Summary of All’s Well That Ends Well
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Shakespeare
Parolles’ role in the play All’s Well That Ends Well
Bertram’s companion is, by general agreement, a boastful, cowardly, treacherous character. Bertram’s unpleasant qualities have occasioned some critics to argue that it is Parolles who leads Bertram astray–that he is the villain of the piece. This, however, elevates Parolles higher than he deserves, raising him to the level of true Shakespearen evil, akin to Iago
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Discuss the perspective on relations between the sexes in All’s Well That Ends Well
Like all of Shakespeare’s comedies, the plot of All’s Well That Ends Well is primarily concerned with bringing young people together in marriage. It is not, however, a romantic play: relations between the sexes are relentlessly demystified. The good characters, like Helena and Diana, are moral, defending female virtue and monogamy against the lechery of Parolles and the adulterous advances of
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Reconcile Macbeth’s prompt of killing Duncan, and his refusal to carry the bloody daggers back.
Answer: Macbeth is restrained from the murder of Duncan by the power of a sensitive conscience, working through imaginary terrors. Notwithstanding the assuring prophecy of the Weird Sisters, he is still haunted by the dreadful fear of the unknown, possible consequence. Immediately after the murder, conscience is still more active, and he cannot bring himself to
Why Does Macbeth Change His Mind About Killing King Duncan?
At end of Act I, Macbeth declares, “I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat” (I, vii, ll.79-80). Given the witches’ prediction that he will become Scotland’s king, we have ample reason to believe that Macbeth and his partner in regicide, Lady Macbeth, will succeed in their enterprise of murdering Duncan.
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Discuss the Roles of Witches in Macbeth
Shakespeare’s handling of the three witches or “weird sisters” of Macbeth is in itself equivocal. He assigns them the first dozen lines of the play their proclamation that “fair is foul, and foul is fair” (I, i., .11) setting the tone for the horrid events ahead. When their prediction of Act I, scene iii that
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Discuss the Character of Malcolm in Macbeth.
Malcolm is one of King Duncan’s sons, the other being Donalbain. In the early part of the play, he is scarcely present, but overall he has one of the three main speaking parts, the other two being Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Early in the play, Malcolm introduces to King Duncan the sergeant who saved Malcolm
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Discuss the Character of Macduff in Macbeth.
Macduff, the thane of Fife, is a Scottish nobleman. He travels with Duncan to Macbeth’s castle, and with Lennox, arrives the morning after the king has been murdered to awaken Duncan, but instead finds him dead. Macduff announces to the gathered nobleman, including the king’s sons, that Duncan has been killed. Macduff’s words in the
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Discuss the Character of Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife. When the audience first sees her in I.v, she is reading a letter from Macbeth about his encounter with the weird sisters and about his new title. Lady Macbeth promises to provide Macbeth with the courage he needs to make the prophecy come true, fearing that his nature is too
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Discuss the Character of Macbeth.
Macbeth is nobleman and a Scottish general in the king’s army. At the beginning of the play, he has gained recognition for himself through his defeat of the king of Norway and the rebellious Macdonwald. Shortly after the battle, Macbeth and another of the king’s general’s, Banquo, encounter three witches (or weird sisters) who greet
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