... her acts of civil disobedience are just the strings the gods use to manipulate their puppet. Next, Creon’s pronouncement that Polyneices must not be buried pits Antigone against earthly law, and it is the will of the gods that she bury her brother because that is the only just action. Antigone, from the moment from the declaration, is destined to die because it is her fate and her duty to bury her brother. This civil disobedience is a tool of the gods to govern earth but heavenly law in the most extreme case. Antigone’s decision to bury her brother is not one of free will but of divine direction, for with Sopholces and Greek drama there is no free will. ...
... also be looked upon as superstitious. In the opening scene, one sooth-sayer, old in his years, warns Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March," an admonition of Caesar's impending death. Although sooth-sayers are looked upon by many as insane out of touch lower-classmen, a good deal of them, obviously including the sayer Caesar encountered, are indeed right on the mark. Since they lack any formal office or shop, and they predict forthcomings without fee, one can see quite easily why citizens would distrust their predictions. Superstition, in general elements such as the Feast of Lupercal, as well as on a personal level such as with the sooth-sayers, is an important fac ...
... shocked at the description of the ghost and he said to him-self "My father's spirit-in arms? All is not well. I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come!" Hamlet's per-sonality underwent severe stresses due to the situations en-countered and consequently, he had to find a way to solve the apparent problems. In Act 1, Scene 5, Hamlet while talking to his father's ghost was urged to avenge the foul murder, but to leave his mother out of it as her guilt would be punishment enough. GHOST: "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. … Leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her." The ghost of the previous kin ...
... he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgement. In referring to the idea of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth first states,"We will proceed no further in this business"(I.vii.32). Yet, after speaking with Lady Macbeth he recants and proclaims,"I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat"(I.vii.79-80). There is nothing supernatural to be found in a man being swayed by the woman he loves, as a matter of fact this action could be perceived as quite the opposite. Second, the witches have to be dispelled as a source of Macbeth's misfortune before the latter theory can be considered ...
... in life. By dying he taught his kids that not only he is not a sell out but he also taught them that he stood up for what he believed in. John Proctor is not a man known to go to church often, but he must of remember this quote from the bible: "No one has love greater than this that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends"(John 15:13). This quote means that someone should surrender his or her soul for their friends, and by dying and standing up for what he believed in he taught his kids a valuable lesson. Proctors decision to die also solved his inner conflict with himself. This conflict is his adultery with Abigail, which really exasperated ...
... the subject of murder or homicide. One of David's, a star in the show, best friends was playing with a gun which he had acquired during a summer vacation to the mid-West. The friend shot himself by accident; what followed was a time of mourning for David and a recollection of many fond memories of the times they shared together. This episode's tragedy brought the characters in the show closer together. Many innocent children, and sometimes adults, are killed accidentally playing with guns, or by drive-by random shootings. This is a major problem in the United States and the show is trying to get the message out that it is not a safe thing to do. It also ...
... us that, you must be careful what you wish for. When Macbeth returns to his castle Lady Macbeth greets him with joy, addressing him as "Great Glamis". Macbeth tells her "Duncan comes here to-night". Upon hearing this Lady Macbeth says "O never/Shall sun that morrow see! She sees Duncans coming not only as an opportunity to murder Duncan, but also as a sign of fate. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that tonight he must act like "flower" but act like a quote "serpent under't". These small quotes show how scrupulous and cunning Lady Macbeth is. To further persuade him she tells him that if he follows her plan that he will have nothing less then the power of a king. M ...
... and fear bringing about the purgation of such emotion. (Aristotle 38 - 9) Shakespeare uses character, plot and setting to create a mood of disgust and a theme of proper revenge, as opposed to fear and pity, hence Aristotle would have disapproved of Hamlet. It is the above mentioned elements; character, plot and setting, used in a non-Aristotelian way, that makes Hamlet work as a one of the English language's most renown tragedies. By proper revenge we refer to the Elizabethan view that revenge must be sought in certain cases, for the world to continue properly. This is the main plot of Hamlet. In Poetics, Aristotle defines for us, the element of plot an ...
... his mirth." Johnson makes three assumptions in his reading of the play: 1. That Falstaff is the kind of character who invites a moral judgment mainly that he can answer to the charge of being a coward. 2. That you (the reader) can detach Falstaff's frivolity from the play and it can exist for its own sake apart from the major theme of the drama. 3. That the play is really about the fate of the kingdom, and that you (the reader) do not connect Falstaff's scenes with the main action. This means that the play has no real unity. Starting with Johnson's first assumption, I do agree with this. Any discussion of Falstaff is bound to include a judge ...
... Romeo is about to drink the poison he says, "Here's to my love! [Drinks.] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls.]" (Act 5, scene 3, line 122). These quote show how Romeo loves Juliet. So much he will die to be with her." The next quotes show how Juliet's feelings are mutual to Romeo's. After Juliet wakes up from her death like coma she sees Romeo's dead corpse and notices that he had never got the message from the friar. "O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss his lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them. To make me die with a restorative." The next quote shows how the poison has ...
