Arguably the two greatest story tellers, William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe, one British and one American, share many elements in their works of Tragedies and Gothics. Where exactly the shift from Tragedy to Gothic took place is difficult to tell, but it is know that Shakespeare came first and thus he influences and Poe is influenced. Goth originated from the Germanic tribe that destroyed Rome, becoming a barbaric term. Then it continued to be used for the Middle Ages’ architecture to describe its unappealing and non-classical style. Later, the style became a popular outlet of creativity, inspiring Horace Walpole to write The Castle of Otranto (1764) and effectively creating the Gothic genre. Even though elements are shared between Tragedy …show more content…
For example, both genres, Tragedy and Gothic, are similar in that the main “protagonist” has a downfall led by his or her imperfections. Such a demise is common within Shakespeare’s Tragedies, “the main character is an admirable hero, but he has one fatal flaw that will destroy him.” (Comedy). Yet it also makes an appearance in Poe’s Gothic works, with the exception of “admirable hero.” As for plot, “tragedies often deal with revenge, murder, war, doomed love, and political conspiracies” (Comedy). With the deficiency of political conspiracies and war; revenge, murder and doomed love, as well as guilt and madness, are staples to the Gothic genre (Phillips). For tragedies, “The audience feels powerless because the tragedy is usually avoidable” (Comedy). For gothics, “These writings create feelings of gloom, mystery, terror, suspense and fear.” (Phillips). In both Tragedies and Gothics there is “otherworldly creatures like witches and ghosts” and “omens or curses and magic or supernatural manifestations” (Comedy) (Phillips) respectively. For settings of Tragedies, the high society buildings and castles are less scene setting as the weather, “killer storms and creepy mists are a clue that something bad is happening” (Comedy). While ominous weather is present in Poe’s works, elements create more vivid …show more content…
Banquo is wise for his caution around the witches instead of falling for their prophecy, listening but remaining skeptical with the witches; “[…] you greet with present grace and great prediction of noble having and of royal hope, that he seems rapt withal. To me you speak not […] and say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak, then, to me, who neither beg nor fear your favors nor your hate.” (The Tragedy of Macbeth); whereas, Macbeth becomes blinded with the idea of power and the crown. According to the Narrator, Pluto is wise and loyal to the point of being “sagacious to an astonishing degree … It was even with difficulty that I could prevent him from following me through the streets.” (Poe). Also typical of supporting characters is their friendly and trustworthy relationship to the protagonists in order to be betrayed. In the case of Macbeth and The Black Cat, Banquo is related to Macbeth and is similarly a general of the Scottish Army and Pluto is The Narrator’s favorite pet and friend. After the Banquo and Pluto’s betrayal, they each return as a supernatural figure to force guilt on their killer: Macbeth and The Narrator. In Macbeth, Banquo returns as a ghost only to visit Macbeth and creates an immediate panic “The fit is momentary; upon a thought He will again be well. If much you
The great William Shakespeare lived during a time of many noted and influential people such as Pocahontas, King James I, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Even though Pocahontas was born during the later years of Shakespeare’s life, interesting correlations exist between the playwright and the Indian princess. King James I of England wrote about witches, which gave some background information for Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth. As the special guest of Queen Elizabeth I, it is likely that Sir Walter Raleigh watched some of Shakespeare’s plays presented at court. The daughter of a Native American chief, the King of England, and the famous explorer, all lived and gained notoriety during the lifetime of William Shakespeare.
Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.
Gothic literature is a style of writing that includes a bleak, dark setting, tortured characters, strange plot, striking description and a gloomy mood. Elements such as these are found in all gothic literature tales. “Fall of the House of Usher”, by Edgar Allan Poe, is a good example of this writing style. This is due to the countless dramatic and strange descriptions. Poe is the designated father of gothic literature. An example of a dramatic description of this story is when the narrator is explaining the demise of the Usher’s legacy and their mansion. “There was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters-”. (Page 30, Paragraph 48) This dramatic explanation gave more of an impactful description, rather than saying the house simply fell and was no longer there.
William Shakespeare was a famous play maker but little do people know that he wrote a lot of poems . He was born in Stratford-On-Avon, United Kingdom on April 23, 1564. He was 62 when he died. In his lifetime he married Anne Hathaway, had three children, two girls but the boy died in early boyhood, he joined a bunch of groups, he learned Latin and a little bit of Greek. Shakespeare wrote his first poems only because the theaters was closed due to the plague. During writing his poems he invented thousands of words. Often combing words that are in different languages such as Latin and Greek. Some of the words that he created are; arch-villain, birthplace, and bloodsucking. His poems were described as " immortalization of beauty and love in poetry." He created 5 long narrative poems. Shakespeare is often known by England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon." He went to King's new school. After the birth of his twins, there where no records recorded, these years were called the "Lost Years." There are some theories for the sudden disappearance. One was that he went into hiding for poaching animal skins from his landlord. Another theory is that he was working
Given the religious turmoil of the time and the horrendous executions to criminals, why did William Shakespeare choose to mostly write comedies? Did Shakespeare not understand the mood of society, or perhaps did he write exactly the type of plays that everyone needed to see? To fully understand why William Shakespeare chose to write of amusing scenarios, its important to know what society in his time was like: sorrowful, argumentative, but also enlightening. Amidst the troubles of religion and despairing sights of death, theater rose to the top of many people’s hearts.
