Research Paper on:
Happiness in Shakespeare’s Families

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
doubt experienced passing fantasies of offering his services to William Shakespeare, or more correctly to some of Shakespeares stage families. The purpose here  is to examine "As You Like It," "Henry IV," "Alls Well that Ends Well," "King Lear" or "The Writers Tale" for the presence of a happy family. The short  answer is that there are pockets of happiness in these and other of Shakespeares plays, but there are no families that can be said to be deliriously happy. King Lear  As is so often the case today, an unaware parent declaring one or more offspring as being somehow "better" than another rarely seems  to be able to see that those designated as the familys fair-haired ones very often are not. Similarly, those parents who whimper and whine to their children, "Do you  love me?" most likely are asking something else with which their children are not even involved. King Lear had both of these situations  active in his family at the same time. He demands to know if his daughters love him and fairly wallows in the responses of Goneril and Regan, the examples  of shallowness in schemings clothing, while rejecting the honest and heartfelt response of Cordelia, the only daughter who truly does love him. Alls Well that Ends Well  Shakespeares plays are rife with family members who cannot get along with each other, but many of Shakespeares families at least have pockets of happiness that  enables members of them to better meet the challenges that will be rising before them. This play lacks even that safety net. Bertram appears to be normal enough