Shakespeare

Posted: September 9th, 2013

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Shakespeare

Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet. He is considered as the world’s pre-eminent dramatist of his time, as well as the greatest writer in the English language. He was also known as the national poet of the united kingdom accruing the alias Bard of Avon. His influence on theatre and literature is significant. It led to a reference that he is the greatest writer in history. Majority of his plays were written in metaphors and conceits. Additionally the plays were also marked by the use of rhetorical language for the actors to declaim instead of speaking. Essentially his use of English was profound because it had a significant effect on the structure in terms of grammar and punctuation used in modern day English. Furthermore, he used his literary skills to highlight majority of the societal issues plaguing society and humanity alike.

In the evaluated works, The Merchant of Venice is considered as one of the favorite comedies written by Shakespeare. It gives a focus on a Jewish merchant who is also a shylock living in a prejudicial society given that he issues funds to people in return for a profit. His inability to give funds with the expectations for profits is one of the main causes of the resentment against the Jewish community in Venice given that, majority of the Jews are shylocks. This play is remembered because of the dramatic scenes, which characterize much of the play. However, the focus of the play is the merchant Antonio who is indebted to the moneylender known as Shylock (Shakespeare, & Rolfe, 34).

The moral inference derived from the play is the presence of prejudice against Antonio, and the rest of the world as exercised by Shylock is his money-lending ventures. This is evidenced by his determent to release Jessica venture into the streets during a parade. His hatred towards non-Jews is an indication of the existent prejudices exercised by the community in Venice. This is fueled by the presence of hatred against the Jews due to their perceived success and issue of loans at exorbitant rates to the non-Jews. Shylock harbors hatred for Antonio because of his anti-Judaism and his refusal to borrow money from him with a charge for interest. Shylock was driven by his hatred fro Antonio to derive a pound of his flesh because of his inability to pay for the bond of the loan taken by Bassano (Shakespeare, & Rolfe, 39).

Another memorable literary work is Macbeth, which is essentially a powerful and dark tragedy among the many literary tragedies written by Shakespeare with the aim of highlighting the societal evils plaguing society. Such evils are applicable in any society irrespective of the differences in time between the period of writing and the current times. The play highlights the effects of greed for power and the political effects of the quest for higher powers as evidenced by Macbeths’ thirst for power. Macbeth uses all means availed to him to achieve his desires for power irrespective of the moral and ethical grounds for such means of achieving his ambitions for power.

Macbeth is a short narrative tragedy, which tells of a story about a Scottish general by the name Macbeth who receives news of a prophecy from three witches telling of his future as the king of Scotland. Essentially this play indicates a man who is consumed by the need to accumulate power and fulfill his ambitions at any given cost. Macbeth quickly rises in rank and is bestowed the title of the Thane of Cawdor because of his role in winning the war against the allied forces of Ireland and Norway, and due to his profound display of bravery and fighting skills. His new title leads him to ponder a message he receives from the trio of witches who begin their greetings with pronouncing three titles namely “Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor” and a proclamation that he shall become king afterwards. This news is considered as the beginning of his quest for additional power given that he has witnesses his ability to gain power through his skills in warfare and high level of bravery (Long, 33).

Macbeth subsequently manages to commit an atrocity of killing King Duncan with an aim of assuming kingship and thus fulfilling the prophecy given by the trio of witches. This is made possible despite his initial objection to the idea of killing the king after persuasion by his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth also manages to arrange for the murder of a close friend and associate, Banquo given that he harbors high level of anxiety because part of the prophecy, which remains unfulfilled. This part is the assumption of power to the throne as king by Banquo’s descendants (Long, 47).

This literary tragedy is express in providing the events of political hunger for power. The achievement of power is usually characterized by numerous costs such as the loss of life and other valuable elements such as morals and ethics. Macbeth indicates that his inability to trust in himself to achieve the throne   using legitimate means is an indication for the greed for power. The identified events characterize or depict an actual scene of power struggle as individuals.

Shakespeare gains his title as one of the best writers of all time because of his ability to include rhetoric while at the same time ensuring the involvement of the audience by use of dramatic scenes.

Conclusively, Shakespeare, within the two plays, which are varied in terms of intensity, illustrates the social prejudices and issues, which were plaguing the society during the period of writing. The writer incorporates drama and language such as the use of rhetoric to ensure the engagement of the audience actively within the scenes. Identical social prejudices are still evident in the modern society such as greed for power, social hatred for other communities and racism despite soci4etal advancements.

Work cited

Long, Michael. Macbeth. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989. Print

Shakespeare, William, & W J. Rolfe. Shakespeare’s Comedy of the Merchant of Venice. New York: Harper & Bros, 1883. Print.