Stage Violence
People commit crimes for various reasons. For example, many people steal things they could not obtain otherwise. Others, such as drug addicts, steal to get money to buy narcotics or other things they need. Some shoplifters steal for excitement, but others do so because they are poor. Many automobile thieves take cars for joy-riding, but others strip down the stolen autos and sell them. Many embezzlers take money from their employers to meet a personal emergency. The motives also vary in crimes of violence. A robber may kill the victim to avoid detection. Some gangsters torture people to obtain money. A man may beat his wife in a fit of rage in a quarrel. These examples of violence are not only known to happen in real life, but in past literature as well. In Richard III and Hamlet, William Shakespeare conveyed two forms of violence - that which is out of revenge and that which is greed stricken. Elizabethans were keenly aware of death and the shortness of life. They lived in constant fear of plague. When an epidemic struck, they saw victims carted off to common graves. Yet death and violence also fascinated many Elizabethans. They flocked to public beheading of traitors. They also watched as criminals were hanged, and t
hey saw the corpses dangle from the gallows for days. Elizabethan literature mirrored the violence and death characteristics of their life. Shakespeare's tragedies, like other Elizabethan tragedies, involve the murder or suicide of many of the leading characters. I had a [Harry] - till a Richard kill'd him: (Richard III. IV. iii. 40-44) "I had an Edward - till a Richard kill'd him; One can assume from this passage that Hamlet is quite upset with Gertrude and most likely yelling at her. He calls Claudius a "murtherer" and a "villain." This reveals to Gertrude, again, the wrongful deed her new husband has committed. Hamlet then goes on to say that Claudius isn't half the man his father was and had Claudius not "stole" the crown, his father might still be alive. Although this may not seems like a violent act, Hamlet is using words to convey to Gertrude that her husband is a villain and she is an adulteress. The only reason he does this, though, is because he wants revenge for his father's death and takes it out on his mother. Other passages in Hamlet also convey this violence out of revenge as there are more passages in Richard III that convey greed stricken violence. Each play in itself, proclaims a differen
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Approximate Word count = 834
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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