Porter Scene in Macbeth: Significance and Relevance
Porter Scene in Macbeth is strategically placed between the murder of Duncan and its discovery. The third scene of the second Act is popularly known as the “Porter Scene”, where a drunken porter appears on stage responding to the repeated knocking in Macbeth’s castle. The appearance and words of the porter does take away much […]
Caliban in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”: A Critical Analysis
In “The Tempest”, William Shakespeare draws the character of Caliban with dubious shades. Critics down the ages have responded differently to the portrayal of Caliban. While some have downright dismissed him as a lowly savage, others (especially the post colonial critics) have focused on Caliban as the subjugated victim of colonial domination. Nonetheless, the portrayal […]
Miranda: Shakespeare’s Portrayal of Pure Innocence in the Tempest
Miranda: Epitome of Purity The character of Miranda is indeed one of the most wonderful creations of Shakespeare. She is a pure child of Nature like Wordsworth’s Lucy, “created of every creature’s best.” She is the only woman character in the play. Her name is the equivalent of ‘the wonderful one’ or ‘the one who […]
Twelfth Night: Title and Theme of Festivity
Twelfth Night, the last day of Christmas feasting, the last night of holiday, is the day before normal life resumes. It is the time to put on masks and disrupt the normal order of life. Carnival, according to the Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin, “celebrated temporary liberation from prevailing truth and from established order; it marked […]