Significance of soliloquies and asides in Richard III Essay Example for Free

Significance of soliloquies and asides in Richard III Essay In Richard III, Shakespeare uses soliloquies and asides as a mode of expressing the otherwise internal thought process of a character. They represent dialogues between the mind of the character and the audience and create a sense of intimacy between them as the audience is given access to the internal world of the characters and are able to keep track of and understand the series of events in the play. As a result, soliloquies and asides play a very significant role as they provide the audience with information such as vital background information, straightforward declarations of intent and future plans. They also help to convey a theme, or heighten the tragedy of the play. Asides are particularly used by villains such as Richard to reveal both their schemes and their fraudulence to the audience. As such, it plays a key role in Richards character development throughout the play, revealing to us his evil nature and deceitful plots. Act 1 Scene 1 opens with Richards most important, first soliloquy. He starts by taking up the role of a narrator and filling us in on some background information relevant to the story-line of the play so that we will be able to better understand the plot and the cause of his actions. He speaks of his familys victory in the fight against Henry VI and tells us that his brother Edward, who has recently ascended the throne, is now living the high life He capers nimbly in a ladys chamber/ To the lascivious pleasing of a lute (I.i). In addition, he shows us the contrast in his mood and explains to us his inability to be merry due to his physical deformities saying, But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks/ Nor made to court an amorous looking glass/ Have no delight to pass away the time (I.i.14,15,25).Thus, to relieve the boredom and to serve his own ambition, he determines to prove a villain, subtle, false and treacherous. This shows us his low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with himself which is evident from his tone of bitterness, anger and disgust as he feels that he is very ugly and unloved such that even dogs bark at him. It also reveals to us his evil and jealous nature as he decides to pass away his time by plotting to overthrow his brother from the throne and cause unrest and unhappiness. Hence, the first soliloquy helps us understand the context of the play better, introduces us to Richards true, evil nature as well as keeps us in anticipation as we are also let in on how he plans to attain the throne, with the phrase plots have I laid To set my brother Clarence and the king/ In deadly hate (I.i.32-35), which also acts as a tool for foreshadowing. The following soliloquies in Act 1 further characterizes Richard and shows us that he would do anything, even murder, to fulfil his goal and get his way. His sarcasm and lack of love towards his own brother Clarence as well as his cruel and violent nature is seen here as he shows no hesitance in getting his brother killed, Simple, plain Clarence, I do love thee so/That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven (I.i.119-120). His wicked, and depraved nature is also brought out through his soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 2 as he ridicules Lady Anne for having fallen for his tricks and lies and talks about his heartless plan of using her simply to gain the throne saying, Was ever woman in this humor won?/Ill have her, but I will not keep her long (I.ii.235-236). His attitude here marks a shift in his perception of himself as he had mentioned that he was not meant for sportive tricks in his opening soliloquy. However, now he has had a confidence boost due to the success with Lady Anne and says Ill be at charges for a looking glass/And entertain a score or two of tailor (I.ii.262-263). Hence this soliloquy plays a role in his character development as we can see the change in his self-image and character. In his soliloquies, Richard also secretly associates himself with the devil as seen in Act 1 Scene 3 where he says And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. This also brings out Richards duplicity and ability to deceive as he manages to fool others into thinking that he is noble and sincere. This heightens the tragedy, as Richard conquers every character from Lady Anne to his own brother Clarence through his eloquence and proficiency in pretence. Other than soliloquies, asides are also used by several characters such as Richard himself as well as Queen Margaret to reveal their true thoughts and feelings. In Act 3 Scene 1, Richard uses asides to show us what he really thins of the young prince and how he deceives him with the use of double meanings in his words. For example, [Aside] Thus like the formal Vice, Iniquity, I moralize two meanings in one word. (III.i.79-83) Over here, his comparison of himself to Vice, is apt as he does play Vice, a comic role, when he is speaking with the audience. However, he always also has two meanings, which is what allows him to also be the machiavel. Also, Margaret uses asides in Act 1 Scene 3 to inform us of Richards treacheries and prevent us from being deceived like the other characters present. For example, she says (aside) Out, devil! I do remember them too well:/Thou killedst my husband Henry in the Tower,/And Edward, my poor son, at Tewkesbury. Her reference to him as a devil is nothing new to us, but simply confirms his evil nature. As such, the asides used have played a part in keeping us informed of the characters innermost thoughts as well as developing Richards character in the play.

