The Merchant Of Venice, Antony And Cleopatra, And Dr Faustus

The Bible teaches love, compassion and generosity. Niccolo Machiavelli found the Bible’s lessons idealistic and unrealistic for leaders. Machiavelli wrote his book, The Prince, to show the ruling Meddici family that the world is not a fairy tale. Prior to Machiavelli writing The Prince, the majority of books depicted people as virtuous and ethical. However, The Prince is not the only work of literature that manifests Machiavellian techniques. William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar utilizes similar methods. As shown in Julius Caesar and The Prince, a leader who follows Machiavelli’s advice will accomplish their goals; if the leader does not adhere to Machiavelli’s recommendations, then the leader will not fulfill his aspiration.

The characters in the novels Romeo and Juliet, The Odyssey, and Persepolis all have one thing in common, fighting for people they love. Whether it is a family member or a lover, each character plays a role in doing anything they can to stay faithful. The heroes in each novel earned my respect because they stood strong in the face of adversity and fought for who they loved. In Romeo and Juliet, the star crossed lovers did everything they thought of to stay together. These two characters chose death over departure, thinking they would still be with one another in heaven if suicide needed to be attempted.

Being noble and honorable go hand-in-hand because of their similar connotations: respect given to someone who is admired for their good reputation, high moral standards, courage and honesty. Many characters showed such traits in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare and Antigone by Sophocles (for example, Brutus being known as an "honorable man" even by his enemies), but of all the characters in both plays, Antigone's and Antony's acts of nobility are most prominent. While both Antigone and Antony exhibited noble characteristics, Antigone demonstrated the most honorable character due to her good intentions and integrity.

1. How can an understanding of the complexities of culture help us make sense of the day-to-day world which we live? Give an example from your life to illustrate your answer.

Self-interest forms the basis of every relationship, whether it is related to friendship, marriage or trade. Although human beings ostensibly love and care for each other, in reality they expect some sort of benefit from every relationship. Both William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller depict the role of self-interest in human relationships in their literary works: The Merchant of Venice and The Crucible respectively. They emphasize this thesis through examples of love, friendship, power and Christianity.

Along the crowded streets of Philadelphia the cars rush by and people are always in a hurry, but the poverty of the people that live in the neighborhoods can never be hidden. The name, the City of Brotherly Love, is almost ironic as crime and hate fill the streets of the city. There is a division between the people that can not be hidden, but only exaggerated by people’s interactions. This is the setting in which the Shakespearian play “Othello” will be interpreted. This modernization of this classic tragedy will be more appealing to the youth of today, who will be able to relate more to the characters and the setting of the play. The changes to the plot and the language of the play are minimal, but the changes to the setting

Nationalism is the idea that one’syour country is superior to better than all the other countries. Being an imperialist country with this idea, a personyou could theoretically take any land where they have the necessary resources to further advance an industrial revolution. By Europe being under the influence of:; imperialism, nationalism and thea Iindustrial Rrevolution, they went to countries where Europeans consider themselves more civilized, and exploited those places for their raw materials. This plays a major part in history because Europe went to Africa for rubber, and slaves, treating the people as less than human. “But what made imperialism so broadly popular in Europe, especially in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, was the growth of mass nationalism. By 1871, the unification of of Italy and Germany made Europe’s already competitive international relations even more so.” (882) This implies that because Europeans

As a kid grows up, he or she develops core values and morals or ethics. These two things are often influenced by the values of parents and friends as well as the law. Core values represent what a person holds the highest and what he or she believes in. A person’s morals determine what he or she thinks is right or wrong. Together, core values and morals shape how people live their lives. It translates into everything that a person does, says, and writes. This allows people to read a book and depict what the author’s core values and morals are. So by analyzing Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s core values and moral will shine through. Although there are many characters in Julius Caesar that are vastly different in nature, the way in which Shakespeare highlights any individual points to what he stands for.

Coupled with the pervious functions, the opening scenes also encompass the themes that circulate around the whole play. Confrontations, publicity and deaths in the play are foreshadowing in the first act. As Philo mentioned that “sometimes he is not Anthony” (1.1.59) and he has a “great(er) property,” (1.1.61) entails the double personality of the split characters of Anthony. With this illustrate the conflict within Anthon, the dilemma of maintaining duty and enjoying love, revealing the theme of choice. The “choice between clinging to this woman and pursing Roman war” (Rosenberg, 2006) is complicated.

