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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
The Shadowland Of Shakespeare: Christianity And The Carnival, Micah E. Cozzens
The Shadowland Of Shakespeare: Christianity And The Carnival, Micah E. Cozzens
Student Works
The moral complexity of Shakespeare’s work is created by balancing carnival elements such as subversion of authority, plays within plays, and ascension of thrones, with Christian elements such as repentance, the supernatural, and forgiveness. Far from being didactic or moralizing, Shakespeare’s plays—specifically King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet—frequently inhabit an ethical shadowland, in which right becomes wrong and wrong becomes right. This intricacy renders even the simplest of his plots an interesting exploration of human consciousness. But Shakespeare never exalts Christianity at the expense of the carnival nor the carnival at the expense of Christianity—rather, …
Presence In Absence In Shakespeare's King Lear, Kimberly Austin
Presence In Absence In Shakespeare's King Lear, Kimberly Austin
Student Works
King Lear is imbedded with hidden Christian themes, expressed through characters like Cordelia and the Fool, to show that salvation and redemption can only be obtained in a world with Christ. The audience recognizes the absence of Christian principles in the play and through our desire for Christianity it becomes a present theme.The theory of presence in absence becomes clearer when analyzing Cordelia and the Fool. Their characteristics mimic those of Christ which reminds the audience of his absence in the play. Throughout the play King Lear repeats the theory of “nothing from nothing” and by analyzing this theme through …