Open Source Shakespeare: search Shakespeare's works, read the texts Deception and dramatic irony in Much Ado About Nothing Although the characters might be fooled by the many deceptions in the play, the audience seems to know better, but Andrea Varney suggests that our role as observers is more complex and uncertain. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare sets up a fairy-tale contrast between two half-brothers – Don Pedro and the illegitimate Don John. As in many plays of this era, the ‘bastard’ is cast as the villain while Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, seems to be the reliable face of authority in Messina. Within this symmetrical structure, we might expect the good Prince to be open and honest, while Don John and his cronies will be duplicitous. However, it soon becomes clear that deception and self-deception, visual and verbal confusion, are rife everywhere in Messina – from Don Pedro’s benevolent schemes to bring two pairs of lovers together, to Don John’s vindictive plots to pull them apart. A ‘plain-dealing villain’ and a disguised prince The masked ball: to ‘know me, and not know me’ ‘Trust no agent’
Enjoying "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare Enjoying "Macbeth", by William Shakespeare by Ed Friedlander, M.D.erf@kcumb.edu This Is NOT "Family Entertainment." Young people who know of Shakespeare from "Shakespeare Gardens" and "Beautiful Tales for Children" may be surprised by what happens in Macbeth. When we first hear of Macbeth, he has just cut an enemy open ("unseamed") from belly button ("nave") to throat ("chops"). The Real Macbeth and His Times Shakespeare got his story from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles. I've read that Holinshed's section on Macbeth was largely derived from the work of one Hector Boece, Scotorum Historiae ("Chronicles of Scotland", 1526-7, translated from Latin into English by a John Bellenden in 1535). It is evidently not online. Here's what we think really happened with Macbeth and the other characters. In a barbaric era, population pressures made war and even the slaughter of one community by another a fact of life. The historical Mrs. Macbeth allied with Thorfinn of Orkney, a Norseman. Mr. Evil?
ENGL 339 Home Page English 339: Introduction to ShakespeareFall, 2013 Site Navigation PREREQUISITES: GE area A (esp. expository writing, e.g. A WRITING-INTENSIVE, G.E. GWR: As a C4 literature class, ENGL 339 may be taken by students wishing to fulfill the Graduate Writing Requirement (GWR). ENGL 339 is designed to introduce both English or Theatre majors and G.E. students to representative plays of all genres by William Shakespeare, perhaps the finest poet ever to write in English. REQUIRED TEXTS: The SIGNET CLASSICS editions of A Midsummer Night's Dream; Henry V; Macbeth; Hamlet; and The Tempest. NOTE: As You Like It has been dropped from the class this quarter due to the necessity of scheduling a video screening of a film available only on VHS during class time. Other required readings will be accessed electronically: Online Readings are found in .HTML files accessible through links on this website and E-reserve readings in the form of .PDF files on "electronic reserve" in PolyLearn.
5 facts about marriage, love, and sex in Shakespeare's England Considering the many love affairs, sexual liaisons, and marriages that occur in Shakespeare’s plays, how many of them accurately represent their real-life counterparts? Genuine romantic entanglements certainly don’t work out as cleanly as the ending of Twelfth Night, where Sebastian and Olivia, Duke Orsino and Viola, and Toby and Maria all wind up as married couples. However, Shakespeare’s imaginary theatrical arrangements frequently collided with significant thoughts and beliefs of 16th-century England, such as a woman’s duty as a wife and the social standing of “bastard” children. In the late 16th century, the legal age for marriage in Stratford was only 14 years for men and 12 years for women. Usually, men would be married between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. Featured Image: Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses by “H.E.” (1569).
Improve Your Pronunciation One of the most important aspects of learning English is pronunciation. Without clear pronunciation, it is difficult to make yourself understood. However, you might be surprised by the following statement: Pronouncing every word correctly leads to poor pronunciation! Good pronunciation comes from stressing the right words - this is because English is a time-stressed language. Difficulty: Hard Time Required: Varies Here's How: Learn the following rules concerning pronunciation. Tips: Remember that non-stressed words and syllables are often 'swallowed' in English.
Shakespeare Navigators Much ado about quite a lot: gender, trickery and double standards in Shakespeare’s play ‘O God, that I were a man!’ cries Beatrice after her cousin, Hero, has been left at the altar on her wedding day. When Beatrice says this, what she means is that she wishes that, as a woman, she were entitled to the attributes that men are not only allowed to have, but are celebrated for. Qualities such as the ability to take personal revenge on men like Claudio, openly defy father-figures like Leonato, or even simply to fall in love with a person of her choosing and for her affection not to be seen as weakness, nor her sexual desires be used as evidence of her inconstant character. Much Ado About Nothing is a bit of a misleading title. From the very first scene, we can see how the play is concerned with male friendship and the practice of bonding through ‘banter’. For men like Benedick, Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato, humour like this acts as both a weapon and a shield. If Much Ado gives us male bonding, it also gives us female solidarity.
Newspaper Headlines for English Learners Take a look at any newspaper or magazine headline and you are likely to find incomplete sentences full of action packed verbs. Headlines live in a linguistic bubble all by themselves because they ignore grammar conventions such as the use of helping verbs and so on. Of course, this means that newspaper headlines can be confusing to students. This is because newspaper headlines are often incomplete. Difficult Times Ahead Under Pressure from Boss Mustang Referral Customer Complaint This lesson focuses on helping make sense of the strange forms used in newspaper headlines. Aim: Understanding newspaper headlines Activity: "Translating" newspaper headlines into more understandable English Level: Intermediate to higher levels Outline: Find some headlines in old newspapers or on the Internet and cut them out. Newspaper Headlines Worksheet 1. Categories Newspaper Headlines 2.
Absolute Shakespeare - plays, quotes, summaries, essays...