Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Racial Impersonation On The Elizabethan Stage: The Case Of Shakespeare Playing Aaron, Imtiaz Habib

English Faculty Publications

The article focuses on the implications of playwright William Shakespeare performing racial roles himself, such as Aaron in "Titus Andronicus." Several plays are discussed, including "Titus Andronicus," "The Merchant of Venice," and "Othello." The SHAXICON database, which compiles the text of Shakespeare's plays, is the primary source of evidence to suggest Shakespeare acted in his plays. Information about race relations in Great Britain's society during Shakespeare's time is also given.

Shakespeare Under Arrest: The Construction And Idea Of The Constable In Loves Labour's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing And Measure For Measure, Robert T. Mcgovern

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

"Shakespeare Under Arrest: The Construction and Idea of the Constable in Love Labour's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, and Measure for Measure"' examines the comedic constables, Dull, Dogberry and Elbow respectively. The constables are constructed from the historical frame work that formed and informed their office. In order to properly construct the comedic constables that appear in these comedies. William Shakespeare had to have a historical frame in order to place them in the proper historical framework before his Elizabethan audiences. This work uses such sources as T.A. Critchley's, A History of Police in England and Wales and Joan R. …

Public Justice And Private Mercy In Measure For Measure, Stacy Magedanz

Library Faculty Publications & Presentations

As the only one of Shakespeare’s plays to carry a biblical title, Measure for Measure draws on an explicitly Christian body of thought about law, mercy, justice, and the right exercise of authority. The pervasive influence of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) over Measure for Measure’s action has led many critics to interpret the play as a straightforward Christian allegory where Mercy pleads before God in a grand Last Judgment.1 Another group, perhaps in reaction, has found in the play a subversion of the expected outcomes of justice, or even a radical subversion of all authority.2 During the …

To Be Or Not To Be: A Portrayal Of William Shakespeare In Children's Literature, Kathy S. Grout

Graduate Research Papers

This study analyzed how accurately authors of historical fiction portray William Shakespeare, the man and events of his life. An attempt was made to locate 25 books that contained Shakespeare as a character or dealt with events from his life. Twenty-two books were chosen that were written for children, young adults and adults with recommendations for young adults. Each book was read, summarized, reread and examined by completing a content analysis checklist designed to evaluate the portrayal of William Shakespeare and events of his life. Four hypotheses relating to known facts about Shakespeare's life, the fictionalization of his character, the …

Shut Up Or Drown: Silence And Containment Of The Garrulous Woman In Medieval And Shakespearean Drama, Melissa Margaret Filosa

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Pathology Of Rhetoric In Coriolanus, Yvonne Bruce

English Faculty Publications

Coriolanus seems to be a play of action, a dramatized world of mutinous citizens, plotting tribunes, famine, war, and banishment. Yet what really happens in this world? The citizens never realize their mutiny. Brutus and Sicinius never realize their illdefined plot, Coriolanus' consulship is rescinded, the mutual banishment of Coriolanus is undone by his resolve not to make "true wars" against Rome. and the defeat of Aufidius in act one becomes a meaningless victory when Coriolanus is in turn defeated in the final scene of the play. Perhaps it is more accurate to call Coriolanus a play of action, a …

A Buddhist's Shakespeare: Affirming Self-Deconstructions (Book Review), Sidney Gottlieb

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Book review by Sidney Gottlieb.

Howe, James. A Buddhist's Shakespeare: Affirming Self-Deconstructions. London and Toronto: Fairleigh Dickinson Press, 1994.

ISBN 9780838635223

The Duke Of Dark Corners: Toward An Interpretation Of Measure For Measure's Duke Vincento, Jan Funk

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The multiple and widely varying interpretations of Duke Vincentio in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure can be reconciled and made into a consistent interpretation by the application of a framework consisting of both literary and Elizabethan conventions as well as a view of comedy that accepts the comic function of movement toward identity as comedy's goal. Duke Vincentio is the comic drive in the play. His behavioral motives are based on his sincere concern for his constituency and his courageous use of his power during a time when reform is vital. The morally equivocal means he sometimes employs are justified by …

"Fair Terms & A Villain's Mind:" Shylock In Perspective, Montreva Calhoun

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

While The Merchant of Venice has long been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, it has also been one of the most controversial with Shylock being the hub of the conflict. Critics have long been arguing whether this great character is a tragic hero or a larger-than-life villain. Those opting for the first often believe the playwright guilty of anti-semitism, and those following the latter consider Shylock the embodiment of evil. Very few critics have viewed this character as three dimensional, possessing human dignity as well as a capacity for evil.

