Importance In The English Church In Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare

The main feature of all drama is conflict and Shakespeare uses oppositions in literary devices to create it. Romeo and Juliet starts off with the feuding families fighting, already setting the mood and creating a separation, forcing us as the reader to pick a side. Through the play, puns and other literary devices are used to establish oppositions between love and hate to create conflict and tension.

‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare incorporates the theme of conflict through many different characters and situations. The definition of conflict is “a fight, battle, or struggle; especially a prolonged struggle; strife” The play mainly focuses on the tragic lives of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet; the two characters belong to the Montague and Capulet households respectively, which have held ongoing grudges against each other for years. The play ends with both main characters committing suicide, to be together in heaven. As with many of Shakespeare’s works, the theme of conflict is a strong one. For a start, there is the ongoing conflict between the two families; the Montagues and the Capulets. The audience is unsure how this

Throughout Romeo and Juliet the theme of conflict is conveyed in many forms, mostly through physical violence; reflected in the era of the Renaissance where there was political turmoil and many European nations were at war. Shakespeare presents the theme in other forms as well; family versus family, sacred versus profane, parent versus child and language versus inner conflict. Conflict is a key in the structure of the play; it is highlighted in the beginning, middle and end. As an audience we are constantly being reminded of conflict which is reflected within the era the play was written in. The Renaissance was the 'rebirth ' of classical learning and was also the time when Science challenged many traditional Christian beliefs which resulted in Catholics fighting Protestants; the Gunpowder plot and the Spanish Armada. Shakespeare chose to dramatise conflict as it was the context in which he was writing plays. It is therefore arguable that this period was characterised by irreconcilable opposites in politics, religion and art. Nothing in the world can exist without its opposite- just as love cannot exist without hate, violence cannot exist without peace.

Trevor Nunn’s (1996) adaptation of Twelfth Night illustrates the complexity of Feste’s character and how important he is to the overall play. Ben Kingsley, the actor, presents Feste as sympathetic and gentle choric figure. It is Feste who allows the audience to see the films respect for the original play, and the existing issues within it. This includes the defencelessness of women, and the attractive, but dangerous, qualities of altering one’s true sexual identity. Interestingly, unlike the original script, Nunn opens his first scene with Feste observing Viola struggle to shore after the shipwreck she has experienced. In this context, Kingsley’s Feste is revealed for the first time. He is shown as a mysterious and isolated individual, who

Many of the plays written by Shakespeare in his time were performed to influence his audience and provoke thought and debate the social, cultural and economic events that were taking place at that time. Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in particular, was a reflection of the events happening during the Elizabethan era. In this essay, the focus is mainly on Act IV scene IV and the speech of Hamlet and the essay focuses on answering the question of the effect Hamlet had on the audience in the Elizabethan era, specifically culturally, socially, and economically. It is the purpose of this essay to demonstrate that due to the religious turmoil of the Elizabethan era, Hamlet’s reference to God in Act IV was significant to show that

Shakespeare conveyed the truth of conflict in Romeo and Juliet to reveal the impact conflict has in daily life. The role conflict plays in daily life is revealed through Mercutio being killed, Tybalt being killed in retribution, and the essay by Romeo and Juliet has a central focus on conflict. The whole play is centered around two feuding families in the city of Verona. These families are feuding due to each one

8. In this passage, In the last line of the quote death says he'll tell you what you truly look like. He says to look in the mirror while we wait. This means that death is us, My interpretation of this quote says that death is saying that we are death destruction, we cause it all or like that we are a dead man walking.

During Shakespeare’s time, the Protestant religion was required to be followed by law. This protestant religion provided the view to its followers that their lives were controlled by a predestined fate. The people were totally helpless in their movements in their lives who already had a path laid out in front of them and they could do nothing to divert the path. This truth of the protestant movement was in a constant rivalry with the opposing view of Catholicism. The catholic view and belief is that the path of life is freely chosen not dependent or controlled by some force or fate. This struggle and this confusion with which religion, with its two opposing factors of fate versus free will along with their contrasting ornate and historic ceremony and traditions, is seen and demonstrated in all its glory by the characters and plot in many of Shakespeare’s plays. This confusion, due to the flip-flopping of religions and the nostalgia involved as one religion is replaced with another in a seemingly unending cycle during Shakespeare’s time, creates the hodgepodge religious backdrop for his plays.

