the characters uniting in either a marriage of a party. Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can gather that though they are different certain similarities can also be seen. One aspect of these genres that can be compared and contrasted is the narrative or plot. A comparison can be analyzed in that both begin with a problem. In Oedipus Rex, the play begins with a plague devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's
of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton Tony Kushner's two-part play (or, if you will, two plays) Angels In America is one of most famous and most powerful plays about AIDS and gay life to come out of the early 1990s. It not only engages with the political issues surrounding AIDS and homosexuality in Reaganite America, but also deals with deeply philosophical questions of identity and the nature of God. It's no surprise that this play has sparked comment, including the criticism of the conservative
The Merchant of Venice and Othello: Shylock vs Iago Shakespeare's use of timeless themes make his works relevant to the modern reader. His two plays "The Merchant of Venice" and "Othello" deal with the seeking of revenge and forbidden love. In "The Merchant of Venice," Shylock, the main character, is a Jew who loans money and charges interest. Shylock has an enemy named Antonio who also loans money to people, but without interest. Iago is a character in "Othello" who has been passed over
about kings. These two plays are similar in theme and in the questions they pose to the audience. The kings in each play both fall from the pinnacle of power to become the most loathed of all classes in society; Oedipus discovers that he is a murderer and committer of incest, and Lear becomes a mad beggar. Misjudgments occur in both plays, and the same questions about the gods, fate, and free will are posed. In spite of these similarities, however, the final effects of these two plays differ greatly
this study of revenge and revengers in two Elizabethan revenge tragedies the two plays I shall look at are Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, and The Revenger's Tragedy, by Thomas Middleton. I shall look first at the playwrights' handling of the characters of the revengers, and then at the treatment of the revengers by other characters in the plays. Although having similarities in their underlying themes, and in their adherence to conventions, these two plays present contrasting pictures of the figure
Concealment in Much Ado about Nothing and Macbeth William Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy, Much Ado about Nothing and tragic history, Macbeth revolve around the theme of deception, trickery, and concealment. There are portrayals within these two plays that depict deception and trickery as merely harmless and even beneficial. In some cases the characters are thoroughly masked in their lies; for ill or well, they are hiding who they truly are. In other cases, the person they attempt to hide is
the much more recent play, Trifles, but also to certain issues in modern society such as gender roles, family honor, suicide, and guilty conscience. For this reason, as well as, the complex structure, and intricate characters in the play, Hamlet is considered as Shakespeare’s greatest work of all his thirty-seven plays and one hundred and fifty-four sonnets. This timelessness of Hamlet is also evident in the many issues and values that it shares with the more contemporary play, Trifles. The most
savage racial discrimination, loathing, and violence. Indeed, even in today’s significantly more enlightened and politically correct views on race, interracial relationships and individuals still possess the potential to make many uncomfortable. Two historical periods in which racial topics, including interracialism, were the source of much social unrest are the eras of the pre-Civil War and the Harlem Renaissance. During these times voices were raised in protest from all sides of racial debates
youth and cost a witless bravery keeps" (1.4.9-10). For Viola, she might "serve the duke" (1.2.51) and thus hopefully keep company with Olivia, who also lost a brother. Disguise is especially appropriate in the worlds that exist in the two plays: they are characterized by excess and inversion of proper order. In Measure for Measure, the Duke leaves his kingdom unexpectedly in the hands of a deputy; the inversion is continued by the unprecedented harsh enforcement of the law, something
Power and Control in A Raisin In The Sun and Juno and the Paycock In the two plays, A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey, the reader is presented with a definite struggle for power among its main characters and society's ideals. These plays also serve as functions of drama, where the reader or viewer can also perceive much more in the way they are portrayed by the actors and the director as well, as the overall thematic plot and significance.
Pygmalion and Educating Rita: Language and Identity This essay is based on the reading of two literary plays, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and Willy Russell’s Educating Rita. Language and identity are two expressions that need to be explained. English is the official language in several countries; Chinese is the language spoken by Chinese people and Danish is how Danes speak. But languages could also be described as different ways of talking due to social background, education, profession
and Othello are closely related. There is a thesis-antithesis bond between these two plays. Much more than just sharing a trait or a source, the two constitute a paired study of the processes of redemption and damnation. Measure for Measure counterbalances Othello. Looking at the text of each play, one finds parallel and contrasting circumstances and characteristics that would incline one to interpret each play in light of the other. First instance: the issue of being passed over. In the opening
Hamlet and Oedipus Rex: The Birth of Kings Two plays, "Hamlet", written by William Shakespeare and "Oedipus Rex", written by Sophocles share a common bond of illusion and innocence. The protagonists in both plays appear at the beginning only to have changed so that reality has broken through the illusion with less than desirable results for either. In these two plays, two kings must leave their innocence behind as the truth leads them first, to enlightenment and then to their downfall
Comparing The Tempest and King Lear This essay will focus on the similarities and differences of the plays The Tempest and King Lear in general, as well as looking at comparisons of Prospero and Lear in somewhat more detail. Prospero and Lear are, without a doubt, the two most compelling mature figures in Shakespeare. In a way, one is the flip side, so to speak, of the other. Each represents an aging man's relationship to family, environment, and, most importantly, himself. One might even
Various parallels in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream tend to support the theory that the two plays are closely related. It is the purpose of this paper to show that wherever parallels exist, the relationship is probably from A Midsummer Night's Dream to Romeo and Juliet. A close analysis of the spirit of the two plays, and of the different attitudes towards love and life that they present, leads us to the conclusion that A Midsummer Night's Dream is the natural reaction
viewpoint on colonization. An excellent example of such a tactic is his play, A Tempest, which is a revision of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Both Shakespeare and Cesaire accentuate the greed of Europeans in their plays. However, Cesaire is more obvious in his approach to exposing it. A comparison of the two plays demonstrates that Cesaire's version, written in the late 1960's, is written as a confrontation of Shakespeare's play. He is attempting to comment on the corruption of Colonialism and
‘Waiting for Godot’, Stoppard wrote ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’. As a result of this, many comparisons can be drawn between these two plays. Stoppard’s writing was also influenced by Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as minor characters exist within Shakespeare’s world providing Stoppard with his protagonists. However, the play is not an attempt to rewrite ‘Waiting for Godot’ in a framework of Shakespeare’s drama. In studying these texts, the reader is provoked into
between the two plays: namely, that while in Riders to the Sea, a new myth is actually being created, this act of creation is missing from Endgame—possibly because newly created myths (and values) are deemed impossible by Beckett in the light of the two World Wars of the 20th century. During the course of the essay, it will also be suggested that this creation is, in fact, what characters (more specifically, Maurya, Hamm and Clov) are all waiting for; and that while the world-view of Synge’s play reflects
different social positions. These two plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo and Juliet feature several kinds of usurpation, which are significant to characterization and plot development. The first instance of usurpation in A Midsummer Night's Dream is Demetrius saying "Yield/Thy crazed title to my certain right" (I.i.91-2). Essentially he is telling Lysander to give up his pursuit of Hermia, although Demetrius is not in a position to command Lysander. This sets the two characters against each other
characters in the plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, to live miserable lives, which they first try to deny and later try to change. The downfall and denial of the Southern gentlewoman is a common theme in both plays. The characters, Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda from The Glass Menagerie are prime examples. Blanche and Amanda have had, and continue to have, many struggles in their lives. The problem is that Williams never lets the two women work through