The Significance of the Volume of Utterance Allotted to the Characters in The Merchant of Venice: An Exploratory Analysis | Chapter 6 | Language, Literature and Education: Research Updates Vol. 1

 This chapter aims to conduct a quantitative analysis of The Merchant of Venice by quantifying the amount of speech each character receives. The survey of word count shows that the four principal characters, Shylock, Portia, Antonio, and Bassanio are given roughly 11,520 words out of a total of 22,000 words, or 52.3%, of the whole dialogue in the play. These words are directly uttered by the four characters or indirectly by other characters commenting on them. The word count shows that Antonio, the Venetian merchant, is given only 1500 words in direct speech, while other characters utter 7,588 about him, for a total of 9,184 words in direct and indirect utterance. This clearly justifies the choice of the merchant of Venice as the title character is justified by this figure. The most important finding of the study is that Portia and Shylock have almost the same number of direct utterances and indirect utterances about them by others (i.e., 7, 232 words, and 7, 282 words, respectively). The study demonstrates that Shakespeare assigns these two characters an equity of loquaciousness and places them on an equal footing. He gives them equal linguistic space to express their cases and issues. Their identical volume of utterance becomes very significant as they end up in a decisive confrontation in the court over the life of Antonio. Whereas Shylock tries to destroy him, Portia tries to save him; the two serve as a destructive force and a constructive force, respectively. Furthermore, the victory of Portia in the court adds another side theme of gender success for women in this struggle, which is entertained by Portia's victory in this battle. Shakespeare also shows his cynicism about the potential of goodness in our world by assigning Portia to the utopian dream world of Belmont and Shylock to the real world of Venice and Portia to the utopian dream world of Belmont. The methodology employed is to calculate all the words uttered by the characters and the words uttered by the characters about each other. Additionally, the study also provides a number of illustrative charts to clarify the statistical force of utterance.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Mufeed Al-Abdullah
Department of English and Translation, College of Arts, Jerash University, Jordan.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/lleru/v1/3854

Parasomnias and Disruptive Sleep Disorders in Shakespeare’s Drama: A Neuro-Literary Approach | Chapter 4 | An Overview of Literature, Language and Education Research Vol. 7

William Shakespeare demonstrates a high ability to monitor human behavior and a variety of natural phenomena. In his plays, the groundbreaking playwright incorporated the knowledge of his age about natural human phenomena and further described many clinical and mental disorders. This study aims to analyze Shakespeare's portrayal of sleep disorders from an interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on the aesthetic design of dramatic character developments that result in these illnesses. By combining literary, scientific, and psychological viewpoints, the study aims to demonstrate that Shakespeare dramatizes the cases of infected characters within the context of well-crafted plots, using figurative language rather than diagnosing their illnesses clinically. The study also highlights the hidden motivations and human causes that give rise to parasomnias, as well as the dangers to the community through the vivid plot flow. The study analyzes the parasomnias of insomnia, sleepwalking, sleep talking, nightmares, and apnea. Macbeth clearly illustrates these ailments, except for apnea, which is analyzed in Henry 4, Part 2. Other plays, such as Henry V, Richard II, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and The Tempest, are subject to scrutiny for the various disorders in question. Neuropsychological studies highlight the consequences of these problems for the diseased person, but this study goes beyond that to illustrate the dangers to the community as well through the vivid plot flow, as in the case of Macbeth, adding a new dimension to the adverse effects of sleep. The researcher recommends further interdisciplinary studies of the individual cases within the cultural context of the Renaissance.

 

Author (s) Details

Mufeed Al Abdullah

Department of English and Translation, Jerash University, Jerash, Jordan.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/aoller/v7/3126

The Temporal Metaphors of Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Cognitive Perspective | Chapter 9 | Progress in Language, Literature and Education Research Vol. 9

 

The article studies the conceptual metaphors of time in the sonnets of Shakespeare in light of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) of Lakoff and Johnson [1] presented in their book, Metaphors We Live By, and Kovecses’ [2] informative views in his book, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. The sonnets of Shakespeare also reflect some of St. Augustine’s views on the passage of time, which divide time into the three components of past, present, and future. Indeed, the subject of time is a pervasive theme in the sonnets of Shakespeare. The extracted metaphors selected from a variety of sonnets that tackle the theme of time will be divided into three sub-categories: structural, ontological, and orientational. Using the cognitive approach to understand the abstract concept of time in terms of a variety of concrete concepts with an experiential dimension allows the reader to perceive this concept from different perspectives. Under ontological metaphors, the study addresses metaphors in the forms of personification, metonymy, and synecdoche. The study endeavors to show that the cluster of source domains Shakespeare provides in the metaphors map an association of multidimensional possibilities that improve our understanding of time. Also, this consortium of possibilities points to the creativity and wide scope of Shakespeare’s vision. The study hopes to add another vantage point from which to view Shakespeare’s presentation of time in light of modern progress in the studies of conceptual metaphors and cognitive poetics. Shakespeare’s creativity expands the human consciousness of time and initiates more perspectives from which to evaluate the human experience with that concept. These perspectives are based on the human experience of nature, society, and culture.

 

Author(s)details:-

 

Professor Mufeed Al-Abdullah
Department of English, College of Arts, Jerash University, Jerash, Jordan.

 

Please See the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/pller/v9/345