Romanticism

Chimney Sweeper Context the poem childhood away from them to how he received a (background of Subject Matter the Introduction of Industrialism took many children’s pleasant childhood according to most sources. To the reader is that with the introduction of industrialism came the diminishing of many lives and childhoods as they were forced into slavery and work. Also, parenting can be see as a subject due to the fact in the first stanza, Blake mentions how one parent sold their child after the other passed away, honing how careless they were.

The government Is also a target of this poem because of the fact that they didn’t attempt to stop child labor which occurred throughout the beginning of industrialism. The subject of innocence can be seen throughout this poem because of the slavery which occurred. With the slavery of children came the loss of their innocence. Style Onomatopoeia: Use this technique in words like “weep! ” and repeatedly to help depict the situation which it is describing. Rhyme: In the form of ABA, the rhyme in this poem arks together with enjambment to help the poem flow smoothly.

Foreshadowing: This technique is used through the words “And he opened the coffins & set them free”. These words foreshadow the freeing of the enslaved children from working in the industrial factories. Colloquial language: The use of slang and informal words, such as “&” and “opened”, help the poem run smoother and effectively emphasis the vowels within the words. The poets William Flake’s purpose to write this poem was to comment? ) beginning of industrialism, especially in terms of repose (social help the reader understand what it was like at the what children experienced.

Industrial brought Jobs which needed filling, resulting in the slavery of children, so Blake is trying to tell us that it was wrong to strip the children of their innocence. Also, his use of first person in his writing helps create a more accurate experience in contrast to a second or third person view. Links to Romanticism Romanticism is about nature and how much the romantics worshiped it but it is also about industrialism and the effects which it brought. This mom focus’ on industrialism and what it meant for children.

Blake talks about how a child was sold and forced into slavery to work in the industrial factories. Like how romanticism is about innocence, the children which Blake is referring to in this poem lost their innocence as soon as they were enslaved and forced to work at such a young. Also, the romantics loved nature and practically treated it as a religion, so when industrial factories were built over nature, like it would have been in the poem, the nature lost its innocence like the children.

Yeats believed that art and politics were intrinsically linked and used his writing to express his attitudes toward Irish politics, as well as to educate his readers about Irish cultural history. From an early age, Yeats felt a deep connection to Ireland and his national identity, and he thought that British rule negatively impacted Irish politics and social life.

His early compilation of folklore sought to teach a literary history that had been suppressed by British rule, and his early poems were odes to the beauty and mystery of the Irish countryside. This work frequently integrated references to myths and mythic figures, including Oisin and Cuchulain. As Yeats became more involved in Irish politics—through his relationships with the Irish National Theatre, the Irish Literary Society, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and Maud Gonne—his poems increasingly resembled political manifestos.

Yeats wrote numerous poems about Ireland’s involvement in World War I (“An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” [1919], “A Meditation in Time of War” [1921]), Irish nationalists and political activists (“On a Political Prisoner” [1921], “In Memory of Eva Gore Booth and Con Markiewicz” [1933]), and the Easter Rebellion (“Easter 1916” [1916]). Yeats believed that art could serve a political function: poems could both critique and comment on political events, as well as educate and inform a population. The Impact of Fate and the Divine on History

Yeats’s devotion to mysticism led to the development of a unique spiritual and philosophical system that emphasized the role of fate and historical determinism, or the belief that events have been preordained. Yeats had rejected Christianity early in his life, but his lifelong study of mythology, Theosophy, spiritualism, philosophy, and the occult demonstrate his profound interest in the divine and how it interacts with humanity. Over the course of his life, he created a complex system of spirituality, using the image of interlocking gyres (similar to spiral cones) to map out the development and reincarnation of the soul.

