"To be or not to be set free", now that is the question. William Shakespeare and Claude Mckay are two inspirational writters of their time. With the unique genre of Claude Mckay in his poem "If we must die" and William Shakespeare's emotional expression of love captured in "Sonnet 18". Some people can quickly say this is love and freedom, as do I. But I also see it to be a search and struggle ordeal. Being that it came from the same sort of origin.
Although the styles have similarities their backround had nothing in common. William Shakespeare, born in 1564 in Stratford upon Auen, died in 1616 during the Golden Era.
Claude Mckay born in 1890 Kingston, Jamaica, died in 1948 during the Harlem Renaissance. So the chance of them to coming across one another is like Los Angeles crime rating dropping. During the Golden Era Shakespeare wrote books of tragedies, comedies and romance.
This was long thought to be the only portrait of W...
List of titles of works based on Shakespearean phr...
Sir John Gilbert's 1849 painting: The Plays of Wil...Some books like "Romeo and Juliet", "Julius Cesear", and my favorite, "Macbeth". When time Passed the Harlem Renaissance took place in New York. This is the time Claude Mckay shinned with his wonderful pieces like.
In Claude Mckay's "If We Must Die" you can sense your in a battle field during slave trade. On the other hand William Shakespeare's sonnet probably took place in a peaceful place like a garden. If I was to describe the atmosphere, I would say Claude Mckay tried to give a dark and cold atmosphere so the reader can understand the protagonist's feelings. Willaim Shakespeares sonnet as peace and love to describe how they felt about one another. From "If We Must Die" you get an image of slave owners wiping and beating the slaves and at the same time sicking the wild dogs on them.