Shakespeare?s 10 things Essay -- essays research papers

1. Betrayal and retaliate 2. Metaphors of death- fairy Lear, merchandiser of Venice, Othello 3. Humor- A Midsummer darknesss Dream, As You Like It 4. Pastoral settings- eelpout Lear, A midnight Summers Dream 5. Madness and insanity- Othello, Midnight Summer?s Dream, King Lear 6. Reversal- the of import character falls from a high place 7. Letters- King Lear, merchant of Venice 8. Things are not as they appear- King Lear, merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night?s Dream 9. The Father/Daughter Conflict-Midsummer, King Lear, Merchant of Venice 10. Justice- King Lear, Merchant of VeniceThe Father/Daughter Conflict- In Midnight Summers Dream, Egeus commands Hermia, his daughter, to wed Demetrius, whom she does not love. Against the advisement of the Duke Theseus, who recommends that, To you your father should be as a god", (Act I, Scene I, border 48). Hermia wishes to unite Lysander. Egeus threatens his daughter with the penalty of death or exile. In The Merchant of Venice, usure r?s daughter, Jessica, denies her faith and steals from her father in order to marry Lorenzo, a man of whom she is unequally yoked. In King Lear, the title character, swayer of Britain, attempts to divide his kingdom according to the profession of love by his iii daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Goneril and Regan profess undying love choosing the most melodic words, while Cordelia is unarticulate at the task, stating..........Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave .....................My heart into my mouth I love your majesty .....................According to my bond nor more nor less. (Lines 93-95) King Lear becomes angry with Cordelia and banishes her. The different daughters begin to treat him viciously, Goneril slapping him at one point. Letters- Shakespeare uses letters as characters in the plays that serve to tie key factors together for cohesion and clarity. In the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare uses a letter from Antonio to bring the culmination of characters to a hea d at the end of the play, setting the stage for the courtroom scene. Antonio writes, "my ships have all miscarried"(314) He tells his friend of his troubles and beckons him to come see him one last time as he ultimately experiences his life for his friend?s debt. If Bassanio does not go to the court proceedings, then his wife Portia has no cause to be in the court scene, which leads to A... ...ia?s life without her father would have been an unhappy one. She reflects in the first scene that it is this love and attachment that kept her celibate for so long. With the newly revived relationship and her father?s final exam acknowledgment of Cordelia, she would not have been able to bear losing him again in the event of his demise. Although the image of Lear holding Cordelia seems horrific, it is actually quite pleasant to see that final image of him cradling Cordelia as a father would a beloved daughter. Shylock?s ill deeds do not go unpunished in The Merchant of Venice. The c limactic courtroom scene where Portia tricks the Jew into submission give credence to Shakespeare?s theme of arbitrator throughout each play. As the audience stomachs through each act, watching Shylock?s moods pause from rage to self pity and eventually to the brink of lunacy, they anticipate justice being served to the ill-famed character. The fact that Shakespeare uses a woman to mastermind and in effect hand over the sentence, cemented by the male judge, is another vocalism of justice being served in that Jessica, Shylock?s daughter, was unable to back up to her father and speak against his will.