
Martha Mendenhall
eNotes Educator
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620
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About
For the past 15 years I've led an interesting double life: A High School English teacher (all grade levels) and an actor, director and writer. Currently, I am a Teaching Artist specializing in working with all grade levels (Elementary through College) -- students and teachers -- on bringing the PLAY back to working with the plays of Shakespeare. This definitely involves less thinking and more doing. Find out more about me and my work at: www.mcmendenhall.com
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in Much Ado About Nothing
Don John appears in one scene in Act III -- scene ii. It is important to note that, earlier in the play, Don John tells the audience that he plans to bring down his half brother Don Pedro's... -
Answered a Question in King Lear
It shows deep thoughtfulness that you are considering the character of the Fool in this way, for this is the kind of questioning that has kept scholars discussing and analyzing this (and all of... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
You are correct to note that Portia appears to be worried or nervous. Shakespeare does a great job, through the text she speaks, of demonstrating this: She tells Lucius to run quickly to the... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Ronsencrantz and Guildenstern (R & G) are somewhat mysterious figures in the play, as they are definitely old friends of Hamlet, but they are also definitely sent for by King Claudius to work... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Benvolio isn't the flashiest of characters in the play, and sometimes he gets a bit lost amongst the other rash and boisterous fellows. And yet, he provides a strong base of reason and calm... -
Answered a Question in King Lear
Shakespeare plays upon the double meaning of the word "nature" in this scene. The action of the scene revolves around the setting in motion of the main subplot of the play -- the hoodwinking of... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
It is interesting to consider what Shakespeare wanted to be most clear about conveying in this Act II, scene ii. And, it is worthwhile to consider what he intended to convey, both... -
Answered a Question in Othello
Though you are technically only allowed one question per submission, I have only edited out one of the three that you proposed, as the two above relate to the Duke and his point of view on the... -
Answered a Question in Shakespeare's Sonnets
All of Shakespeare's sonnets follow the set "English form." In each sonnet, there are fourteen lines total, divided into three groups of four lines (each proposing a different topic) and then... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
This is spoken by the First Witch to the other two Witches in Act I, scene iii. First, it should be noted that, in stage time, we see and learn much more about the Witches in Act I than in... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
I would say that its dramatic significance or purpose is three-fold: To set the play in time and place and introduce the character of Caesar through the opinions that common citizens have of him... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
It is a classic horror device to use the darkness of night to create suspense. Interestingly, in the Globe Theater of Shakespeare's day, the play would have been performed in full daylight... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
The most famous quote that fits your interest in Juliet and whether she believes in Fate comes in Act III, scene v. Juliet is bidding farewell to Romeo after their wedding night as he leaves... -
Answered a Question in Richard II
The play Richard II is one of Shakespeare's History Plays and, therefore, isn't bound to the requirements of tragedy. This is an interesting fact to note, because it releases the reader from... -
Answered a Question in The Merchant of Venice
I assume that you are referring to Act IV, scene i, when Portia appears at the Venetian court, disguised as a young doctor of law, to argue the case brought before the Duke concerning Antonio's... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to your question, only opinion and conjecture. That's because we only have the text Shakespeare wrote to go on, and the only actual information we... -
Answered a Question in Othello
When I think of dramatic question, it usually has to do with information that an audience has that a character (or characters) onstage does not have. This is the way that a playwright creates... -
Answered a Question in A Christmas Carol
The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come leads Scrooge ahead in time to witness the preparation for burial of an "unknown" businessman. For the reader (if not for Scrooge himself), the suspicion... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
I suspect you are referring to Act III, scene i, just after the Conspirators have murdered Caesar. Antony has made himself scare and sends his servant ahead of him to ask the Conspirators if... -
Answered a Question in Mourning Becomes Electra
This play is an "updated" version of the Greek Tragedy Electra. Both Sophocles and Euripides wrote plays about this daughter of King Agamemnon, who was killed by his wife Clytemnestra upon... -
Answered a Question in Much Ado About Nothing
Of course we can't be sure why Shakespeare chose the name Hero, since he did not leave analyses of his works behind for future scholars to reference. Maybe this is why we have more research... -
Answered a Question in Literature
As most all movements in any art form are, the Theatre of the Absurd was a reaction both to dramatic forms and theatrical conventions that had come before it and also a reaction to the events on... -
Answered a Question in The Taming of the Shrew
Probably the most famous example of slapstick and humorous misunderstanding in one scene together is Act I, scene ii -- the entrance of Petruchio and Grumio. Petruchio is the master and... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
You might want to review your appraisal of The Prince (Machiavelli's treatise on the ruler and the best ways for him to maintain power) in considering your question. The most "Machiavellian"... -