Malcolm X once said, “the thing to me that is worse than death is betrayal. You see, I could conceive death, but I could not conceive betrayal” (Little and Haley 352). In this profound statement, the charismatic civil rights activist echoed literary titans and innovators throughout the ages in their understanding that betrayal, the brutal desecration of a sacred trust, often has greater effects even than death itself. Such talented literary figures, such as William Shakespeare, recognized that a betrayal, especially that of a friend by a friend, constitutes one of the basest and darkest deeds of which humans are capable. Shakespeare was so intrigued by this concept that he instilled it in some of his greatest literary works. Although William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar provides a largely accurate and incredibly detailed record of the assassination of its namesake, the play is regarded not as one of the Bard’s histories, but as one of his greatest tragedies. Shakespeare’s poignant lyrical interpretation of the fall of Julius Caesar is defined without a doubt as a tragedy by the sorrowful nature of the development, execution, and aftermath of Marcus Brutus’ betrayal of Julius Caesar.

Every character in Julius Caesar serves a purpose. While some characters are not featured heavily in the main plot, they serve as a means by which the author can illuminate aspects of the main characters, which are important to the plot development and overall depth of the story. Some of the more prominent characters that do this are Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife; Portia, Brutus’ wife; and Lucius, Brutus’ young servant. Lucius highlights Brutus’ affectionate side, Portia illuminates the issues growing in Brutus’ personal life and Calpurnia brings out Caesar’s pride.

The Renaissance was a time in which mankind was rediscovering itself. For ages, men were simply trying to exist, survive more than anything else. The Renaissance was a period in which men no longer had to just get by everyday, but could begin exploring morality. No other Renaissance author characterizes this more than William Shakespeare in the early 1600s. His plays highlight the internal moral struggle that every man goes through, the concept of what is right and what is wrong in a world that is full of gray areas. More specifically he deals with the concept of honor and morality in several of his plays. Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Henry V, to a lesser extent, deal with how men handle these and can reconcile otherwise heinous acts. Now, being well aware that Shakespeare does not account for all the Renaissance writers, however his are the most prevalent still today and it can be argued that Shakespeare did not work alone. For the sake of organization, it is far easier to tackle these literary works in chronological order and analyze the individual pieces first and then view them all as one whole.

Othello is one of the greatest plays due to its variety of character and themes. The immorality seen in Iago, the gullibility in Othello, and the desperation of Desdemona make the story. The theme of social status plays a huge role in the story. In addition, the theme of appearance versus reality also plays a huge role in how each tragedy happens. In the critical essay “Othello” it discusses the idea that the characters are cast as outsiders due to false interpretation of what is happening or what is being said. On the other hand, the piece “Othello Character Analysis” emphasizes how characterization reflects the greatness of the piece.

Julius Caesar was a crucial political figure that saw the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman empire. Through political strategy and military feats, Caesar seized significant power and influence over Roman politics and eventually declared himself a “dictator in perpetuity”. He centralized the government, passed social and bureaucratic reform, and even created the Julian calendar. However, he was soon assassinated by senators led by Marcus Brutus who stabbed him to death, after which the empire underwent several civil wars. His death is considered by historians as a watershed in Roman history, and one of the most influential assassinations in history. In Shakespeare 's play Julius Caesar, Caesar 's death was preceded by numerous omens: a severe thunderstorm, a bird of night screaming in a marketplace, and even a lion walking through the streets.

One-third of Shakespeare’s oeuvre takes place in antiquity, and more still makes reference to the personages imagined in Greco-Roman mythology (Baumbach, 77). Upon even modest perusal of Shakespeare’s plays, one can find, notwithstanding poet laureate Ben Jonson’s imputation towards William’s “small Latine and lesse Greeke”, that Shakespeare had more than a trivial acquaintance with classical dramas and histories. Whether Shakespeare knew enough of Latin and Greek to inquire directly into the pieces or resorted rather to the translations made available within his time, or even, presuming the former, utilized his own translations of Ovid, Quintilian, Sappho, Plutarch, Horace, Virgil et al., remains moot. Still, the historicity of accounts generated by scholars or even those purported to have existed in the bard’s day quite often comes into question, and all that ever stands to analyze are Shakespeare’s works. We see in them a reference to myths such that they become something more than the objects contained therein: a mode of signification altogether. For Shakespeare, the myths are become the literary vehicle, a means to engage more intimately with the psyche of his characters. Especially in The Merchant of Venice, classical allusion unveils the underlying motives of characters - it is the way in which Portia can illustrate her wit and hunt of the suitors, the Prince of Morocco his failed conquest of Portia, Bassanio his successful procurement of Portia, and Jessica her