Knave of Hearts

Analyses of Race and Gender Issues in Othello         The discussion of race in Shakespeare's Othello has received a great deal of critical attention. Virginia Mason Vaughn, in her book Othello: A Contextual History, surveys this critical history, beginning with Marvin Rosenberg's 1961 book The Masks of Othello (a book documenting the nineteenth-century tendency toward representing Othello as light-skinned), and continuing through to Jack D'Amico's 1991 book The Moor in English Renaissance

King Lear: Lear The Tragic Hero The definition of tragedy in the Oxford dictionary is, "drama of elevated theme and diction and with unhappy ending; sad event, serious accident, calamity." However, the application of this terminology in Shakespearean Tragedy is more expressive. Tragedy does not only mean death or calamity, but in fact, it refers to a series of steps which leads to the downfall of the tragic hero and eventually to his tragic death. Lear, the main character in King Lear was affirmed

He is uncomfortable feeling common in front of Estella and takes out his frustration on Joe, the one who brought him up to be common. “I determined to ask Joe why he had ever taught me to call those picture-cards, Jacks, which ought to be called knaves. I wished

Humanity in Othello: The Reason It is Still Worth Studying Dr. David Allen White of the US Naval Academy asserts that "we are all Iago now" (White 2000). The claim may seem outlandish at first. Modern man representative of Shakespeare's greatest arch-villain? How could one even suggest such a thing? White's argument is followed by a series of points, each of which is aimed to help his audience realize that the character they most readily identify with is not Othello (the tragic hero of the drama)

that we meet the character Estella in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is when Pip goes to Miss Havisham’s to play with her. The two kids play the game beggar my neighbor when Estella decides to express her opinion on Pip’s looks. “ ‘He calls the knaves jacks, this boy!’ said Estella with disdain, before our first game was out. ‘And what course hands he has! And what thick boots!’ “ (Dickens 34). Estella looks down on Pip as he is, a common boy unlike her. She feels superior, and thinks that she

off on the four-mile walk to our forge; pondering, as I went along, on all I had seen, and deeply revolving that I was a common labouring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick; that I had fallen into a despicable habit of calling knaves Jacks; that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night, and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way. (IX, Page 59) Pip reflects that, although at one point in his life, he had accepted who he was, and what he was destined

rich and gives to the poor. He lives a carefree life as someone who knows that the battle is already won, and so laughs as he swings his staff blissfully antagonizing his enemies. “Now the Sheriff of Nottingham swore that he himself would bring this knave Robin Hood to justice, and for two reasons: first, because he wanted the two hundred pounds, and next, because the forester that Robin Hood had killed was of kin to him” (Pyle 11-12). The Sheriff of Nottingham is one of Robin Hood’s worst enemies.

Initially, we perceived Magwitch as this terrifyingly intimidating character when he demanded that Pip bring himself some widdles and a file. “You fail, or you go from my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, and your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted, and ate” (Dickens 4). This fear and shock to Pip and the reader set the first impression of the novel and of Magwitch. Many years later, Pip receives a large wealth from an anonymous benefactor that reveals

treacherous corruption that all humans are capable of. Likewise, the labels of foolishness and wisdom that are placed on characters are a false recognition of identity because of the misconception of what it means to be wise and noble or to be a foolish knave at the base of society. King Lear thinks of himself as wise at first, but ironically his fool proves to be wisest and claims that Lear’s actions regarding his daughters have only confirmed his folly. This makes Lear a clear example of what it means

The death of a father is tragic, but tragedy turns into pure evil when the death is at the hand of a brother. Anger is the most powerful emotion one can act upon. It can decide what your future will look like. It possesses a mind of its own.One feels powerless when overcome by anger because he or she simply cannot get rid of it. It is as if nothing can rid the mind of it.This is what came over Claudius on a fateful day in a king’s orchard before he took the life of a beloved leader and brother when