Yeats believed that history was determined by fate and that fate revealed its plan in moments when the human and divine interact. A tone of historically determined inevitability permeates his poems, particularly in descriptions of situations of human and divine interaction. The divine takes on many forms in Yeats’s poetry, sometimes literally (“Leda and the Swan” [1923]), sometimes abstractly (“The Second Coming” [1919]). In other poems, the divine is only gestured to (as in the sense of the divine in the Byzantine mosaics in “Sailing to Byzantium” [1926]).

No matter what shape it takes, the divine signals the role of fate in determining the course of history. The Transition from Romanticism to Modernism Yeats started his long literary career as a romantic poet and gradually evolved into a modernist poet. When he began publishing poetry in the 1880s, his poems had a lyrical, romantic style, and they focused on love, longing and loss, and Irish myths. His early writing follows the conventions of romantic verse, utilizing familiar rhyme schemes, metric patterns, and poetic structures. Although it is lighter than his later writings, his early poetry is still sophisticated and accomplished.

Several factors contributed to his poetic evolution: his interest in mysticism and the occult led him to explore spiritually and philosophically complex subjects. Yeats’s frustrated romantic relationship with Maud Gonne caused the starry-eyed romantic idealism of his early work to become more knowing and cynical. Additionally, his concern with Irish subjects evolved as he became more closely connected to nationalist political causes. As a result, Yeats shifted his focus from myth and folklore to contemporary politics, often linking the two to make potent statements that reflected political agitation and turbulence in Ireland and abroad.

Finally, and most significantly, Yeats’s connection with the changing face of literary culture in the early twentieth century led him to pick up some of the styles and conventions of the modernist poets. The modernists experimented with verse forms, aggressively engaged with contemporary politics, challenged poetic conventions and the literary tradition at large, and rejected the notion that poetry should simply be lyrical and beautiful. These influences caused his poetry to become darker, edgier, and more concise.

Although he never abandoned the verse forms that provided the sounds and rhythms of his earlier poetry, there is still a noticeable shift in style and tone over the course of his career. Motifs Irish Nationalism and Politics Throughout his literary career, Yeats incorporated distinctly Irish themes and issues into his work. He used his writing as a tool to comment on Irish politics and the home rule movement and to educate and inform people about Irish history and culture. Yeats also used the backdrop of the Irish countryside to retell stories and legends from Irish folklore.

As he became increasingly involved in nationalist politics, his poems took on a patriotic tone. Yeats addressed Irish politics in a variety of ways: sometimes his statements are explicit political commentary, as in “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,” in which he addresses the hypocrisy of the British use of Irish soldiers in World War I. Such poems as “Easter 1916” and “In Memory of Eva Gore Booth and Con Markiewicz” address individuals and events connected to Irish nationalist politics, while “The Second Coming” and “Leda and the Swan” subtly include the idea of Irish nationalism.

In these poems, a sense of cultural crisis and conflict seeps through, even though the poems are not explicitly about Ireland. By using images of chaos, disorder, and war, Yeats engaged in an understated commentary on the political situations in Ireland and abroad. Yeats’s active participation in Irish politics informed his poetry, and he used his work to further comment on the nationalist issues of his day. Mysticism and the Occult Yeats had a deep fascination with mysticism and the occult, and his poetry is infused with a sense of the otherworldly, the spiritual, and the unknown.

His interest in the occult began with his study of Theosophy as a young man and expanded and developed through his participation in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a mystical secret society. Mysticism figures prominently in Yeats’s discussion of the reincarnation of the soul, as well as in his philosophical model of the conical gyres used to explain the journey of the soul, the passage of time, and the guiding hand of fate. Mysticism and the occult occur again and again in Yeats’s poetry, most explicitly in “The Second Coming” but also in poems such as “Sailing to Byzantium” and “The Magi” (1916).

The rejection of Christian principles in favor of a more supernatural approach to spirituality creates a unique flavor in Yeats’s poetry that impacts his discussion of history, politics, and love. Irish Myth and Folklore Yeats’s participation in the Irish political system had origins in his interest in Irish myth and folklore. Irish myth and folklore had been suppressed by church doctrine and British control of the school system. Yeats used his poetry as a tool for re-educating the Irish population about their heritage and as a strategy for developing Irish nationalism.

