The Secret River By Kate Grenville And William Shakespeare

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).

Contextually it is important to understand how women are presented as tragic victims of men in ‘Othello’. Contemporary views of women were, according to Sir Thomas Elyot “to be mild, timorous, tractable, benign, of sure remembrance, and shamefast.” Conversely men were seen to be “fierce, strong in opinion, covetous of glory, desirous of knowledge, appetiting by generation to bring for his semblable.” Elyot’s views of the contemporary man, though much grander than those of women, could prove to be their downfall in ‘Othello’. Shakespeare’s protagonist’s downfall could be based on the fact that he is desirous of knowledge, and Iago’s manipulation of Othello’s trustworthy nature suggests that not only are women the tragic victims of men, but it is men who are also victims of men.

Reading the book, The Other Side of the River, by Alex Kotlowitz, the author writes about the relationship between two towns in Michigan, and the death of a young boy named Eric McGinnis. The two towns, Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, are called the “Twin Cities”, but are ironically not related in any way. St. Joseph is 95 percent white, while Benton Harbor is impoverished and is 92 percent black. Throughout the book Kotlowitz questions the residents from both towns and how they are affected by the environment around them. The author also starts with the climax on the first page of the book – the death of Eric, and uses this as an technique to tell the story of the disagreements between the two towns.

William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despite Othello’s hamartia and subsequent downfall that inevitably occurs. Their marriage is then sabotaged by the jealous Iago, Othello’s ensign and villain of the play. While Iago’s ostensible justification for instigating Othello’s demise was his failure to acquire Othello’s position as lieutenant, Iago’s motives are rarely directly articulated and seem to derive from an obsessive, almost aesthetic pleasure in manipulation and destruction. Through the genre of the play, being a Shakespearean tragedy, and the structural devices employed by Shakespeare such as plot development, exposition, foreshadowing, dénouement, dramatic excitement, and catharsis, the key ideas of jealousy, appearance vs. reality and pride are developed and explored.

Geoffrey Sax 's advanced retelling of William Shakespeare 's Othello can control Shakespeare 's unique ideas in spite of the time period and connection in which both writings happen, while investigating the all inclusive topics of prejudice, misogyny and force. Shakespeare 's play reflects conventional Elizabethan connections and qualities in its investigation of such ideas amidst a catastrophe impelled on by misleading and desirously (Aebischer 12). On the other hand, Geoffrey Sax 's 2001 representation of Othello, set in 1980s London, concentrates on issues of prejudice and ladies in a post-women 's activist society. In spite of the diverse the distinctive time periods both writings have the same all inclusive thoughts.

Othello, the principle character, at the beginning seems to have power- whether it is physical, psychological, political or military. He is portrayed to the audience as a symbol of power and strength. As an experienced soldier, a General to be precise, Othello has had little experience with women. Even though he is a high ranking military official, he is less respected because of his dark skin and being a foreigner. His stature and tone of voice, along with his self-confidence and belief, lead the audience to think of Othello as the main representation of power in the play. However, further into the play, Othello's power seems to diminish, revealing his insecurity and susceptibility. He is very naive and

Throughout time, writing has evolved such that gender, race and creed have taken on a more pivotal role in fiction. Some people argue that race in William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Othello,” is hardly an issue. However, to many people, race is everything in “Othello. The challenges that Othello, the lead character, faces are directly attributed to his “Moor” complexion and if he were of a different nationality, the outcome of his situation would have been drastically different. These claims are supported by the articles of “Othello’s Alienation” by Edward Berry and “Race Mattered: Othello in Late Eighteenth-Century England” by Virginia Mason Vaughan that argue that race is a major element in “Othello.”

In most of Shakespeare's plays he writes in a character that manipulates others around them. Two characters that manipulate those around them are Iago and Lady Macbeth. They both manipulate the people around them in different ways. This changes mainly, on what looks like, because Lady Macbeth is a woman and Iago is a man. In this time men were viewed as much stronger, while women were too weak to do much other than cook, clean and care for children.

Themes such as jealousy, deception and passion interwoven through the text of 'Othello' make the story riveting. But before we can understand why events take place and characters motivations' it is important to analyse the geographical arena in which the story of Othello and the moral struggles of the characters are brought to life. By including real locations, which Elizabethans would have herd of, the play appears to be more realistic. 'Othello' is reasonably geographically accurate and this helps to make the play, with it's unlikely events, seem more plausible.

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is set in an anti-feminist era. Women traditionally have been seen inferior to men. This was an intellectual as well as a physical issue. Women were to raise a family, cook, clean, be pretty and not be smarter than any man. The main characters Ophelia and Gertrude are both depicted with these characteristics as powerless and frail people. This illustration of helpless women affects one's understanding of what their true selves could be.

“My only love sprung from my only hate!” (I.v.136). A long feud between the Montague and Capulet families led to a secret marriage to mask the love that Romeo and Juliet have for each other in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This also leads to the death of several relatives and friends, but because it is made to be, Romeo and Juliet’s love does not die, even when they do. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a novel by Benjamin Alire Sáenz about two boys who have very little in common, but grow to love each other and learn the true meaning of friendship, love, and destiny. Some people, like Shakespeare, believe that one’s fate cannot be changed, whiles Sáenz believes that one’s fate can be controlled even though certain aspects of one’s life make it seem difficult.

Written by the king of theater himself, William Shakespeare, Othello unfolds in an Italy overrun by misogyny and racism. When the Moorish general Othello denies his aide, Iago, a promotion and marries a girl who has blatantly betrayed her father, Iago becomes determined to seek his revenge. How so? By manipulation and a bag full of the seeds of doubt, just waiting to be sown.

Women are a very important part of this world although they are sometimes not portrayed that way. One would think they would be seen as significant because of the fact that women make up almost half of the world’s population. Throughout all of history, females have been considered the weaker sex. In the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, women are portrayed as weak minded and unfaithful. The inability to correctly make important life decisions, a weakened mental state, and complete obedience to men all contribute to this point.

The theme of power is presented in the ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Othello’ by Shakespeare using different power dynamics between the main characters in the plays. ‘Othello’, a play written in the early 17th century, in the Elizabethan era shows power using the main characters and their interactions with each other, and ‘The Tempest’, a play written later in the 17th century, in the Jacobean era, does likewise. If you compare the plays, you have the two malcontent characters, Iago from Othello and Prospero from The Tempest. Both of these characters feel wronged and therefore act in revenge and show their power. Moreover, Shakespeare explores what power’s take precedence other each over, the powerlessness of women using Desdemona from Othello and Miranda from The Tempest. and just the general power dynamics such as manipulation.

Othello has suffered less in its modern interpretation than any other of Shakespeare’s tragedies, it would seem. So insistently did Shakespeare keep this tragedy unified about the theme of jealousy and the central victims of the passion, so obviously did he mould his plot about the black Moor and the