Event Title

Virtue Itself Turns Vice Being Misapplied: An Analysis of The Tragic Effects of Religion in Shakespeare

Presenter Information

Laura Rosenthal, Colby CollegeFollow

Location

Diamond 221

Start Date

30-4-2015 10:00 AM

End Date

30-4-2015 10:55 AM

Project Type

Presentation

Description

I will present on the work I did for my thesis, in which I explored the tragic effects of religion on characters in Shakespeare's plays. Using Susan Snyder's definition of tragedy as a loss of hope and failure of power instead of merely physical death, I explore how characters in The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure misemploy religious traditions and disregard religious morals to the detriment of themselves and others within the plays. This abuse of religion creates a loss of identity that aligns with Snyder's definition of tragedy, demonstrating that these plays have resolutions perhaps more complicated than their label as comedies suggests.

Faculty Sponsor

Laurie Osborne, Elizabeth Sagaser

Sponsoring Department

Colby College. English Dept.

CLAS Field of Study

Humanities

Event Website

http://www.colby.edu/clas

ID

1466

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Apr 30th, 10:00 AM Apr 30th, 10:55 AM

Virtue Itself Turns Vice Being Misapplied: An Analysis of The Tragic Effects of Religion in Shakespeare

Diamond 221

I will present on the work I did for my thesis, in which I explored the tragic effects of religion on characters in Shakespeare's plays. Using Susan Snyder's definition of tragedy as a loss of hope and failure of power instead of merely physical death, I explore how characters in The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure misemploy religious traditions and disregard religious morals to the detriment of themselves and others within the plays. This abuse of religion creates a loss of identity that aligns with Snyder's definition of tragedy, demonstrating that these plays have resolutions perhaps more complicated than their label as comedies suggests.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/283