He retold entire folktales in epic poems and plays, such as The Wanderings of Oisin (1889) and The Death of Cuchulain (1939), and used fragments of stories in shorter poems, such as “The Stolen Child” (1886), which retells a parable of fairies luring a child away from his home, and “Cuchulain’s Fight with the Sea” (1925), which recounts part of an epic where the Irish folk hero Cuchulain battles his long-lost son by at the edge of the sea. Other poems deal with subjects, images, and themes culled from folklore.

In “Who Goes with Fergus? ” (1893) Yeats imagines a meeting with the exiled wandering king of Irish legend, while “The Song of Wandering Aengus” (1899) captures the experiences of the lovelorn god Aengus as he searches for the beautiful maiden seen in his dreams. Most important, Yeats infused his poetry with a rich sense of Irish culture. Even poems that do not deal explicitly with subjects from myth retain powerful tinges of indigenous Irish culture.

Yeats often borrowed word selection, verse form, and patterns of imagery directly from traditional Irish myth and folklore. Symbols The Gyre The gyre, a circular or conical shape, appears frequently in Yeats’s poems and was developed as part of the philosophical system outlined in his book A Vision. At first, Yeats used the phases of the moon to articulate his belief that history was structured in terms of ages, but he later settled upon the gyre as a more useful model.

He chose the image of interlocking gyres—visually represented as two intersecting conical spirals—to symbolize his philosophical belief that all things could be described in terms of cycles and patterns. The soul (or the civilization, the age, and so on) would move from the smallest point of the spiral to the largest before moving along to the other gyre. Although this is a difficult concept to grasp abstractly, the image makes sense when applied to the waxing and waning of a particular historical age or the evolution of a human life from youth to adulthood to old age.

The symbol of the interlocking gyres reveals Yeats’s belief in fate and historical determinism as well as his spiritual attitudes toward the development of the soul, since creatures and events must evolve according to the conical shape. With the image of the gyre, Yeats created a shorthand reference in his poetry that stood for his entire philosophy of history and spirituality. The Swan Swans are a common symbol in poetry, often used to depict idealized nature. Yeats employs this convention in “The Wild Swans at Coole” (1919), in which the regal birds represent an unchanging, flawless ideal.

In “Leda and the Swan,” Yeats rewrites the Greek myth of Zeus and Leda to comment on fate and historical inevitability: Zeus disguises himself as a swan to rape the unsuspecting Leda. In this poem, the bird is fearsome and destructive, and it possesses a divine power that violates Leda and initiates the dire consequences of war and devastation depicted in the final lines. Even though Yeats clearly states that the swan is the god Zeus, he also emphasizes the physicality of the swan: the beating wings, the dark webbed feet, the long neck and beak.

Through this description of its physical characteristics, the swan becomes a violent divine force. By rendering a well-known poetic symbol as violent and terrifying rather than idealized and beautiful, Yeats manipulates poetic conventions, an act of literary modernism, and adds to the power of the poem. The Great Beast Yeats employs the figure of a great beast—a horrific, violent animal—to embody difficult abstract concepts. The great beast as a symbol comes from Christian iconography, in which it represents evil and darkness.

In “The Second Coming,” the great beast emerges from the Spiritus Mundi, or soul of the universe, to function as the primary image of destruction in the poem. Yeats describes the onset of apocalyptic events in which the “blood-dimmed tide is loosed” and the “ceremony of innocence is drowned” as the world enters a new age and falls apart as a result of the widening of the historical gyres. The speaker predicts the arrival of the Second Coming, and this prediction summons a “vast image” of a frightening monster pulled from the collective consciousness of the world.

