The Zeroth Law of Trope Examples: Difference between revisions

m
markup tweak
mNo edit summary
m (markup tweak)
 
(10 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 8:
Shakespeare was not only the first to use many a trope, but the first troper. That is, the first to comment on it. Some examples:
 
* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: ''[[As You Like It]]'' is adapted from Thomas Lodge's novella ''[[Rosalynde]]'', having an expanded cast and plot.
* [[Badass Beard]]
{{quote|"He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man;"
|''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]''}}
* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Sir Toby Belch, from ''[[Twelfth Night]]''; guy can use a sword pretty well for someone who's always drunk.
* [[Cain and Abel]]: Occurs in:
** ''[[Hamlet]]'', an essential part of the plot, Claudius murdering Hamlet's father to usurp the throne of Denmark.
** Twice in ''[[As You Like It]]'', with Oswald and Oliver fighting over their inheritance, and the rivalry between Frederick and Senior; in both cases, the pair of brothers reconcile.
** In ''[[King Lear]]'', Edmund manipulates his father into thinking his half-brother Edgar is plotting against him. Also, the rivalry between scheming sisters Goneril and Regan and Cordelia, the one honest sibling. It ends badly for all of them.
** The rivalry between Don Pedro, the prince of Aragon and his illegitimate half-brother Don John in ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]''.
** Prospero in ''[[The Tempest]]'', the rightful Duke of Milan, deposed and exiled by his evil brother Antonio.
* [[Exact Words]]: The Bard ''loved'' this Trope. To give one example, from ''[[Twelfth Night]]'':
{{quote|'''Viola:''' Save thee, friend, and thy music. Dost thou live by thy tabour?
'''Feste:''' No, sir, I live by the church.
'''Viola:''' Art thou a churchman?
'''Feste:''' No such matter, sir. I do live by the church; for I do live at my house, and my house doth stand by the church.<ref>For anyone who does not "get" the joke, Feste is saying his house is next door to the church, thus he "lives by the church.</ref>}}
* [[Fatal Flaw]]
{{quote|"So, oft it chances in particular men,
Line 21 ⟶ 34:
From that particular fault."
|''[[Hamlet]]''}}
* [[Black Comedy]]: The gravedigger scene in ''[[Hamlet]]''. Plus the protagonist's explanation of what he did with Polonius' body:
{{quote|'''Claudius:''' Now Hamlet, where is Polonius?
'''Hamlet:''' At supper.
'''Claudius:''' At supper! Where?
'''Hamlet:''' Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him.}}
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: Shakespeare coined the phrase, although he used it to mean the [[Inverted Trope|inverse]] and it got [[Trope Decay|trope decayed]] ("foregone" means "averted" [[You Keep Using That Word|even today]]):
{{quote|"But this denoted a foregone conclusion: 'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be [[All Just a Dream|but a dream]]."
Line 36 ⟶ 54:
|''[[The Tempest]]''}}
* [[Naughty Nuns]]: In ''[[Measure for Measure]]''
* [[Never Live It Down]]:
{{quote|“The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.”}}
|''[[Julius Caesar (theatre)|Julius Caesar]]''}}
* [[No Man of Woman Born]]/[[Prophecy Twist]]: ''[[Macbeth]]'' is the [[Trope Namer]] for the former - the prophecy of the Weird Sisters says "no man of woman born" can harm Macbeth, but MacDuff was "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb (as in, born via Caesarian section), and thus not "born" the regular way.
* [[Out, Damned Spot!]]: Well, of course, as it's the [[Trope Namer]]:
{{quote|"Out, damned spot! out, I say!"
Line 49 ⟶ 72:
{{quote|"How many times shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er? In states unborn and accents yet unknown".
|''[[Julius Caesar (theatre)|Julius Caesar]]''}}
* [[Never Live It Down]]:
{{quote|“The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.”}}
* [[Show Within a Show]]: Many times.
* [[Sock Puppet]]: The use of multiple user ID's to pretend to be someone else or create artificial support for one side in a debate is usually associated with the Internet era, but the same trick was used in ''Julius Caesar'' Act 1 Scene 2 by creating hardcopy messages "in different hands" (ie: by forging the handwriting to appear to be multiple other people) and physically throwing them through Brutus' window. Yes, a character uses a [[Online Personas|made-up persona]] in a play set in ancient Rome and written in Elizabethan England. It's also an early example of [[Astroturf]]ing.
* [[Spin-Off]]: The character of Falstaff, from Henry IV parts 1 and 2, was given his own play, at Royal request.
* [[The Starscream]]:
** Cassius in ''[[Julius Caesar (theatre)|Julius Caesar]]''; he succeeds in killing Caesar, but his plot to take over Rome fails.
** Possibly the title character of ''[[Macbeth]]'' (not enough is known about Duncan to label him a villain). Macbeth succeeds in his plot to assassinate Duncan, but never controls all of Scotland and is himself overthrown and slain by Macduff.
* [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]: The Bard had ''five'' plays that made use of this plot - ''[[As You Like It]]'', ''[[Two Gentlemen of Verona]]'', ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', and ''[[Cymbeline]]'' - long before the [[Trope Namer]] was written. Was pretty easy for a playwright to use this Trope during a time period [[Fridge Logic| where female characters were always played by men anyway.]]
* [[Your Mom]]:<ref>Yes, Shakespeare [[Double Entendre|did your mom first.]]</ref>