Love and Society in Shakespearean Comedy

Love and Society in Shakespearean Comedy PDF Author: Richard A. Levin
Publisher: Newark : University of Delaware Press ; London : Associated University Presses
ISBN:
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book

Book Description
This book is about three of Shakespeare's comedies, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night. The author discusses them as expressions of a single theory of comedy -- that is, that every element of these plays contributes to an anti-romantic interpretation -- and he interprets them only in light of this anti-romantic theory.

Love and Society in Shakespearean Comedy

Love and Society in Shakespearean Comedy PDF Author: Richard A. Levin
Publisher: Newark : University of Delaware Press ; London : Associated University Presses
ISBN:
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book

Book Description
This book is about three of Shakespeare's comedies, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night. The author discusses them as expressions of a single theory of comedy -- that is, that every element of these plays contributes to an anti-romantic interpretation -- and he interprets them only in light of this anti-romantic theory.

Shakespeare's Comedy of Love

Shakespeare's Comedy of Love PDF Author: Alexander Leggatt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136556567
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book

Book Description
First published in 1987. This study removes some of the critical puzzles that Shakespeare's comedies of love have posed in the past. The author shows that what distinguishes the comedies is not their similarity but their variety - the way in which each play is a new combination of essentially similar ingredients, so that, for example, the boy/girl changes in The Merchant of Venice are seen to have a quite different significance from those in As You Like It.

The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare

The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198117353
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 573

Get Book

Book Description


Love in William Shakespeare's "As You Like It"

Love in William Shakespeare's Author: Julie Dillenkofer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3668034842
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 23

Get Book

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,7, University of Heidelberg (Anglistisches Seminar), course: Literature & Film – Adapting Shakespeare for the Screen, language: English, abstract: William Shakespeare’s "As You Like It" portrays love and marriage in a comical, amusing manner. The play represents passionate love on the one hand, as well as disguised, blind and even manipulated love on the other hand. Love as a state of being is omnipresent throughout As You Like It. As the play’s major theme, love is illustrated essentially by eight characters who all marry at the end of the play. However, As You Like It cannot be interpreted as a typical love story. In fact, only one twosome, namely Rosalind and Orlando, illustrates a relationship of true love which ends in a happy, mutually agreeable marriage. By falling in love at first sight, they symbolize the typical Shakespearean romantic lovers whose love overcomes any obstacles. The other couples in the play, however, seem to pursue rather different goals. Audrey and Touchstone simply wish to act on their sexual desire, which they cleverly hide behind marriage in order to prevent any “Vorwurf der Unzucht” – a serious matter in Elizabethan times. Phoebe and Silvius are both in love, though not reciprocally. Silvius does love Phoebe; she, however, falls in love with Ganymede and is merely tricked into committing herself to Silvius. Celia and Oliver are simply following the lead of Rosalind and Orlando, but seem to strive for companionship rather than passion or true love. Shakespeare illustrates four different kinds of love in As You Like It in a humorous way. He demonstrates that love and marriage do not necessarily have to go hand in hand and adds comical aspects of love by turning some characters into fools. In this way, Shakespeare builds on the Elizabethan assumptions about love as a sickness, but still validates it as a valuable aspect of a happy marriage.

Love Concepts in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Love Concepts in William Shakespeare's Author: Sema Kara
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656368503
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 22

Get Book

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Würzburg (Lehrstuhl für Englische Literatur - und Kulturwissenschaft ), course: HS: Shakespeare's Comedies, language: English, abstract: “The course of true love never did run smooth” – this statement, made by the male protagonist Lysander in I,1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is arguably one of the most well-known lines from the play. In a nutshell, it represents its: the trials and tribulations of love; the obstacles young love has to overcome, the intrinsic complexities of established love, and the victory of true love in the end. This paper aims to take a look at the way, how different stages of love and love concepts are represented in AMD. As Shakespeare is said to have written this particular early play between 1594 - 1596 , a closer look will be taken at the conventions of love poetry in the literature of the Elizabethan age. The influence of the Italian Renaissance poet Petrarch’s love poetry concept on Elizabethan love poetry conventions will be of special interest at this point. Further on, Shakespeare’s very own love concept in his romantic comedies will be compared and contrasted to the love poetry of his age. The late 16th century and early 17th century, from the 1690ies and particularly with the onset of the reign of King James I, brought about a change in the perception and creation of conventional Elizabethan love poetry: from the commonplace Petrarchan conceits to a more individual, realistic yet Puritan depiction of the praised woman . With AMD being conceived in this particular time frame, possible reflections of this literary change of mind in the discussed play will be outlined in the analysis of this play. Scholars argue, that AMD originally might have been written by Shakespeare for a noble wedding celebration , because of its lenght, the marriages at the end of the play and the different aspects of married life the play offers. The aspect of marriage and marital conventions in the Elizabethan age will be another point of analysis in this paper, determining whether Shakespeare stayed true or subverted common assumptions of married life at his age. The final analysis will try to apply the aforementioned theoretical points to AMD and take a look at how marriage, love, and literary love concepts are represented by the respective couples in the play.