Yeats modifies the well-known image of the sphinx to embody the poem’s vision of the climactic coming. By rendering the terrifying prospect of disruption and change into an easily imagined horrifying monster, Yeats makes an abstract fear become tangible and real. The great beast slouches toward Bethlehem to be born, where it will evolve into a second Christ (or anti-Christ) figure for the dark new age. In this way, Yeats uses distinct, concrete imagery to symbolize complex ideas about the state of the modern world.

In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragic play Faust, we see the romantic side of the ninteenth century. In the age of romanticism we see the dominance and assertion of a more individualist society heavily based on imagination and freedom. When society became more heavily individualized poets began to take advantage of this and write plays based on individual characters like Faust. Goethe took advantage of the heavily romantic influence and spent his life righting the play Faust. The ultimate goal of Goethe’s Faust was to achieve the understanding and sympathy of all cultures which fully embodies romanticism.

Even though Faust is not strictly a piece of romantic literature, Goethe’s ideas display the characteristics of genre. In the first half of the play of Faust he goes on a walk through nature with Wagner and we see the overall comfort of Faust and the natural world. Faust goes on to talk about the qualities of nature and provides spiritual and faithful reasoning which justifying him deep down wanting to participate in nature. In the speeches that Faust makes about nature we see the early nineteenth century tradition of romanticism lifted up.

When Faust returns to his studies after the walk through nature we see for the first time that he is satisfied. It is when he returns to his study that we see the jubilant spirit of Faust killed by the world of rational thinking. Goethe sees a strong spiritual connection in nature because he feels there is a spiritual connection between humans and nature. Goethe believes that nature is what feeds spirituality and the individual free thinking spirit. The human soul is viewed to feed off of a connection with nature and without this connection there cannot be completeness in an individual.

Goethe views the disconnect of human happiness comes from over rationalization and the need to have a scientific explanation for everything. There is no one explanation for everything and he views that in order to feel complete and whole as a person you must return to nature to gain the qualities needed to whole. Throughout the play the reader cannot help but notice the influence of nineteenth century romantics. Goethe is looking to get across his points of romanticism through his views of nature and the thought of happiness.

Faust goes through several journeys and through all of these he is looking for self-completion and satisfaction. The reader must go into reading the play with an open mind not closed off to the views of Goethe and his views of the natural. Goethe embodies his total thoughts of the natural when Gretchen receives forgiveness because of her obligation and obedience to the natural. Through all of the play Goethe is looking for the understanding of people of all views and backgrounds and fully embody the ideas of romanticism.

Jalissa Oliva Professor Natalie Holter Enlightenment and Romanticism Humanities 14 April 2013 The poet that I chose is William Wordsworth and the poem of his that I chose is “A Night Thought. ” Wordsworth was a poet who thought that imagination was a strong force that, combined with our senses, made for a powerful, active force altogether. Basically he believed that this enhanced the way we interpreted the world around us and the way that we reacted to certain events.

A strong imagination is what was essential to pave the path for a good life and one’s well being. That is part of what the Romanticism era was all about, people expressing themselves for their own well being and to enjoy their lives more. From what I interpreted from “A Night Thought” it appears to be about Wordsworth himself proclaiming that he enjoys the distant beauty of the moon, and even when it is hidden behind the clouds beneath it it is still admirable and beautiful.

The moon is always bright as if it were smiling constantly, whereas man, who is spoiled by the many pleasures of the earth along with his fortune, always seems to have a sad look upon his face. Wordsworth enjoys the sight of the moon compared to the chaos and turmoil of the world around him that man has created on earth for themselves due to the continuous fighting from the wars. It appears as if Wordsworth is envious of the peace that the moon has about it. He wants to go against the same rule that his fellow human beings have to follow.

Basically, he wants to be as happy and bright as the moon always is. The way that I think that this poem reflects the values of the generation that produced it, the Romanticism era, is by it’s general message of wanting to be as happy and at peace as nature rather than be tarnished by the turmoil that man has created in the world. The Romanticism era was all about loving and admiring nature for all of its qualities along with expressing one’s self in order to live a happier life and enjoy life a little more.

