Original Writing Essay

I am the princess awaiting rescue in the quiet corner of the ballroom. I stand silently gathering dust in the shadows, grinning with gapped black and white teeth. The pungent odour of rising damp impregnates the air. Lonely and deserted by the warm affectionate hands I once knew and loved, shudders trace the length of my now slackened strings. I can still feel the faint, muffled trembling in my worn hammers of a serene piano concerto. I remain here reminiscing of times gone by; dreaming about rhapsodies of the great composers, sonatas with their heartbreaking refrains casting their sweet melodies out into the hearts of my listeners. I held the power to move people and touch their very souls. My waltzes floated dreamily like a single cloud in a clear blue sky drifting peacefully into the distance. I look back on my past at all the things I have experienced: my debut in the grand concert hall, the first time I felt the touch of his hands pounding passionately on my keys, I remember shaking with nerves as the critics watched and listened attentively, waiting for mistakes. We, my old friend and I, had travelled the length and breadth of the country together enchanting audiences with our music. Each week we would embark on another journey to take us to a new hall, each as grand as the last. The venues with their elegant, majestic decor were visited only by the noble and wealthy people in society. It felt fantastic to be associated with the upper class. They were women who could afford to wear the most opulent of gowns made with the finest silks, taffetas velvets and brocades; all of which were accompanied with stoles derived from the best pelts of fur that money could buy- the most popular of which being mink, ermine and fox. Their partners, of course, were dressed just as magnificently in their white tie evening suits. They looked somewhat like penguins in their expensive attire. I often wondered if it was the actual music they had come to listen to or just an excuse to show off their prosperity; the value of their wives jewellery alone could well have paid a king’s ransom! How I miss the anticipation and the adulation that each concert brought; the scores of fans applauding and cheering for an encore for which we jumped at the chance! We would play for ages after the scheduled end of the show; this was my favourite part of the performance because we always made an unforgettable exit! We amazed crowds like this every night; they all loved us and our music. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The popularity of such grand events began to dwindle; the new recordings brought the great concertos into ones front room. People’s leisure time was spent in the comfort of their own homes and they much preferred to spend their evenings at the newly developed moving pictures. Then came the Great War. All the men were sent away to foreign lands to fight for their country. War, as they say, can be a great leveller; a rich man can be killed with a bullet just as easily as a poor man. People’s priorities altered, it wasn’t thought to be patriotic to flaunt ones wealth as had been done before. Nobody came to watch our shows: there was no one to escort the ladies, and they no longer felt the need to show their prosperity. Our shows were all cancelled. We were no longer needed; no longer wanted. It broke his heart knowing that we could no longer perform together. Not long afterwards, he went bankrupt. He lost everything: his house, his livelihood, his possessions; and me. I was devastated, how could I cope without him to love and comfort me? Who could be there for me? Most importantly, what would happen to him? I was so confused, my life had been turned upside down and I didn’t know if I’d manage. I knew he loved and cherished me, and the last thing he wanted to do was sell me, but he found himself in financial dire straits. He did what he had to do and I can’t condemn him for that. Nobody said that life should be fair. As the day of the auction loomed the atmosphere in the house was fraught. Complete strangers rummaged ruthlessly through all that was dear to him. The workmen pulled apart his home and left nothing behind. They had no respect for his privacy or his dignity. All his worldly goods were auctioned to satisfy his creditors. The items were sold for a pittance. I was sold there and violently shoved inside a small white transit van. It was not quite the transport I had become accustomed to, but I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. I made my final journey to where I am today; isolated here in the corner, being tortured by incompetent, untrained and inept hands, making a tuneless drone where once beautiful melodies had been played. I hope one day my prince will come rescue me from the depths of my despair; stuck here in this cold, damp dining room fully exposed to the gales blowing through the open window. I long for the caress of someone who truly understands my worth; and I can only hope that someone can appreciate me half as much as my friend did. I resign myself to the fact that I am no longer the youthful princess awaiting my prince, but a dowager condemned to a life of solitude. I now realise that life doesn’t always go the way you plan. I will always miss him but losing him has made me appreciate all the happy times we spent together and all the fond memories we share. 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Laurence Olivier Essay

The original classification of Shakespeare’s plays – ‘Comedies’, ‘Tragedies’, ‘Histories’ and ‘Roman plays‘ – don’t adequately describe all of Shakespeare’s plays, and scholars have come up with more names to do so. The most widely used categories are ‘Romance Plays’, ‘Problem Plays’, and Shakespeare’s ‘Tragicomedy Plays’. The plays in those categories have much in common, but there are enough differences to prevent some of them to fall into all three. The Winter’s Tale, for example is a play that does have the features of all three, however. A tragicomedy is a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy, although it has the features of both. Tragedies are usually focused almost exclusively on the central character, the tragic hero (although Shakespeare’s tragedies can sometimes be a double tragedy, with two tragic heroes, like Romeo and Juliet). The audience has insights into his mind and goes deeply in, as he does in Macbeth or Hamlet. Comic plays, on the other hand, remove that focus and the concerns are diversified so that the action is made up of the stories of several characters, particularly pairs of lovers. The shadows in human emotions are usually minor in the comedies: they are such things as misunderstandings, playful deceptions and so on. Plays that fall between the two stools of tragedy and comedy are sometimes referred to as ‘Problem Plays. ’ so the whole area of classification is a very difficult one. It shouldn’t be necessary to classify them but scholars need a language in which to talk about the plays. The Merchant of Venice can be seen as a tragicomedy. It has a comic structure but one of the central characters, Shylock, looks very much like a tragic character. The play has a comedy ending with the lovers pairing off but we are left with taste in the mouth of the ordeal of Shylock, destroyed by a combination of his own faults and the persecution of the lovers who enjoy that happy ending. The feeling at the end of the play is neither joy nor misery. The play has a decidedly comic structure but there is also a powerful tragic story. It can therefore be called a tragicomedy. Shakespeare’ tragicomedies usually have improbable and