Shakespearean Comedies

Shakespearean Comedies PDF Author: Sarbani Putatunda
Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Dist
ISBN: 9788126906840
Category : English drama (Comedy)
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book

Book Description
According To The Social Historians Of England, After The Economic And Religious Unrest Of The Middle Tudor Period, The Freedom Preached By The Humanists Rejuvenated In A Way The Moral Of The Entire Nation. And Shakespeare Having Chanced Upon The Best Time In Which To Live Had Ample Opportunity To Exercise, With Least Distraction And Most Encouragement, The Highest Faculties Of Man. His Comedies, Therefore, Register Most Comprehensively The Characteristics Of The Congenial Social Atmosphere Of His Time. The Saturnalia Presented In His Comedies Are Not Inimical To The Positive Aspects Of A New Bourgeois Social Set-Up, Which Facilitated The Notions Of Peace And Order. But Inside The Large England, Which Still Retained The Remnants Of Monarchy And/Or Aristocracy, Society Was Afflicted By Many Discordant Elements, Which Shakespeare Never Failed To Notice And Record. As An Assiduous Comic Playwright, He Infused In His Saturnalia The Hints Of Many Social Injustices, The Oppressive Patriarchy (Egeon And His Diktats Against His Daughter For Daring To Choose Her Own Husband In A Midsummer Night S Dream), The Crisis Of Aristocracy (Sir Toby And His Likes), The Degeneration Of Moral Values Leading To An Erosion Of Social Values In A Mercantile Society, And The Historical Retrospection Of The Turbulent Past.The Infusion Though Pronounced In His Early Comedies Is Not Entirely Absent In The Middle Comedies, Which Contain Elements Of Social Realism Behind A Romantic Exterior. The Audience Would Naturally Realize That Both The Early And The Middle Comedies Of Shakespeare Were Interlinked In The Context Of The Social Realism Of The Elizabethan Period. The Delicate Relationship Of Oberon And Titania In A Midsummer Night S Dream, For Instance, Represent A Different Version Of Matrimony Throughout Causing The Reader To Question The Validity Of The Institution. Likewise In The Taming Of The Shrew One Is At A Loss At The End Of The Play When Kate Appears To Be More Subservient Than Either Her Sister Or The Widow. Has Marriage Actually Tamed Her Or Has She Relinquished Her Past Misdemeanours Willingly Because She Has Fallen In Love With Petruchio? The World In Twelfth Night Is Also Clearly Demarcated Into Two Classes The Landowning Wealthy Aristocrats And The Titular Aristocrats Whom Lawrence Classifies As The Declassed Aristocrats . The Historical Retrospection Of The Past Is Made Clearer At This Apparently Incongruent Point, Than In All Other Romantic Comedies. The Book Would Definitely Prove Valuable To Students And Teachers Concerned With Shakespearean Works.

Much Ado about Nothing

Much Ado about Nothing PDF Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192834188
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book

Book Description
Much Ado About Nothing has long been celebrated as one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies. The central relationship, between Benedick and Beatrice, is wittily combative until love prevails. Broader comedy is provided by Dogberry, Verges and the watchmen.

Love's Argument

Love's Argument PDF Author: Marianne Novy
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469610191
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Get Book

Book Description
Novy demonstrates how the plays are theatrical transformations of tensions in both ideals and practices in Renaissance society. Analyzing the dramatic images of lover and beloved, of husband and wife, of parent and child, Novy examines the ways in which the conflicts are resolved in the comedies and romances and how they are acted out in the tragedies. Chapters on individual plays provide original interpretations that delineate the tone and texture of gender relations. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Shakespeare's Comedy As You Like it

Shakespeare's Comedy As You Like it PDF Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English drama (Comedy)
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Get Book

Book Description
Shakespeare's comedy about all kinds of love, physical and intellectual, sentimental and cynical, enduring love between friends, and romantic love at first sight. Also explores the roles society sometimes forces us to play.

Courtships, Marriage Customs, and Shakespeare's Comedies

Courtships, Marriage Customs, and Shakespeare's Comedies PDF Author: L. Giese
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137095164
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 229

Get Book

Book Description
Loreen L. Giese's study of over 5000 important folios of court depositions contemporary with Shakespeare's plays demonstrates the complex ways those plays participate in and comment upon their culture, rather than stand apart from it. Both the court records and the plays present women as agents who are capable of challenging their traditional roles.