A Look at Motifts in Shakespeare's Plays

Shakespeare has Witten many plays whether comedy, tragedy, or history. Over the years he has utilized motifs such as violence, trickery and evilness to bring across the effectiveness of his plays. This is evident in a number of his plays which will be discussed in this essay.

Within the play Much ado about Nothing, a comedy by Shakespeare all the motifs are displayed. This play was based on trickery which was very evident in Beatrice and Benedick falling in love. Claudio, Don Pedro, Leonato and Antonio along with the women Hero, Margaret and Ursula conspire to play cupid and make Beatrice and Benedick fall deeply in love with each other. They both disliked each other and wanted nothing to do with marriage but with a hint of betrayal stating that they were in love with each other; they eventually fall in love. The betrayal of Benedick and Beatrice was one that turned out to have a happy end. There was also violence and evilness where Don John’s plan of lies and treachery played out well for on the day of the wedding Claudio did not marry Hero but in fact put her to public shame. The play turns out to be a happy ending but the main plot is based on violence, trickery and evilness.

In Merchant of Venice, the main character Antonio is the victim of trickery where he enters into a contract with Shylock a Jew that stated he would lend him ducats but if he is unable to repay one pound of flesh is to be cut from his heart. Antonio’s ships were wrecked and sea and was unable to repay his debt thus had to be held to his bond. Then there was the violence in which Antonio a Christian displayed to shylock a Jew. The play ends well with Antonio escaping with his life and his friend Bassanio wedding Portia.

Within the tragedies written by Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet was studied and examined. The play starts with a feud between two families The Montagues and the Capulets. Upon an agreement they decided to end the feud. The two (Romeo and Juliet) fell in love but it action continues and the violence arise with the fight between Tybalt and Romeo. Tybalt dies and the feud begins again this result in Romeo being banished. Trickery comes into play when Juliet goes to the friar for assistance. He gives her a sleeping portion to make her seem dead this results in Romeo finding her like this and ends up killing himself.

Betrayal 2 & Misunderstanding

I misunderstood the situation and overreacted when i shouldn't have.

Ambiguity falls in to play in my mishap this was not in essence betrayal but a simple misunderstanding. In my second issue with trust I felt betrayed by my friend.

I was skipping class and happened to end up by the bio labs to overhear my friend discussing me with another friend. I was not in time to listen to the entire converaation but "I heard my name." The way I am is to confront every with an open mind. I walked over and every one looked amazed. Asking me if i don't have a class. I answered whatever, and asked "Why i wasn't invited to this meeting?" Oh the only reply i got was it was nothing. I felt betrayed and jus wanted to cuss them all out, but it was not the time or place for such an act. Anger built inside me i wanted to just kick my friend for being such as Bumb chick and talking to those backstabbers. I controled my anger, such a shock made me want to do something to get my mind off it thus I went to class.

I pulled my friend aside the follwing day to ask her why would she do such a thing but she told me, she was defending my name not rediculing me. The other girls were talking me off but she was trying to defend me. I have a very don't care attitude so i asked the other chicks if they had something to say to me but they tried an intervention oh they cared about my well being. All i wanna know if my friend said something or not. Comming to find out my friend was truly defending me and being a good friend.

William Shakespare

William Shakespeare

A renowned and prestigious English poet and play writer born in the year of 1564, the exact date of his birth is unknown. William was born in Stratford-upon-Avon to John Shakespeare a successful Glover and alderman who was originally from Snitterfield and his mother was Mary Arden the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. In his earlier life William attended the King's New School in Stratford, a free school chartered in 1553, about a quarter-mile from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but the curriculum was dictated by law throughout England, and the school would have provided an intensive education in Latin grammar and the classics.

At the age of eighteen William Shakespeare married a twenty-six year old woman by the name of Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage license on the 27^th November 1582. Six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11.

After the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592, and the years between 1585 and 1592 are referred to as Shakespeare's "lost years.” Several of his work of art was in London Theater by 1592.