complex plots; characters of high social class; contrasts between villainy and virtue; love of different kinds at their centre; a hero who is saved at the last minute after a touch-and- go experience; surprises and treachery. The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline are two plays that fit that tragicomical pattern. Shakespeare’s plays generally accepted as tragicomedy plays are: * Cymbeline * The Winter’s Tale Shakespeare’s Tragedy plays One of the main features of Renaissance art is that it was inspired by classical art and philosophy. This is evident in the work of such artists as Michelangelo who, caught up in the spirit of Humanism that was sweeping across Europe, focused on the human form. Focusing on the human form during Mediaeval times would have been impossible as it would have been a distraction from the necessary focus on God. The essence of Humanistic art was that human beings were created in God’s image so it was possible for Michelangelo even to portray God – as a beautiful and physically powerful man with realistic human features, presented as perfection – in fact, the human form at its most beautiful. Artists became anatomists, going as far as buying human bodies for dissection. The result was a new realism in the representation of human beings in art. Shakespeare is, in a way, the Michelangelo of literature. That he could, in one play, Othello, written four hundred years ago, represent what we can recognise as a modern psychopath and a modern alcoholic, in Iago and Cassio respectively, is incredible. Iago is a fully realised physochological character just as the David is a fully realized man physically. Greek drama was an important model for Renaissance drama after the flat, unrealistic morality plays of the mediaval centuries. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, defined tragedy and asserted that it was the noblest and most serious, dignified and important form of drama. Many of the plays of the Renaissance resembled those Greek tragedies. In several of Shakespeare’s plays there is a central protagonist who undergoes a harrowing experience as he is brought down from his lofty height, ending up dead. There is also a special feeling created in an observer of those Shakespearedramas, similar to the feeling described by Aristotle as the effect of tragedy on an observer. Critics thus thought of those Shakespeare plays as tragedies and that notion has remained with us to  this day, although many of those interested inShakespeare are now thinking differently about the plays. There are still teachers, though, who teach the ‘tragedies’ as though they were Aristotelian tragedies and miss a great deal of what those plays are doing. In his Poetics Aristotle outlines tragedy as follows: The protagonist is someone of high estate; a prince or a king. He is like us – perhaps a bit different in his level of nobility so that we can both identify with him and admire him as a man as well as respect him for his high estate. The protagonist has a ‘tragic flaw’ in his character which makes him contribute to his own destruction. This can take the form of an obsession. The flaw is often part of his greatness but it also causes his downfall. The flaw causes the protagonist to make mistakes and misjudgments. That in turn begins to alienate him from his supporters so that he becomes isolated. He begins to fall from his high level. He struggles to regain his position but fails and he comes crashing down. He eventually recognises his mistakes, but too late. An important aspect is the suffering he undergoes, which the audience observes and identifies with. We experience ‘pity’ and ‘terror’ as we watch what seems to us an avoidable suffering. At thend the air is cleared by the restoration of the order that existed before the events of the story and we experience what Aristotle calls ‘catharsis’ – a feeling of relief and closure. Using the term ‘tragedy’ about Shakespeare’s plays invites attempts to fit them to the Aristotelian pattern but none of them fits. Othello seems to conform to the pattern but when one thinks about it, Othello, superficially resembling a tragic hero, doesn’t even seem to be the main character in the play. It can be seen as a modern psychological drama about a psychopath who manipulates everyone around him just for fun – just because he has nothing better to do – and destroying other human beings gives him pleasure or is necessary because they get in his way. Othello may seem to have a fatal flaw – too trusting, gullible – but so do all the other characters, because Iago has deceived them all with his psychopathic charm and a deliberate effort of making himself appear trustworthy. Every misjudgment Othello makes is the hard work of Iago. Easily manipulated? Jealous? Does he have all those ‘tragic flaws’ as well? The feeling at the end is not quite Aristotle either. Perhaps it is more of a disgust for Iago than pity for Othello, who comes across as more stupid than tragic. And to make things more complicated, our feeling of pity is directed more to Desdamona. And yet some teachers miss the meaning of this play by their insistence on teaching it as an Aristotelian tragedy. Antony and Cleopatra is sometimes called a ‘double tragedy’. While Othello appears to fit the Aristotelian pattern because of the huge charisma of Othello at the beginning of the play Antony and Cleopatra cannot fit it in any shape or form. In tragedy the focus is on the mind and inner struggle of the protagonist. The emotional information comes to the audience from that source. In comedy the information comes from a variety of sources and the comic effect is produced by a display of many different points of view, coming at the audience from different angles. That is exactly what happens in Antony and Cleopatra , so we have something very different from a Greek tragedy. What we have is a miracle – a tragic feeling coming out of a comic structure. So what is Shakespearean tragedy? Perhaps there is no such thing. And yet we can identify a tragic feeling and even a cathartic effect in some of the plays. We must be very careful not to insist on fitting them to any pattern because that wouldn’t help us understand the plays. We must look elsewhere for our understanding of them. Moreover, all of Shakespeare’s plays have elements of both tragedy and comedy, sometimes very finely balanced, creating effects that Aristotle could never have dreamt of. List of Shakespeare’s Tragedy Plays * Antony and Cleopatra * King Lear * Macbeth * Othello * Romeo & Juliet * Titus Andronicus. Shakespeare’s Comedy Plays Early Greek comedy was in sharp contrast to the dignity and seriousness of tragedy. Aristophanes, the towering giant of comedy, used every kind of humour from the slapstick through sexual jokes to satire and literary parody. Unlike tragedy, the plots didn’t originate in traditional myth and legend, but were the product of the writer’s creative imagination. The main theme was political and social satire. Over the centuries comedy moved away from those themes to focus on family matters, notably a concentration on relationships and the complications of love. Such a universal theme was bound to survive and, indeed, it has travelled well, from Greece through Roman civilization and, with the Renaissance preoccupation with things classical, into Renaissance Europe, to England and the Elizabethans, and into the modern world of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, where we see Greek comedy alive and well in films and television. Shakespeare’s comedies (or rather the plays of Shakespeare that are usually categorised as comedies), just