Hamlet And Twelfth Night Comparison Essay - 957 Words

William Shakespeare wrote plays that covered the breadth of human experience, which seem to have transcended the restraints of age because they contain universal themes. His body of his work is comprised of genres of plays, which varied from tragedies to comedies. Of them, Hamlet and Twelfth Night are perfect examples of both. A comparison between them could be of interest because their common points demonstrate that, however differing their genres are, Shakespeare’s plays essentially illustrate what it is to be human[1] . [2] Hamlet and Twelfth Night could both be compared through instances of body imagery, critical thought and social integration. In the first place, when it comes to body imagery in Hamlet and Twelfth Night, the†¦show more content†¦It is said that Queen Elizabeth I’s controversial reign at the time informed the play’s content. She, in fact, used to like to invite theater companies to her palaces[2] and saw a performance of the play at Christmastime while on a campaign in Ireland[3]. In her medieval England, people met the idea of a female monarch with hostility[4], because there had never been one until[5] . The challenge to tradition that was Queen Elizabeth I’s reign most likely to lead the discussion of gender roles in Twelfth Night. In Hamlet, there is absolutely no critical thinking in the prevailing themes of the play. Much of revolves around the idea that the disorder of universe leads to general grave disrepair. This is according The Great Chain of Being which was an explicit and distinct hierarchy of life the Elizabethan universe from Shakespeare’s time[5]. The clear motif of fear of this hierarchy is seen when Hamlet says: (†¦) the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air—look you, this brave oerhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire (†¦). What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how likeShow MoreRelated Comparing the Love of Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and the Bible4838 Words   |  20 Pagesby tragic fate. His star-crossed lovers are so madly in love with each other that they cannot live without being together. (RJ Prologue, 6) By contrast, in Twelfth Night the characters are so fickle that they switch love interests in the span of a few lines. By comparing the true love of Romeo and Juliet with the shallow love of Twelfth Night, it becomes clear that Shakespeare agrees with the Biblical assessment of love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is necessary, of course, to begin by explaining what theRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagesmake a digression on overt and covert meaning and the relation of this distinction to the psychology of cognition. The various ways of knowing God are given as an example. Parts of the argument are to be found in a minor work by al-Gazzà ¢là ®. The comparison, frequent in Islamic literature, between the incomprehensibility of God and the intolerable brilliance of light, is used by way of illustration (pp.177-79). This is followed by speculation as to the reason why, of the twenty-eight letters of the