The Seven Ages Of Man By Shakespeare And Demeter Retold By Edith Hamilton

In the dramatic monologue “The Seven Ages of Man” by William Shakespeare and the myth “Demeter” retold by Edith Hamilton. Both works of literatures contain universal themes that each writer displays in a way that readers will interpret differently. In the the monologue the universal theme is the cycle of life and is compared to that of a play. While in the myth it is the strength of the bond between a mother and daughter.

William Shakespeare is the world’s pre-eminent dramatist whose plays range from tragedies to tragic comedies, etc. His general style of writing is often comparable to several of his contemporaries, like Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem, “The tragical history of Romeo and Juliet”. But Shakespeare’s works express a different range of human experience where his characters command the sympathy of audiences and also are complex as well as human in nature. Shakespeare makes the protagonist’s character development central to the plot.

The story of Demeter and Persephone was used by both the Ancient Greeks and Romans to explain the four seasons. During the period when Persephone is with her mother, the sun shines, the sky is blue, and crops grow everywhere (spring and summer). When Persephone is away in the underworld, the earth becomes cold, barren, and lifeless (fall and

Shakespeare’s dramas deal with timeless themes such as e.g. love and hate, life and death, in a fairytale-y way, with a pinch of intricate entanglements, in such a way that makes the classical Greek love triangle seem trite. The language in the 400-year-old text is at once lyrical and hard-hitting, providing with a liveliness that still affects the present day reader. Shakespeare’s significance in the history of literature is invaluable, and his style has influenced authors since the 1600s. Not only has his works been a source of inspiration

As she knelt down to pick a narcissus flower, she fell through a crack in the earth. Naturally, Demeter noticed her daughter's disappearance and flew all over the world searching for the fair maiden over nine days and nine nights. While doing so, she then abandoned her duty of blooming and creating the harvest for the humans. After asking around for her daughter, Demeter was told by the Sun God, Helios, that Hades had taken her. Although she knew where her daughter was, getting to the underworld was a huge obstacle even for a Goddess. Along her journey to find her daughter, Demeter had to avoid her abusive and vengeful brother, Poseidon. and Zeus, being the careless father he was, initially gave Hades the permission to take Persephone for all he wanted. But when the humans were starving from the lack of crops, He intervened the situation by forcing an agreement

Robert Wise once said, “You can’t tell any kind of a story without having some kind of a theme, something to say between the lines.” Modern literature today has its own themes, from the chivalrous romance novels of Nicholas Sparks to the dystopic society portrayed by Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games series. However, how many people stop and think about where these stories and themes come from? Most would answer that the story is a reference to something that happened in the author’s life, and while sometimes this is true, many people would never think back to the beginning of time, or the first findings of literature. Themes have recurred in writing since the epic Gilgamesh was found on clay tablets and translated.

Most of the story is related in the third person by the characters listed here:

The story Demeter gives a hint about how the ancient Greeks viewed the world. It shows how important agriculture was to the ancient Greeks. Demeter, along with Dionysus, were both loved by the humans. Both of these two were Gods of agriculture. As shown by page 51 in the second paragraph, the text proves, “Demeter, in Latin Ceres, the Goddess of the corn, a daughter of Cronus and Rhea; and Dionysus, also called Bacchus, the God of Wine.” In fact, these two were so adored there was a special harvest festival to celebrate them. “The great festival,” as described by the second paragraph on page 52, “in September, came only every five years, but it lasted for nine days. They were most sacred days, when much of the ordinary business of life

Introduction coming of age is a common theme in literature, though different authors address it in different ways. “Quinceanera” and “The Ball Poem” are two such poems dealing with this theme. In “Quinceanera” by Judith Ortez Cofer, a girl deals with the pressures and personal responsibilities that society has put on her. “The Ball Poem” by John Berryman deals with a similar concept of responsibility, but in this poem, the feeling of responsibility is inflicted on the boy by his own loss. Both deal with coming of age through two specific, though unrelated, events.

The two works of literature, I will be connecting will be Voltaire’s Candide of the Enlightenment Era and Tennyson’s “Ulysses” of the Romantic Era. The connection I will convey will be the theme of mortality. In both works, we will see this theme being intertwined within the main idea. I will connect these two works of literature by; identifying mortality in both works of literature, using direct quotes, and giving a literary insight on how Voltaire and Tennyson used mortality to give a deeper meaning to the central idea of the work.

In all literary writings, authors have a basis that sets up their narratives and propels the story forward. Many authors will employ motifs or moods as a means of traveling through the narrative. Without love, lust, and hate the literary and physical world would be very boring. These three are topics can cause controversies and conflicts in life and in literature. In Shakespeare’s

The myth of Persephone explains how the seasons change. In the beginning of the myth Persephone was picking flowers and saw a narcissus and went to pick it and Hades rose from the under road in a golden chariot and took her. Demeter her mother searched for her and went into depression which caused everything to start to die ‘causing fall. Demeter went the other gods and found that Zeus made a deal with Hades to allow Hades marry Persephone. Demeter demanded for Zeus to allow her to see her daughter. He sent a messenger to receive her. He saw that she adapted to the life in the underworld and found her calling. Before she left, Hades gave her the fruit of life because she couldn't return to him if she was pure. Zeus compromised

Abduction of Persephone as coming-of-age The myth of Persephone is one of the oldest of all Greek myths. Her story is a representation of some of the most universal concepts about life and death. In her youth, Persephone symbolizes the powerful bond between a mother and a daughter and the often difficult transition from maidenhood to marriage. Interpreting the story less as a mother’s loss for an abducted child, and more as a teenager’s rebellion for the sake of identity formation, is, by no means, easy, but it is necessary in order for a woman to achieve self-actualization and potentially grow into a mother herself.

So now we know that Demeter is the daughter of Cronos and of Rhea. We also know how winter came to be through the greeks minds. We also know why there is a spring, autumn, winter, and summer. We know of the ups and downs in her journey to find her daughter. And we know that she has gottten her back for two thirds of the year. Altogether she is respectble and should not be messed with when angry. This is the end of my Essay thank you for

The main theme explains and illustrates with examples of universal themes from stories such as, “The Seven Ages of Man,” by William Shakespeare and Demeter retold by Edith Hamilton. The Seven Ages of Man were regarding the coming of age from birth to our death. Equally essential It demonstrated each stage we go through. Complementary to this Demeter is a goddess that undergoes grief from the loss of her daughter. In addition, we observe the way she accommodates to her loss we can comprehend that she can’t withstand the anguish. Nevertheless, these stories represent a universal theme due to the fact we can sympathize with these stories with our lives.