Is William Shakespeare really a Renaissance Man? I believe Shakespeare was a Renaissance man, he wrote many famous plays. I'm sure everyone has heard of Romeo and Juliet, a love story between two people who could never be together because of family issues, which was written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is considered a Renaissance Man because he was a talented writer, he was very knowledgeable which showed in his plays. Shakespeare did have a few disadvantages along the way. Many disagree that Shakespeare shouldn't be given the title as the Renaissance Man. People do not see his potential as a writer, because of his lacking background. Because Shakespeare’s school caught on fire, the school lost most of his records.
An explanation of how Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of Banquo in the play ‘Macbeth’ Throughout the play ‘Macbeth,’ the character Banquo is presented as being a loyal friend who is betrayed by Macbeth. At the beginning of the play, Banquo is seen as being more sceptical and realistic in his reactions to the witches’ prophecies. Shakespeare uses the character Banquo to emphasise Macbeth’s faults and ambitions. Later in the play, Shakespeare again uses Banquo to show Macbeth’s guilt; only Macbeth can see Banquo’s ghost, suggesting that he is solely responsible for Banquo’s death.
Christopher Marlowe or De vere could have been the author of Shakespeare's carrier. There is a controversy over the existence of William Shakespeare. In the article , “Was William shakespeare just a pseudonym”. Henry James once stated “I am… haunted by the conviction that the divine William is the biggest and most successful fraud ever practice on a patient world.”. There is two sides of the controversy that William was not what he said he was. In conclusion I agree with the Oxfordians that Shakespeare was just an actor not a poet and playwright.
William Shakespeare was born on (or around the time of) April 23, 1564 and he lived in Stratford Upon- Avon, England. His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Shakespeare. He lived with 5 siblings, three brothers and two sisters. William was the oldest in his house, he would have been the third oldest if his first two sisters didn’t die as babies. His family would have had 9 people in the same house, but with both of the sister’s deaths he had 7 people within his house.
From his tragic story of Hamlet to the romantic comedy The Tempest, William Shakespeare has been capturing his audience since he started writing in the late 1500's. When Shakespeare first started writing in 1590, he began writing plays, both tragedies and comedies, then he wrote poetry called sonnets. It is said that he last thing he wrote was finished in 1613, because as people suggest, that was when he lost his sight. He died three years later in 1616. He is known around the globe for his writing style and unique plots. His plays are studied in high schools and colleges around the world. Shakespeare has made history with his literature. During the Renaissance, Shakespeare wrote in three different genres, comedy, tragedy, and poetry.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died on april 23, 1616. His parents was John shakespeare and Mary Arden. John shakespeare had many different jobs like selling leather goods, wool, malt and corn. In 1556 He was appointed the borough’s official “ale taster”. John later became a moneylender and held a series of municipal positions, serving for some time as the mayor of stratford (history.com). Mary keep up the house like cleaned, helped take care of the kids. John and mary oldest children, both girls did not live past infancy. William had 3 younger brothers, Gilbert, Richered, and Edmund. And two younger sisters. Anne, who died at seven, and joan. Thought to die from the black death (folger.edu). William shakespeare was Baptized on
Shakespeare. What were the life events that shaped these well-known plays that are read all
William Shakespeare had a very intersting life.William Shakespeare ended up to be a world known playwright and poet, most people would consider this a success and conclude that Shakepeare had a good life. While this may seem the case, shakespeare had a lot of hardship just like many other people. Shakespeare channeled this hardship and woe into plays and poems. He also channeled his delight, and humor, and every other emotion and experience into his writing, this is how he could make all the different types of plays come to life. William Shakespeare's life experiences are what made his reputation what it is today. Shakespeare's childhood, family and acting carear all had big influences on his writing.
William Shakespeare was a playwright born on 1564.There is several mysteries about this man. His actual date of birth is unknown. No one knows exactly where he was born, but he is believed to have come from the area of Stratford-On-Avon in England. What we do know is that he wrote plays which were popular then and are still popular now. Shakespeare wrote many types of plays such as dramas, comedies and tragedies. His plays continue to be performed today and several have been made into movies. Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar are some of these.
William Shakespeare was an actor, playwright, and poet, who lived during the Renaissance Era. William Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564, this is the date traditionally given for his birthday (“Shakespeare’s Life”. Web) “Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed he was born on or near April 23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as William Shakespeare's birthday” (“William Shakespeare Biography”. Web)William’s mother’s name was Mary Shakespeare and his father was John Shakespeare. John and Mary had two girls before William but they had died during infancy. William had grown up as the oldest of the five siblings. His three brothers, Gilbert, Richard,