The first chapter reveals the many sources for both …

Antony & Cleopatra: A Study In Polarities, Mary Yarbrough

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In reading or seeing Antony and Cleopatra, several clear dualities emerge. The first is the polarity between Egypt and Rome as different settings for the action. Rome is cold, mechanical, rational, and businesslike, whereas Egypt is lush, erotic, exotic, and langourous. Antony is torn between the two worlds, and this split of loyalty and interest helps to make the second duality of the play, that of the personalities and attitudes of the main characters. Antony and Cleopatra are both seen in double perspective--as lustful, self-gratifying sinners and as lovers in a truly transcendent sense of love. Both perspectives are …

A Jungian Interpretation Of The Tempest, Tana Smith

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The following psychological interpretation of Shakespeare's The Tempest is unique to articles on the same subject which have appeared in literary journals because it applies a purely Jungian reading to the characters in the play. Here each character is shown to represent one of the archetypes which Jung described in his book Archetypes ~ the Collective Unconscious. In giving the play a psychological interpretation, the action must be seen to occur inside Prospera's own unconscious mind. He is experiencing a psychic transformation or what Jung called the individuation process, where a person becomes "a separate, indivisible unity or whole" and …

Richard Iii & Elizabethan Kingship, Frances Perdue

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study Richard III's character, motivations, and his path to the throne were examined as they affect the well-being of the country. Analyzed were the political, social, and moral philosophies of Elizabethan England and how they conflicted with Richard's Machiavellian tactics in achieving and holding the position of king. The necessity of purging Richard III from the throne was shown to be consistent with the Elizabethan concept of God's will for the good of the country. "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" revealed the idea that the health of the nation depends on the moral health of the king. In "Coriolanus," another …

Gertrude & Volumnia: Their Influences On Their Sons At The Climaxes Of The Plays, Laddawan Bunchoo

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The examination of the climaxes of the two plays Hamlet, and Coriolanus, illustrates that the two mothers, Gertrude and Volumnia, have destructive influences on their sons. The closet scene in Hamlet reflects that Gertrude's second marriage and her choice of Claudius shatter Hamlet's Idealization of her in the role of the faithful wife and the virtuous mother. Hamlet's inaction and destruction are caused in part by his mother's influence.

Volumnia's influence both shapes and destroys her son. She rears him as the embodiment of her chivalric ideal of nobility. The climactic scene in this play reveals that Coriolanus' …

Rosalind And The Mystification Of Male-Female In Elizabethan Literature, Richard Firestone

Richard Firestone Manuscripts on Elizabethan and Classical Literature

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Six Plays Of Shakespeare, Richard Firestone

Richard Firestone Manuscripts on Elizabethan and Classical Literature

Annotated manuscript of an analysis of six plays by William Shakespeare: (1) As You Like It; (2) The Winter's Tale; (3) Love's Labors Lost; (4) Measure for Measure; (5) Twelfth Night; and (6) Cymbeline.

Phantastes Chapter 14: Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare

German Romantic and Other Influences

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Winter’s Tale, published in 1623 in the First Folio.

Phantastes Chapter 20: The Faithful Shepherdess, John Fletcher

German Romantic and Other Influences

John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and followed him as main playwright for the King’s Men. The Faithful Shepherdess (produced in 1608, probably published in 1609) is also important for Fletcher’s definition of tragicomedy, which highlights the importance of near-death to the genre.

Phantastes Chapter 22: The Revenger's Tragedy, Cyril Tourneur

German Romantic and Other Influences

Cyril Tourneur (1575-1626) was an English dramatist, a contemporary of Shakespeare; Tourneur was also a soldier and politician. The Revenger’s Tragedy (1607), as its name implies, is a revenge tragedy, and comments on the battle to avenge the destruction by the giants that lead to the brothers’ deaths. Literary critics now believe that the play was written by Thomas Middleton (1580-1627).