Bosola can be described as a convincing character as unlike some of the characters in the play, his opinions and principles change throughout, therefore constantly altering the audience's feelings about him. He is the only character to communicate to the audience via soliloquy, divulging his true thoughts and intentions which often differ from his outward appearance, making him psychologically realistic and interesting. Although this would suggest he is a convincing character, Bosola, at times, falls into set roles of the Jacobean Tragedy; malcontent, satirist and avenger. Webster uses Bosola to fulfill these conventions of the genre and to direct and drive the plot, especially after the Duchess' death. Even though Webster uses Bosola in …show more content…
One of the interesting aspects of the play is that it goes beyond the boundaries of its set time, giving its characters a past as well as a present. The audience learns straight away that Bosola was in prison, hinting at previous experiences shaping his hatred for the Aragon brothers, `I fell into the galleys in your service'. Bosola exists outside the play's timeframe, making him more convincing. All through the play, small references to Bosola's past are made, `I knew him in Padua, a fantastical scholar'; he is not confined to the play, therefore he is more convincing as a character.
As a spy, Bosola most frequently uses asides of all the characters. The audience is given an insight into his mind so they can differentiate from what his true intentions are and the lies he tells the other characters. This used is particularly in act 2 scene 1, where Bosola is trying to find out if the Duchess is pregnant or not by giving her apricots, `[aside]-how greedily she eats them'. This makes his character more convincing to the audience as they can see the complex workings of his and how he is not always as he appears to the other characters.
Throughout the play, Webster frequently reminds us that the world of the characters is not real; it is contrived and can therefore be manipulated by the playwright, `I think this speech between you both was studied, it came so roundly off.' Webster never intended
I will show understanding of the plot, character and themes and Shakesperes use of language and dramatic devices within the play.
In the play the audience is also told in so many words that there has
This short soliloquy allows the audience to see Othello’s feelings, whereas he is, at this point, keeping them from
The characterization of Othello contributes to theme in many different ways. Othello is someone who everyone seemed to trust. “This only is the witchcraft I have used. Here comes the lady. Let her witness it.” (pg.41). This quote analyzes how Othello is honest, he is proving that if others were asked about a certain event, they would
The play has been contemporised. Modern day language is used this makes it easier to understand. Colloquialism of ?sod? and ?bollocks? are used these are words that are often spoken today. Being rewritten to modern day language has really helped me to understand the play more. In my opinion if I was to read the play before it was adapted I don?t think I would of understood it.
Shakespeare was very specific, in 1603, about his choice of words when he wrote the play, “Othello”. The three language devices – “words as power”, “words as character” and “words as conversation” with the audience – are used to create characters’ identities and fates, and also to drive the plot of the play (Krieger, 2012).
this is his role in the events of the play. This, and the fact that
“Clara” by Roberto Bolano is about a guy who meets the love of his life, Clara. She’s attractive, addictive, aloof. After their breakup he continues to love her in the most peculiar way. He watches her loose her youthfulness, and become sick with cancer. After the diagnosis Clara runs off to die leaving every one behind. Though this seems like a tragic love story the gender roles demonstrated leaves the reader to wonder if the narrator loves Clara at all. It begins with the way the narrator focuses on the physical aspects of Clara, the way he continually belittles her intelligence, and it ends with the codependence that the narrator thinks Clara should have with him. A lot of the time when Clara is mentioned it is in reference to her physical appearance, weather it be her body, or her smile: the narrator doesn’t seem to look at her as a person, he sees her as an object. Clara’s intelligence on the other hand is used against her; the narrator makes it a point to undermine her as some ditsy, unintelligent, bimbo. He puts Clara, through what seems like, a very disturbing relationship: then, expects her to come back to him in the end.
"The course of true love never did run smooth" is one of the play's most famous quotes. However, when you look at the
Many stock characters would directly address the audience, which would allow further interest to evolve in the people watching. Isabella would flirt with the audience, Ill Dottore would address them with "expert" knowledge on anything, and fool them with tautologies, "he who is always wrong, is less right than anyone else". Ill Capitano would address them directly in an attempt to gain praise from them. Other characters, such as Pedrolino, would play on the audience for sympathy. The degree of response by the people watching towards the masks indicated the action the troupe would continue to further their scenarios.
In his essay in Bad Shakespeare, Anthony Dawson seems to disagree with this interpretation of the story. He states that this universal and idealized approach to the play is ineffective for a number of reasons. He
The ability of passion to bring destruction upon the lives of the unsuspecting is illustrated in Shakespeare’s Othello with the use of both manipulation and deceit. The curse of fierce passion fell namely on Othello as he transitioned from a respected general to an unstable murderer. His downfall is demonstrated through his increasing self-doubt, lack of ability to articulate, and violence. In the start of the play, he is an accomplished general and happy newlywed, and has yet to be significantly held back due to his being a Moor and outsider in Venetian society. As passion overtakes him, however, Othello truly ingrains the idea that he is less than, and those around him begin to blame his actions on the nature of his ethnicity. He has completely lost his identity to his desires and is unable to think rationally. Shakespeare juxtaposes this version of Othello with his initial composed self in Venice to demonstrate the damage of ignorance to logic and heighten the sense of tragedy. The effects of an overwhelming passion involving love, jealousy, and revenge are shown through Othello’s degradation and loss of stability.
The differences in styles of language truly brings alive the plays' various characters, from the lowliest drawer to the noblest knight. The playwright's audience would have been composed of a similarly diverse spectrum of society, from the groundlings at the foot of the stage, to the members of the court in attendance, and these disparate members of the audience might very well have come away from the plays with different interpretations of
Nearly every character in the play at some point has to make inferences from what he or she sees, has been told or overhears. Likewise, nearly every character in the play at some point plays a part of consciously pretending to be what they are not. The idea of acting and the illusion it creates is rarely far from the surface -
Othello’s speech to Brabantio and the Duke in Act 1, Scene 3 is of major importance in describing Othello’s personality. This long speech, found in lines 149 to 196, shows Othello for the first time as a person with depth and less as a soldier. This speech is important to the book as a whole because it is a testimony to the strength of the love between Othello and Desdemona, which will later play a major role in the plot. It is also one of the first times that we see Othello trying to influence his audience with his words. The speech given by Othello is intended to convince Brabantio that Desdemona is with him willfully, and not by “spells and medicines bought of montebanks” (line 74).