as in the case with he tragedies, do not fit into any slot. They are generally identifiable as the comedies of Shakespeare in that they are full of fun, irony and dazzling wordplay. They also abound in disguises and mistaken identities with very convoluted plots that are difficult to follow (try relating the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to someone! ), with very contrived endings. Any attempt at describing these plays as a group can’t go beyond that superficial outline. The highly contrived endings are the clue to what these plays, all very different, are about. Take The Merchant of Venice for example – it has the love and relationship element. As usual there are two couples. One of the women is disguised as a man through most of the text – typical of Shakespearian comedy – but the other is in a very unpleasant situation – a young Jewess seduced away from her father by a shallow, rather dull young Christian. The play ends with the lovers all together, as usual, celebrating their love and the way things have turned out well for their group. That resolution has come about by completely destroying a man’s life. The Jew, Shylock is a man who has made a mistake and been forced to pay dearly for it by losing everything he values, including his religious freedom. It is almost like two plays – a comic structure with a personal tragedy imbedded in it. The ‘comedy’ is a frame to heighten the effect of the tragic elements. The Christians are selfish and shallow and cruel beyond imagination and with no conscience whatsoever. This is the use of the comic form to create something very deep and dark. Twelfth Night is similar – the humiliation of a man the in-group doesn’t like. As in The Merchant of Venice, his suffering is simply shrugged off in the highly contrived comic ending. Not one of these plays, no matter how full of life and love and laughter and joy, it may be, is without a darkness at its heart. Much Ado About Nothing , like Antony and Cleopatra (a ‘tragedy’ with a comic structure) is a miracle of creative writing. Shakespeare seamlessly joins an ancient mythological love story and a modern invented one, weaving them together into a very funny drama in which light and dark chase each other around like clouds and sunshine on a windy day, and the play threatens to fall into an abyss at any moment and emerges from that danger in a highly contrived ending once again. Like the ‘tragedies’ these plays defy categorisation. They all draw our attention to a range of human experience with all its sadness, joy, poignancy, tragedy, comedy, darkness, lightness, and its depths. Shakespeare’s Comedy Plays * All’s Well That Ends Well * The Comedy of Errors * As you Like It * Cymbeline * Love’s Labours Lost * Measure for Measure * The Merry Wives of Windsor * The Merchant of Venice * Twelfth Night * Two Gentlemen of Verona Shakespeare’s History Plays Just as Shakespeare’s ‘comedies’ have some dark themes and tragic situations while the ‘tragedies’ have some high comic moments, the Shakespeare’s ‘history’ plays contain comedy, tragedy and everything in between. All Shakespeare’s plays are dramas written for the entertainment of the public and Shakeseare’s intention in writing them was just that – to entertain. It wasn’t Shakespeare, but Shakespearian scholars, who categorised his plays into those areas of tragedy, comedy and history – as well as ‘problem‘ and ‘Roman‘. Unfortunately, our appreciation of the plays is often affected by our tendency to look at them in that limited way. Most of the plays have an historical element – the Roman plays, for example, are historical but scholars don’t refer to those Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus etc.) ashistory plays. The plays that we normally mean when we refer to the ‘history’ plays are the ten plays that cover English history from the twelfth to the sixteenthcenturies, and the 1399-1485 period in particular. Each play is named after, and focuses on, the reigning monarch of the period. In chronological order of setting, these are King John, Richard II, Henry IV Parts Iand II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts I, II and III, Richard III and Henry VIII, although Shakespeare didn’t write them in that order. The plays dramatise five generations of’ Medieval power struggles. For the most part they depict the Hundred Years War with France, from Henry V to Joan of Arc, and the Wars of the Roses, between York and Lancaster. We should never forget that they are works of imagination, based very loosely on historical figures. Shakespeare was a keen reader of history and was always looking for the dramatic impact of historical characters and events as he read. Today we tend to think of those historical figures in the way Shakespeare presented them. For example, we think of Richard III as an evil man, a kind of psychopath with a deformed body and a grudge against humanity. Historians can do whatever they like to set the record straight but Shakespeare’s Richard seems stuck in our culture as the real Richard III. Henry V, nee Prince Hal, is, in our minds, the perfect model of kingship after an education gained by indulgence in a misspent youth, and a perfect human being, but that is only because that’s the way Shakespeare chose to present him in the furtherance of the themes he wanted to develop and the dramatic story he wanted to tell. In fact, the popular perception of mediaval history as seen through the rulers of the period is pure Shakespeare. We have given ourselves entirely to Shakespeare’s vision. What would Bolingbroke (Henry IV) mean to us today? We would know nothing of him but because of Shakespeare’s plays he is an important, memorable and significant historical figure. The history plays are enormously appealing. Not only do they give insight into the political processes of Mediaval and Renaissance politics but they also offer a glimpse of life from the top to the very bottom of society – the royal court, the nobility, tavern life, brothels, beggars, everything. The greatest English actual and fictional hero, Henry V and the most notorious fictional bounder, Falstaff, are seen in several scenes together. Not only that, but those scenes are among the most entertaining, profound and memorable in the whole of English literature. That’s some achievement. Finally, although adding this at the end of the article and leaving it in the air, several questions are begged: what we see in the plays is not mediaval society at all, but Elizabethan and Jacobean society. Because although Shakespeare was writing ‘history’, using historical figures and events, what he was really doing was writing about the politics, entertainments and social situations of his own time. A major feature of Shakespeare’s appeal to his own generation was recognition, somethingShakespeare exploited relentlessly. List of Shakespeare’s History Plays, Henry IV Part 2,Henry V,Henry VI Part 1,Henry VI Part 2,Henry VI Part 3,Henry VIII,King John,Richard II,Richard III. 2) Tragedy; Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello. King Lear Play: Overview & Resources The King Lear play is set in the BCE period, somewhere in England, usually thought of as being what is Leicestershire today. The action in the first two acts shifts among the castles of Lear, Gloucester, and those of Lear’s two daughters, Goneril and Regan. The rest of the action takes place in the frozen countryside, mainly on a blasted heath with violent weather, symbolising the state of Lear’s mind. Date written: 1603-1606 Genre classification: King Lear is regarded as a Tragedy Main characters in King Lear: King Lear is the