Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
In Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale”, we see a jealous king convinced he is search of the truth. He will expose his wife and her alleged philandering, but his determination to prove this actually changes this search from one for truth to one for myths—creations, false truths. In essence. Leontes runs into the conflict of defining art versus nature, where art is the view of the world he constructs to prove his paranoia true. Nature itself can exist without art, but the art here is the mangled perception through which Leontes will seek to define Nature. In summation, “The Winter’s Tale” investigates the conflict between art and nature—creation versus enhancement—and seeks to find out if art can exist without any consideration to nature.
The idea of altering perception is a fundamental one in “The Winter’s Tale”, and art is seen as the way to make this alteration occur. While it is clear to the reader from the very beginning that Hermione is in fact innocent, Shakespeare introduces the reader to Leontes’s persistence to clearly show the beginnings of the conflict brewing. Despite Hermione’s clear innocence, Leontes has been written as a character so belligerent to ever see what is universally accepted as true in nature. The result is a conflict clear to the reader—a conflict of nature on its own merit, a question of truth, versus art, where perception is inherently flawed. Shakespeare creates a truly paranoid, conflicted character in Leontes, which works to make his objectivity, his desire to make truths out of falsities, even more apparent. Leontes speaks to the audience passionately upon his discovery, but his passion sounds so melodramatic, especially when we as readers a...
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...years later, it becomes clear that for all the emphasis put on art, on creation, and on mass production—nature is central to our human experience. We can symbolize this natural connection with art—but the art itself always harkens back to something that elicits an emotional response from the viewer. For Leontes, a statue of his presumably deceased wife, Hermione triggers a sorrowful reaction. Art indeed embellishes life as it does with flowers, but we are always working from some perspective, some emotion, before we are merely creating art. “The Winter’s Tale” takes on the challenge of investigating whether or not art can in fact breathe outside the womb of nature, and as we witness art break down, and nature hold the characters together, it becomes resoundingly clear that art seeks to react to nature, but that it cannot work without maintaining nature at its core.
To understand the significant change in the role of the women is to understand its roots. Traditionally, women in colonial America were limited in the roles they played or limited in their "spheres of influence." Women were once seen as only needed to bear children and care for them. Their only role was domestic; related to activities such as cooking and cleaning. A married woman shared her husband's status and often lived with his family. The woman was denied any legal control over her possession, land, money, or even her own children after a divorce. In a sense, she was the possession of her husband after marriage. She "... was a legal incompetent, as children, idiots, and criminals were under English law. As feme covert she was stripped of all property; once married, the clothes on her back, her personal possessions--whether valuable, mutable or merely sentimental--and even her body became her husband's, to direct, to manage, and to use. Once a child was born to the couple, her land, too, came under his control." (Berkin 14)
Many overlook the beauty that is expressed by nature. The images put together in nature influenced Mary Oliver’s “First Snow.” The beauty expressed in “First Snow” shows how there is hidden beauty in nature such as snow. Also how snow, not so simple, is something so stunning and breath taking. The descriptions of Oliver’s visions show that many things are overlooked in nature and shouldn’t be. She elaborates to show that nature sets forth not just snow, but something so much more. Mary Oliver uses many examples and proofs to show the beauty. In “First Snow” Mary Oliver conveys the image of snow to embody the beauty of nature.
