Preview

Essay Comparing A Doll's House And Twelfth Night

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
614 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay Comparing A Doll's House And Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night; or, What You Will by William Shakespeare and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen are two plays that I find fascinating. In Twelfth Night, I found the way they speak captivating because no one speaks like that anymore. In A Doll’s House, I found the plot very interesting because of how detailed the playwright describes it. Both playwrights have a character that is very similar to each other. In Twelfth Night, it is Orsino and in A Doll’s House, it's Dr.Rank. Both love characters that do not want them. In the end, both of them had a different outcome. Orsino had gotten married to Viola, while at the end Dr.Rank died.
In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare made Orsino ( Duke of Illyria) in love with Olivia who is a noble Illyrian lady. Orsino only cares about himself and tends not to care about anyone's feelings. If he wants something he won't stop until he gets it. In the beginning of the act one, he talks about how beautiful he thinks Olivia is. “Oh, When mine eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purged the air of pestilence.”(pg 649) In that line, Shakespeare used a hyperbole to describe how Orsino thinks of Olivia. This is hyperbole because “purged the air of pestilence” means she made the air around her sweeter and purer,
…show more content…
He used personification in a line that Orsino had “If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken and so die. That strain again! It had a dying fall;..”(pg 649) It is personification because Shakespeare gave an appetite a human aspect which it getting sick and dying, which it cannot. Also, a strain cannot have a dying fall. Another use of figurative language is when Orsino said “Oh, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound. That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odor.” This quote is a simile because he compared the sound of music and love to the smell of violets using the word

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare’s most popular play, A Midsummer Night’s dream, is a romantic comedy that features young lovers that fall deeply in and out of love in a brief period of time. This play is unique because it demonstrates tragedy and comedy at the same time. The comedy not only provides amusement and laughter but also helps ease tension between characters. In the play, A “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, William Shakespeare produces a comedy through foolish characters and mistaken identities.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and Othello by William Shakespeare women were treated as victims of their era due to male dominance. Women in the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries were considered inferior to man. They would tackle tasks such as taking care of the household and the children while men were out making the family income. Men did not believe that women were capable of thinking on the same level as them. However, the two plays mentioned give us examples of two characters that disobey the superiority of men, but have rather different outcomes because of the time period in which the plays have been written.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Personification is giving human characteristics or actions to non-human things. In The Alchemist, Coelho does this plenty of times. Like for instance, on page 71, Coelho says, "The desert is a capricious lady and sometimes she drives men crazy,” (Coelho 71). This is giving the desert characteristics of a female human. In XXIX Sonnet, Shakespeare writes, “And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,” (Line 3). In this line, Shakespeare is giving a place, heaven, human characteristics by saying that it is deaf. The theme of these two pieces is enriched by the use of…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Titus Andronicus Analysis

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Many of William Shakespeare’s plays are so memorable because of the protagonists presented in them. Shakespeare delicately crafts (his) protagonists as complex characters that (evoke) different responses from the audience, often leaving the audience with a memorable impression of how they initially felt about the protagonist and how over time those feelings changed due to their experiences in life. Even after the play, the protagonist’s reactions to the events that took place in the play stay with us, because they make us question how we would have handled the situations that the protagonist was presented with. This exact feeling happens in two of Shakespeare’s early plays, Titus Andronicus and Hamlet. Both plays present two protagonists of…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the romantic comedy play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by William Shakespeare, the human condition is reflected upon in a variety of ways. Shakespeare expands on several aspects of the human condition, such as the social, cultural and personal aspects, in particular the vices and virtue in human nature by exploring them through his characters. He is able to show serious reflections on the human condition by exploring a variety of themes which are used throughout the play, such as deception as a double edged sword, love as a transforming power and the value of honour. Dramatic devices and techniques such as that of a double plotline, irony and use of language are used to do this.…