Death of a Salesman Essay -- Arthur Miller Exposes Willy Loman

â€Å"Death of a Salesman† written by Arthur Miller in 1948 attempts to give the audience an unusual glimpse into the mind of a Willy Loman, a mercurial 60-year-old salesman, who through his endeavor to be â€Å"worth something†, finds himself struggling to endure the competitive capitalist world in which he is engulfed. Arthur Miller uses various theatrical techniques to gradually strip the protagonist down one layer at a time, each layer revealing another truth about his distorted past. By doing this, Miller succeeds in finally exposing a reasonable justification for Willy’s current state of mind. These techniques are essential to the play, as it is only through this development that Willy can realistically be driven to motives of suicide. The very first section of the first scene, already defines the basis of Willy’s character for the rest of the play. The stage directions on page 8 identify him as being an exhausted aging man, whose work seems to be wearing him down. â€Å"†¦lets his burden down†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Miller, 8). Although this makes Willy appear uninteresting, he soon contrasts this characteristic when he shows an optimistic determination towards his own failures. â€Å"I’ll start out in the morning. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.† (Miller, 9) Another aspect of Willy that makes him more interesting to the audience is his already visible complexity of layers: â€Å"I have such thoughts, I have such strange thoughts.† (Miller, 9) This of course leads the audience on to wondering what exactly is taking place in a man’s head to make him say such a thing, evoking a mild fascination in Willy’s character. Another character that is developed almost immed iately within the first two pages of the play is Linda. Again the stage directions on page 8 introdu... ...me period without using artificial â€Å"memorable speech†. This conveyance of realism to the audience is vital for Willy’s motives to seem plausible, and for Willy to be believed in as a character. On the other hand however, â€Å"Death of a Salesman† offers the audience another aspect of the play in which the inner mind of a character is symbolically represented in an expressionistic way on stage. Arthur Miller however succeeds in combining theses seemingly contradictory techniques, by conveying a sense of realism in the way the protagonist’s mind is portrayed, creates what sets it aside from anything alike it. Work Cited Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. U.K.: Penguin, 2013. Works Consulted Bloom, Harold. Arthur Miller. New York: Chelsea, 2008. Griffin, Alice. Understanding Arthur Miller. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.

Lady macbeth being disturbed Essay

The authors of Macbeth and The laboratory also have different ways of portraying their characters to be disturbed. One way they do this is that one of the characters feel guilt whereas the other finds some sort of joy from what she is doing. One way Shakespeare highlights Lady Macbeth to be disturbed is in Act 5 Scene 1. This is when Lady Macbeth says â€Å"The smell of blood is still there. All the perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand† This quote is very important in unveiling the difference between Lady Macbeth and the narrator of the laboratory. The hyperbole â€Å" all the perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand† informs the reader that lady Macbeth believes that what she has done is irreversible and now is casted in iron, she is now coming to her sense and becoming more human like by feeling some sort of guilt, we know this as she is certain that â€Å"all the perfumes of Arabia† cannot take this guilt away, Shakespeare is also using â€Å"the smell of blood â€Å" as a metaphor to educate the reader that lady Macbeth is now talking about the guilt she has bottled up within her and now she needs to ether let someone know or kill herself, we all know at the end that she commits suicide as she buckles under the fear of guilt. In the phrase â€Å"the smell of blood† Shakespeare uses the noun blood to emphasis to the reader that she is feeling guilt, we know this as the noun â€Å"blood† implies she helped kill the king now because of this murder she has blood on her hands. Now the blood has been washed away no one can see it but herself. She is becoming crazy thinking she sees all this blood, and in scene 4 she spends her days washing her hands of the blood that is not there but has instead stained her soul. This sudden found guilt backs up the argument from the Jacobean era that women were the weaker sex, both physically, mentally and emotionally , this is why the society was so patristic. Robert Browning portrays the narrator of the poem in a different view, he makes her seem cheerful and enthusiastic about the murder she is about to commit. â€Å"Grind away, moisten and mash up thy powder – I am not in a haste! â€Å" The poet use onomatopoeia in this quote, word such as â€Å"grind†, and â€Å"mash† make the reader feel that there is a little bit of excitement in the eyes of the narrator, this then leads to the reader realising that the narrator does  not have any guilt but more of a heart made of stone. Robert Browning also stresses the non-existence of guilt found in the narrators tone by using an assonance of the vowel â€Å"o†, this enhances the poem and creates a sonic like effect. When the narrator is talking to the male apothecary she is using very strong imperative verbs such as â€Å"mash† to make it sound as if she is ordering the male apothecary around. This is against the norm of the time, as during the Victorian era women were not meant to be homebodies, this was the man’s job – women were meant to be embodiments of pure virtue, humbleness and also be submissive. The narrator was completely different and was doing what a man should do.

Steps to Becoming a Critical Thinker in the Textbook,...

According to the â€Å"Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths† preface to the textbook ninth edition Rereading America is written by Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, is edited by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle published in 2008. It introduces how to become a critical reader, and it challenges us to think critically. To understand well what critical thinking is, the introduction divides into different sections to comprehend how to be a critical thinker steps by steps. The author provides some tips for college students to read actively by taking notes and writing comments. In order to be a critical thinker, the author emphasize reading is significant and to read deeply approach to critical thinking. (Change) Translating†¦show more content†¦Cultural myths affect people the way of look at the world, so it helps people to understand the way we think. In fact, the author discusses that the American dream provides to American an enormous power t o success. Because the immigrants came to the â€Å"New World† since four hundred ago, they had a lot of individual opportunity to work hard and success their dream even they were in low-paying job. They believe that the culture myths can change the life they live. Also, the culture myths can aspire to struggle with difficulty, and American believes American dream is the foundation of success. However, the culture myths shape the way of being critical thinker. The power of dialogue is the key to succeed in critical thinking. It is the relationship between thinking, reading and writing, and dialogue can declaring. To be a critical thinker, student needs to be exchange their perspectives with other students because through understanding different opinion can be extending their own ideas. Thus, the author explains that the benefits of designing the reading which are making the connection with students can share their opinion in the dialogue sections. 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