Articles for tag: Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Shakespeare Comedies, Shylock

Karla News

Best William Shakespeare Quotes

The best William Shakespeare quotes are written and repeated to us all the time. William Shakespeare was the greatest playwright of all time, and his quotes and words stay with us still today. Which of William Shakespeare’s quotes are the best is a matter of opinion. Here, in my opinion are the best William Shakespeare ...

Karla News

Social Criticism: Race in Othello

One of the most commonly noted factors in Othello is the presence of racism, and often asked is how Shakespeare himself felt about the black Moor of Venice ; certainly by the end of the play Othello has embodied the stereotypes of the day, but I believe the Bard of Avon did this simply to ...

Karla News

Shylock: the Jewish Money-Lender in The Merchant of Venice

Perhaps no other character in Shakespeare’s plays has received as much debate over the centuries than has Shylock, the Jewish money-lender in “The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare himself has often been accused of being anti-Semitic because of Shylock’s portrayal as someone demanding that “pound of flesh.” The fact of the matter is, however, that if ...

Karla News

Controversy Over Anti-Semitism in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice has recently caused controversy in high schools because of the Jewish stereotypes depicted in the play through Shakespeare’s character, an outsider Jew named Shylock. Schools have elected not to read the play out of fear that it will encourage anti-Semitism amongst high school students. Rather than ignoring the ...

Karla News

Summary of “Clouds’

The final days of Socrates are rather dramatic. He was accused of religious offenses and corrupting the youth. At his trial, he intelligently defended himself, but was condemned to death. His friends were ready to help him escape, but he decided to submit to Athenian law, and drank the hemlock. Plato gives us the contents ...

Karla News

Deception Among Shakespeare’s Lovers

Why do many of the lovers in Shakespeare comedies rely on deception in their romantic maneuvers? Did Shakespeare believe that this was commonplace in the realm of love? Or, did he write these scenarios purely for the sake of good comedy and in order to weave his many subplots? I’d vote for the latter…at least ...

Karla News

Handkerchiefs – Shakespeare’s Exploration into the Spurious Nature of Love

I Love, marriage, and relationships were common themes in Elizabethan England as they are today. William Shakespeare’s Othello epitomizes a classic tragic love story based upon the fatal consequences of an interracial marriage. Othello’s “blackness” and Desdemona’s virginal “white” innocence clash in the play, with devastating consequences. At the heart of this clash lies a ...

Karla News

The Merchant of Venice: A Comedy with No Laughs

Things that are written 100s of years ago can often lose or change meaning over time. This can be caused by many factors. The reader, the critic, the time period, and the context are all elements that can change the meaning or interpretation of a piece of literature every time it is read. The works ...

Karla News

Shylock: Villain or Victim?

In Shakespeare’s time, everyone of the Christian faith hated the Jews, as they believed that in biblical history Jews were the people who killed Jesus. Shakespeare deliberately made Shylock a Jew so that the audience’s hatred would be directed towards Shylock, even before they knew his character. However modern audiences do not act like Shakespeare’s ...