king of pre-Christian Britain. He has three daughters – Goneril, Regan andCordelia. The Earl of Gloucester is a senior duke in Lear’s kingdom. He has two sons, Edmund, an illegitimate son and Edgar, a legitimate son. The Earl of Kent is a fiercely loyal nobleman, sticking by Lear in spite of Lear’s atrocious treatment of him. The Fool is the court jester, developed well beyond the jesters that appear in Shakespeare’s and other writers’ earlier plays. King Lear themes: This is a play about family – a thorough exploration of family relationships, particularly filial ingratitude, where the cruelty and disregard for their father by Goneril and Regan are contrasted with those of the love and loyalty of Cordelia in spite of the ruthless treatment she has experienced at her father’s hands. There is also a deep exploration oflegitimate versus illegitimate offspring. Good versus evil is presented through the evil of the two older sisters against the saintliness of the youngest. Other themes are those of old age and authority. and attitudes to those; pain, justice, and the ever present theme in Shakespeare’s plays: appearance and reality. King Lear Plot Summary The Earl of Gloucester introduces his illegitimate son, Edmund, to the Earl of Kent at court. Lear, King of Britain, enters. Now that he is old Lear has decided to abdicate, retire, and divide his kingdom between his three daughters. Each will receive a portion of the kingdom according to how much they love him. Goneril, Duchess ofAlbany, the oldest, and Regan, Duchess of Cornwall, the second, both speak eloquently and receive their portion but Cordelia, the youngest, can say nothing. Her declaration that she loves him according to a daughter’s duty to a father enrages him and she is disowned. One of Cordelia’s suitors, the Duke of Burgundy, rejects her once she is dowerless but the King of France understands her declaration and takes her as his wife, while the Earl of Kent is banished for taking Cordelia’s part against the King. The kingdom is shared between Goneril and Regan. Lear tells them that he intends to live alternately with each of them. Meanwhile, Edmund is determined to be recognised as a rightful son of Gloucester and persuades his father that his legitimate brother, Edgar, is plotting against Gloucester’s life, using a deceitful device. Edmund warns Edgar that his life is in danger. Edgar flees and disguises himself as a beggar. Goneril becomes increasingly exasperated by the behaviour of Lear’s hundred followers, who are disturbing life at Albany’s castle. Kent has returned in disguise and gains a place as a servant to Lear, supporting the King against Goneril’s ambitious servant, Oswald. Lear eventually curses Goneril and leaves to move in with Regan. Edmund acts as a messenger between the sisters and is courted by each in turn. He persuades Cornwall that Gloucester is an enemy because, through loyalty to his King, Gloucester assists Lear and his devoted companion, the Fool, when they are turned away by Regan and told to return to Goneril’s household. Despairing of his daughters and regretting his rejection of Cordelia, Lear goes out into the wilderness during a fierce storm. He goes mad. Gloucester takes them into a hut for shelter and seeks the aid of Kent to get them away to the coast, where Cordelia has landed with a French army to fight for her father against her sisters and their husbands. Edgar, pretending to be mad, has also taken refuge in the shelter and the Fool, the mad king and the beggar are companions until Edgar finds his father wandering and in pain. Gloucester has been blinded by Regan and Cornwall for his traitorous act in helping Lear. Cornwall has been killed by a servant after blinding Gloucester but Regan continues to rule with Edmund’s help. Not recognised by his father, Edgar leads him to the coast and helps him, during the journey, to come to an acceptance of his life. Gloucester meets the mad Lear on Dover beach, near Cordelia’s camp and, with Kent’s aid, Lear is rescued and re-united with Cordelia. Gloucester, although reconciled with Edgar, dies alone. The French forces are defeated by Albany’s army led by Edmund, and Lear and Cordelia are captured. Goneril has poisoned Regan in jealous rivalry for Edmund’s attention but Edgar, disguised now as a loyal knight, challenges Edmund to a duel and wounds him mortally. Seeing no way out, Goneril kills herself. The dying Edmund confesses his crimes, but it is too late to save Cordelia from the hangman. Lear’s heart breaks as he carries the body of his beloved daughter in his arms, and Albany and Edgar are left to re-organise the kingdom. Hamlet Play: Overview & Resources for Shakespeare’s Hamlet Shakespeare sets his Hamlet play in the cold, dark isolation of Elsinor a bleak, snow-covered region of Denmark. It’s the royal court of the King of Denmark. The atmosphere is established on the cold, windy battlements of the castle. Most of the action takes place in theinterior rooms and corridors of the castle and one scene is set in a nearby cemetery. Date written: 1601 Genre classification: Hamlet is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Main characters in Hamlet: Hamlet, the son of the recently murdered King is the heir to the throne. Hehas had the crown stolen from him by his father’s villainous brother, Claudius whom thelate king’s widow, Gertrude – Hamlet’s mother – has married. Hamlet’s father’s ghost tellshim on the battlements that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet is continuously spied on by Polonius, the garrulous Lord Chamberlain of Denmark. His eavesdropping results in his being accidentally killed by Hamlet. Ophelia is Polonius’ daughter. Led on to a possible relationship by Hamlet, then rejected, she commits suicide by drowning. Her brother, Laertesseeks revenge by plotting with Claudius to kill Hamlet. Other characters are Hamlet’s friend, Horatio, in whom he confides, Rosencranz and Guidenstern, Hamlet’s fellow university students, who spy on Hamlet for Claudius, a troupe of strolling actors and a pair of gravediggers. See a full list of characters in Hamlet. Hamlet Themes: The play falls into the genre of the Revenge Tragedy, which was very popular in the Jacobean era with its taste for violence and intrigue. Revenge is the most obvious, and one of the main, themes of the play. Although explorations of the idea of appearance and reality are present in all Shakespeare’s plays, it’s more fully developed in Hamlet, with all it’s plotting, intrigues, deceit and hypocrisy. Other themes are the question of what a human being is; death and mortality and suicide. In common with several other Shakespeare plays, there is a clear Christian parallel. Hamlet Plot Summary Prince Hamlet’s student friend, Horatio, goes to the battlements of Denmark’s Elsinore castle late at night to meet the guards. They tell him about a ghost they have seen that resembles the late king, Hamlet. It reappears and they decide to tell the prince. Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, having become king, has now married Hamlet’s widowed mother, Gertrude. In the court, after envoys are sent to Norway, the prince is dissuaded from returning to university. Hamlet still mourns his father’s death and hearing of the ghost from Horatio he determines to see it for himself. Laertes, son of the courtier, Polonius, departs for France, warning his sister, Ophelia, against thinking too much of Hamlet’s attentions. The ghost appears to Hamlet and tells him that he was murdered by Claudius. The prince swears vengeance and his friends are sworn to secrecy as Hamlet decides to feign madness while he tests the truth of the ghost’s allegations. He rejects Ophelia, as Claudius and Polonius spy on him seeking to find a reason for his sudden strange behaviour. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, former student friends of Hamlet, are summoned by Claudius and their arrival coincides with that of a group of travelling actors. The prince knows these players well and they rehearse together before arranging to present Hamlet’s choice of play before the king and queen, which will include scenes close to the circumstances of the old king’s death. At the performance Hamlet watches closely as Claudius is provoked into interrupting the play and storming out, resolving to send the prince away to England. Hamlet is summoned by his distressed mother and, on  the way he spares Claudius whom he sees kneeling, attempting to pray. To kill him while he is praying would send his soul to heaven rather than to the hell he deserves. Polonius hides in Gertrude’s room to listen to the conversation, but Hamlet detects movement as he upbraids his mother. He stabs the concealing tapestry and so kills the old man. The ghost reappears, warning his son not to delay revenge, nor to upset his mother. As the army of Norway’s King Fortinbras crosses Denmark to attack Poland, Hamlet is sent to England, ostensibly as an ambassador, but he discovers Claudius’s plan to have him killed. Outwitting this plot Hamlet returns alone, sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths in his stead. During Hamlet’s absence Ophelia goes mad as a result of her father’s death and she is drowned. Hamlet returns and meets Horatio in the graveyard. With the arrival of Ophelia’s funeral Hamlet confronts Laertes who, after attempting a revolt against Claudius, has taken his father’s place at the court. A duel is arranged between Hamlet and Laertes at which Claudius has plotted for Hamlet to die either on a poisoned rapier, or from poisoned wine. The plans go wrong and both Laertes and Hamlet are wounded, while Gertrude unwittingly drinks from the poisoned cup. Hamlet, in his death throes, kills Claudius, and Horatio is left to explain the truth to the new king, Fortinbras, who returns, victorious, from the Polish wars. Macbeth Play: Overview & Resources The main source for Shakespeare’s Macbeth play was Holinshed’s Chronicles. Holinshed in turn took the account from a Scottish history, Scotorum Historiae, written in 1527 by Hector Boece. Shakespeare, flattering James 1, referred to the king’s own books, Discovery of Witchcraft and Daemonologie, written in 1599. Some of the main ideas of Macbeth are Nature, Manhood and Light versus Dark. In Macbeth, the murder of a king by one of his subjects is seen as unnatural and the images ofthe play reflect this theme, with disruptions of nature, like storms – and events such as where the horses turn on their grooms and bite them. In Macbeth Shakespeareexplores what it is to be a man. Lady Macbeth accuses Macbeth of being unmanly because of his hesitation in killing Duncan, but Macbeth says that it’s unmanly for a man to kill his king. Shakespeare plays with that paradox. Duncan is a good king and a good man, and he is surrounded by images of light. Macbethand Lady Macbeth turn their surroundings into a picture of hell, blanketed in darkness. Those images of light and dark interact throughout the play. Traditionally, there is a curse on Macbeth. Actors and productioncrews perpetuate the superstition by avoiding using the play’s title, Macbeth, which is considered bad luck. It has to be referred to as â€Å"The Scottish Play†. Date written: 1605 Read the full Macbeth text Genre classification: Macbeth is regarded as a tragedy. Macbeth Characters: The hero, Macbeth, the Thane of Glamys and later Thane of Cawdor, murders the king, Duncan, and is elected as king in his place. Lady Macbeth, his wife, is his co-conspirator in the murder. Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalblain, themselves in danger, flee. Banquo, Macbeth’s friend, is also murdered by Macbeth. Macduff, the Thane of Fife, suspects Macbeth and his whole family is massacred. Macduff is the man who finally kills Macbeth. There are three witches, who plant the idea of murdering Duncan in Macbeth’s mind, and they lead him on to his destruction. Their queen is Hecate. Other characters are the Scottlish noblemen, Lennox and Ross, and the English general, Siward and his son, Young Siward. See a full list of Macbeth characters. Themes in Macbeth: The main themes in Macbeth are ambition and guilt. Macbeth’s ‘overweening ambition leads him to kill Duncan and from then on until the end of the play he suffers unendurable guilt. Another theme is that of appearance and reality. Of all Shakespeare’s characters, Macbeth has the most difficulty in distinguishing between what is real and what is not. Macbeth Plot Summary King Duncan’s generals, Macbeth and Banquo, encounter three strange women on a bleak Scottish moorland on their way home from quelling a rebellion. The women prophesy that Macbeth will be given the title of Thane of Cawdor and then become King of Scotland, while Banquo’s heirs shall be kings. The generals want to hear more but the weird sisters disappear. Duncan creates Macbeth Thane of Cawdor in thanks for his success in the recent battles and then proposes to make a brief visit to Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth receives news from her husband of the prophecy and his new title and she vows to help him become king by any means she can. Macbeth’s return is followed almost at once by Duncan’s arrival. The Macbeths plot together and later that night, while all are sleeping and after his wife has given the guards drugged wine, Macbeth kills the King and his guards. Lady Macbeth leaves the bloody daggers beside the dead king. Macduff arrives and when the murder is discovered Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbain flee, fearing for their lives, but they are nevertheless blamed for the murder. Macbeth is elected King of Scotland, but is plagued by feelings of guilt and insecurity. He arranges for Banquo and his son, Fleance to be killed, but the boy escapes the murderers. At a celebratory banquet Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo and disconcerts the courtiers with his strange manner. Lady Macbeth tries to calm him but is rejected. Macbeth seeks out the witches and learns from them that he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to his castle, Dunsinane. They tell him that he need fear no-one born of woman, but also that the Scottish succession will come from Banquo’s son. Macbeth embarks on a reign of terror and many, including Macduff’s family are murdered, while Macduff himself has gone to join Malcolm at the court of the English king, Edward. Malcolm and Macduff decide to lead an army against Macbeth. Macbeth feels safe in his remote castle at Dunsinane until he is told that Birnam Wood is moving towards him. The situation is that Malcolm’s army is carrying branches from the forest as camouflage for their assault on the castle. Meanwhile Lady Macbeth, paralysed with guilt, walks in her sleep and gives away her secrets to a listening doctor. She kills herself as the final battle commences. Macduff challenges Macbeth who, on learning his adversary is the child of a Ceasarian birth, realises he is doomed. Macduff triumphs and brings the head of the traitor to Malcolm who declares peace and is crowned king. Othello Play: Overview & Resources The Othello play begins in Venice where there is a wealthy, well ordered, well behaved community, controlled by strong laws and established conventions.

