William Shakespeare Research Paper
HUM 310
09 March 2013
Essay 1
Shakespeare Dramatic Plays
William Shakespeare was a great writer and is still famous today for his amazing plays. Some of his plays are "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello." One thing that made his plays so famous is that the characters had real problems. His plays were very dramatic and tragic. He didn 't only write plays but he also wrote poems. Although Shakespeare died a long time ago, his plays and poems were so great that they are still famous today.
Shakespeare knew how to make the audience relate to the problems the characters had. He did the same with his poems and like William Hazlitt said "many of them are highly beautiful in themselves and interesting in what they reveal about Shakespeare 's …show more content…
personal thoughts." One reason to why Shakespeare plays were famous is because they were dramatic. People are more interested in reading something that has drama than something that doesn 't. That 's why many reality television shows are very popular today. Real or not, the audience likes to watch shows that have drama because they enjoy watching them argue. It 's more interesting to read a book or watch a show were there are problems than watch a show were everyone is happy all the time. For example there was a lot of drama in the play "Othello." There was drama from beginning to end.
The drama started when Iago went to Desdemona 's house to tell her father that she was getting married.
From that point we knew that he was going to be the antagonist of the play. Some people thought that there were not enough reasons for Iago to hate Othello. But like William Hazlitt said about Shakespeare "He knew that the love of power, which is another name for the love of mischief, is natural to man." There were enough reasons for Iago to hate Othello. He was jealous of all the power that Othello had and he didn 't. That 's why Iago tells Desdemona about her secret marriage. He wants someone else to destroy Othello so that he doesn 't have to do it and to get the power he wants. Then he tells Othello that his wife is cheating on him even though it is not true. He starts to create situations to make Othello believe his lies. That 's when the play gets more dramatic because Iago tells lies after lies and Desdemona actions make Othello believe them. Iago 's plan works great because he has control over all of them. Then they start arguing and the play gets better and better. At the end all the lies are revealed although it 's too …show more content…
late.
The fact that all the people who were involved in the tragedy were at least a little guilty contributed to the drama.
For example Hermann Ulrici says "Though of all who are involved in the tragic catastrophe not one is totally blameless, yet the penalty of their faults appears harsh, not to say cruel." I agree with him because Desdemona was guilty for trying to help Cassio and meeting with him in secret. Emilia was guilty for giving Iago Desdemona 's handkerchief without her permission. Othello was guilty for believing Iago instead of believing his wife because like Newton said "A more persuasive reading is that the play reveals the tragic defeat of the man of noble qualities." Iago is guilty for creating all the lies that cause this tragic ending. This play was very tragic and like Algernon Swinburne said "The fatalism of Othello is as much darker and harder than that of any third among the plays of Shakespeare, as it is less dark and hard than the fatalism of King Lear." The play showed how sometimes the people you trust can betray
you.
It 's important for a play, movie, and television show to have drama. Drama is what makes the story interesting. Plays like "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" were both dramatic and tragic. All of Shakespeare plays had drama and that is one of the reasons for why they were very popular.
Works Cited
Hazlitt, William. "Poems and Sonnets." Characters of Shakespeare 's Plays and
Lectures on the English Poets. William Hazlitt. The Macmillan Company,
1903. 211-215. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Sandra L. Williamson.
Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990. Literature Resource Center. Web.
26 Feb. 2013.
Hazlitt, William. "Othello." Characters of Shakespeare 's Plays and Lectures on the English Poets. William Hazlitt. The Macmillan Company, 1903. 26-38.
Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W. Scott. Vol.4. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1987. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
Newton, K.M. "Othello: Overview." Reference Guide to English Literature. Ed. D.
L. Kirkpatrick. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles. "Third Period: Tragic and Romantic." A Study of
Shakespeare (1880). Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W.
Scott. Vol. 4 Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. Literature Resource Center.
Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
Ulrici, Hermann. "Criticisms of Shakespeare 's Dramas: "Othello." Trans. A.J.W.