    • 2299 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Doll’s House consists of two examples of foiling. One being Nora Helmer to Christine Linde. At the start of the novel it seems that Nora has it all, a loving and wealthy husband, a few children, and she doesn’t have to work. All she has is some debt that she pays off with her allowance. Unlike Nora, Christine has had a life of hardship. She works for a living and has no family because she is alone. By the end of the novel, it seems as if the two have switched places. Nora has become alone and deserts her family. While Christine has discovered her love with Krogstad, and hopes for a happy family. But in what ways do Nora and Christine differ? They differ simply because they’re opposites of eachother. Ways Nora and Christine differ are Christine has to grind her life out and Nora lives simply, Nora is wealthy and Christine lives on low-income; lastly Christine is content…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare incorporated several poignant metaphors throughout Romeo and Juliet. A metaphor is a comparison between two things, but unlike a simile, the words “like” or “as” are not used. Relating back to the play, Mercutio says, “True, I talk of dreams; which are the children…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Our society’s gender roles are constantly evolving and changing, all in the name of “progressive thinking”, though not all for the good. With a new “social norm” appearing every few years or so, it comes as a surprise that it has been a relatively short time since women have broken through their defined roles to be seen on the same level as men on a social basis. Many of history’s pages are written from a patriarchal perspective, opening the way for the female protagonists and complimentary characters in Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” to make us rethink those gender roles through the events that occur during the plays and through their own complexity, providing interesting points of comparison and contrast between the plays and challenging audiences to think about gender roles in a new way.…

    • 1940 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    People are capable of doing crazy things! Nora, in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, loved her husband so much that she committed forgery just for the sake of his wellbeing. Susan Glaspell’s character in Trifles, Mrs. Wright, murders her husband after she discovers that he killed the one most precious thing to her, her pet bird. It was out of love that these women committed illegal crimes. Nora wanted her husband to be healthy because she loved him and knew that without his salary coming in, their home would fall apart. In contrast, Mrs. Wright wanted her husband dead. He was responsible for taking the life of the only company she had for many years. Mrs. Wright loved her pet bird more than she loved her own husband. The bird was more than just a pet to this lonely woman, it was her single companion. Through their failed marriages, conviction of crime and judgment from their peers, these character’s personalities change completely and begin to show the reader the evolution of women’s place in society.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nora Helmer, the main protagonist of Scandinavian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879), has always been depicted, as an exuberant novelty item, whose only purpose is to serve the important male figures in her life. This especially pertains to her father and her husband. These male figures move around Nora’s realm with indirect disregard to Nora’s true nature, desires, and abilities. Although this facade seems to be built on solid ground in the beginning, we see the consequential subtle, but progressive, crumbling of a falsified foundation. In the end, Nora, the once veiled unseasoned girl becomes a woman waiting to grasp the horizons of experience…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare originally written in 1594 is one of the most well known and revered stories. This romantic tale follows the tragedy of two young lovers who sacrifice everything for love and meet an ill-timed fate. Romeo and Juliet share an intense love but their family ties prevent their love from prevailing. Love and death send the couple on an immense ride of emotions which Shakespeare portrays through the use of many techniques including monologues and soliloquies. A monologue, usually with only two people on the stage, is used to express motivation, intentions, relationships and results. A soliloquy, with only one actor on stage, gives the audience an idea of the characters state of mind and their inner…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night is written by William Shakespeare. The play has been transformed into multiple movie versions including a BBC version, Hollywood version and a modern version called She’s The Man. The BBC movie was directed by John Gorrie, Hollywood version was directed by Trevor Nunn and She’s The Man was directed by Andy Fickman. Media techniques, characters, and plot are compared throughout the numerous versions of Twelfth Night show that She’s The Man is the best version for students learning Shakespeare for the first time.…

    • 640 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Foils in Othello

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages

    One of William Shakespeare’s many attributes as a playwright of the late 16th century was his character development. Shakespeare’s seamless use of indirect characterization sets his works apart from the other playwrights and authors of his time. In Othello, the Shakespearian tragedy about the newlywed Othello and Desdemona, Shakespeare uses character foils to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. By making inwardly similar characters seem like polar opposites, Shakespeare truly shows how dynamic each of the characters is.…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analysis in A Midsummer Night's Dream “O, I am out of breath in this fond chase!” (Act 2 vs.81)…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Things are not always as they appear; reality and perception are two different ways of looking at any scenario. For example in Shakespeare’s Othello one could look at the plot of this story and perceive Iago as honest, helpful and as a trust worthy person. Othello believes Iago to be a trust worthy person. He has to go away for battle and wants Iago to look after his wife Desdemona.” My life upon her faith! Honest Iago”. (Shakespeare 964). Roderigo thought Iago to be a very helpful and honest person. He was paying Iago to help gain Desdemona’s love. He thought that Iago was being honest with him when he said that he was working on this. “That thou, Iago, who has had my purse.”(Shakespeare page 948). This quote explains how Iago has been getting money from Roderigo.…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays