Aging In the Reanissance and As You Like It
Life starts upon the exit from the mother's womb. From that moment, time marches on until the inevitable death occurs to take one once again from the world of the living. Life and death fascinated various playwrights and authors of the Renaissance. Shakespeare made his interest in aging known in many of his plays and sonnets. He approaches this continuing theme from many angles. In many of his sonnets he talks about aging and how the image changes as one ages and gets older and less attractive. The most interesting of Shakespeare's plays involving a theme of aging is As You Like It. This is one of Shakespeare's latter comedies and asks the viewer to choose which romance he or she would like. The characters themselves can be placed into one of seven ages. These stages have changed in their significance over time (Mabillard).
In As You Like It, Jacques recites the famous quote "All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players." What most people do not know is the following lines
"They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms; Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise...
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...s audience. Therefore Shakespearian plays were based on Renaissance views and may be used to further understand Renaissance culture.
Works Cited
Best, Michel. The age of marriage. 1998. http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLTnoframes/society/marriage.html (15/10/2002)
Chamberlin, E. R. Everyday Life in Renaissance Times. London: B. T. Batsford, G. P. Putnam, 1965.
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Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare of Stratford. Shakespeare Online. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com (15/10/2002).
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1997. 1600-1656.
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The setting and time might have changed, but internally we are still the same human species that walked this Earth. Much Ado About Nothing reveals the courtship of Beatrice and Signior Benedict. Nothing much has changed, we still love the same way and fall in love the same way. The cunning ways of both their friends on merging the two together still exist in today’s society. It is comparable to high school romance. The childish ways are still present and it is not easily distinguishable in today’s world. Shakespeare mocks our ways, but shed insight on how we go about our ways. It is easily relatable to anyone at any age, and especially young adults. We do not see ourselves doing it directly, but stepping back and having an outside perspective we can easily see ourselves replicating the same actions. Shakespeare’s play exposes the young adults to more experiences that can reflected upon a later time. To my point of view, Shakespeare writes for emotions, not for action and glory for what a movie depicts. This is why Shakespeare is still around and can be considered timeless. It is easily malleable to fit in any
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
...ople treat the world in such a way that it can turn out like this.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square-Pocket, 1992. Print.
Schoenbaum, S. As You Like It--An Outline-Guide to the Play. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1965.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a story about a poor, uneducated black women named Celie who has a sad personal history. She survives an abusive stepfather who rapes her and steals her babies, then marries her off to a man who is equally debasing. As an adult, Celie befriends and finds intimacy with a blues singer known as Shug Avery, who gradually helps Celie find her voice, by teaching her how to stand up for what she wants and believes in. Celie believes that the world around her is a mans world, where she is suppose to please and obey their every wants and desires until she learns the power of her voice and that by using it she is her own person and nobodies servant. By the end of the novel, Celie is a happy, independent, and a self-confident
(Muellero Vol.1) Her writing mainly reflects her concerns on multidimensional sympathy with racial, sexual, and the take in power of social & political issues among African American women 's struggle at her time. (Whitted n pag.) She justified that, “The black women is one of America’s greatest heroes Not enough credit has been given to the black women who has oppressed beyond recognition.” (Gerding Period.5) Walker throw back and reflects her opinion on her third novel that is widely known called The Color Purple. The novel traces the life of Celie, a poor Southern black woman who is physically and mentally abused by her step-father and husband. (Muellero Vol.1) In the youth age, Celie often got raped by her step-father causing to have two children, but the step-father sell the children away and her failed marriage husband, Albert who beats and torture her continuously. As the plot goes on, Celie meet Albert 's mistress, Shug. Shug helps Celie bring up all her courage to leave her marriage behind. At the end, Celie reunite with her children along with her long lost sister, Nettie. (Random “Summary of the color purple”) After the novel was published, Walker got both admiration and criticism about her work. Those who praise her like, Peter S. Prescott said, “The Color Purple" is an American novel of permanent importance, that rare sort of book which amounts to a
Many characters undergo a change in William Shakespeare’s play, “As You Like It”. Duke Senior goes from being a member of a court to being a member of a forest and Orlando changes from a bitter, younger brother, to a love-struck young man. The most obvious transformation undergone, is undoubtedly that of Rosalind. Her change from a woman to a man, not only alters her mood, candor, and gender, but also allows her to be the master of ceremonies.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Comp. Folger Shakespeare Library. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.