Morrison. Shakespeare 's Dramatic Art: And His Relation to Calderon and
Goethe. Hermann Ulrici. Chapman, Bothers, 1846. 183-191. Rpt. in
Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W. Scott. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research,
1987. Literature resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
09 March 2013
Essay 1
Shakespeare Dramatic Plays
William Shakespeare was a great writer and is still famous today for his amazing plays. Some of his plays are "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello." One thing that made his plays so famous is that the characters had real problems. His plays were very dramatic and tragic. He didn 't only write plays but he also wrote poems. Although Shakespeare died a long time ago, his plays and poems were so great that they are still famous today.
Shakespeare knew how to make the audience relate to the problems the characters had. He did the same with his poems and like William Hazlitt said "many of them are highly beautiful in themselves and interesting in what they reveal about Shakespeare 's …show more content…
personal thoughts." One reason to why Shakespeare plays were famous is because they were dramatic. People are more interested in reading something that has drama than something that doesn 't. That 's why many reality television shows are very popular today. Real or not, the audience likes to watch shows that have drama because they enjoy watching them argue. It 's more interesting to read a book or watch a show were there are problems than watch a show were everyone is happy all the time. For example there was a lot of drama in the play "Othello." There was drama from beginning to end.
The drama started when Iago went to Desdemona 's house to tell her father that she was getting married.
From that point we knew that he was going to be the antagonist of the play. Some people thought that there were not enough reasons for Iago to hate Othello. But like William Hazlitt said about Shakespeare "He knew that the love of power, which is another name for the love of mischief, is natural to man." There were enough reasons for Iago to hate Othello. He was jealous of all the power that Othello had and he didn 't. That 's why Iago tells Desdemona about her secret marriage. He wants someone else to destroy Othello so that he doesn 't have to do it and to get the power he wants. Then he tells Othello that his wife is cheating on him even though it is not true. He starts to create situations to make Othello believe his lies. That 's when the play gets more dramatic because Iago tells lies after lies and Desdemona actions make Othello believe them. Iago 's plan works great because he has control over all of them. Then they start arguing and the play gets better and better. At the end all the lies are revealed although it 's too …show more content…
late.
The fact that all the people who were involved in the tragedy were at least a little guilty contributed to the drama.
For example Hermann Ulrici says "Though of all who are involved in the tragic catastrophe not one is totally blameless, yet the penalty of their faults appears harsh, not to say cruel." I agree with him because Desdemona was guilty for trying to help Cassio and meeting with him in secret. Emilia was guilty for giving Iago Desdemona 's handkerchief without her permission. Othello was guilty for believing Iago instead of believing his wife because like Newton said "A more persuasive reading is that the play reveals the tragic defeat of the man of noble qualities." Iago is guilty for creating all the lies that cause this tragic ending. This play was very tragic and like Algernon Swinburne said "The fatalism of Othello is as much darker and harder than that of any third among the plays of Shakespeare, as it is less dark and hard than the fatalism of King Lear." The play showed how sometimes the people you trust can betray
you.
It 's important for a play, movie, and television show to have drama. Drama is what makes the story interesting. Plays like "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" were both dramatic and tragic. All of Shakespeare plays had drama and that is one of the reasons for why they were very popular.
Works Cited
Hazlitt, William. "Poems and Sonnets." Characters of Shakespeare 's Plays and
Lectures on the English Poets. William Hazlitt. The Macmillan Company,
1903. 211-215. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Sandra L. Williamson.
Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990. Literature Resource Center. Web.
26 Feb. 2013.
Hazlitt, William. "Othello." Characters of Shakespeare 's Plays and Lectures on the English Poets. William Hazlitt. The Macmillan Company, 1903. 26-38.
Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W. Scott. Vol.4. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1987. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
Newton, K.M. "Othello: Overview." Reference Guide to English Literature. Ed. D.
L. Kirkpatrick. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles. "Third Period: Tragic and Romantic." A Study of
Shakespeare (1880). Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W.
Scott. Vol. 4 Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. Literature Resource Center.
Web. 6 Mar. 2013.
Ulrici, Hermann. "Criticisms of Shakespeare 's Dramas: "Othello." Trans. A.J.W.
Morrison. Shakespeare 's Dramatic Art: And His Relation to Calderon and
Goethe. Hermann Ulrici. Chapman, Bothers, 1846. 183-191. Rpt. in
Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Mark W. Scott. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research,
1987. Literature resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.