Shakespeare Character Study of Bertram from All's Well that Ends Well

I will show understanding of the plot, character and themes and Shakesperes use of language and dramatic devices within the play.

King Henry IV must also contend with his son, Prince Hal, who’s not the honorable prince he had hoped him to be. He feels it is “an honorable spoil” not to have “a son who is the theme of honor’s tongue,” when he learns of Northumberland’s son Hotspur’s victories, which, should be “a conquest for a prince to boast of” (1.1.74,80, & 76). Pangs of jealousy strike Henry’s heart caused by the differences between his son and Northumberland’s. So much so, he wishes “it could be proved that” someone, or something, “had exchanged in cradle clothes, their sons at birth” (1.1.85-87).

Human nature is often considered in isolation from the rest of the world as if it would be an exception or a special case. In Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, the complexities of human nature are explored in depth. This essay will explore in particular how Shakespeare dramatises the concepts of human misunderstandings, deception and dichotomy through effective dramatic techniques.

Honor is a concept that has a great deal to do with entitlement and based on the actions or qualities of a person. There are three main types of honor that society recognizes; family, men, and women and in The Heptameron, Marguerite de Navarre portrays each of the three types of honor throughout her stories. Published in the 1500s, the series of short stories portrays the values and beliefs of that period of time. However, there are often a number of complications that follow honor that lie with classified and understandably honorable deeds or traits, and who is it that determines this. Another issue that one may find is that it is also complicated to be able to view one form of morality in the presence of another due to certain views clashing with one another. In addition to this, Marguerite de Navarre’s stories are written around the themes of love, lust, and adultery, in addition to honor. Each of these has a significant role in portraying the integrity of men, women and family. The Heptameron’s twelfth story has each of the three types of honor present throughout it, and show how they either compliment or conflict with one another. Through the character of the Duke of Medici, the Duke’s “other half”, and the sister of this man, the reader is able to recognize the instances in which honor is evident.

It is commonly said that “all’s well that ends well.” In the case of the comedies of William Shakespeare, this is almost universally true. With specific regard to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the machinations of Oberon are able to bring together Lysander and Hermia, as well as Helena and Demetrius, in a way that provides for the happiest of conclusions. As readers of the play, however, this is also a conclusion that we can anticipate from the first scene. The comedies trace formulaic patterns in which even the most unbelievable circumstances can be resolved by the play’s end, and the performance can end with marriage

William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing traverses the complex social, and emotional trials and triumphs of romantic relationships; Shakespeare’s perspective on the subject is both very similar to ours today, and different. Although filled with sexual innuendos, and humorous trickery and shenanigans, Much Ado about Nothing also dives into the complexities of social anxieties, defense mechanisms to cope with the social pressures, and the emotions involved.

Upon hearing this, Edmund presents himself as sympathetic and supportive towards Gloucester. After his father leaves, Edmund reveals to the reader his true intentions of betraying his father and taking his title. This abrupt transformation of attitude and objective is part of the theme of “Appearance vs Reality.” Although he appears to be loyal and innocent to Gloucester, the reality is that he is planning to overthrow Gloucester and is apathetic towards his

Of the deaths in Shakespeare’s King Lear, the death of Cordelia and King Lear at the end of Act V are most significant in revealing the development of Lear and how his development contributes to the theme surrounding it. The dynamic King Lear is a tragic hero whose fatal flaw, arrogance, prompts his removal from power and eventually the death of both himself and Cordelia. However, by the time of King Lear’s death, his arrogance has been replaced with a compassion which allows him to mourn the death of Cordelia and die from his own grief. Besides redeeming himself for his flawed judgement, the compassionate King Lear of Act V recognizes the loyalty in characters like Kent and Cordelia, while also seeing through the dishonesty of Regan and Goneril which fools the King Lear of Act I. King Lear’s transition from disowning Cordelia because of his arrogance to recognizing her as his only faithful daughter is demonstrated through Lear’s death, which serves as the culmination of his development and a reversal of his character. Furthermore, his death elaborates the theme of how someone’s arrogance may blind them from the reality of others’ intentions, which can be seen through a more compassionate and humble lens.

“Good comedy is tragedy narrowly averted”: these words were spoken by Jonathon Bate and Eric Rasmussen in their publishing of ‘William Shakespeare: Complete Works’. They show how many elements of comedy could be interpreted as almost tragic. The comedy in Much Ado About Nothing is often created when the audience can see that something could go horribly wrong, however it is saved in the nick of time. A sense of relief and light-heartedness is created, as customarily comedy is known to end in a meeting of characters at a gleeful point in time or occasion; most frequently with a wedding.

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

By describing the Knight like this, the narrator also establishes the Knight as a model citizen who demonstrates chivalry and enthusiasm to do the right thing, similar to the Squire. Rather than the Squire’s childish persona, the Knight is presented as a figure of maturity, formality, and authority, due to his title as a knight. The Knight’s maturity and genuinity illustrates how the Knight’s wisdom and respect comes from his experience and age above the Squire.

Helena is a very desperate and aroused woman who loves Demetrius with her life. Even though she shows a great passion of love for him, Demetrius rejects this and therefore piles another burden of sorrow onto Helena’s shoulders. She is fed up with Demetrius rejecting her, but Helena is not tempted to give up yet.

King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this

Not everything was as pretty as it seemed, their family had issues that they had to overcome and the fear of loosing the battle away and at home was something that he struggled with on a daily basis when he was young. His mother was left with the entire burden when his father left and it eventually became too much to handle. His mother became an alcoholic and he and his family suffered tremendously from his mother’s sickness. He felt like if he had let his father down when he came home to find this out. Living with all females and putting up with them was too much for him that he decided to convince his father to send him to military school. This was the best thing that happened to him, because from here on he lived an Army world.

In Act one, scene one, we are introduced to Gloucester and his parallel plot line before we introduced to Lear. We find Gloucester acknowledging his equal adoration between his two sons, the one legitimate, the other illegitimate. The moral code that informs King Lear dictates that illegitimacy bodes nothing but a disadvantage to the harmony of underlying order . Within the terms of the play, Gloucester's emotion is a fatal flaw of judgment. Paying close attention to language, Gloucester's unwitting mistake from Edmund's very first appearance; in a world where the only vocabulary of each character is a full expression of their position on the axis of good and evil, a reader cannot help but notice that Edmund's "... I shall study deserving..."(I.i.24) is a foreboding of the deceit and greed that will taint him for the rest of the play.