Quotes From the Famous Novel Catch-22

Quotes From the Famous Novel 'Catch-22' Catch-22  by Joseph Heller is a famous anti-war novel. Even if youve never read the book, youve likely heard about its premise. The title of the book refers to a situation where no matter what choice you make the outcome will be bad. The concept has been widely referred to in popular culture.   Here are a few quotes from the novel to refresh your memory, to give you a taste for this classic, or just for you to enjoy the language and lines of Joseph Hellers famous work. Catch-22 Quotes Chapter 2 An unreasonable belief that everybody around him was crazy, a homicidal impulse to machine-gun strangers, retrospective falsification, an unfounded suspicion that people hated him and were conspiring to kill him. Chapter 3 He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive. Chapter 4 Youre inches away from death every time you go on a mission. How much older can you be at your age. Chapter 5 Fortunately, just when things were blackest, the war broke out. There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for ones own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Or would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didnt, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didnt have to, but if he didnt want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. Thats some catch, that catch-22,  he observed. Its the best there is,  Doc Daneeka agreed. Chapter 6 Catch-22...says youve always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to. But Twenty-seventh Air Force says I can go home with forty missions. But they dont say you have to go home. And regulations do say you have to obey every order. Thats the catch. Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, youd still have to fly them, or youd be guilty of disobeying an order of his. And then the Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters would really jump on you.   Chapter 8   History did not demand Yossarians premature demise, justice could be satisfied without it, progress did not hinge upon it, victory did not depend on it. That men would die was a matter of necessity; which men would die, though, was a matter of circumstance, and Yossarian was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance. But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents. Clevinger was a troublemaker and a wise guy. Lieutenant Scheisskopf knew that Clevinger might cause even more trouble if he wasnt watched. Yesterday it was the cadet officers; tomorrow it might be the world. Clevinger had a mind, and Lieutenant Scheisskopf had noticed that people with minds tended to get pretty smart at times. Such men were dangerous, and even the new cadet officers whom Clevinger had helped into office were eager to give damning testimony against him. The case against Clevinger was open and shut. The only thing missing was something to charge him with. Ill tell you what justice is. Justice is a knee in the gut from the floor on the chin at night sneaky with a knife brought up down on the magazine of a battleship sandbagged underhanded in the dark without a word of warning.   Chapter 9 Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.    With a little ingenuity and vision, he had made it all but impossible for anyone in the squadron to talk to him, which was just fine with everyone, he noticed, since no one wanted to talk to him anyway.   Chapter 10 Major Major never sees anyone in his office while hes in his office. Chapter 12 Open your eyes, Clevinger. It doesnt make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone whos dead. The enemy, retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, is anybody whos going to get you killed, no matter which side hes on, and that includes Colonel Cathcart. And dont you forget that, because the longer you remember it, the longer you might live.   Yossarian sidled up drunkenly to Colonel Korn at the officers club one night to kid with him about the new Lepage gun that the Germans had moved in. What Lepage gun? Colonel Korn inquired with curiosity. The new three hundred and forty four millimeter Lepage glue gun, Yossarian answered. It glues a whole formation of planes together in mid-air. Yossarians heart sank. Something was terribly wrong if everything was all right and they had no excuse for turning back. Chapter 13 You know, that might be the answer - to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of. Thats a trick that never seems to fail.   Chapter 17 There was a much lower death rate inside the hospital than outside the hospital and a much healthier death rate. Few people died unnecessarily. People knew a lot more about dying inside the hospital and made a much neater, more orderly job of it. They couldnt dominate Death inside the hospital, but they certainly made her behave. They had taught her manners. They couldnt keep death out, but while she was in she had to act like a lady. People gave up the ghost with delicacy and taste inside the hospital. There was none of that crude, ugly ostentation about dying that was so common outside the hospital. They did not blow up in mid-air like Kraft or the dead man in Yossarians tent or freeze to death in the blazing summertime the way Snowden had frozen to death after spilling his secret to Yossarian in the back of the plane. Chapter 18 Dont tell me God works in mysterious ways, Yossarian continued, hurtling on over her objection. Theres nothing so mysterious about it. Hes not working at all. Hes playing. Or else Hes forgotten all about us. Thats the kind of God you people talk about - a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?   Pain? Lieutenant Scheisskopfs wife pounced upon the word victoriously. Pain is a useful symptom. Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.   Chapter 20 He had failed miserably, had choked up once again in the face of opposition from a stronger personality. It was a familiar, ignominious experience, and his opinion of himself was low. Chapter 36 And looking very superior, he tossed down on the table a photostatic copy of a piece of V mail in which everything but the salutation Dear Mary had been blocked out and on which the censoring officer had written, I long for you tragically. R. O. Shipman, Chaplain, U.S. Army. Chapter 39 Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarians fault. The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them. Chapter 42 Run away to Sweden, Yossarian. And Ill stay here and persevere. Yes. Ill persevere. Ill nag and badger Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn every time I see them. Im not afraid.

