Phaedra, a tragedy written by Jean Racine, tells the tale of forbidden relationships and the consequences of following one’s passion rather than abiding by the neoclassical virtue of reason. The comedy, Tartuffe, written by Molière also displays a set of forbidden relationships and the consequences of pursuing passion. In each play, there exists a father/son relationship that is either saved or broken by the actions of the characters in the play. While the father/son relationships in Phaedra and Tartuffe are similar in that each son battles with forbidden relationships that they want to exist and ones that they do not, the sets of relationships are more different in the following: one son attempts to preserve his father’s pride, the father …show more content…
Hippolytus is secretly in love with his father’s political prisoner, Aricia, and is almost at the point of losing all of the unloving pride that he is so proud to have maintained all his life. At the same time, his step-mother, Phaedra, is almost at her breaking point of revealing her overwhelming love for her step-son. Just like any normal teenager, Hippolytus craves the relationship with the pretty young girl and is appalled at the thought of the relationship that his step-mother is attempting to pursue. Likewise, in Tartuffe there is a young man, Damise, who longs to marry the sister of his sister’s future husband. Damise’s father, Orgon, calls of the wedding between Damise’s sister and her fiancé, Voliere, and instead tells her she will marry his deceitful guest, Tartuffe. Thus, it becomes impossible for Damise to marry Voliere’s sister and Damise is appalled by the relationship of his sister and Tartuffe. Tartuffe, the hypocrite praised by Orgon, tries to warm up to Orgon’s wife when he is not around, making another forbidden relationship that Damise does not want to …show more content…
However, the sons choose different actions when faced with the chance to do so. In Phaedra, Theseus lashes out at his son after Hippolytus is falsely accusing of assaulting his step-mother’s chastity. To this, Hippolytus replies, “Yes, I know the truth. But I suppress it. It touches you too close.” (4.123-124) Hippolytus knows that if he tells such a powerful king that his wife has been disloyal to him, he will lose the pride he has as a powerful king. Unlike Hippolytus, when Damise is faced with the same opportunity, he is so passionate about what he truly want that he foams at the mouth to get his way. Damise catches Tartuffe in the middle of assaulting his mother and when given the chance to tell Orgon, he foams at the mouth about the events he witnessed. When Orgon says, “Yes, I defy you all. I am a master and you’ll obey,” it is clear that he feels that his position as the master of the house has been tarnished by the accusations of Damise and thus, his pride has not been preserved
The views on women in this play are shown through Hermia’s recklessness, Helena’s desperation, and Hippolyta’s hypocritical behavior. The women in this era of when Shakespeare wrote this play were subservient to men and had no will and choice of their own. This included marriages that were usually arranged by a powerful male relative instead of giving the woman the opportunity of choosing a husband that she loved. First, Helena was a woman who chased after men. She contradicts her gender by breaking society’s rules. Helena even says, “We cannot fight for love, as men may do; we should be woo’d and were not made to woo” (Rogers, 1998, Act 2, Scene 1, 241-242). Second, Hermia disobeys her father and cannot decide on marriage. She is disrespectful towards her father’s commands. Hermia goes on to say, “I do entreat your grace to pardon me. I know not by what power I am bold” (Rogers, 1998, Act 1, Scene 1, 58-59). Lastly, we have Hippolyta who pretends to love King Theseus and is a liar. She stands by through the oppression of different women in the play. Although, Hippolyta shows dominance in her words. “Four days will quickly steep themselves in night; four nights will quickly dream away time” (Rogers, 1998, Act 1, Scene 1, 6). We see the King’s impatience at having Hippolyta, but Hippolyta has the control and patience. “Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, And won thy love,
Initially, there is an underlying struggle of duty verses love. Both families of the “star-crossed lovers”, especially the Capulets, focus on a successful marriage having an emphasis on d...
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
In one of William Shakespeare’s most renowned and celebrated plays, the story of a General named Othello unravels in tragic form as he falls victim to the lies created by Iago. Once revered as a war hero and wed to the beautiful Desdemona, Othello’s life spirals downward with the untimely death of his beloved in his own hands, ultimately ending with his own demise. Love is the force behind this tragedy. Tragedy is the main driving force that brings happiness and tragedy to the characters within the play. But even as such a prominent force, it lacks clear definition. Love has a different meaning to the characters in the play. Characters like Othello, Desdemona, and Iago all have different perspectives on love, which informs their behavior in different ways.
William Shakespeare’s well-known play Romeo and Juliet addresses the ill-fated love of two young children from feuding households set in Verona. Over the centuries since the play was first published around 1595, many different versions have been produced and reproduced. While the basic story remains the same in these different renditions, certain aspects of the play are handled very differently. Thomas Otway wrote one of the most varied versions in 1680 entitled The History and Fall of Caius Marius. Set in ancient Rome this version focuses much more on politics than a story of true love. With this variation many of the characters are in much varied roles. One of the most obvious character disparities is found in the title character of Romeo, or Marius junior as he is called in Otway’s version. While both versions of the male lead go through little or no character development, Romeo and Marius junior are very different in their regard and understanding of filial duty and responsibility. Due to the political context of Caius Marius, Marius junior is much more aware and receptive of his filial and social duty, while Romeo rejects any sort of filial or social responsibility.
Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, depicts an ancient feud ended by a pair of star-crossed lovers’ deaths. A lord and lady from warring families seek a forbidden love with guidance from a friar and nurse. Due to a tragic course of mischances and fateful errors, their attempt of eloping led the lovers to a tragic end. Because of rash decisions, the four characters are torn apart by miscalculating events and misunderstandings. Ultimately, the four characters encounter a heartbreaking ending, as a result of their hastiness.
Romeo and Juliet is the story of two star-crossed lovers who are placed in the difficult position of choosing their true love or their relevant families. The play is considered one of the greatest love stories of all time, complicated by fate, youthful inexperience, but mainly adult interference. Romeo and Juliet were on an already determined course of action that they were meant to follow. Romeo and Juliet were impetuous when it came to their actions. The adults in Romeo and Juliet’s life had some control over what the lovers were allowed to do, and played an influential factor in their lives, which led to their demise.
The actions of this play take place in mythical Athens, Greece and the neighboring woods. The events described in The Two Noble Kinsmen take place after the marriage ceremony of Theseus and Hippolyta. This explains why the atmosphere is one of happiness throughout the play. Theseus and his friend, Pirithous, depart to Thebes to face off against the tyrant Creon. The two kinsmen of the story are Palamon and Arcite who are captured by the enemy and imprisoned, where it is revealed that both men are in love with Emilia, Hippolyta’s sister. The plot of the play revolves around the events following Theseus’ victory at Thebes. The two kinsmen give Emilia the ultimatum to choose between the both of them; however, Emilia is unable to choose so the
Shakespeare’s works are some of the finest examples of Tragedy and Comedy from the English cannon of literature. The reason that his works are so poignant and reflective is his use of both emotions in order to progress the other. In his interpretation of Troilus and Cressida the traditional story of tragic love and loss are peppered with irony and satire in order to address topical issues of Gender roles, Government action/inaction, and hero worship through juxtaposition and humor.
A theme of the play Tartuffe is justice. Justice, or the lack of justice, can be seen in the relationship between father and son, father and daughter, and guest and host. Lacanian philosophy, which focuses on language and the conflict that the male feels due to a disintegration of oneness, can be used to look at injustice as it manifests itself in the male conflict within the play.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the themes of love and sexuality in one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, Hamlet. As a playwright, Shakespeare depicted human nature profoundly, therefore, in Hamlet we may find as many kinds of love as the number of relationships that are described and intermingled. There is romantic love, paternal and maternal love, and friendship, which is love among people of the same rank, class or sex. The love present in some of these relationships is sometimes connected or overlapped with sexuality, even in cases where it is not expected to. In the following pages we will try to illustrate how two attributes which all human beings posses are shown and experienced by the characters in Hamlet.
William Shakespeare’s King Lear is a tragedy in which all principles of ethics and morality are attacked: the loyal are exiled, children betray their parents, the elderly are tortured, and sibling murders sibling. The play details the stories of two fathers, Lear and Gloucester, who foolishly banish their loyal children in favor of their ruthless and treacherous offspring, who in turn exploit their fathers’ fallibilities. The chaos that ensues ravages the lives of Lear and Gloucester. Their stories arc together and ultimately meet tragic ends, however, not without hints of redemption. Shakespeare intentionally structures narrative parallels between the stories of Lear and Gloucester, as well as their children, to complement each other and strengthen
Two of the greatest masters of British literature, Shakespeare and Chaucer, tended to look to the classics when searching for inspiration. A lesser-known example of this lies in an ancient tale from Greece about two star-crossed lovers. There are many variations on the names of these lovers, but for the purpose of solidarity, they shall henceforth be referred to as “Troilus and Criseyde” for Chaucer and “Troilus and Cressida” for Shakespeare. Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde” offers up a classic tale of love that is doomed, whereas Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” is not only tragic but also biting in its judgment and representation of characters. This difference may be due to the differences in time periods for the two authors, or their own personal dispositions, but there can be no denying the many deviations from Chaucer’s work that Shakespeare employs. Shakespeare’s work, by making the characters and situations more relatable, builds upon Chaucer’s original work, rather than improving it or shattering it.
The heart of many of Shakespeare’s works is love and tumultuous relationships. It is not a difficult task to attempt to analyze the relationships of his protagonists. Many of his characters would fit into at least one of the “love-styles” presented by John Alan Lee. There are many different types of relationships and John Alan Lee aims to categorize them, or breaking them down into “different colors,” (Lee, 40). The love-styles can be applied to many relationships such as those in the works of Shakespeare. The love styles that John Alan Lee describes can also determine the successfulness of a relationship. He fits the love styles into a diagram and the location of one style of lover in relation to another can cause a relationship to succeed or fail. This phenomenon is known as the “theory of proximity” (Lee). Two people who share the same love style or who are close to each other on the diagram have a better chance at a successful relationship.
...comes an ultimate tragedy because Hippolytus rejects her love for him. Her passion becomes too monstrous turning her ill emotionally and physically. She has become a slave to her emotions. She becomes an emotional wreck seeking to take her own life. But the love that Phaedra feels for Hippolytus is too immense that her emotions pulsate through her veins like a river. For love is indeed destructive and this is what Oenone admonishes to Phaedra. There is a sense of isolation that comes with the declaration because she knows that what she is doing very atrocious. She is in a constant battle with love and sin. Phaedra vows to take this chance and in the end she committed suicide from this tragedy. Phaedra’s ultimate quest to confess her love for Hippolytus in the event, she uses strong word choice, imagery, metaphor, and symbolism to channel and convey her emotions.