Preview

Comparison between the Great Gatsby and Macbeth

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3983 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparison between the Great Gatsby and Macbeth
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most intense plays and one his most complex psychological studies. It is also a play about which there is a great deal of historical background, which I think you'll find interesting because it reveals Shakespeare's creative process. The play was written in 1605--1606. It's one of the plays where the date is pretty firmly established by internal references to external events, and most scholars have agreed on the date. Shakespeare was at the height of creative powers, and his theatrical company, the King's Men, was the official royal acting company. He had the large Globe Theater, a large public playhouse on the south bank of the Thames. He would soon open the Blackfriars Theater, a small private theater within the city itself where the plays were performed indoors, and he and his men performed often at the court for the king and his family. The Blackfriars Theater would be exempt from the law prohibiting theaters within the City of London by being a private club. It could accommodate only a couple of hundred people, opposed to the Globe audiences of a couple of thousand, and therefore Shakespeare charged a higher price for entry. That in turn meant that the audience was wealthier and more sophisticated than the average attendee at the Globe was. Because the plays were performed indoors by artificial light, they could be done at any time or weather. Because it was a smaller theater, the acting style used could be more subtle and understated than the broad, overly dramatic acting used in the Globe before audiences of several thousand.
As far as we know Shakespeare's company continue to perform all the plays in both theaters; it's just that the productions would have differed in the way they were performed. Once you know something of the complex historical background, a very curious fact emerges about this bloody, violent drama: the story of this psychotic killer and his fiendlike wife was actually written as a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre was constructed with lumber stolen from another theatre after a lease dispute. William Shakespeare was part owner, actor, and play write for the Globe.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Globe Theatre Fire

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When shakespeare was a boy there were no theatres and plays were performed in private houses,and the courtyards of inns, which is an enclosed area with an open roof, rich people often had them in their houses. The globe theatre was built in 1599 by some of shakespeare's playing company.Some plays were performed privately, and were called private plays and performed in people's houses, usually to celebrate an event, eg. A midsummer night's dream was performed privately to celebrate a wedding. The timber for The Globe Theatre was actually reused wood from “The Theatre” – an earlier theatre owned by a man named Richard Burbage. Some of shakespeare's plays were premiered at ‘the theatre. But it was closed down in 1598 and the globe theatre was built.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Globe Theater was probably the most famous as well as the most important theater in the Elizabethan era. It stood on the southern shore of the Thames River in London (in Southwark to be exact). The main reason the Globe Theater was especially famous is the fact that many of William Shakespeare's plays were written and performed there. The idea of creating plays and theaters to perform them in was a strange new concept for the Europeans of the Elizabethan Era.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Shakespeare's plays have amazed many generations with his superior vocabulary and compelling characters and plot. Shakespeare's plays would not be nearly as well known or rejoiced if it wasn't for the Globe Theatre, a revolutionary (at the time) design that made it easy for the audience to see the performance. The theatre unfortunately was burnt on June 29, 1663 was rebuilt on June 1964, but more on that later. The Globe was Shakespeare's first theatre for the company he worked for; they built it just for their playwright's which at the time was amazing. Shakespeare had a love for the theatre and felt that the building of the Globe Theatre many more people would be able to enjoy it also, and he was right.…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth is a Shakespearean play written during the Elizabethan Era, it is set roughly four hundred years before it was written. Macbeth demonstrates what can happen when one does not follow their conscience. The main character, Macbeth, starts as a very strong character that is very admired. He wins the battle for his country when it seemed that they lost. He is honored greatly after the battle by King Duncan, it felt like Macbeth would be forever loyal to his King then. Like every man, he has ambitions, desires, his conscience goes against his desires, but eventually fails to stop it. It all started when the three witches told him about their prophecies. Since then Macbeth has had a war going inside…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Elizabethan Theater Essay

    • 1803 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Elizabethan theater was a great entertainment area that people can afford to enjoy the things the audience would like to see or do over there. The Elizabethan theater was introduced from the different plots that were mentioned and the way that were played. Also, the way how the theater had different genres and put their minds into it, using lots of creativity that the people had in the theater. Through the Shakespeare’s plays and other directors that were performed helped gets the audience a much better understanding from what they're…

    • 1803 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Globe Theater History

