Isaiah Davis Essays - Alls Well That Ends Well, William Shakespeare

Isaiah Davis One of the themes that emerge from Shakespeare's comedy All's Well That Ends Well is the conflict between old and new, age and youth, wisdom and folly, reason and passion. As one critic points out, a simple glance at the characters of the play reveals an almost equally balanced cast of old and young. "In performance it is apparent that the youth of the leading characters, Helena, Bertram, Diana and Paroles, is in each case precisely balanced by the greater age of their counterparts, the Countess, the King of France, the Widow of Florence and the old counselor Lafeu."1 Indeed, the dialectic between youth and age is established in the first act as the Countess sees a mirror of her former self in Helena's love sick countenance in scene three when she exclaims "Even so it was with me when I was young," and Bertram's worthiness to the ailing King of France in the previous scene appears to hang upon his youthful resemblance to his deceased father. As the King explains, "Such a man might be a copy to these younger times,/Which followed well would demonstrate them now/But goers-backward. Like so many literary youths of his day, Shakespeare went backward for his source material for All's Well and based the play on Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron. Boccaccio's early sixteenth-century story revolves around Gillette of Narbona, the daughter of a wealthy and respected physician. Giletta, like Helena (the daughter of the deceased--and indigent--Gerard de Narbonne), falls in love with young count Beltrami, follows him to Paris where she remedies the King's incurable disease, and, because of her newly-acquired royal favor, is granted the right to demand a husband: Beltrami. Despite the King's elitist reluctance to grant Gillette her wish (which contrasts the Shakespearean monarch's unmitigated blessing), he keeps his promise and orders the count to marry the physician's daughter. The rest of Boccaccio's story proceeds in like fashion to Shakespeare's with the exception of Gillettes arrival at Rossiglione (vs. Rossillion) with twin sons as opposed to a single fetus. As W. W. Lawrence points out, conventional folk motifs such as "The Fulfillment of the Tasks" and "The Healing of the King" undergird Boccacio's--and thus Shakespeare's--tale.2 In addition to theses narrative devices, the play also contains another folk motif, that of the "bed-trick"--a frequently used convention in Renaissance drama that allows one lover to be substituted for another unbeknownst to the first party of a particular amorous tryst. Shakespeare relies on tradition to provide character types for him as well as thematic elements. The puffed-up Platean soldier or miles gloriosus figure makes his appearance in All's Well in the guise of Parolles, who "descends from a venerable line of braggart warriors, talkers and not doers, who originate with Aristophanes and then swagger their way through Menander, Plautus, and Terrence into Elizabethan comedy. Thus, Shakespeare collects old conventions, devices and stock characters to create a new fairy-tale, one that bears the distinctive mark of tradition but reveals new insights. For Shakespeare's archetypal story is one that gives genesis to some difficult questions. As many critics testify, All's Well differs from many of Shakespeare's other comedies in its dark overtones. He illustrates certain problems at court but provides no Greenworld; he introduces a love story without two active lovers; he creates a seemingly equivocal heroine and a callow, prevaricating hero. "In this world," Anne Barton explains, "unicorns do not exist to testify to the mystic power of virginity, and Prince Charming is likely to prefer the fashionably dressed elder sisters to beauty in rags. Love itself is not simply the servant of a fantastic plot, but a matter of complex adjustments within the personality. Indeed, Shakespeare's old skins produce potent and problematic new wine for, as many critics note, the psychologically complex characters in this play prove far too sophisticated for the formal stylistic vehicle that contains them. This fairy-tale ends happily, but only if we suspend our disbelief to allow for Bertram's all too brief conversion and forgive him of certain newly rendered sins that further cast him as a rather unworthy prize. This fairy-tale ends happily if we can resolve the problems presented by Helena's character: Is she a "saintly maiden" or a "cunning vixen. It

Judy Garland essays

Judy Garland essays Little do most people know that Frances Ethel Gumm was one of the greatest actor and singer of all time. I know you are probably thinking well than why have I never heard of her. The reason you have never heard of this astounding actress and singer is because she is better known as Judy Garland. My purpose for this paper is to inform many Garland fans of not only her achievements but to let you know of some of the obstacles she incurred behind the scenes of her acting/singing career. Judy did not have much of a childhood due to her early start in the music business. It was at the age of thirty months when Judy held her first performance singing Jingle Bells on stage at her fathers theater. From there performances never stopped for the young Judy. At age, five her and her other two sisters began the Gumm Trio whose name later changed to the Garland Trio. This was a suggestion made by George Jessel after he heard some of the audience poking fun of the girls last name during a performance. Once the Garland Trio became more popular Judy finished elementary school and began school at Lawlers Professional School in Los Angeles. It was after one of the girls concerts in 1935 that Judy signed a 7-year contract with MGM. This contract was the only one MGM had ever signed without screen or sound tests. Why you might ask would MGM take such a risk. This is what they had to say Judy couldnt read music, had never had a dancing or singing lesson, but she was bright and inve ntive and powered with a fantastic drive.... She could read pages of dialogue just once, then go through a scene flawlessly. She was born to be a star. Later Judy began to attend University High School then eventually entered the school at MGM. Here she began movies. Her first film was Every Sunday Afternoon. This film sparked her acting career. From here she appeared in many great mov ...

Should people eat dog meat or not Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Should people eat dog meat or not - Essay Example ating is one of such long-standing problems and finding a solution cannot be postponed any more because being in hurry for a better life, it is impossible to catch it without finding common language with the Nature. Something familiar can be found even between the most different countries and Switzerland, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Polynesia, the Arctic and Antarctic have a common spoilt reputation because of dog eating. Such a tradition appeared in those countries due to different cultural and historical moments. For example, Susan R. Friedland shares such Philippine cultural fact: Among the Benguet Igorots, the cleansing ritual known as tomo or temmo is performed for the warriors who had directly or indirectly participated in inner-village conflicts (faroknit). The ritual animal has to be the dog, based on the belief that its barks can drive away haunting spirits (74). Even though scientists have proved that China was the first country that domesticated dogs, at the same time, dog meat was one of the main food sources. It is still common to consume it but some changes are also visible. As Frederick J. Simoons noticed, â€Å"a ban on slaughtering and eating dogs had been in effect in Hong Kong since 1950, with severe penalties, a $1000 fine and six months in jail, for violations. However, because the law is so contrary to the tradition of the Chinese majority, it has been wildly ignored† (314). The situation in Switzerland differs because, on the one hand, people who eat dog meat are not punished for that and it is allowed but, on the other hand, the law persecutes its trading. Arctic and Antarctic appeared in the list because its inhabitants use dogs as nutrition in emergency cases what is opposite in Korea, where they have created a breed that is meant for eating: Importantly, whether dog meat consumption is considered a National tradition, culture or custom maybe a matter of semantics only; clearly the motivation in Korean