In the poem the moon is an aspect of nature that is being admired by Wordsworth for its beauty even though it is far from our reach in the sky, and even though the clouds dim its bright smile from time to time it can still be admired once the clouds beneath it disappear, revealing the bright smile that was waiting to be shown to the world once again. Rather than focus on the chaos of the world around him, Wordsworth would rather admire the moon for all that it is and appears to want to be as happy and bright as the moon.

The Renaissance was primarily thought of as being a period in which the revival of learning flourished, and the arts changed for the better and ideas became more focused life on earth. It was a time when new ideas of individualism, the thought of secularism and the interest in human ideas jumpstarted a new and freer lifestyle for everyone. The new ideas formed in the renaissance made enough impact on the world them and ever since that it deserves to be called its own era. The medieval times was filled with ideas based just around the church.

As the Renaissance began, the arts developed into a freer and move creative society based on more Greek and Roman ideas. “Finding the feudal and ecclesiastical literature and Gothic art of the Middle Ages uncongenial to their taste, they turned for inspiration to the civilization of Roman and Greek antiquity. ” (Document 1) This shows how the mind of the Renaissance where done with all the ideas that dominated the world throughout the Middle Ages. The Renaissance artists wanted art that showed human beauty where as in the Middle ages art was very gothic and based in religion.

Renaissance art is more lifelike than in the art of the Middle Ages, which was very blocky. They went to the Greek and Romans for all kinds of inspiration for example art. Based on the information given in Introduction to Classical, medieval and Renaissance Art the styles of the classic period and Renaissance and Classical Periods share many similar Characteristics but almost nothing in common with the Medieval period. In the Middles Ages arts main purpose was to teach those about religion who could not read or write. As the Renaissance started the ideas moved to show the importance of people and nature.

This is a clear shift that helped define the difference between the two period and it will help support many of the other reasons as well. Along with the arts learning increase exponential. One of best ways to show an increase in learning is the amount of colleges in a country. Based on the facts given in document 8 it is clear to see the large increase of schools in the height of the Renaissance. In the mid to late 15th century when the world was in the height of the Renaissance 31 new University’s were founded compared to 10 in the 12-13 century in all of Europe besides Italy who entered the Renaissance early.

This is clear fact proving that Europe was in a shift to a society not only based on the Church but in schools and learning. Leonardo da Vinci helped illustrate some of the ideas that where new and completely unheard of before the Renaissance. In Document 6 he showed the study of human anatomy. This is new because in the Middle ages the study of human beings and things on our planet where very limited. Majority of learning was done in the Church with relation only to the Church. In 1596 Johannes Kepler the author the Document 7 made observations on orbits and geometrical considerations.

Using science to prove ideas is new to the world and would be frowned upon by the church in medieval times. Art and Learning are two major agreements for the fact that the Renaissance was its own period and helped shape the world, as we know it. There was one point that applied to both art and learning that completely set the Renaissance apart from the medieval times. Which was the study of secularism. “it is in the true order that mortal men should first care for mortal things” W. H, Draper (document 4) What he is saying played apart in all major parts that have been mentioned.

For example art the Renaissance was known for its painting and sculpture with interest in nature and real people going real tasks. This is very different from the medieval times where it was based on the church and what they wanted to show. Also in the learning of the period ideas of Human Anatomy started to emerge as well as geometry and orbits (documents 6/7). With the Renaissance coming back to the “real world’ it marked a change in history. All aspects of life have changed thanks to the ideas that started in this time period.

As well as some of the greatest artist and philosophers to ever live. The ideas that came out in the Renaissance where Cleary enough to call its own period in time. The revival of learning flourished, the arts and ideas became more focused life on earth. Though exact start and end dates are not clear everyone should be able to comprehend the importance of this Renaissance and say that it the information provided is enough to prove that The Renaissance period has a place in history which is completely different then the Medieval times.

