I will scarce think you have swam in a gondola.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s impulsiveness contributes to the tragedy of the play. There is no doubt that Romeo rushes into love throughout the play. One example of this is when he falls in love with Rosaline. Although Rosaline is not a major role in the play, it shows the sorrow and uncertainty Romeo goes through after not being loved back. Marilyn Williamson said “During the time in which he was infatuated with Rosaline, he was … withdrawn into darkness” (6). The fact that Rosaline never shares the same feelings with Romeo, shows how quickly Romeo is to fall in love. “Out of her favor, where I am in love” (Rom. 1.1.158). Ironically, Romeo falls in love with Juliet during his plan to get closer to Rosaline. He is at a Capulet party when he first sees Juliet and
Furthermore, within the play these "facades" belonging to the confident upper classes of the period are like wise displayed amongst the lower classes. For example, during the interaction between Christine and Katharina Binder (pp. 133-135 ), Katharina almost lectures Christine on the appropriate and expected behaviour of young working class girls within the Viennese `Vorstadt' - it
However, we can safely conclude that his ‘love’ for Rosaline was only a passing infatuation as she pales to insignificance when he sets eyes on Juliet. The language he us...
Rosalyn who is going to become a nun. Romeo is upset by this and his
vain, then human nature cannot by any means be justified and redeemed from God’s most
As the feast begins, Romeo and his friends stand outside in their masks, contemplating how they are to get in because they are Montagues. They make their way in and Juliet catches Romeo's eye. Any thoughts of Rosaline completely clear his m i...
... by cloning (Therapeutic 104). Be it a natural home birth, an abortion, or creating a clone, it is the choice of and only of the people involved. No one else should be given the right force another human being into having a kid or stopping them if it’s what they so choose, no matter the manner of it.
Deception is present in Tennessee Williams’s drama ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, William Shakespeare’s Tragedy ‘Othello’ and L. P. Hartley’s novel ‘The Go-Between’; the writers choose to use characterisation to explore the theme in depth. Often the protagonists of each text are the primary offenders of deceit, though some supporting characters mislead as well; although Iago is the antagonist of ‘Othello’, he is incomparably the most deceitful character in the entire play. Similarly, Williams uses Blanche to develop the plot by misleading the other characters and even herself at times, though arguably, unlike Iago, Blanche is presented as a character who lacks the motivation to hurt anyone. Conversely Leo, although the protagonist and narrator of the novel, is not the most deceitful character – Ted Burgess and Marian Maudsley not only coerce him into the deceit, but they themselves are presented as masters of the game they play, however, this essay will focus on Leo as he is a unique symbol of deceit; he is unaware of the consequences of his actions.
In order for the American ruling class to impose its deeply reactionary agenda of austerity and imperialist expansion, it is dispensing with democracy and resorting to ever more repressive forms of rule.
Illusion vs. reality has been a major running theme in all the plays we have read in class. By interpretation, the idea of illusion is a way to build an alternate fantasy world for oneself where he/she can escape from reality. From all the characters analyzed in class, Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire would definitely be the one character who is so steadfast on illusion that she lets it shape her life as she believes it is her only way towards a happier life. As seen in the above quote, Blanche chooses to dwell in illusion, for it is her primary defense against the troubles in her life. Illusion has had a freeing enchantment that protects her from the tragedies she has had to endure. However, Blanche is not the only character with this fixation on illusion. In this paper, I will be analyzing other characters like Nora from A Doll’s House, Eliza from Pygmalion and Mrs. Hale from Trifles, who just like Blanche have also succumbed to the world of illusion as opposed to reality.
Illusion’s purpose is questioned in this fact-based world we call reality. Blanche, Stella’s sister, is used to represent illusion. Her whole life, from her diamond tiara made of rhinestones, to her spurious façade, is literally and metaphorically an illusion. The concept of illusions is further developed through the light motif in the play, with Blanche displaying “moth” like characteristics, avoiding “strong light”(pg.3) and “naked light bulb[s]”(pg.54). The light motif also represents a time of innocence, before Blanche’s husband’s death, when there was “blinding light” in her life, but after her husbands suicide, there hasn’t been“ any light that's stronger than this--kitchen—candle” (pg.103). Stanley is an advocate for reality, as shown by his constant struggle to uncover Blanches illusions about her past. Williams suggests that illusion’s serve as an essential part of society. Whether it was Blanches husband’s suicide or Stella’s husband’s participation in rape, illusions are shown throughout the play to help people deal with harsh realities. They help ‘victims’ of reality see “what ought to be truth”(pg.127) through illusions, alleviating unwanted pain.
Romeo’s relationship with Rosaline shows he is deeply infatuated and passionate. In act 1, scene 1, Romeo compares his love for her to being, ‘strucken blind’. He uses this hyperbole which empathizes his strong feelings towards Rosaline. He says long speeches, where he repeats the phrase ‘O’. These speeches imply that he is obsessed with Rosaline. ‘With Cupid arrow, she hath Dian’s wit;’. This proves that she does not the feel the same way about him, which shows his unrequited love for her. He often refers to Rosaline’s beauty, ‘that when she dies, with beauty dies her store’. This suggests that he feels lust for her and how Romeo is immature and confuses this lust for love. Shakespeare says that there are many different types of love in the play, in this case, infatuation.
Camera History.The first camera like devices can be seen as far back as Ancient Greece and China. This piece of early technology was called the Obscura, the invention of this was an important part in developing cameras and photography. A camera Obscura is a dark closed space that is shaped like a box with a hole on the other side of it. The light that comes through the tiny hole projects an image that meets the wall of the box. The image was then drawn by an artist; however, the image was projected upside down.
Returning to the introduction, the moon is not only ever present, it actively influences the proceedings throughout the play, not only connecting characters, but also giving them agency for their actions. Shakespeare once again displays his dexterity with imagery through his manifold portrayals of the moon; one moment merely the indicator of time, the next a symbol of the goddess Diana, at once a symbol of order and chaos, of happiness and discord, fertility and chastity, it encompasses all that transpires on the stage.
...an take better photographs, even while daily activities. Now when people go on walks, they can bring their camera and take pictures of the beauty around them. The deer with her fawns eating the meadow grass, a bench in a park, or a picture of the orange, luminous sunset. The beauty is all around, people just have to go out and snap the picture.