William Shakespeare's As You Like It As a Study of Perception and Misperception

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

The rendering of light and darkness associate perfectly with the play’s emphasis on the contrasts between love and hate, passion and death. The direct comparisons of similes and metaphors do not remain exclusive as Shalespeare begins to incorporate the hidden utilization of clever puns within his masterpiece.

Shakespeare utilizes this notion, assumed by various characters, to express the duality under which they live. From the beginning of the play, Shakespeare uses the idea of what is real, juxtaposed with what is deceiving to create an air of uncertainty and bewilderment. The paradox spoken by the witches, 'Fair is foul and foul is fair,' highlights the confusion present and serves as an admonition (caution?) for Macbeth. Shakespeare delves into the idea that deceit and duplicity indicates that appearances ought not to be relied on. Macbeth's over-ambitious, tyrannical character is intentionally contrasted with his initial appearance, as the play

This tone of confusion foregrounds the pervading uncertainty, ambiguity and scepticism the characters encounter in the political turmoil of Denmark. This beginning of the play reflects the anxieties of the late Elizabethan age wherein monarchical succession was uncertain,  and competing political ideologies created an environment of suspicion. The mood of uncertainty  within the text, emphasized through Hamlet’s riddling letter to Ophelia, in which he alludes to some of the central scientific arguments of the day ,  : 'Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love' . These poetic images serve to illustrate, through inversion, that indeed those ideas most firmly believed in medieval Europe had in fact been exposed as inaccurate scientific truths. This challenges audiences to recognise. Both within the play and the context, that assumed values were no longer reliable. The continuing evocation of a climate of uncertainty and scepticism within the narrative ironically reinforced through Hamlet’s own decision to adopt an “antic disposition”, and his deliberate action to deceive others serves to reinforce the audience's recognition of the uncertainty of characters. His deliberate manipulation of uncertainty in others acts to amplify the mood of scepticism within the play ironically

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.

on in the text. Examples of this are strewn about the book and are expressed through most characters. Arden, the unknown

In the play King Lear, the two characters Gloucester and King Lear, both run on very parallel paths. the turning point in the play where the reader starts to feel sorry for them is as soon as things start to go bad for them. Early in the play, Lear makes bad decisions on which daughters to give his land and power to, while Gloucester is making Edmund feel bad for being a bastard. Their decisions blow up in their faces and the reader starts to feel bad for them. King Lear is driven to madness and Gloucester has his eyes gouged out and want to kill himself. The impressions on both of these characters change throughout the course of the play in the same way.

Perception is important in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing as well as in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Although the writers come from different time periods, they share ideas on the concept of deception. Shakespeare was writing to audiences who lived in the Elizabethan time where nobility and social classes were important. In fact, “During Shakespeare’s time there were only about 55 noble families in England (Elizabethan). Appearances were important to his audiences in social society. During the Gawain poet’s time period of Arthurian Romances and stories of chivalry, appearances were equally important in society. The concept of deception has been around since Adam and Eve, and in most instances, it is seen as negative and often harmful. Both authors produce characters who have problems perceiving reality from appearances and in many instances are deceived by appearances. Shakespeare and the Gawain Poet both use trickery and deception as a plot device to create conflict in both works and promote the theme of appearance versus reality. Uniquely, both authors use deception to better the main characters by the end of the works and at the same time, the deception allows the reader to consider moral choices.

In much of literature there exists the juxtaposition of the natural world vs. the unnatural. Human’s effect on nature and how it, in turn, influences us, is a crucial theme in many classic works. In Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, the initial setting is in the court, however, the characters are soon introduced to the Forest of Ardenne where the “magic” and the differences of the natural world are clear. Shakespeare uses this juxtaposition of settings to contrast the values of each environment and create resolution for all characters at the end of the play.

William Shakespeare lived and wrote over 400 years ago, but his wonderful plays continue to entertain and influence the audiences of the Twenty-First Century. Despite the outdated content and language of his works, Shakespeare’s plays remain popular with modern readers and play watchers for another reason. In all of his works, including William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, he uses countless literary devices and techniques to affect the mood of the audience and enhance their enjoyment. He utilizes puns and juxtaposition to create a comical or light hearted mood. He also uses dramatic irony and oxymorons for a dramatic or serious mood. Although Shakespeare’s work does not include modern language or modern situations, the literary devices that he uses work to keep an audience of any time feeling involved

my opinion Shakespeare uses the play to show the hypocrisy of the status quo that

48) without the ability to look beyond what he sees. The notion of fantasy versus reality is not limited only to the fairies, however; Shakespeare makes his audience aware of supernatural elements in other characters as well by his use of different styles of verse. Furthermore, by comparing the play-within-a-play, and the royals’ response to it, to the larger narrative, Shakespeare gives further warning against literalising the effects of the play. Metaphor pervades the play and the play should likewise be read as metaphor.

    In King Lear, the recurring images of sight and blindness associated with the characters of Lear and Gloucester illustrate the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that exist in the play.

The Theme of Appearance vs. Reality in William Shakespeare's Works Characters within one of William Shakespeare's greatest tragic plays,

In Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale”, we see a jealous king convinced he is search of the truth. He will expose his wife and her alleged philandering, but his determination to prove this actually changes this search from one for truth to one for myths—creations, false truths. In essence. Leontes runs into the conflict of defining art versus nature, where art is the view of the world he constructs to prove his paranoia true. Nature itself can exist without art, but the art here is the mangled perception through which Leontes will seek to define Nature. In summation, “The Winter’s Tale” investigates the conflict between art and nature—creation versus enhancement—and seeks to find out if