The Elizabethan era was a great time for England; this was the time of Queen Elizabeth reign known as the golden age when literary work was flourishing and the work of William Shakespeare rose. During this time plays and other theatrical work broke free of England's past style of plays and theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad. During this period the opening of the Globe theater a famous theater that was established by William Shakespeare. In this period Religion, Education and the Arts rose to a high standard which was great for England.
In addition to this Shakespeare has created many wonderful works of art which range from

TRAGEDY	HISTORY	COMEDY	POETRY
Antony and Cleopatra	King Henry IV Part 1	All's Well That Ends Well	A Lover's Complaint
Coriolanus	King Henry IV Part 2	Comedy of Errors	Sonnets 1-30
Hamlet	King Henry V	Cymbeline	Sonnets 3 1-60
Julius Caesar	King Henry VI Part 1	Love's Labour's Lost	Sonnets 61-90
King Lear	King Henry VI Part 2	Measure for Measure	Sonnets 91-120
Macbeth	King Henry VI Part 3	Merchant of Venice	Sonnets 121-154
Othello	King Henry VIII	Merry Wives of Windsor	The Passionate Pilgrim
Romeo and Juliet	King John	Midsummer Night's Dream	The Phoenix and The turtle
Timon of Athens	Richard II	Much Ado About Nothing	The Rape of Lucrece
Titus Andronicus	Richard III	Pericles, Prince of Tyre	Venus and Adonis
		Taming of the Shrew
		Tempest
		Troilus and Cressida
		Twelfth Night
		Two Gentlemen of Verona
		Winter's Tale

William has created the path for other influencial writing in plays and literature. his work is renound and has made its mark on the Earth.Shakespare can be seen as the best writer since in his years of writing most of his pieces are of great prestige and carry the art of literature.

The Elizabethan Theater

Elizabethan Theater

English Renaissance Theatre is sometimes called "Elizabethan theatre." The term "Elizabethan theatre", however, properly covers only the plays written and performed publicly in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603). As such, "Elizabethan theatre" is distinguished from Jacobean theatre (associated with the reign of King James I, 1603–1625), and Caroline theatre (associated with King Charles I, 1625 until the closure of the theatres in 1642). "English Renaissance theatre" or "early modern theatre" refers to all three sub-classifications taken together. Most famous plays were written and performed during the Elizabethan era

Renaissance theatre derived from medieval theatre traditions, such as the mystery plays that formed a part of religious festivals in England and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. The mystery plays were complex retellings of legends based on biblical themes, originally performed in Cathedrals, but later becoming more linked to the secular celebrations that grew up around religious festivals. Other sources include the morality plays and the "University drama" that attempted to recreate Greek tragedy. The Italian tradition of commedia dell'arte as well as the elaborate masques frequently presented at court also contributed to the shaping of public theatre.
Companies of players attached to households of leading noblemen and performing seasonally in various locations existed before the reign of Elizabeth I. These became the foundation for the professional players that performed on the Elizabethan stage. The tours of these players gradually replaced the performances of the mystery and morality plays by local players, and a 1572 law eliminated the remaining companies lacking formal patronage by labeling them vagabonds. The performance of masques at court by courtiers and other amateurs came to be replaced by the professional companies with noble patrons, who grew in number and quality during Elizabeth's reign.
The City of London authorities were generally hostile to public performances, but its hostility was overmatched by the Queen's taste for plays and the Privy Council's support. Theatres sprang up in suburbs, especially in the liberty of Southwark, accessible across the Thames to city dwellers, but beyond the authority's control. The companies maintained the pretence that their public performances were mere rehearsals for the frequent performances before the Queen, but while the latter did grant prestige, the former were the real source of the income professional players required.
Along with the economics of the profession, the character of the drama changed toward the end of the period. Under Elizabeth, the drama was a unified expression as far as social class was concerned: the Court watched the same plays the commoners saw in the public playhouses. With the development of the private theatres, drama became more oriented toward the tastes and values of an upper-class audience. By the later part of the reign of Charles I, few new plays were being written for the public theatres, which sustained themselves on the accumulated works of the previous decades

Some actors from the Elizabethan Era.

William Allen

Edward Alleyn

Robert Armin

Richard Baxter

Christopher Beeston

Robert Benfield

Theophilus Bird

Michael Bowyer

Robert Browne (Elizabethan actor)

The Globe Theatre was mainly associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.  A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642.
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet (230 m) from the site of the original theatre is now in full swing.

