Ian McKellen Essays

Tragic heroes always suffer from a tragic flaw in their character. Whether it be the refusal of help or unwavering pride, that tragic flaw always brings about the character’s downfall. In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, readers witness the deterioration of both Scotland and its unjust leader. While the witches and Macbeth himself hold some responsibility for Macbeth’s downfall, Lady Macbeth holds the majority of the blame. At the beginning of the play, three witches make a plan

MOBY DICK AND SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY Moby Dick is a revenge tale about the revengeful quest of a wounded man for the powerful force of nature; Moby Dick; and the perishing memories of the questors and the wounded questor into the deep perils of the sea, who engulfs all; leaving one as the sole survivor and witness to unveil and unfold the awful revenge tragedy of stubbornness that outlived the American imagination. Richard Chase in his book describes Moby dick as “the most startling and characteristic

In act four, Lear is finally able to reunite with Cordelia and expresses his new self in humbleness symbolizing repentance. When Cordelia addresses Lear as “royal lord" since the last time she has came in front of him, it is clear that she refers to Lear with the respect that he deserves as a king, as well with the admiration she still holds for her father. In comparison to Goneril’s and Regan’s formal “my lord”, it is evident that they do not display the same love and respect that Cordelia has

King Lear, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, describes the betrayal and deceit within two families in turmoil. Lear, the elderly king of Britain, decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based upon their filial love. Immediately Lear’s two eldest children proclaim their affection. However, Cordelia, the youngest and most sincere, explains that words cannot express her love, so she will not even try. Angered by her response, Lear banishes her, and his elder daughters, Regan

Shakespeare’s King Lear is an emotional and bizarre play witch tells a moving story about the unfortunate decisions which are made by two fathers whose choices run close to each other as the play unfolds. While the main plot is about France and England at war and mainly involves King Lear’s family, the main theme which reoccurs multiple times throughout the play is blindness and is portrayed most evidently by both Gloucester and Lear. In Lear's case, two of his daughters, Regan and Goneril fool him

Insight through Blindness in King Lear Throughout Shakespeare's play write King Lear the constant theme of intellectual blindness reveals moral understanding. King Lear and Gloucester both have uncertainties that derive their moral understanding and relationships with those around them. King Lear shows a descent into blindness from the very beginning. This is shown in the first scene when he banishes Cordelia and Kent. His frustration and ego blind him from seeing Goneril and Regan’s dishonest intentions

The play “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare is a comedy that tells the tale of two pairs of lovers: Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedict. Though the main plot of the story revolves around Hero and Claudio, Benedict and Beatrice’s romantic relationship is an important subplot to the story. In “Much Ado About Nothing”, Shakespeare uses irony, hyperbole, and use of language to illustrate Benedict and Beatrice as a nontraditional spin on the ideal couple through the strength and security

Analysis Chapter One: Weaknesses of King Lear As the play begins, we are introduced to King Lear who is ready to bestow his large kingdom on his much-loved daughters. Being a human, King Lear is having human imperfections which is visible in the way in which he shares his properties. The king proposes a love-test and declares the better part will correspond to the daughter who tells him he is the most beloved for her. “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (Act I, Scene i, Line 51). Evidently

The concept of greed has been noted as a cause of an estranged sibling relationship in King Lear and “Why Siblings Sever Ties”. The article mentions many reasons for why people abruptly end sibling relationships and one particular is that “Things can become fraught… when parents start aging and issues like long-term care or the settling of an estate are added to the mix” (Eckel 3). She explains how siblings can have conflicting views on their parents’ wealth and health after they have reached a certain

King Lear specifically has a big problem with women, when his daughters, Goneril, and Regan, are disloyal to him, then he begins a criticism against women, particularly females that echoes throughout the play. And also women are often seen as vigor, false, immoral, and the root of all the problems in the world. For so many people, the play is seen as trial and review in the existing of early sixteenth and seventeenth century in social and political organizations while presenting roughly essential