Without the words in the GEICO auto insurance advertisement, all that would be on the ad would be two popcorn cups, which does not explain why GEICO is the better insurance. They have the company 's name in big bold letters along with the saying, "The choice is yours, and it 's simple". This statement screams to the audience that if they chose any other insurance policy, they are making it difficult on themselves. The advertisement also uses deductive reasoning by using the want for more popcorn to wanting more out of one 's auto insurance. When it comes to insurance, people always want to have more benefits to help them out with auto situations. For an example, if someone gets in a car accident, that person would want to make sure that they are getting something out of their insurance to help them get back on their feet. Underneath the bigger popcorn cup, there are brackets with all of the qualities that GEICO auto insurance possess, while the other guy has nothing, showing that GEICO offers more than the competition. The paragraph on the advertisement gives more in depth information about the qualities listed underneath the bigger popcorn cup. The advertisement also has the company 's website and phone number so people can get more information about GEICO 's
In 1936, a married couple named Leo and Lillian Goodwin established GEICO; which stands for Government Employees Insurance Company in Texas. The initial target markets were government officials and military members, but later on it expands to selling insurance to everyone. GEICO now offers coverage for more than just auto insurance including, homeowners, renter, boat, and many others (Geico’s Story, 2012). GEICO is also subsidiary company to the investment tycoon, Warrant Buffet. Since then, there were hefty budget on advertising that GEICO spent to boost the brand. According to Mya Frazier (2007), “GEICO’s fast climb up the brand-awareness ladder since 2001, when it topped at 82%. After spending an estimated $2 billion in advertising since then, 91% shoppers today say they have seen or heard at least one GEICO message in the past 12 months” (Frazier, 2007). By using GEICO advertising strategy, this analysis also highlights the promotional activities such as identifying target demographics, advertising channels, sales message, reach and frequencies.
The inconsistent fluctuation of the population had a profound effect on women that could have both supported the idea that the Colonial period was a "golden age," as well as taken away from it. For one, the population ratio of men to women was dramatically unbalanced. The numbers of men in the colonies greatly surpassed those of women. Lois Green Carr and Lorena S. Walsh in The Planter's Wife: The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland, Lois Green Carr and Lorena S. Walsh state, "[...] in 1634-1635 men outnumbered women six to one." In addition to that, "From the 1650s at least to the 1680s most sources show a ratio of three to one." Even in 1704, in Maryland, the number of men surpassed that of women, for, "a census listed 30,437 white persons, of whom 7, 163 were adult women." As a result of the disproportionate gender ratios, women had a greater choice in marriage. Louis Green Carr and Lorena S. Walsh state, "There is some evidence that the absence of kin and the pressures of the sex ratio created conditions of sexual freedom in courtships that were not customary in England." Because men usually died before their younger wives, many women remarried. However, there were many dangers and obstacles that women faced on the journey to the new world and while living in the colonies, that could argue that the Colonial peri...
The number of women living in the colonies were relatively small but they still experienced freedom, the prostitutes that came on-board from Europe came in and flourished in America, until the stabilization of the
Web sites are just like magazines, newspapers, brochures, menus, or even directions on how to make nitroglycerin from house-hold goods, in that they all have to be put together in such a manner that whoever is reading or browsing over it will be able to clearly distinguish this from that. In this sense, a critique of any particular web site will have justification, while carefully considering also that this is an altogether new medium of information exchange. Now, all of this talk of togetherness is actually a general reference to basic design principles, such as color coordination, if color is used, text size, font choice/ style, art integration, accessibility, and just plain and simple design of the page. For example, it wouldn't be all that appealing to the eyeball if a page being viewed had all the text jumbled up in a corner, so small your eyes were bleeding by the time you figured out that it wasn't even worth the trouble. Darn. It's important to rememeber, especially these days, that what you read is as important as how it looks. Have you ever tried reading an interview in a Raygun magazine? Kinda hard, right? Design totally for its own sake is nice, as art that is, and admittedly it looks cool. However, it's two in the morning and you're standing in line at the corner 7-11 trying to pay for your 40 ounce bottle of Kool-Aid, and you happen to see that your favorite MTV Pearl Crap-clone band is on the cover of this hip magazine and you go to read it, but you can't. It's not because to you failed elementary school three times in two years, but because the maestro in charge decided to get fancy with it and thought it'd be cool if he hid the text under a black box or likewise photograph. I like to loo...
This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall.