75 Synonyms for Cheat, Fraud, or Trickery

75 Synonyms for Cheat, Fraud, or Trickery 75 Synonyms for â€Å"Cheat,† â€Å"Fraud,† or â€Å"Trickery† 75 Synonyms for â€Å"Cheat,† â€Å"Fraud,† or â€Å"Trickery† By Mark Nichol Human beings have developed cheating, fraud, and trickery into such a high art (or, more accurately, a low one) that, in English at least, we’ve created an extensive and colorful vocabulary to describe such activity. Here is an exhaustive but incomplete list of synonyms in noun and/or verb form for cheat, fraud, and trickery. 1. Bamboozle: to deceive or undermine 2. Beat: to cheat 3. Beguile: to deceive or trick (or to lure) 4. Bilk: one who defrauds; to defraud (or evade or frustrate) 5. Bleed: to be the victim of extortion 6. Blind: see subterfuge 7. Bluff: an act of deception or misdirection; or to undertake such an act 8. Buffalo: to deceive 9. Bunco: a game or scheme designed to cheat someone 10. Burn: to deceive 11. Chicanery: deception 12. Chisel: to engage in unfair practices 13. Chouse: to cheat or trick 14. Con: one who cheats or manipulates, or an act or operation to that end; to cheat or manipulate (from confidence) 15. Cozenage: fraud (the verb form is cozen) 16. Craft: cunning (usually employed in the adjectival form crafty) 17. Crib: a method or device for cheating on a test; to cheat, or to have the habit of cheating, in this manner 18. Diddle: see swindle (verb form only) 19–20. Do (or do in): to cheat 21. Doctor: to alter or modify deceptively 22. Dodge: an act of deceit or a trick; to deceive or trick 23. Dupe: one who fools another, or the act of fooling (as dupery, the act of fooling or the condition of being fooled); to deceive or trick 24. Duplicity: using words or actions to deceive 25. End run: an evasive maneuver or trick 26. Euchre: to cheat or trick (also the name of a card game) 27. Feint: a fake attack or blow intended to distract the target from a real assault; to make such a move 28. Fiddle: see swindle (British English; also, also, to deceive by altering or manipulating) 29. Fix: an act or instance of influencing illegally or improperly; to influence illegally or improperly 30. Fleece: to perpetrate extortion or fraud (or to charge excessively) 31. Flimflam: fraud or deceit; or to subject someone to fraud or deceit 32. Front: an entity ostensibly responsible for something but masking the identity of the entity actually engaging in an endeavor; to act as the masking agent 33. Fudge: to fake or to go beyond the bounds of proper conduct 34. Gammon: deceitful talk; to deceive or fake 35. Gaff: a fraud, trick, or gimmick; to deceive or trick or set up a fraud or trick 36. Gull: one who is easy deceived (the root of gullible); to deceive 37. Gyp: one who cheats or deceives, or an act of cheating or deception; to cheat 38 Have on: to deceive or trick (British English) 39. Hoax: an act of deception, or something intended to deceive; to trick into accepting or believing something false 40. Hose: to cheat or trick 41. Humbug: something intended to deceive, or a deceptive person or attitude (also, nonsense); to deceive 42. Hustle: the act of deception to obtain or sell something; to use deception to obtain or sell something, or to lure others to gamble 43. Jig: a trick 44. Jugglery: deception or trickery; in verb form (juggle), to deceive or trick 45. Legerdemain: to deceive by distraction or misleading (literally, â€Å"sleight of hand†) 46. Mulct: to defraud or obtain by fraud (also, a fine, or to fine) 47. Nobble: to cheat (especially, in British English, by drugging a racehorse) 48. Pluck: see fleece 49. Put on: an act of deception or trickery (the noun form is hyphenated); to deceive or trick 50. Ream: to cheat 51. Rip off: an act of cheating or fraud (the noun form is hyphenated); to cheat or defraud (or to steal or copy) 52. Rook: to defraud 53. Scam: a deceptive or fraudulent act or operation; to deceive or defraud by such action 54. Screw: to extort or trick (also, to pressure or threaten) 55. Shake down: an act of obtaining money deceptively (the noun form is a closed compound); to obtain money deceptively 56. Sham: a trick (also, hypocrisy, or a counterfeit or imitation) 57. Shell game: see thimblerig 58. Short: see shortchange 59. Shortchange: to cheat by giving less than is due, or to cheat in general 60. Skin: see fleece 61. Skulduggery: devious behavior 62. Skunk: to cheat or fail to pay 63. Snooker: to cheat 64. Snow: to deceive (or charm or persuade) 65. Sophistry: argument or reasoning intended to deceive 66. Squeeze: to extort, or obtain by extorting 67. Stick: to cheat or to overcharge or trick into paying more 68. Stiff: to cheat by refusing or failing to pay 69. Sting: an act of cheating or charging excessively; to cheat or charge excessively 70. Subterfuge: trickery to conceal or evade 71. Sucker: one who is easily cheated or deceived; to cheat or deceive 72. Swindle: an act of deception or fraud to obtain something; to obtain something by deceit or fraud 73. Smoke screen: something intended to conceal or deceive 74. Thimblerig: a trick in which a small object is moved among three overturned cups and someone attempts to identify the cup it ends up under, or the person who performs the trick; to cheat this way or in general 75. Wile: a deceitful trick (also, one that is merely clever or playful), or skill in luring or tricking others (in the sense of luring, often plural) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Cost-Effective vs. Cost-Efficient10 Techniques for More Precise Writing48 Writing Prompts for Middle School Kids

Perception Key Rothko and Arp and Conception Key City Planning Essay