People have objects or ideas in which they truly value, yet are hard to sacrifice. The idea of “Only loss teaches us about the value of things”, is represented in the novel of King Lear by William Shakespeare. An example would be Cordelia in which she sacrificed being disowned by her father which showed her true values of honesty, love, and family. First of all, Cordelia was the youngest of all three daughters, and timidest of all. Cordelia claims that she “cannot heave her heart into her mouth”

What tale has family betrayal, love affairs and many violent deaths all wrapped up in one? The one and only, King Lear. A tale about a king who decides to divide him kingdom into three for this daughters so there will be no confusion after his death, but things don't go so smoothly. I decided to modernize scene one of act two. In this scene Edmund plans to inherit all of this father's land by tricking his dad into thinking his brother, Edgar, is trying to kill him. Also, he tricks Edgar into thinking

King Lear was a man who loved his daughters very much, he had three daughters. He believed he was ready to give over the land and kingdom power to his daughters, so he went and sat all three of his daughters down. He then begin to ask them each how much they loved them. One of his daughters said that she loved him with all her heart and every ounce of her self being, of course this joke of a king, believed his daughter and gave her the biggest chunk of land, and then the second gets asked how much

George Lopez Cristiano AP Literature Period 3a November 12, 2014 Scholarly review on MacLean’s Episode, Scene, Speech, and Word Norman MacLean’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear is surprisingly clear when he uses the character of Lear to Represent the “love of craft” that is to be found in the play. His fascination of Shakespeare from a professor’s perspective was somewhat unreal, taking him two weeks to get through the ins and outs in the first scene of Hamlet. The way that he analyzed

The inability to see the truth leaves the characters in Shakespeare's King Lear to cause their own destruction and throw the ones they love into utter chaos. Two fathers, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester are blinded by their own rage and mistrust of their children, causing their own downfall. In the beginning of the play, King Lear does not see his daughter Cordelia's earnest love and instead banishes her for her honesty. The three sisters are supposed to profess their love for Lear, so when

An individual who judges another individual, or an emotion, is no less than a criminal. He/she fails to see the truth. They could be blinded by their ego. Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, “King Lear,” also shows the belief by the masses in appearance over the (verses) reality. King Lear’s ego blinds him, hence he misjudges his daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Lear’s misjudgement leads him to disown Cordelia, his only faithful daughter. Goneril and Regan, are greedy for Lear’s money, and power

“We are not the first / Who with best meaning have incurred the worst.” (5.3.3) This quote comes from Cordelia, the third and most honest of King Lear’s daughters, near the end of the story King Lear by Shakespeare, shortly before she is killed. From this, Shakespeare is trying to say that even those who speak the truth are not strangers to suffering and consequence. Shakespeare uses honesty and truth within the characters, including Cordelia, Edgar, Kent and others to push his messages throughout

Dylan Mr. Woodard Film Studies – A 24th, September 2014 Circular Narrative A circular narrative is a narrative that has certain plot points repeating throughout the film; this is a technique that a lot of writers and directors use, risking a lot of money. Circular narrative rarely makes it into mainstream movies and this probably happens because it doesn’t often fit neatly into the sort of plot Hollywood is used to producing. In these circular narrative films the end of the movie usually connects

Beowulf is associate degree epos that, above all, offers the reader a concept of a time long past; a time once the foremost necessary values were courageousness and integrity. The sole factors that would bestow shower fame upon an individual were heroic deeds and family lineage. Beowulf, because the paradigm of pagan heroes, exhibited his need to amass fame and fortune; to do so was to revenge the death of others. This theme of retribution that's ever gift throughout the literary composition appears

How Internalized Misogyny Affects Women in the 21st Century Internalized misogyny is the phrase that describes the phenomenon which occurs due to the institutional pervasiveness of sexism towards women in society. Misogyny within society leads to the internalization of misogyny where women are then affected by it and direct it towards themselves and other women (Bearman et al.). In the 21st century, internalized misogyny affects women in multiple ways, including seeing other women as competition