Theme in 'Shakespeare in Love' Essay examples

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Describe one idea worth learning about in the text. Explain why it was worth learning about.

John Madden’s Shakespeare in love is a ‘romantic comedy’ set in sixteenth century England. Through its two unfortunate protagonists, Will Shakespeare ‘a lowly player’ with writer’s block and wealthy Viola De Lesseps who dreams of ‘love as there has never been in a play,’ it explores the idea of ‘the truth and nature of love’ in the Elizabethan era. Madden portrays the harsh realities of the time through filmatic techniques such as dialogue, motifs and costuming to constantly remind the viewer throughout the film that the romance that is shared by Will and Viola cannot last in sixteenth century England. This is worth leaning about because as a …show more content…
This shows the viewer that only in the theatrical world can these two really be together, this was interesting to see as the nature of love in sixteenth century England means that the two protagonists will fall in love but the truth of love in this era means that if they are not from the same class in society then they cannot be together. It was worth learning about the risks Will and Viola take in order to try and fit into each other’s worlds as it made me invest much more emotion into their relationship.

Shakespeare in Love won an academy award for its use of costuming in the film, which is reflected when we see Viola throughout the film. She is dressed immaculately in elaborate gowns with intricate beading often shown in regal colours such as red and gold which highlight her wealth and status and remind the viewer that she is too above Will for their relationship to be acceptable in Elizabethan society. This is contrasted when we first see Will, he is clearly one of the masses in his worn workman boots, plain white shirt and ink stained hands. He relies on his words for a living. Viola and Will are from separate worlds and are only equals in the opening performance of Romeo and Juliet where Will is dressed in equal amounts of finery as Viola. This shows that only in the make-believe world of the theatre can these two be equal and accepted. The idea that they cannot marry each other even though they are in love
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