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1592 there was a plague that broke out and killed 15,003 people and caused the theaters to close down. In 1596 all plays and theaters were banned by London authorities. Because there was drinking, gambling, the plague could spread, and because the church didn’t like it. In 1598 the document for the theater to stay on the land became expired. So they had to dismantle, they had to manually move the timber from the on Theater to the new Globe Theater. The Globe Theater was made up of timber and it was first built in 1599 which is located next to the Rose and on the south side of Thames. It was designed and build for Cuthbert Burbage who was an English theatrical figure and he is the son of James Burbage who is the one that built the theater. The theater is co-owned by Burbage, his brother Robert, Will Kempe, Augustine Phillips, John Heminge, Thomas Pope, and the legend William Shakespeare. Some of the most famous plays they had in 1613 were Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and Midsummer Night’s Dream and also on 29 June, 1613 while a play or show was happening there was a misfire with a cannon and surprisingly it hit the roof and landed in the Globe’s thatched roof which is a roof made of dry and dead vegetation such as straw and sedge. Because the cannon ball was so hot from being fired; it caught the whole roof on fire and so they closed down the place because of the incident. Surprisingly it took them just one year of building to…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In both versions of the film, there were many characteristics and events that were extremely similar. The characters look very similar. They both share very good narration. They both movies show how Great Gatsby lives right next door to Nick. The both versions show how the parties are all very big and they have a lot of guests.…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Annotated Biblography

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    2012. Internet expert in literature and a master degree holder in English, Klaus Rosmantiz, explained to the public the characteristics of the theater during William Shakespeare’s life. Rosmantiz illustrated that the theaters were composed of open arenas or playhouses that could hold up to three thousand people, and the theaters did not provide shelter against the weather. Klaus Rosmantiz also said that women did not perform in plays, and there was limited scenery which resulted in the costumes playing a vital role in how well the plays were directed. This internet article gives a useful description of what the theater was like during the Shakespearean era.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Plays were one of the most favorable forms, of entertainment during this time period. Influential playwrights such as Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and John Fletcher were alive during the Elizabethan Era. People would watch plays regularly as a major form of entertainment. Playhouses were very popular during this time period. Elizabethan theatres often attracted crowds of up to 3000 people. One of the most important theatres during this era “The Globe” was where most of the top playwrights would conduct their plays. This theater was modeled…

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Play Macbeth

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The play Macbeth was written by WIlliam Shakespeare in the 1600's. The whole play revolves around the theme of power. The theme of power is shown through ambition, betrayal and revenge using the symbolisms of sleep and blood.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, the media has shown many different sides of love. Weather it be peaceful, violent, dangerous, beautiful, almost all forms of the media have shown love in some way. In the novel The Great Gatsby, love is shown between many different characters in different ways. The reader experiences love at its best and worst. We see relationships flourish, rekindle and end between the different characters. The most controversial relationship is the relationship between Daisy and Tom. Through infidelity, and mistrust, tragedy occurs. Other characters become associated with their marital problems, showing different kinds of love and relationships. In the play Hamlet, the reader also experiences many different kinds of love, ranging from lost love to superficial love. The relationships between Hamlet and Ophelia, and Claudius and Gertrude all create conflict which inevitably leads to tragedy. Many characters become involved with the relationships between Ophelia and Hamlet and Claudius and Gertrude which also leads to tragedy for many of those characters also. In both works of literature, pressures of people and society have corrupted the love that the characters felt for themselves and others, which lead to tragic endings.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Globe Theatre

    • 716 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As a result of these actions, the Globe Theatre was finally opened in 1599. To announce the opening, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men flew a flag showing a picture of Hercules holding a globe on his shoulders. Their first play was William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. It was over 40 feet tall and 100 feet in diameter, standing five feet off the ground. Some people referred to it as a ‘wooded O’. The capacity of the Globe Theatre was large enough to hold 3,000 people at its maximum! Although, there was only one entrance and only two fights of stairs. Fortunately, the theatre had three levels. The first level was for the poorest, who were also called “groundlings.” The second and third level was for the wealthier class. In addition, the Globe’s shape was circular with approximately 20 sides, giving it a circumference of 300 feet.…

    • 716 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shakespeare

    • 9933 Words
    • 40 Pages

    The first proper theater as we know it, was called the Theatre, built at Shoreditch, London in 1576 and the owner was James Burbage. James Burbage had obtained a 21 year lease with permission to build the first playhouse, aptly named ' The Theatre '. Before this time plays were performed in the courtyard of inns or inn-yards, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen or in extreme circumstances on open ground. After the Theatre, further open air playhouses ( theaters ) opened in the London area, including the Rose Theatre (1587), and the Hope Theatre (1613). The most famous Elizabethan playhouse ( theater ) was the Globe Theatre (1599)…

    • 9933 Words
    • 40 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Work of Shakespeare

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To establish his career, Shakespeare had to start all from a scratch. He started his work as an apprentice and then gradually gained name and fame. With his earnings, Shakespeare built his own theatre, south of London, which was named as ‘The Globe’ giving the meaning that the whole world is a theatre. he was also known to own the second richest house during that era. Later during a play, ‘Henry VIII’ his theatre caught fire and burnt down to ashes. Although Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding, he retired from the stage and continued to write until his death in 1616 on the day of his 52nd birthday.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays