In many Shakespearean plays, we find, intertwined and running parallel with the main action, a subplot serving as an allegorical commentary on the main theme of the play. In Much Ado About Nothing, this allegory is found in the actions of the comic char-acters: Dogberry, Verges, and their inept band of blundering nightwatchmen. The central…
In Act III Scene 1 of The Comedy of Errors, we find the Ephesian Antipholus locked out of his own house, while his wife mistakenly dines the Syracusian Antipholus who is not her husband. The Ephesian Antipholus and Dromio also discover that it is the Syracusian Dromio who is behind the locked door, keeping the…
The Mystical Meaning of Othello Othello is Shakespeare’s masterful psychological study on the genesis of malice and the creation of evil. While the play informs us how Iago, the arch-villain himself, reached his horrible level of depravity, the main focus is on Othello, a man who appears noble and just, with no inclination towards evil. In…
The overarching theme in The Taming of the Shrew—one that echoes through the entire play—is that of role-playing. It begins in the Induction with the Duke’s men role-playing to trick Sly into playing the role of a lord watching a play-within-a-play where the actors are not only role-playing but are playing characters who (in the play-within-a-play)…
The overarching theme in The Taming of the Shrew—one that echoes through the entire play—is that of role-playing. The thematic resonance on role-playing is literally incessant. It begins with the Induction, where Shakespeare arranges for Sly, to be fooled by circumstances into playing the role of a lord, surrounded by attendants playing their required roles in the elaborate…
The scene after Hamlet kills Polonius (Act III Scene 4) is theatrically distressing and a source of dismay to the audience because Hamlet displays a callous lack of remorse after accidentally stabbing Polonius, the elderly Councilor of State. Hamlet even proceeds to ridicule the slain man: Hamlet: I’ll lug the guts into the neighbour room. Mother, good night indeed. This counsellor Is now most still, most secret, and most grave, Who was in life a foolish prating knave. Someone who can react in this way hardly fits the image of an ideal hero. Surely Polonius deserves…
The central theme of Much Ado About Nothing may be summarized by three complementary motifs: This same theme echoes through the whole of Romeo and Juliet, with the misperception of reality mainly caused by the error of reifying the labels of “Montague” and “Capulet” to the extent that they define who their enemies are. It creates a dichotomy…
Shakespeare conveys the meaning in each of his plays by making us live through it. It is an emotional encounter designed to illuminate the meaning within the depths of our inner being. The message of the play is not conveyed intellectually; it is experienced. To truly imbibe the message of a Shakespearean play, we thus…
In a Shakespearean play, the main plot provides the key thrust of the message, while interspersed between, are scenes designed to create thematic resonance and allegorical representations of the same meaning. These scenes expand on the message by highlighting aspects of the central theme, broadening its impact. They play a vital supporting role and prepare…
The real “error” in The Comedy of Errors is our distorted perception of reality because we mistake artificial labels as being inherently real. In the play, the labels “Syracusian” and “Ephesian” are considered, by our deluded perception, to be so real that one’s life can be forfeit for merely possessing the wrong label! This deluded thinking introduces a…