Modern Relevance of “The Birthmark” “The Birthmark” is a fable created by Hawthorne that conveys his viewpoint towards the use of science to contradict the laws of nature. The fable also includes commentary on the depiction of men and women in society, along with their presumed roles. Both of these themes in my opinion are even more relevant today than when the story was written. Hawthorne disapproves of science used as a tool to tamper with living beings, for they are not meant to be perfect.

This is illustrated in Georgiana’s death after Aylmer attempts to experiment on her: “As the last crimson tint of the birthmark–that sole token of human imperfection–faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere…”. The implied moral is that attempting to contradict what is originally intended is unethical and will lead to disastrous results. Hawthorne uses the character Aylmer to exemplify the people who abuse science as a means to control nature.

In modern sciences, “controlling nature” has become the essence of the medical field, progressing to the extreme of cheating death. Hawthorne’s opinion is echoed in the controversies today regarding methods such as stem cell research or cloning, as common arguments point to its immorality and the eventual disaster. The story is an exaggeration that was intended to be almost humorous, although I believe Hawthorne must have had the notion that his fear would someday become commonly practiced and even encouraged. The Birthmark” at a glance might appear to be supporting the stereotypical gender roles of the era. Hawthorne portrays Aylmer as the pragmatic husband and leader, while Georgiana is his complement as the obedient wife. However I believe Hawthorne is using satire to imply just the opposite. Georgiana is deemed to be Aylmer’s intellectual equal; as she was able to read through his experiments and understand his successes and failures.

She also understands Aylmer’s greatest flaw, which he himself can never comprehend, and that is his doomed strive for perfection: “With her whole spirit she prayed that, for a single moment, she might satisfy his highest and deepest conception. Longer than one moment she well knew it could not be; for his spirit was ever on the march, ever ascending… requiring something that was beyond the scope of the instant before. ” Georgiana’s death in the end is the result of her choice to obey Aylmer, even though she knew of his insane obsession and faulty judgement.

I believe Hawthorne is making a statement on the folly of intelligent women bending to the ridiculous whims of their husbands, while they’re perfectly capapble of making decisions themselves. This theme translates easily for many modern readers who continue to resist the residual expectation of women being subordinate to men. The rigid role of a woman that Georgiana fits into is still recognizable to us, but it is the intelligence and the small streak of independence she possesses that we can relate to. In the end we lament that she did not take a greater stand for herself, as many would have done today.

Describe one idea worth learning about in the text. Explain why it was worth learning about. John Madden’s Shakespeare in love is a ‘romantic comedy’ set in sixteenth century England. Through its two unfortunate protagonists, Will Shakespeare ‘a lowly player’ with writer’s block and wealthy Viola De Lesseps who dreams of ‘love as there has never been in a play,’ it explores the idea of ‘the truth and nature of love’ in the Elizabethan era.

Madden portrays the harsh realities of the time through filmatic techniques such as dialogue, motifs and costuming to constantly remind the viewer throughout the film that the romance that is shared by Will and Viola cannot last in sixteenth century England. This is worth leaning about because as a 21st century viewer I become more able to appreciate the struggle faced by the two protagonists, especially Viola as a woman, in the name of love.

Madden makes it clear to the viewer from the beginning of the film Shakespeare in Love, that the truth of love in sixteenth century England which is based on the idea of marriage as a method of obtaining social or financial gain divides the two protagonists who are separated by the class system. Madden enhances this key idea through the use of dialogue in Will and Viola’s conversations. Viola is quicker to come to terms with the inevitable idea that their love is ‘too flattering sweet to be substantial. The two are living in a brief ‘dream’, which can only last until Viola’s marriage to Wessex. “Master Will, poet dearest to my heart, I beseech you, banish me from yours –I am to marry Lord Wessex-a daughter’s duty. ” However Will and Viola continue to pursue their risky love, getting caught up in the romance and Will boasts to Viola “for one kiss, I would defy a thousand Wessexes! ” As a twenty-first century teenager, the concept of a class system preventing two people who love each other from being together was new to me.