Recently, I ventured out to the business district to see St. Dunstan-in-the-East Church. It was a church built in Saxon times, later restored, but burned down in the London fire. In 1697, Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the church. Then, it was bombed out during World War II. Today, only the exterior and steeple remain. However, the initiative conservationist groups took to turn it into a garden was magnificent and reminded me of Shakespeare’s New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon. All of the interiors are gone from the building, including any glass panes that were in the window, but it is a small garden for the public to enter for free. That’s one thing that I’ve noticed about the United Kingdom: that conservation groups tend to develop a space into a park or garden, reviving the remains of older historical buildings. It also maintains the historical significance it has to the city surrounding it.

Conflict, in literary context, can be defined as “the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction.” Conflicts can be external, between two or more persons, or internal, within one’s self. In most literature the conflict adds to the execution of the plot itself. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” makes use of both forms of conflict as an essential element of the play. I will show how “Hamlet” presents inner and outer conflicts with examples of each and how their resolutions (if any) serve as a major part of the overall play itself.

The Twelfth Night was a religious festival held during the Elizabethan Era. It also 

celebrated the concept of the reversal of normal order, where the lower and upper class had the 

chance to experience each other’s roles in society. It was a day of celebration in which enabled a 

time of foolishness for each class. This religious festival seem to have influenced Shakespeare’s 

play, Twelfth Night in relations to the concept of the foolishness celebration of switching the 

roles of upper and lower class. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, he utilizes Feste’s role as a clown 

to be the figure who functions as a blur for class distinction and to also show that words hold 

power regardless of ones status in society. Malvolio functions as the fool who hopelessly

Blue background collage and the chinese characters: Blue is a color for trust, represents the trust between Sebastian and Antonio. The chinese characters translate to trust, represents the same

Throughout Romeo and Juliet the theme of conflict is conveyed in many forms, mostly through physical violence; reflected in the era of the Renaissance where there were political turmoil and many European nations were at war. Shakespeare presents the theme in other forms as well; family versus family, sacred versus profane, parent versus child and language versus inner conflict. Conflict is a key in the structure of the play; it is highlighted in the beginning, middle and end. As an audience, we are constantly being reminded of conflict which is reflected within the era the play was written in. The Renaissance was the 'rebirth' of classical learning and was also the time when Science challenged many traditional Christian beliefs which resulted in Catholics fighting Protestants; the Gunpowder plot and the Spanish Armada. Shakespeare chose to dramatise conflict as it was the context in which he was writing plays. It is therefore arguable that this period was characterised by irreconcilable opposites in politics, religion and art. Nothing in the world can exist without its opposite- just as love cannot exist without hate, violence cannot exist without peace.

A literary critic of Hamlet, Patrick Cruttwell, explores in his writing titled The morality of Hamlet- ‘Sweet Prince or ‘Arrant Knave’? the purpose of religion during Elizabethan times to set moral value sets that often conflicted with man’s nature. Additionally, Cruttwell states the actions in the play aggressively clash with the religious values of the time period. Shakespeare illustrates throughout the play that not abiding by the only moral structure of the time period, religion, man is doomed to self destruction by giving into his chaotic Dionysian nature.

      A Tempest, by Aime Cesaire, has been the center of controversy for over twenty years now.  The argument is not concerning whether the play has substance, or whether its themes are too racy; the criticism is about its parallel to another work.  The work in question is that of The Tempest by William Shakespeare.  Cesaire has been bluntly accused of mirroring, misrepresenting, and misinterpreting Shakespeare's last play.  I challenge these critics to research Cesaire and his works, rather than pick apart this most insightful play.  It is pertinent to understand a few key ideas when examining A Tempest because Cesaire was not attempting to mirror Shakespeare; he was merely