The Histories

William Shakespeare had a talent of writing for all genres, including histories. He wrote about glorious kings and disgraceful dukes and the conflicts in which they struggled through. Two of the works we analyzed in class were: Richard III and Henry V. 

Passage Comparison: 

Richard III is an absolutely brilliant play of how one man with everything against him, can manipulate people into accomplishing his desires. Richard was born premature which brought about his cosmetic deformities. He was "cheated of feature" and therefore cannot be loved by a woman, and because of his own self pity he proclaims that if he cannot love, he will hate and become a villain. Isolate, he devises up an evil plan full of murder and deceit, but in the company of others he hides his thoughts and becomes a whole different person. To ensure his kingship, Richard had someone murder Edward, along with various other royal men. Then during the funeral, Richard woos the now widowed Ann over the corpse of her dead husband. Richard blames the murder of Edward on Ann's beauty, "Your beauty was the cause of that effect; Your beauty, that did haunt me in my sleep; To undertake the death of all the world; So I might live one hour in your sweet bosom (29)." By doing so, Richard with his ad misericordiam, successfully manipulated Ann into becoming his wife though everything was against him. Ann knew Richard killed her husband along with other men of royalty, and yet she was still won over by this two-faced manipulative man. At the end of the scene, Richard alone praises himself and mocks Ann that he took "her in her heart's extremest hate; With curses on her mouth, and tears in her eyes (39)" and that he will have her, but not keep her long. Richard knows that he is disrespectful and maniacal, yet he is proud of that. He is without a conscience, which makes him the villain that he wants to be. 

Henry V is a play about an underestimated and youthful king that battles France in order to obtain his desires. Henry was up against obstacles. He was young and reckless, and therefore was not taken seriously by the French. Exeter, Henry's only support, explains to France that Henry is like a tempest and there will be death if the French crown isn't surrendered. The French deny England of the crown and they go to battle. Henry's army was less superior to the French and each soldier knew it. Henry motivates his men in his cape diem speech that, "The fewer men, the greater share of honor; God's will! I pray thee not one man more (83)." During the most desperate moment of the soldiers' lives, he manipulates them into thinking it will be the most glorious. Henry promises them a day of eternal glory that will never be forgotten and always remembered. He builds morale and confidence in each soldier, though the battle was almost certain to be fatal.  The soldiers were told to die for something bigger than themselves and to seize the biggest moment in their life. Henry was brilliant at manipulating these soldiers in order to obtain his desires of battling France and winning the crown. 

Commentary on Genre: 

The Histories were written in order to please the king in thrown at the time. They were written more for entertainment purposes than factual. The histories involve kings, their wars, and corruption. The histories of Richard III and Henry V had many similarities. The men were each of high social status and wanted more for themselves than they had already. Richard was the Duke of Glouster and that was not good enough for him, so he slaughtered his way into the throne. While Henry was the king of England and wanted France too, so he battled his way for the country. Richard and Henry both manipulated people in order to obtain their desires. Richard manipulated poor mourning women into marriage and Henry manipulated soldiers into fighting for his desire. They also sacrificed the lives of other people in order to keep themselves safe when achieving their goal. Richard murdered anyone in his way of obtaining the throne or threatened it. He murdered family, friends, and children for the crown. Henry sacrificed the lives of his men. His army was the "underdog" in the battle. Defeat was in the air, and yet he had his men fight anyway in order for him to obtain the French crown. 

Personal Reflection: 

Richard III and Henry V were both brilliantly written. I admire William Shakespeare in his abilities to portray such strong characters. I favored Richard III out of the two histories because he was the perfect villain. He also symbolized that if you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. Nothing held this character back. This character was repulsive, murderous, deceitful, and everyone knew it, yet he accomplished so much through them. I almost admire him, though it sounds sick. Just the manipulation that occurred in both histories astounded me. Even Henry's ability to build morale through words was powerful. I completely loved reading the histories.  

The Comedies

William Shakespeare wrote many plays in various genres, and among them were comedies. In each of his comedies, he had fools, blocking figures, comical plots, along with an ending containing a feast and a wedding. Two of his works that we analyzed in class were: A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew.

Passage Comparison:

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play not to be taken seriously. The delivery of the play rhymes to provide a childish, lighthearted feeling to every situation. Events of high importance are casted aside and are spoken with the same emotion as an everyday thing. The play mocks seriousness and love. In the beginning Egeus, father of Hermia, announces that Hermia would become a nun before she could marry her true love, Lysander, for the sole reason that Egeus preferred Demetrius. The characters then flee to the enchanted forest in which they are free to love anyone of their choosing without the Egeus's knowledge. The characters in the play are turned into fools when they fall in love. They act in irresponsible ways and fight. Helena, head-over-heels in love with Demetrius only addresses him in words of affection while he returns her kind admiration with insults and abuse. Also, in Act III, when Lysander was enchanted by the love spell, Hermia and Helena got into a fight over him because he loved Helena instead of Hermia. The fight got so out of control that the two women started to mock each other's height. The women turned a serious situation of love to a foolish insult, lacking seriousness. Love makes the characters foolish to the extreme that the supernatural notice and exclaim the malapropism of, "What fools these mortals be (Act III)." 

The Taming of the Shrew is a play in which Baptista's unwanted and wild daughter, Kate, must be married before the desired and beautiful Bianca could be attainable. The men in the play devise up a plan in which to find a man capable of marrying Kate in order to obtain Bianca's love. Petruchio, a man infatuated with money, was intrigued by the wealth he would inherit and became the candidate for Kate's husband to be. By Petruchio doing so, symbolized that the play mocks love because it is not the person that wins the heart, it is the money. The couple was comparable, both equally nasty and bitter, Kate with her insulting tongue and Petruchio with his incomprehensible taming methods like starving Kate. He uses a pun and plays on her name Kate for cat, he announces, "For I am he am born to tame you Kate; And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate; Conformable as other household Kates (53)." He refers to her as a "wild Kate" to further emphasize how out of social lines Kate is and that she needs to be tamed, and he is there to do so. 

Commentary on Genre: 

These comedies were written for complete entertainment purposes. They were designed for laughter and ridiculous plot lines, full of fools and mishaps. The plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew, had many similarities. Both involved fathers that controlled the marriage of their daughters. Egeus would not let Hermia marry Lysander, her true love because he preferred Demetrius and Baptista would not allow a man to marry his highly adored daughter, Bianca, before her wretched sister, Kate, was married off. Another similarity were the insults between "lovers" in the plays. Helena, in love with Demetrius, would flower him with kind words while he would insult and kick her in return. Kate, loathing Petruchio, let her tongue roll out the most vile insults to her "lover" and Petruchio would return her name calling with terms of admiration and affection. Both plays had the same theme of mocking love as well. Love turned the mortals foolish in A Midsummer Night's Dream, while money was worth more than love in The Taming of the Shrew. 

Personal Reflection: 

I did enjoy reading the comedies. Many of the events that took place casted a smile over my face. The scenes of the two extremes of love and hate were the most entertaining because of the insults versus affection. The only thing I was not a fan of was how the characters changed roles. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lysander and Hermia were a couple and Demetrius and Helena were a "couple." Then both Lysander and Demetrius fell out of love with Hermia and in love with Helena. It was just tough to follow. The same events happened in The Taming of the Shrew. Tranio posed as Lucentio along with various other characters posing as someone they were not. It was just difficult to follow along and keep track. But other than the confusing aspects of the play, William Shakespeare did a near flawless job on his comedies.