Essays and Research Papers on Selected Comparisons

A 5 page essay on the textual effects of violence in society in 'Julius Caesar' and 'Romeo and Juliet.' The writer posits that in the end, the manipulated public has disappeared from the text. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

An 8 page paper looking at William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. The writer notes that whereas Juliet, initially the more socially-conventional of the two, took a forceful and active hand in choosing her own mate, Kate the Shrew found herself forced into not only a marriage but a role ...

A 3 page analysis of "Much Ado About Nothing" and "The Taming of the Shrew," which focuses on Shakespeare's frequent use of pairs, i.e. two plots, two female leads, two male leads, etc. and how this structural device was used both to progress the plot and also to aid characterization. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page analysis of the use of dramatic irony in "Much Ado About Nothing" and "The Taming of the Shrew." The writer argues that the use of dramatic irony in "Much Ado About Nothing" is more subtle then in "The Taming of the Shrew," and that the more obvious use of dramatic irony in ...

This 5 page research paper examines the parallel themes which run through William Shakespeare's play, "Romeo and Juliet," his poem, "The Phoenix and the Turtle" and Alex Proyas' 1993 film, The Crow. Specifically compared are the portrayal of eternal love, death, and peace in the works. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 10 page paper looking at three of Shakespeare's comedies -- As You Like It, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night -- and the motifs of disguise, transformation, and revelation in each. It concludes that the disguised state is a learning stage, and in order to return life to its proper place, this stage must ...

This 5 page paper analyzes how William Shakespeare convicts loss and restoration in his plays. Specific examples are provided from The Tempest, Midsummer Night's Dream, & Macbeth.

A 10 page analysis of 4 of Shakespeare's comedies: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost, The Taming of the Shrew, and All's well that ends well. The writer discusses these plays from the standpoint of the obstacles which the lover's had to overcome in order to reach a happy ending. The writer argues that ...

A 6 page paper looking at these two Shakespearean plays in terms of twentieth-century psychologist Viktor Frankl's theories on the relationship of suffering and meaning in life. The paper concludes that both Shakespeare and Frankl show that without a sense of meaning whose ground is in the self, life has no meaning at all. Bibliography ...

A 5 page paper looking at both these plays by William Shakespeare in terms of the playwright's use of villains. The paper shows that in both these plays, the protagonist is at least partly responsible -- through the shortcomings of his own character -- for his own defeat. No additional sources cited.

A 12 page paper examining whether Shakespeare found the concept of chastity threatening. It concludes that what he actually found threatening was virginity because it violated the order of nature; chastity, or purity of soul, he had no problem with at all. Bibliography lists twelve sources.

A 5 page paper discussing the presence and significance of omens, portents, and prophesies in Shakespeare's Macbeth and Julius Caesar. The writer concludes that because Shakespeare saw the world as something planned and coherent, it is possible to divine that plan through supernatural sources. Bibliography lists five sources.

A 3 page paper on the anger-based emotional conflicts in Shakespeare's works: Hamlet, Othello and King Lear. The basis for this anger and the results of the anger-induced behavior by the works' protagonists is presented within the family structure. Bibliography list 1 source.

A 12 page paper describing Shakespeare's use of sexuality in three of his plays. The writer explores the themes of incest, adultery, interracial love, and obsession. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 10 page paper discussing the character of Shakespeare's women in these two plays. The paper specifically contrasts Cleopatra and Ophelia, and discusses whether the Bard was a proto-feminist. No additional sources cited.

This 5 page research paper discusses how the themes of friendship and betrayal are expressed in the William Shakespeare plays, Hamlet and Othello. Specifically discussed are how each theme is defined, developed and resolved (or not) over the course of each play among the different characters, and the images which further reinforces the themes. ...

A 5 page paper examining the main characters, Hamlet and Othello, of the same titled plays by Shakespeare. Both men, while coming from different backgrounds and holding different titles, are essentially made of the same stuff. They are bold and brave men who are full of passion and strength. They are good men with powerful ...

A 10 page paper on the women characters in Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing. The writer examines the traditional and non-traditional women's roles as they are portrayed by Bianca and Hero, and Katherine and Beatrice, respectively. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

The comedies of Shakespeare are often the forum for comment concerning the assignment of gender roles that were true for the Elizabethan society of which he was a part. Under the auspices of the pen and the play he was able to portray women in ways that were not generally acceptable. The characters of Rosalind ...

This 7 page paper analyzes the behaviors the fathers in three specific plays: Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, and Macbeth. The attributes of the fathers caused the deaths of their children in two cases and significant heartache in the other. The three share some similarities in terms of their personalities and goals in life ...

A 6 page paper showing the prevalence of the motif of the self-serving father in Shakespeare's plays. It particularly examines Prospero from The Tempest, Lord Capulet from Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet's two fathers from Hamlet. Bibliography lists one source.

This 8 page paper analyzes the depiction of the lower social class in Shakespeare's plays by examining the roles of the 'rude mechanicals' in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the plebeians in "Julius Caesar."

A 5 page paper on the recent book by Samuel Crowl. It shows how Samuel Crowl focuses on the performance of Shakespeare as opposed to the solitary explication of it, and shows how very different these two modes of writing are, and what different demands they make on both the writer and his 'audience'. No ...

A 5 page paper on the topic of the journey as depicted in Hamlet, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet. The writer notes that in every case, the literal journey encompasses only a very tiny section of the play; but the hero's departure and return at that precise point in the plot has great significance to ...

A 6 page paper comparing pairs of characters in these two Shakespearean plays. Specifically, the paper compares the way Prospero restricts Miranda's freedom versus the way Helena entraps Bertram, and contrasts the two plays' very different resolutions. Bibliography lists 10 sources.