 

Winters Tale by William Shakespeare

Question: Look at the background of the text Winter's Tale. What is going on historically in the era that the book is written in.

The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies other have deemed it romantic.

Shakespeare wrote The Winter's Tale in late 1610 or early 1611. The play's first known performance was at the Globe Theatre on May 15, 1611. The actual date is unknown.What most critics do agree upon is that the style and themes of The Winter's Tale clearly link the play to Shakespeare's other late romances. They conclude that The Winter's Tale is therefore a product of Shakespeare's final period of play writing and that the play was most likely composed after Cymbeline, which is believed to have been written in 1609-10. Due to the surrounding circumstances within the play critics have concluded the era it was written.

The Winter's Tale most distinctive feature is the sixteen-year gap between the third and fourth acts. It was as though Shakespare was trying to encompass the renaissance in his play writing.

Little is known about the reactions of seventeenth-century audiences and critics to The Winter's Tale. Simon Forman wrote the first known account of the play in the form of a journal entry in which he summarizes the play's plot. The play was written during the Elizabethan era which was a golden age in England. William Shakespeare’s writing was at its peak and so was literature and fine arts in England. During the era the book was written England’s culture which includes fine arts and entertainment. The reconstruction of the globe theater also gave rise to popular entertainment. Even though during this period King James regined England the Elizabethian era was very much alive and still thriving.

Critical commentary center on the play's combination of tragic, comic, and pastoral elements; on the debate between art and nature in the play; and on the dramatic effect and meaning of Hermione's restoration.  According to some critics the pastoral and comic elements of the play help to alleviate the tragic aspects; others argue that the pastoral elements are dark and disturbing in many ways. Two scenes in the play focus specifically on the art versus nature controversy: Act IV, scene iv, in which Polixenes and Perdita discuss the merits of cross breeding or grafting in flowers; and Act V, scene iii, where the "statue" of Hermione is revealed to be Hermione herself. These scenes are either read as evidence that Shakespeare was arguing that art is nature or, alternatively, that art is necessary to "mend" or perfect nature. In the last scene of the play, Paulina presents Hermione's statue and commands her to "descend" and reveal herself. Some commentators view this scene and the fact that Hermione has concealed herself for sixteen years as highly unlikely. They assert that Hermione's restoration was a cheap stage trick, designed to delight the audience but possessing little literary value. Others stress that Hermione's concealment is entirely justified and that her restoration at the play's end is moving and significant.

Betrayal

Question: Have you ever been betrayed? Give an example and how did you feel?

Betrayal is an act that cannot be measure, at one point in life I was betrayed by someone I love dearly. After placing your trust in someone and then having that person throwing it in your face is a very awful feeling.

My favorite subject in school was History.  In history class I enjoyed arguing slavery, colonialism, and indentureship which are very evident in our Caribbean History. With this love for history my teacher drew a lot of attention towards me. We both loved history, enjoyed reading novels by the same authors and loved cooking. We had things in common and this created some sort of bond between us. We would exchange novels and other things. We had an understanding but it was just a good teacher student relationship. We don’t act like friends, and professionalism is at its best between us. I liked her she liked me, she was one of the few teachers who made learning and reading fun. At times it felt like punishment especially when we had to do US in the Caribbean.

The note taking was torture and the two minute breaks we had between every three pages of notes became a ritual. We had fun and in the end  "cxc" it benefited us greatly and I thank her for it.

The challenge then arose where we had to do our SBA (School Based Assessment). We were all given a general topic that we had to discuss. We were given a good time period in which we could do research and complete the task. After completing the assignment and it was presented to mark we got back the verdict on how we did. After telling everyone their grades it so happens that I ended up with the best grade in the class. Everyone else had a grade i assumed was not so good because we were told to redo. I passed and i still had to redo. (Pissed as hell but who can argue with the one marking your SBA)
One of my friends asked me if she can read my SBA to get pointers to make hers better. Me as a bumb fool said its my friend she would not copy (" Taught She Was Bright" ). In the end using my SBA she got a higher grade than me and used this to get closer to my "so called" favorite teacher.
From here on she was now borrowing books from my teacher and other stuff i felt that both my friend and my teacher betrayed me.
All in all she was not my friend and my teacher was not who i thought.