Cultural Materialism And Shakespeare s Plays - 1197 Words

Dollimore Teaching Pack Thesis-Driven Essay: Hotheaded Hotspur: Subversion in 1 Henry IV In Dollimore’s introduction to a collection of essays on cultural materialism and Shakespeare’s plays, though Dollimore does not directly address 1 Henry IV, much of what Dollimore writes about power, authority, and subversiveness seems to be direct from this of Shakespeare’s plays. In his description of subversiveness, Dollimore states two facts which, in application to 1 Henry IV, provide a richer reading that further explain Hotspur’s rebellion. Dollimore writes that subversiveness is much more complex than a simple rebellion against authority. One of the nuances Dollimore indicates is that [i]n considering in that same historical moment†¦show more content†¦Hotspur spends the vast majority of his lines railing against the present king the Percy family believes they have put on the throne. At first blush, Hotspur seems merely to be upset at the insults he perceives the king does him by demanding of Hotspur his prisoners and then refusing to ransom a Percy family member. However, Hotspur’s rebellion, as Dollimore writes that subversion will, both comes as a product of Henry IV’s authority as well as Hotstpur’s rejection of more than just Henry IV but furthermore his attendant principles. The first lines in the play belong to titular character King Henry IV, and it is directly at the beginning of the play that the king demonstrates how he himself sows the seeds of rebellion. Henry IV says, Those opposed eyes, Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred, Did lately meet in the intestine shock And f urious close of civil butchery, Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks, March all one way and be no more oppos’d Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies. (I.i.9-16) These lines appear to be peace-keeping lines, especially when Henry IV goes on to declare a holy war far away, yet these lines bear a threat which make Hotspur’s rebellion inevitable. Henry IV begins by referencing that people â€Å"of one nature, of one substance† had â€Å"opposed eyes† and â€Å"lately [met] in the intestine [internal] shock and furious close of civil butchery.† His firstShow MoreRelatedFilm Adaptation Of Shakespeare s The Tempest1122 Words   |  5 PagesJulie Taymor s 2010 film adaptation of Shakespeare s The Tempest is a truthful recreation of the classic romantic tragicomedy in all aspects except that the role of the magician, Prospero, is played by Helen Mirren, turning him from Prospero to Prospera. Through this simple change in the gender of one of the main characters, we see the play s themes called into question and viewed differently to how they would have been if the role of Prospero was played by a male. These themes incl ude the usurpationRead MoreAnalysis of Colson Whiteheads John Henry Days1515 Words   |  6 Pagespostmodern profession in the eyes of the narrator and protagonist. Questions related to what is real, and what is cultural mythos, are central to John Henry Days. Whitehead uses his protagonist as a cultural scout: someone who can show the reader the emptiness, alienation, and isolation that are at the heart of American society. Therefore, Whiteheads novel bears much in common with Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman. In Death of a Salesman, protagonist Willie Loman also suffers from intense social alienationRead MoreThe Impact Of Shakespeare s Character Representation1998 Words   |  8 PagesThe Impact of Shakespeare on Character Representation Writing is an inexhaustible source for sharing emotions and ideas. Robin Williams once said that â€Å"Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.† What we put into our writing is a part of us and should touch others in positive way. Whether to inform, persuade, or entertain, it meant to be passionate. For most students, almost all of knowledge we learn in English glass is about either about boring, dull research papers we willRead More Locating Macbeth at the Thresholds of Time, Space and Spiritualism 2629 Words   |  11 PagesMichel Foucault unmistakably locates madness at the limen of cultural identity: European man, since the beginning of the Middle Ages has had a relation to something he calls, indiscriminately, Madness, Dementia, Insanity. †¦ [It is] a realm, no doubt, where what is in question is the limits rather than the identity of a culture. (Foucault xi) By describing madness in this way, he demonstrates his understanding of madness as a cultural phenomenon, defined not by the analysis of a subject’s symptomsRead More Matthew Arnold versus Aristotles Poetics Essay examples3833 Words   |  16 PagesArnolds birth. His reasons for composing it were different from Arnolds reasons for using it as an element of his own poetic criticism. We can safely say that Arnold was inclined to use the Poetics as an inspiration for his own poetry, and as a cultural weapon in the fight for artistic and social renewal. Aristotle, by contrast, was more concerned with discovering general truths, and with formalising truths already known intuitively within his own society. I wish, in this article, to make someRead MoreA. Chekhov - the Cherry Orchard Commentary4493 Words   |  18 Pagesplaywright Anton Chekhov s last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family s estate (which includesRead MoreNazi Impact on Education and Youth2097 Words   |  9 Pageschanged dramatically during the 1920’s and 30’s, especially for those who were to no longer be regarded as German (but that’s a whole different topic). They were forcefully united under the swastika by the Nazi’s, they were brainwashed into complete loyalty to the Nazi’s through what they were taught by the schools and the Nazi’s education system. The system was extremely effective and managed to gain the complete loyalty and support of the German youth by the 1930’s as anyone who didn’t was dealt withRead MoreHow Does Desire Disrupt the Representation of Unified Identity in John Fords Tis Pit Shes a Whore?2988 Words   |  12 Pagesprotagonists; unlike other Renaissance plays in which characters’ incestuous desires are portrayed as exten sions of their villainy or political greed, Ford’s tragedy makes the love of a brother and sister its central subject, and could be conceived as doubly radical in that this relationship is supposedly based on mutual affection rather than the norms of economic necessity and caste which governed marriages during this era. However, over the course of the play this relationship is shown, as RonaldRead MoreAN ANALYSIS PAPER ON ANTON CHEKHOV’S THE SEAGULL AND THE CHERRY ORCHARD12092 Words   |  49 Pages5 Historical Approach and Cultural Approach 3. Contemporary Parallelism 3.1 Effects on Contemporary Writers and their Style 3.1.1 Literary Techniques and Tools 3.1.1.1 Comic Relief 3.1.1.2 Cliff-hanger Endings 3.1.2 Modern Playwrights and Western Short Story Authors 3.2 Influence on Samuel Beckett 3.2.1 Three Sisters and Waiting for Godot 3.2.2 Dreaming for Ideal Life 3.2.3 Inaction and Passivity 3.3 Comparison to Henry James 3.3.1 Varying Cultural. Political, and Social Standpoints Read MoreCleanth Brookss Essay Irony as a Principle of Structure9125 Words   |  37 Pagescultural and critical theory library Open source archive of ebooks, texts, videos, documentary films and podcasts Pages * Home * List of major critical theorists * What is Critical theory ? * What is Frankfurt School ? * Support Critical Theory Library * Contact This Blog This Blog  Ã‚  Ã‚   |    | ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Bottom of Form    Home  » texts  » History amp; Class Consciousness: Preface by Georg Lukà ¡cs (1923) Thursday, February 3, 2011