Classical and Renaissance Paradigms of Heroism in Hamlet Essay

Classical and Renaissance paradigms of heroism in Hamlet In the early part of the seventeenth century, when William Shakespeare wrote The tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark, Europe was the center of a waning Renaissance that had, over the past three centuries, changed the intellectual bedrock of the West beyond recognition. The moral code of conduct for the common people had been transformed into one that embodied the tenets of Christianity, but there was one thing left undone. The upper classes still clung to the old ways – the Graeco-Roman ideas of royalty, nobility and heroism. The question of what it meant to be a king or a prince had yet to be addressed in the context of the Renaissance. The paradigms of heroism and rulership set forth in the great Greek epics yet held sway over members of royalty and the noblesse. In the play Hamlet therefore, Shakespeare attempts to provide the prototype of a hero of the Renaissance, personified by Prince Hamlet. The qualities necessary for such a hero are compared and contrasted with those associated with classical heroism through the use of classical allusion and transitions between religious and secular language. Further, the juxtaposition of Hamlet with the characters Laertes and Fortinbras – both of whom are to be regarded as heroes of the old paradigm – shows with enormous clarity, the conflict that prevailed between the two schools of thought. Shakespeare depicts the quintessential classical hero as having a number of great qualities. These are not enumerated explicitly; rather we are led to infer them from the playwright’s frequent allusions to the mythical champions of the Graeco-Roman tradition. On the urging of Hamlet, one of the players recites part of a s... ...re death. In the end, it seems that the playwright rejects (in some sense), both paradigms of heroism through the act of killing off their representatives. The consequences of the delayed revenge of Hamlet, in the opinion of this reader, denote a warning by Shakespeare that philosophy should not degenerate into endless argument, which feeds on itself and might lead to procrastination. In addition, while preservation of honor should not be the raison d'Ã ªtre for a good ruler, neither should it be completely abandoned. That Fortinbras (a classical hero) succeeds to the crown of Denmark seems to indicate the necessity for the idea of the Renaissance hero to evolve further before it can become a viable replacement for its precursor. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. George Lyman Kittredge. Waltham, MA: Xerox, 2008.

Australian Drama

Australian playwrights use a variety of styles, techniques and conventions to present images on the stage that provoke and challenge their audiences. Discuss with reference to your study and experience of the plays you have studied. The Australian playwrights studied this year have used a variety of styles, techniques and conventions, presenting Images which provoke and challenge audiences. The Removals by David Williamson and No Sugar by Jack Davis, despite the different contexts, are concerned with power and status and the conflict which is created by intonating cultural and social values.While Davis' No Sugar is set in Western Australia in the ass's and focuses on the discrimination and racism experienced by Aboriginals, The Removals deals with Police corruption in the us. Despite these different contexts, both plays manipulate a range of style, techniques and conventions to create images which effectively challenge and provoke their audiences. Both plays combine a range of styles , techniques and conventions to create Images which provoke and challenge the audience but the most significant dramatic quinine Is the deliberate and careful use of contrast In the spoken language.The dialogue in No Sugar provokes the audience right from the first scene with the starting mixture of â€Å"lingo's', â€Å"Garrulously Nosegays corroboree to a wet]la's brass band! † Here the audience is presented with an incongruous image of Aboriginals trying to do the impossible – adjust and assimilate harmoniously to the traditional music of the controlling culture. From the humorous slang of Jimmy, â€Å"Oh Jesus, me bloody leg† to the formal, platitude – style speech of Manville, â€Å"in this small ornery of the Empire† (4. ) the audience is challenged by the evident differentiation of status, education and privilege. White language is formal and sanitized. Black language Is comic, creative, angry and despairing, the humor challenging the audie nce to Identify sympathetically with the gutsy and resilient characters. Contrasting social and cultural values are heard throughout the play, the playwright deliberately highlighting the black conditions with white.Similarly, the open stage settings and parallel scenes juxtaposed throughout, serve to emphasis the contrasting situations. For example, (focus on three important scenes as evidence – looking at how the different elements create images for the audience) In a completely different context, David Williamson The Removals highlights the characters' weaknesses and vulnerabilities which reveal themselves as the tension escalates and the increasing corruption materialists, through the contrasting and unmistakable individual voices.Simmons Interrogates rather than communicating, using an apparently polite but deliberately terse and crude style, â€Å"l hope you're not a young smart Ares Ross. Ross in contrast parrots clichà ©Ã‚ ©s, â€Å"got to be trained for all eventu alities,† and the Removal's repetitive, â€Å"Vie got 5000 dollars worth of machinery ticking over in the driveway', provoking the audience to reconsider the about the reliability and integrity of the Police force, the willingness of a tradesman to become involved in a crisis are challenged.Events are presented rapidly and intensified through the form of the two single acts, the police station and the flat; the playwright building on a essentially realistic style with elements of Greek Theatre, the lenience taking place offstage, thus allowing the audience to rely on their imaginations to create their own images of power and corruption out of control, challenging them to reconsider their ideas and assumption .Both plays essentially rely on Realism to engage, provoke and challenge the audience while creating convincing and effective images. Although No Sugar has conventionally been staged using a Promenade form, experiments and discussions in class. (identify a staging ideas à ¢â‚¬â€œ perhaps transformational acting/ projection/ voice over – think about how well this would work as a radio play) The Removals traditionally is performed on a stage which â€Å"breaks the fourth wall† in naturalistic style, relying on realistic and recognizable Australian stereotypes.

Symbolism Of The River In Joseph Conrads Heart Of Darkness

â€Å"No man ever steps into the same river twice, for its not the same river, and he’s not the same man† -Heraclitus. This quote accurately depicts the protagonist, Charles Marlow in the novella Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness is read from the narration of Marlow, an ivory transporter who travels down the Congo. Throughout his journey, Marlow develops an intense interest in the famous ivory trader Kurtz, who is portrayed as a powerful, sage, and evil man. The story is based on Marlows experiences with the encounters hes faced with and his ability to be fickle based in these encounterments. In Heart of Darkness, we see Conrad use the river to symbolize movement throughout the novella. Throughout the†¦show more content†¦Kurtz, being a high end ivory trader, is very powerful and which readers don’t learn until the end is mad. After being informed the truth about Kurtz, he starts to open his eyes about reality. Marlow describ es the natives as â€Å" an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect† (102). In this quote, Marlow is talking about the natives while passing them in the ship. He mentions their look of a sense seeming as they were used as objects instead of people.Lastly,readers see the novella come to an end when he finishes up his narration along with the story. He finishes with â€Å"the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky- seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness† (117). Marlow finally realized the effect the river has and anything that goes into it, will indeed have a different look on life and will never look back. In other words, Conrad uses the river to represent the movement of Marlow and the further he travels from civilization. Not only does the symbolism of movement contributes to the theme of what you dont know cant harm you but the symbol of movement emphasizes the drastic change of Marlow throughout the story. In the beginning on the novella, Marlow is an man of travel as that being his only passion since he was a young boy. 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