Answered a Question in The Taming of the Shrew
I am going to assume that you are referring to Pantalone* (a stock character from the Italian comic form called Commedia del Arte). Pantalone was a miserly old man who was also a bit... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
Brutus is a man spoken of by others in the play as honorable. This term is one you could measure his actions in each Act against (as many critics have done) to see if you find him to be... -
Answered a Question in The Tempest
You should also consider the purpose of marriage as a structural device in the Comedies of Shakespeare's day. Though The Tempest does not conform to a traditional Comedy (We generally call it... -
Answered a Question in Elizabethan Drama
Yes, costumes were very important! However, the Elizabethans didn't think of costumes in the literal sense (as helping to creating the time and place of the action of the play) that we do... -
Answered a Question in Much Ado About Nothing
This quote, from Act II, scene iii, is a great one to choose in discussing Benedick, since it is short and deceptively simple. Not only does Shakespeare pack a good dose of information... -
Answered a Question in Antony and Cleopatra
The chorus, as a dramatic device, originates with the Greek theatre. As Enotes states: The Greek chorus comments on themes, and shows how an ideal audience might react to the drama. The... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
This is a really good question! There are definitely dramatic elements about the soliloquies of Hamlet, some of the most famous language in all of Shakespeare's plays, that reveal aspects of... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
Plays operate quite differently from novels. First of all, they aren't written to be read by an audience at all, but witnessed live as a complete performance, of which the script (the written... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
This soliloquy is written in the verse structure that Shakespeare used in writing his plays -- iambic pentameter. It follows a repeated rhythm in five feet of verse per line. Each foot... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
Your question addresses the dramatic (or theatrical) purpose of the scene rather than the thematic purpose. Many debate/discuss the possibilities of the scene involving the Porter who holds the... -
Answered a Question in The Cherry Orchard
The common denominator in both instances is Firs, the old and loyal former servant to the family. He says in Act II that the last time he heard this sound was just before the servants were... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
This scene serves two main purposes: to reinforce the basic good-heartedness of Duncan's nature, showing that there is no reason that he should not continue to rule as a wise and just King, and to... -
Answered a Question in The Cherry Orchard
In the interest of the brevity that these question/answers are meant to transpire in, I have edited the scope of your question. Please feel free to post another question, if you have interest... -
Answered a Question in Julius Caesar
This is actually a fantastic question, dramatically speaking. It goes to the heart of what makes drama, works meant for performance on the stage, so compelling. Because Julius... -
Answered a Question in Oedipus Rex
Through most of the play, as far as Oedipus is concerned, he isn't "struggling" with free will at all, he is acting upon it. However, once the real truth is unraveled, his free will and past... -
Answered a Question in A Christmas Carol
First, let's begin with opening description of Scrooge as he is in Stave One: Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching,... -
Answered a Question in Richard II
Richard II is a play rich in character studies. The most investigated character, of course, is Richard, and the heart of the play is the study of the sort of king that Richard is. The... -
Answered a Question in The Taming of the Shrew
You mention certain line numbers in your question, but it would help in future question-asking for you to know that there are different editions of all of Shakespeare's plays, each one edited... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
Act One of a play should accomplish two important things: Introduce all the main characters and give the audience some idea of what kind of people they are. Introduce the main problem or question... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Mechancials' play, which they present for Theseus' wedding day in Act V, is meant to be a Tragedy. It is a spoof of a classic story, the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, or, as Quince notes,... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Comedic of A Midsummer Night's Dream would refer to the elements of the play fit the structure of a classic Comedy. These criteria were used by the ancient Greeks and Romans and adapted a... -
Answered a Question in William Shakespeare
Let me see if I can identify what you are exactly asking for in this question. If you already have an essay and want to create a conclusion to this essay, then you have a couple of choices. A... -
Answered a Question in Othello
Bianca shows up in the play when everyone arrives on the isle of Cyprus. She is a courtesan attached to Cassio. In order to describe how she is "portrayed" in the play, we must look... -
Answered a Question in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare uses two distinctly different locations in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. One (the setting at the beginning and end of the play) is the court and city of Athens in ancient... -
Answered a Question in A Christmas Carol
Right in the first four paragraphs of the story is the answer to your question. It is the fact that: Marley was dead.. . .Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.. . .There is no doubt that... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
This is a huge question. One for which I narrowed the focus to a discussion of the female characters in Shakespeare's tragedies. I'm afraid that there are a least a few more female...
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