Subversion and perversion are both prominently conveyed in both Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Jew of Malta through numerous mediums. Subversion entails the opposition to societal standards and authority whereas perversion occurs when morality and religious views are contradicted. The use of religiously symbolic objects, mockery, sexual innuendo, hypocrisy and irony are the focal matters used to express perversion and subversion in this essay. Often when a reader or the audience is shocked by themes and incidents occurring in plays, it is due to a feeling evoked when one is confronted with overt opposition to religion, morality, politics and society.
Two Gentlemen of Verona make use of the mockery of upper-class pretentiousness, crude and inappropriate sexual innuendo to subvert and perverse the topic of marriage. Launce continually speaks disrespectfully of his master, subverting the social class order of classical Europe by which servants must speak of their superiors with deference and hold them in highest regard. This subverts the social hierarchy by the utilisation of mockery that belittles his master’s class. My interpretations lead me to believe that the staff in this scene, may well be in fact a metaphorical staff. That is, the staff is code for Launce’s phallus. This is a subversion in that it is socially unacceptable to speak in such a manner, therefore it contradicts societies’ etiquette, and it also is a perversion because it is morally incorrect and sacrilege to use a typically religiously significant tool as a phallic symbol. When Launce declares: “My staff understands me”, he compares his masculinity in sexual terms to intelligence. He tells Speed that his sexual drive and desire understands what he is saying, ev...
... middle of paper ...
...The crucial element drawing these plays together is the mutual use of a symbolically significant object. That is, the staff. The staff is disgraced in the manner in which role it had been given in the plays. Although it is ambiguous, the staff appears to be a metaphorical phallic symbol in the Two Gentlemen of Verona used to convey to crudity of Launce’s views on marriage. Conversely, in The Jew of Malta, it is used in a most blasphemous sense – for the purpose of mocking the Christian faith. The faith is ridiculed when the staff is used satirically to ‘support’ the dead Friar and when Jacomo uses it with the intention to murder. This is explicitly ironic. Thus this essay has shown how irony, hypocrisy, mockery and sexual innuendo all serve the same purpose in these plays – to challenge the society by the subverting and perverting moral, religious and political codes.
“The Merchant of Venice” is one of William Shakespeare’s most complex and controversial stage plays. “The Merchant of Venice” is a comedic, tragedy that enveloped everything that an audience wants to experience. From love to hate, justice to revenge “The Merchant of Venice” has it all. William Shakespeare focused many themes that were controversial in society during his time and some that are still controversial in society. This essay will focus on analyzing and connecting the major theme of 16th century anti-Semitism to underplayed racism and anti-Islamic ideas of today’s society.
The play also highlights the position of women in Elizabethan times. At the beginning of Act One we are introduced to Sampson and Gregory who are servants of the Capulet's and they are in the market place of Verona. They are messing around joking to each other and in the process puns are used such as collier, choler and collar. In the time this play was shown, this would have being considered very funny to the audience.
Beaumont's failed comedy, 'The Knight of the Burning Pestle', is a unique play that seeks to satirise and burlesque the theatrical and social domain. Crucial to this satire is the collision of two concurrent plots that vie for the audience’s attention. These collisions allow the audience to see opposing ideologies in contrast through the dramatic effect of the breakdown in the boundaries of theatre. It is arguable that this play encourages one to question hierarchy and tradition through exploration of ideology, disputed genres, and Rafe's potential rebellion.
The play, Othello is one of the most famous tragedies composed by William Shakespeare during the Renaissance period. It powerfully portrays a world where the acts of evil ultimately vanquishes fidelity, nobility and integrity. The central themes jealousy and manipulation embodies the foretold tragedies and the downfall tragedies of the characters due to one’s insecurities. Through the use of literary techniques and figurative language, Shakespeare has effectively explored the themes of jealousy and manipulation.
In William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, the use of mistaken identity and role reversal communicates that gender roles and social class are constructed illusions that trick people into having unrealistic expectations about how they are supposed behave.Viola crossdressing as Cesario in the play challenges traditional views of how a woman of her status should act.The differences between the accepted clothing for an individual emphasizes gender roles and social hierarchy in society. During the Renaissance, “ the idea of two genders, one subordinate to the other, provided a key element in its hierarchical view of the social order and to buttress its gendered division of labor” (Howard 423).
The vulgar imagery of Othello’s ancient dominates the opening of the play. Standing outside the senator’s home late at night, Iago uses imagery within a lie to arouse the occupant: “ Awake! what, ho, Brabantio! thieves! thieves! thieves! / Look to your house, your daughter and your bags!” When the senator appears at the window, the ancient continues with coarse imagery of animal lust: “...
Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Upon an initial examination of William Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice, a reader is provided with superficial details regarding the moral dilemmas embedded in the text. Further analysis allows a reader to recognize the multi-faceted issues each character faces as an individual in response to his or her surroundings and/or situations. Nevertheless, the subtle yet vital motif of music is ingrained in the play in order to offer a unique approach to understanding the plot and its relationship with the characters. Whether the appearance of music be an actual song or an allusion to music in a mythological or social context, the world of Venice and Belmont that Shakespeare was writing about was teeming with music. The acceptance or denunciation
In reading Shakespeare, minds of readers are expanded due to his use of Early Modern English and extensive vocabulary. Shakespeare’s works also provide readers with great entertainment whose portrayal of the human condition transcends the generations. The Merchant of Venice contains many witty lines and sub-plots. “Prejudice feeds on ignorance” (Leggatt 215). If teachers do not teach their students the origin of such stereotypes, then they are developing ignorant students who will forever believe that Jews are incarnations of the devil. Considering the Jewish Stereotype that is supported and developed in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the play is, indeed, still useful as a high school reading experience because, due to its sensitive topics, assists in eliminating innocence and creates a more discerning eye for world issues in students.
Despite the change in contexts, the values presented in Shakespeare’s play are wholly relevant to a twentieth century audience. The idea of ambition overriding the values of integrity and honesty, the struggle of the composer to attract a mainstream audience and the religious beliefs of the audience are all made evident in both texts. By comparing the two texts, the shift in context can be distinguished and the different representations of values are illustrated and an insight into the lifestyle of people past is
For modern audiences, it's easy to forget about issues of "class" in Shakespeare's famously gender-bending play. Yet, crossing gender boundaries is not the only kind of social transgression at work in Twelfth Night. The play is very much concerned with social ambition, especially as it relates to marrying above or below one's "estate" (rank).
...scene and the misogynistic views of such as Iago, 'How if she be black and witty'' with the later scene of Act IV Scne iii and Desdemona's refusal to say the word 'whore', 'I cannot say whore/It does abhor me', then the dark baseness of the male world is seen in opposition and dark contrast to the innocence and naivety of Desdemona.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.
‘Twelfth Night’ or ‘What You Will’ by Shakespeare is seen as a comedy for various reasons. However, on many occasions, this play is almost categorised as a tragedy because of the different situations that the killjoy figure has to endure, through the use of mockery. Because of this, critics find that there is a very thin line between the categorisation of the novel and therefore see ‘Twelfth Night’ as both comedy and tragedy despite the fact that the audience and Shakespeare call this play a comedy. Furthermore, Mel Brooks says ‘Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall down an open sewer and die’. Therefore, this just shows how close the genres of comedy and tragedy really are as they can both lead to similar consequences like those Malvolio faced when he was mocked excessively by Shakespeare throughout all five acts of ‘Twelfth Night’. However, this mockery also shows many social messages as Malvolio was mocked for being a puritan which implies that Elizabethans were against their doings.