He hated the world for taking away his role model and he felt desolate even though he was surrounded by people who cared about his well-being. The immense buildup of emotions only precipitated him to become abrasive to others instead of passive. “I took the bag off of her. I was almost all set to hit her. I thought I was going to smack her for a second. I really did” (Salinger). Holden loved his sister, however the powerful urge he has to hit her is uncharacteristic for him. Before he wasn’t one to lash out on others, except when things went out of his control. When he was no longer in control he lashed out, for example, after Allie died, Holden broke the garage window in resentment. These abrasive outbreaks only cause Holden to hurt those around him and force his estrangement from others as well as society even worse. As most readers notice when the story continues, Holden quickly becomes a loathed character. This critic proves this as well, “A year or so later I read it in my high school English class and concluded that he was a narcissistic wimp” (Bardi). Holden was so focused on his own emotions that he had no apprehension with the way he treated others. This lead to his own failure and separation from those who sought to guide
Life for the colonial woman was a mix of imprisonment and freedom in their marriages, homes, and in the American Colonial legal system. Women who chose to come to the American Colonies had a 100 percent chance of finding a husband. Men outnumbered women almost six to one. Any woman could be choosy when finding a husband, for countless men tried to woo her into marriage. Because women could choose their husbands, they could marry those men who would give her the most benefits. A woman did not have to marry a man who would treat her poorly. In most New England colonies, a woman could sue her husband for a divorce if he treated her without respect and abused or neglected her. Although women had the legal privilege to divorce a bad husband, she did not have any legal rights under the law. As soon as she married her husband, she lost all legal existence. For a woman to have any place in the legal system it was better to remain single. Single wom...
The women who lived out the duration of their contract or who were bought out of servitude were quickly married and just as quickly widowed. This factor granted women more power and access to land. Some widows would assert power through courts to guarantee claims to their deceased husbands land. Lois Green Carr and Lorena S. Walsh in The Planters Wife describe how many husbands left their entire estate to their widows entrusting them with the responsibility of managing his estate and dividing the land between their children. “A husband made his wife his executor and thus responsible for paying his debts and preserving the estate.” By today’s standards the practice of leaving property to a wife is the norm; yet, prior to seventeenth century this practice was virtually nonexistent. Carr and Walsh continue by stating, “Evidently, in the politics of family life women enjoyed great respect.” Therefore, while the Chesapeake colonies remained underdeveloped women ...
In the written text, Shakespeare emphasis's the hidden reality through the use of dramatic techniques of imagery and symbolism. There is a constant use of light and dark imagery which is used by the protagonist , MAC...
Shakespeare’s play, A Winter’s Tale, has many magical and mystical elements throughout. A Winter’s Tale is true to form as one of Shakespeare’s romances. There are tragic scenes in the beginning with a romantic and joyful twist at the end. One such question raised in this play is whether Hermione, Queen of Sicily truly died and resurrected or was alive throughout the play.
A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare is a chilling play full of misfortune and comedy. Throughout the play, the themes of death and suffering are present, but yet the way in which they are presented is both comical and strange. The way in which the dialogue takes place or the way in which actions occur seem to be ambiguous. One of the most pivotal points of the story takes place over a very short time span, climaxing over three pages, and declining almost immediately thereafter. In this case, the death of Hermione and Mamillius occurs and is resolved, with their burial following quickly after. The wording throughout the text can be interpreted in several ways, especially in the way which death is represented throughout the play. Death occurs quickly and there is no real indication to when it is about to take place. The characters die off stage, and as an audience we only hear of their deaths from second hand accounts. Is it thus possible to believe all that is said or heard, or is possible that the sounds and sights of the play are written as such to cause doubt? Shakespeare uses death in A Winter’s Tale as a modem for certain events to be interpreted ambiguously, ultimately leading up to the reveal at the end. The way in which death is presented is as a way for the story to proceed, and it allows for the character to mold to the situation.
Through the assistance of nature, Shakespeare tells of how humans are neither good, nor evil. Elements of the natural world, such as Mother Nature and the animal kingdom, are petitioned in the characters’ speech, as they use their different ideals of what nature is in order to rationalize their actions. In example, Lear sees himself as controller of t...