However I admired and appreciated the two protagonists for going against the rules of society and seeing each other in secret trying to convince themselves that “love knows nothing of rank or riverbank. ” Throughout the film we are reminded through the various recurring motifs, that Will and Viola’s love is one that will not last the expectations and realities of Elizabethan England. The river Thames is a constant setting focus in the film, being the large body of water that not only divides Will and Viola, but The Rose Theatre and The Curtain Theatre.

The Thames is spoken of and shown in large establishing wide shots throughout the film. This helps to remind the viewers that Will and Viola are separated, not just by the river but the laws of society that forbid one of the lower class masses to love a wealthy upper class woman. “Oh Will, as Thomas Kent my heart belongs to you but as Viola the river divides us and I must marry Wessex a week from Saturday. ” Often when Will and Viola are together they are shown with the river as a background always highlighting the rift that the class system has created between them, they can never openly be together.

This is also shown in the extensive use of disguise used throughout the film. Viola dresses as a boy, ‘Thomas Kent,’ so she might act in Will’s plays. Will also disguises himself as a woman so he can go with Viola to Greenwich. This motif is an allusion to the play that Will Shakespeare would later write, Twelfth Night, but its main purpose is to remind us that in order to be together in public they must appear as disguised forms of themselves, they cannot openly declare their love. The only occasion when Will and Viola can express their love for each other in public is in the opening performance of Will’s new play Romeo and Juliet.

This shows the viewer that only in the theatrical world can these two really be together, this was interesting to see as the nature of love in sixteenth century England means that the two protagonists will fall in love but the truth of love in this era means that if they are not from the same class in society then they cannot be together. It was worth learning about the risks Will and Viola take in order to try and fit into each other’s worlds as it made me invest much more emotion into their relationship.

Shakespeare in Love won an academy award for its use of costuming in the film, which is reflected when we see Viola throughout the film. She is dressed immaculately in elaborate gowns with intricate beading often shown in regal colours such as red and gold which highlight her wealth and status and remind the viewer that she is too above Will for their relationship to be acceptable in Elizabethan society. This is contrasted when we first see Will, he is clearly one of the masses in his worn workman boots, plain white hirt and ink stained hands. He relies on his words for a living. Viola and Will are from separate worlds and are only equals in the opening performance of Romeo and Juliet where Will is dressed in equal amounts of finery as Viola. This shows that only in the make-believe world of the theatre can these two be equal and accepted. The idea that they cannot marry each other even though they are in love is hard to grasp in the modern day and is the reason why many were unsatisfied by the ending of the film.

However it is worth learning that “love can spring between a queen and the poor vagabond who plays the king. ” We see Will and Viola defy “rank and riverbank” in an awe-inspiring way but we learn that despite their risk taking, there is not always a happy ending. An unfortunate life is particularly likely for Viola because as a woman, during this era she had fewer rights. “Will she breed? …Yes, if she does not send her back. ” Women also suffered greater consequences if they were to be caught acting in the theatre.

This was a foreign idea for me to be learning about because as a twenty first century girl seeing actors regarded as ‘two-a-penny’ in the Elizabethan era was strange and hugely contrasting to the celebrity status actors enjoy today. So it can be seen that the truth of love in Elizabethan England separates the two protagonists who are without control over their own relationships and life choices, a reality for the time that is hardly seen in twenty-first century New Zealand making this theme in the film almost alien to a modern teenage girl like myself.

John Madden successfully portrays the constrictions of Elizabethan England and the trials Will and Viola must undergo to be together through his use of dialogue, motifs and costuming. Even the queen ‘cannot part a couple who have been joined before God” and it is worth learning that we don’t always get a happy ending in life.