Perception Key Rothko and Arp and Conception Key City Planning - Essay Example The colors appear primary, with the exception of the lack melded borders around the rectangular shape in the upper portion of the painting. In contrast, the curvaceous work entitled, Growth, by Arp, seems to radiate femininity. A profile perspective of the piece seems to indicate, though not definitively outline, a female subject matter. Despite its marble material, the work curves and invites the viewer in the way it is rendered suggesting a bold sensuality. Both works are compelling and move he viewer to think more deeply as to the artist’s intentions and mood at the time of rendering and conceiving the finished piece. Perception Key Rothko and Arp (Chapter 5 page 104) 1. And 2. Would you like to touch either of these works? Would you expect either the Rothko or the Arp to feel hot or cold to your touch? Rothko’s, Earth Greens and Arp’s, Growth, are both works that one would want to touch. Arps’s rendering is inviting and the white marble would expect it to be cool to the touch. If the image were to come to life it would seem fluid, and sensually warm. However, as it is presented, the marble would appear to be cool to the touch while Rothko’s Earth Greens evokes a different sensational feeling. The canvas has a naturally warm feeling. The red is bold and the black around the edges of it almost see to indicate a red so hot it was scorched. 3. Which work seems to require the more careful placement of lighting? Why? Both works would be affected by the lighting around them. The Rothko is so bold that bright lights would seem to cause it to appear even more powerful. Dim lights would wash the colors out a bit. With Arp’s work lighting is exceptionally important to the three dimensional quality of it. In photos of the statue the lighting changes the look of the work immensely. The curves shadow differently depending on the light Bright lights would enhance the white of the marble. The work almost morphs in different lightin g as though it is moving. 4. Which of the two works appears to be the more unchangeable in your perception? 5. Why do the authors claim that Earth Greens is more abstract than Growth: Can you think of other reasons for example, the shapes in the two works? The Rothko piece is far more stagnant. The rectangle and square seem solid as if holding their ground and unmovable. Earth Greens is far more abstract than Growth as it has less dimension and eaves he viewer with shape and color. Growth has form in three dimensions that indicates either a figure of a woman or at the very least representation of the feminine in the curves and sensations that emanate from viewing it City Planning 1. Do you think the city ought to be saved? Why not just spread out, without, the centralized functions of a city: what advantages does the city alone have? What still gives glamour to such cities as Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris, Vienna, and London? New York City is a magnificent city that has seen serious change over the last twenty-five years. During the 1980’s New York City was dirty dangerous and graffiti covered. To his credit Mayor Giuliani did an amazing job of cleaning the city during his two terms. The graffiti is

DUNKIN DONUTS CASE STUDY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DUNKIN DONUTS CASE STUDY - Essay Example In their attempt to sell only good quality products, Dunkin Donuts have created a Coffee Quality Checking Lab, in which every aspect of the coffee is checked, so that the consumers get the best value Dunkin Donut product, no matter wherever it is sold. They have also increased the value perception by giving consumers "what they want". For example, they introduce only those products which are demanded by the consumers and do not come out with random products. This is how Dunkin Donuts is increasing its value perception and having great success in matching their philosophy which is 'great quality with affordability'. Its value perception is similar to that of KFC and McDonalds. They also try to give the maximum quality to their consumers and waiting time for their burgers is only 3 minutes. This is like if Dunkin' Donuts could not sell their coffee in 18 minutes they throw it away, in the same way KFC and McDonald throw away their burgers if they are unable to sell them. The positionin g strategy of Donut Dunkin is very simple as they target a mass market without any distinction of different classes, different level of education etc. According to William Kussels, Dunkin' Donuts Senior Manager, whenever you take a ride to one of our outlet, you always see Mercedes parked with pickup trucks, this shows that we do not target any specific consumer class but we target a mass market.

Write ur own ending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Write ur own ending - Essay Example Lucy and Susan were rather scared as the Lion was going astray and was losing conscious. All of a sudden, the sky went all dark, and strange dark clouds took over the entire mansion and soon, the entire scenery was found covered in darkness. Cold Chilly wind started blowing and suddenly, the trees started turning pale. Aslan, the Lion, was now feeling weak and stale, and soon after he started mumbling, ‘Water! I need some Water’. Poor Lucy and Susan were more confused than frightened, questions rambling inside their minds. ‘Susan, you`ve turned blue, what is happening to you?’ exclaimed Lucy. A tear drop fell from the eyes of frightened Susan, which instantly turned into ice. At this moment, Lucy realized that their bodies were losing temperature and they were suddenly turning into ice. Aslan, the Lion, was already lying on the floor, turning into ice slowly and gradually, as if his body is being trapped into a container made out of ice. Lucy and Susan ran up to Aslan, trying to wake him up. Lucy slowly rubbed the paws and face of Aslan, hoping he would be relieved. Though unconscious, Aslan slowly gathered the power to speak as he looked into the eyes of both Lucy and Susan, turn by turn, ‘Return to your land, the witch`s spell has gone stronger than ever’ he said with much wretchedness. ‘Soon, you`ll both turn into ice statues and would never be able to return’. †˜What? We can`t leave you here, if we abandon Narnia, no one will ever be able to rescue the statues ever’ said Susan. ‘And what about Edmund, we haven`t found him yet’ cried Lucy. ‘Aslan is right. Both of you must return to where you belong before it`s too late’ exclaimed Edmund, appearing from nowhere. Unlike the surroundings, and the condition in which Lucy and Susan were, freezing and dying of the chilly winds, Edmund was joyous and healthy, in fact he looked better than he had ever looked.