Romance and Tragedy in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale Essay example

Hermia, originally the Apple of all Athens’ eye, put on an impossible pedestal by both Lysander and Demetrius, seems to trade social standings with the outcast Helena. It seems that Hermia doesn’t fully appreciate the quality of her state. She complains that her father will not allow her to merry her true love Lysander, and pawns her off to the inadequate Demetrius. Never can she accept the flattery of Demetrius’ unrequited love which her best friend would do anything to sincerely receive. Instead she revels in wonderment: “The more I [Hermia] hate, the more he [Demetrius] follows me” (I.i.198). Her unhappiness is far heightened when her two followers are given the love potion, turning them against her and beckoning to Helena. The cruel swap of fates lets the two female characters feel as though in the others’ shoes. It’s Hermia’s karma for being ungrateful at the attention bestowed upon her all these years that leads her to this harsh lesson.

With these features she Helena says that she would attract Demetrius and except him, unlike Hermia who wishes him away. She asks Hermia to teach her the art of her beauty and win the affection of Demetrius heart. The last character that shows jealousy is Hermia. She shows Jealousy when Lysander is spelled, and falls for Helena. While under a spell, Lysander tells Hermia:

Helena is first introduced storming past Hermia and Lysander, being quick to accuse Hermia of stealing Demetrius’ love from her. Helena’s lengthy response, use of exclamations, sarcastic and whiney tone, and admitted jealousy, portray her perfectly. In fact, the audience better comes to understand the character in her following monologue containing phrases such as: “…how happy some o’er other some can be! Through Athens I am thought to be as fair as she”; “…he hailed down oaths that he was only mine… heat from Hermia…dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt”; “I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight…if I have thanks, it is a dear expense.” This shows that Helena isn’t just a jealous friend, but a hurt girl with low self-esteem; she is desperate to have love and happiness again to extent of giving Demetrius what he wants at the expense of her friends’ wellbeing. Despite the late hours, dangers of the night, and Demetrius’ annoyance with her, Hermia expresses her desperation and relentless love for him by proclaiming “…you [Demetrius] draw me, you hard-hearted adamant”, “I love you the more”, and “… spurn me, strike me…only give me leave… to follow you”. Humorously enough, even when Demetrius does not grant Helena permission, she still devotedly follows him. Due to the constant flow of insults and abuses from Demetrius, Helena’s character is pushed to the point where she wallows in self-pity and despair as well as further compare her darker, less attractive complexion to Hermia’s. When Lysander awakens under a love spell and professes his undying love for her, she runs away in distress believing he is implementing a cruel joke on her. When Demetrius follows in the same love-struck manner, she becomes exasperated and falls further into her self-pity. Helena’s tone even become satirical towards the two men and Hermia which not only offends

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is laden with tragedy from the start, and this adversity is reflected in the title character. Being informed of his father’s murder and the appalling circumstances surrounding the crime, Hamlet is given the emotionally taxing task of avenging his death. It is clear that having to complete this grim undertaking takes its toll on Hamlet emotionally. Beginning as a seemingly contemplative and sensitive character, we observe Hamlet grow increasingly depressed and deranged as the play wears on. Hamlet is so determined to make his father proud that he allows the job on hand to completely consume him. We realize that Hamlet has a tendency to mull and ponder excessively, which causes the notorious delays of action

'I do but keep the peace put up thy sword, or manage it to part these

As one of the most complex characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio’s purpose is to act as a static catalyst for the death of most of the characters. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s character cleverly as the kind of character that stays in the background, but influences the rest of the cast in the utmost amount. Mercutio’s light and occasionally sardonic humor at inapt times relieves the play from being a complete tragedy and allows the audience a false sense of security before calamity strikes, such as the death of his character. Mercutio also stands as a consistent character to prove that despite the fact that the majority of Shakespeare’s characters are unpredictable and impulsive, there has to be at least one character to steady

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet loved each other, but they knew that it wouldn't be possible to have a relationship because of their feuding families. Their deaths were tragic, as it was mainly the people around them that made them so unhappy. They were so in love with each other that they took risks to be together, which lead to their unfortunate deaths. Romeo is a Montague. He falls in love with Juliet the moment he sees her at a Capulet ball.

do all the things he did which led to his death. He said that she

Many people don 't believe that fate even exists. These people feel that one controls his or her own future. But in the case of the play, Romeo and Juliet written by Willian Shakespeare, this is not true. Romeo and Juliet is a story about two "star-crossed lovers" who ultimately die due to their fate. Since the moment they first time they met, things began in motion. These two lovers could not have done anything to change their course of fate, thus, why the story of Romeo and Juliet is a story controlled by fate, rather than a tragedy.

In Athens, women had very little rights. Womens fathers were the ones who got to choose whom they married, and that caused trouble for the lovers. Hermia’s father, Egeus, strongly believed in this rule. At the beginning, Egeus decides that he wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, which is good for Demetrius but bad for Hermia. Hermia, daringly refuses her father’s wishes, so they seek the help of Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Theseus listens to their situation, and being the authority in the situation, tells Hermia: “Either to die the death, or to abjure for the society of men. Therefore, fair Hermia,... if you yield not to your father’s choice, you can endure the livery of a nun...”(24). This shows how authority, in this case the law, gets in the way of “the course of true love…”(28). Egeus’s decision to have Hermia marry Demetrius does not only affect Hermia but also affects Helena. When Hermia’s father chooses Demetris to be her

Who was Shakespeare? Was he a man from Stratford-Upon-Avon who started with little and became the greatest English author to ever live; or was he a privileged Earl who was a favorite at Queen Elizabeth’s court? That is the great mystery. This particular mystery is difficult to solve because of the lack of documentary evidence. The Elizabethans did not believe in getting everything in writing as people do today. Therefore, the truth may never be known with certainty. However, evidence does exist to support at least two theories about the Shakespearean authorship: one that the man from Stratford wrote the works, the other that Edward de Vere the Earl of Oxford was the author. The question then becomes, which

What is mans' purpose in life? Is there a purpose? If there isn't, then is it wise to end it, despite the fact that there might be nothing better? In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with these and other issues. He states that the question of life is "To be, or not to be...?" Is existence really worth the troubles of life? In this monologue, Hamlet is wondering what is his purpose. He asserts that the only reason people endure their horrible lives is the uncertainty of what lies after death. "Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death..." Is it noble to suffer, and is life worth all its misery? Hamlet

Loyalty to others, for Proteus, seems to be little more than a shallow emotion, which he manipulates for the sake of appearances. Clearly, the only loyalty, which sufficiently motivates Proteus, is to himself.

In other words, the assumed unfaithfulness of his wife, will wreak havoc, like a galactic body. This is a bizarre comparison—a wife and her alleged infidelity to a planet in outer space that will destruct in the name of vengeance. As bizarre as it is, it accomplishes the task of enhancing the dichotomy of what is real and what is a fabrication of imagination. Art, in “The Winter’s Tale” is not merely expression but creation over nature. As his paints a dramatically depressed view of reality, it becomes clear how his perception of what is actually in nature has been heinously corrupted because of a search for truth predicated on validating flippant worries. He carries on: “To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods. I have tremor cordis on me. My heart dances, but not for joy, not joy.”, showing the extent to which he cannot see the truth—what is actually present in nature, but also how manically crazed he is. For example, Leontes seems to think nothing is odd about calling his son into speak to him, and merely asking, “Mamillius, art thou my boy?”. His tone here is light, and conveys this idea that not only is what he asking logical and understandable but normal. It speaks volumes to art’s influence on Leontes to make him so selfish and wrapped up in his own desperate story.

Analyzing Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story between two teenagers who fall