Baudelaire's poem makes clear that beauty is actually closer to a form of death, acting like a drug that poisons one's mind, creates addiction and finally brings one closer to death.
The very title of the book of poems the flowers of Evil which associates the flower, a conventional representation of beauty with "evil," announces a different kind of poetic testimony. Examining Baudelaire's volume of poems, Marcel a Ruff points out that
"Les Fleurs du Mal constitutes an examination of conscience, that examination is not limited to the person of Baudelaire; it extends to all humanity. but, whatever errors are divulged, it remains a scrutiny, at times accompanied by a warning. It is never a condemnation. and, when others are concerned, the poet does not fail to express his compassion" (the Centennial Celebration of Baudelaire's Les Fleures du Mal, p. 44).
Hymn to Beauty although a very personal confession, is indeed like the rest of the volume, the cry of a human being tormented by doubt and despair and very short moments of happiness on the way the find the purity of form. The poet is painfully aware that he belongs to a long line of human beings who have undertaken the painful journey of finding perfection in an imperfect world. The struggles to break free from the spell it casts upon those caught in its power appear as doomed to fail. Beauty's powers are infinite and their sources come form the imperfection of this world.
Considering the time and place Baudelaire lived in, D.J. Mossop assesses the quest for happiness, continuous source of pain for the poet and human being, as a result of the human instinct that drives people to engage in it even if they know they will fail. Beauty, which is in fact, the Ideal the poet is looking for, is according to Mossop "is a state of pleasurable excitement towards which man is constantly striving but which, owing to the limitations of his own nature and the imperfections of his environment, he can enjoy for brief moments only"...
Richard III was one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, and possibly aside from Titus Andronicus, one of his most brutal. This violence is contrasted with Shakespeare's use of supernatural elements such as dreams and curses, because these supernatural elements grant certain characters power who would otherwise be powerless in the face of the physical violence upon which Richard and his rise to power depend (even though Richard himself shies away from
This version is different from the first two interpretations in that Al Pacino and his actors needed to break down the barriers, which render Shakespeare's history complicated and intimidating. Al Pacino allows his viewer to go behind the scenes and witness the actual process of acting. The heavier aspects of the play are made mild by informal shots of actors dealing with their roles in either a comic or
Richard III: Shakespeare's Humbert Literature is filled with characters that are designed to be lovable. For instance, Cordelia from Shakespeare's "King Lear" is the good sister: She cares not about Lear's bequest, but rather only focuses on her love and caring for her father. She is veritably sainted against the deep contrast of her mercenary sisters. Then there is Pnin, Vladimir Nabokov's lovable absent-minded and foreign professor of the novel by
Richard III and Macbeth In the plays of William Shakespeare, certain themes seem to appear over and over again. In both the stories of Richard III and Macbeth, very ambitious men use nefarious means in order to achieve leadership of their countries. Each man is in line for the throne, but has to deal with other people who are closer to the crown than he is. So, the title character takes
This reinvention has continued in every era since, including in the modern film adaptation of Richard the Third starring Ian McKellan. Set just prior to World War II and with Richard as a fascist dictator who often appears quasi-Naziish, this film version gives much darker political overtones to Richard's climb and eventual reign than appear in Shakespeare's text. Though this makes the depth of Richard's evil far more profound
They want to be king so badly that they can justify any action that helps them achieve their goal. These actions include murder. Both men become villains in different ways - Richard seems to have been born villainous and Macbeth seems to prove that villains are not born but made from outside influences. Shakespeare proves both assertions valid when we see Macbeth reach the same level of conniving and
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