The process of writing an essay varies greatly on the true goals of the writer. For a classification essay, you need to provide a direct partition of the things that are involved in your object of defining each one’s attributes.
How to write essay outlines for a classification essay should be considered to be important. Primarily, this will be your main agenda of format that will help you further divide the objects into classified groups that will let you create worthy materials for reading. Just like writing your personal essay topics, a classification essay outline should be divided into partitions only in the Body block. You will still be writing the Introduction and the Conclusion. But since your essay will demand that you divide the objects of discussion, you must have the ability to partition the scope of the body into several paragraphs.
It is not that hard to imagine of topics for your classification essay. For example you can write about the different plots of novels written by Shakespeare. You can classify an Othello essay from a Romeo and Juliet essay. The main objective is to divide into groups the different plots written by Shakespeare in his novels while the subjects are his titled works or books.
A classification essay may also demand a bibliography page just like any other forms of documented articles. For such a purpose, you also need to take note of the topic interest of your paper. Use APA for science based topics and MLA for humanities subject scopes.

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The world literature knows a lot of different interpretations of a sad life story of Cleopatra and her love to a Roman Antony. One of the most skillfully written plays, depicting the story of love of the Egyptian queen and the Roman is the play by William Shakespeare “Antony and Cleopatra”.
This play presents a particular view of the author on the love of Antony and Cleopatra and events that happened at that time. A particular feature of this work of W. Shakespeare is the importance the author paid to each character, especially, Cleopatra, Antony and Julius Ceasar.
However, unlike many other writers who researched this problem and attempted to describe the story of Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare underlines the importance of every character he creates in his play. In fact the major characters, which have been just mentioned, seem to be helpless without minor characters, which constitute an essential part of the whole work.
Among the minor characters, particularly important roles play Enorbabus, Charmian, Octavius Ceasar, and Octavia. All of them produce a great impression on a reader and it seems as if they are as important as major character at least a reader feels their presents near the major characters at the most significant moments of the play.
Obviously in order to better understand the role of minor characters mentioned above it is necessary to analyze each of them in details.
Probably it would be better to start with the characters which were the most close to Antony and consequently to Cleopatra and who dramatically influenced the final outcome of their life and love story.
First of all a few words should be said about the best friend of Antony, Enobarbus. At first glance Enobarbus is quite a good person and he is a friend of Antony. The relations between friends are quite good and faithful they seem to be quite tolerant even despite some contradictions. In fact it is quite surprising that they are so good friends, since Enobarbus is just a lieutenant in the army of Antony and he is not a kind of person who could easily live within the atmosphere of the Queen Cleopatra court as well as any other royal court because he is quite a rude person in actuality that is quite typical for soldiers and probably the author of the play wants to depict a typical Roman soldier through the character of Enobarbus.
Anyway, this character produce quite a dubious impression because on the one hand he is a blunt, rough-spoken man while, on the other hand, he possesses a degree of humorous wisdom and probably due to this fact a reader understands that he is not a bad person in fact and why he is one of the best friends of Antony. Such a wisdom of him becomes obvious when he gives a famous description of Cleopatra in her barge coming down the Cydnus.
Gradually, on reading the play, a reader understands that Enobarbus is a typical Roman soldier and he cannot ignore his nature neither can he overcome it. He cannot rebel against Rome, against his motherland, against legal emperor and he betrays Antony that is particularly tragic in the context of the bosom friendship that used to be lasting for so long time. In the same time, he is a good person in the depth of his soul since he cannot bear the betrayal and eventually he dies because of remorse when Antony sends his treasure after him.
So, Enobarbus is a symbol of Roman soldier who is loyal to his motherland and in the same time he is noble and hate evil and dirty tricks, especially when they are played at his best friends.
Not less significant and less symbolic is Octavia, a sister of Julius Ceasar and a wife of Antony. As Enobarbus is a symbol of a Roman man, or to put it more precisely of a Roman soldier, so Octavia is a symbol of a Roman woman. She has absorbed the best qualities a Roman woman is supposed to possess, she is chaste and virtues sister of the emperor and she is ready to serve to Rome and its interests she puts higher than her personal once, since even her marriage on Antony is mainly politically motivated as a means of achieving the power by her brother, Julisus Caesar and she seems to be just an instrument in a political play of Caesar and Octavian against their opponents. IT is probably she and Enobarbus whom Antony addresses first in his words:
What’s brave, what’s noble
Let’s do’t after the high Roman fashion
And make death proud to take us
(Shakespeare act 4, sc.15,1. 86-8)
Probably only real Romans, such as Octavia and Enobarbus really know what ‘the high Roman fashion’ in such a context means.
Furthermore, to a certain extent Octavia may be treated as an antipode of Cleopatra. For Romans it is Octavia who is a real and legal wife of Antony and only her they are ready to accept as his wife, while Cleopatra, being a Queen, will never achieve such an acceptance that is supposed to be particularly hurting for her self-esteem. On the other hand Octavia will never be as beloved by Antony as Cleopatra is. In such a way the author reveals the split between social acceptance and personal happiness represented by Octavia and Cleopatra and without the former it would be practically impossible to make such a conclusion.
Among noble Romans, such as Octavia and even Enobarbus are, a dark figure of Octavius Caesar seems to be particularly striking. He is a kind of ‘evil genius’ of the play. Probably the author wants to warn readers about the next generation or even generations of Romans since Octavius is a young, adopted son of Julius Caesar but despite his young age he readily marries off his foster sister Octavia to Antony, in order to rid himself of Lepidus, the other triumvir and to get more power. Moreover, to achieve this goal and to satisfy his self-esteem and unlimited desire of power he breaks the civil war on Antony after Caesar’s death. In such a way the author underlines that it is he who really starts the civil war where a Roman will kill a Roman.
Furthermore, he is deprived of any nobility and he can betray without any remorse, which led to the death of Enobarbus. On the contrary he easily betrays Octavia goes to Egypt, where he defeats Antony, which used to be a friend of his foster father, Julius Caesar, and consequently a friend of him. Quite symbolically that such an unfair, power-thirsty person remains the only ruler of the huge Roman empire after the suicides of Antony and Cleopatra and it is hard to rid of impression that the author in such a way attempts to foretell the ruin of Roman empire because such people as Octavius have started to come to power.
And, finally, the only Egyptian that is in the list of the minor characters that are discussed in terms of this paper is Charmian, a Cleopatra’s favorite waiting-woman. In fact like Octavia is a symbol of a Roman woman, so Charmian is a symbol of an Egyptian woman, fully devoted to her Queen. Obviously on comparing Octavia and Charmian, a reader understands the difference between a woman that used to live in a relatively democratic republic (Octavia) and a woman that used to live in a kingdom (Charmian), where the power of a king or queen is unlimited. She possesses faithfulness and wisdom since it is she who advises Cleopatra to give in to any wish of Antony and it is she who in the end commits suicide after her Queen’s death. So, she incorporates all positive qualities an Egyptian woman was supposed to possess and she is not a passive character who obeys to her Queen, on the contrary she plays important role in decisions, or at least some of them, Cleopatra takes.
Thus, taking into consideration all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that every character in the play “Antony and Cleopatra” by William Shakespeare is important and symbolic in the same time that makes this work particularly interesting for reading and research.

References:
1. Shakespeare, W. Antony and Cleopatra. New York: Penguin Classics, 1998.

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The works of William Shakespeare are often called the encyclopedia of humanities life as they describe and analyze the most realistic and contraversary issues of human nature. The immortality of Shakespeare is explained by unchangeable human nature, which constantly is having fight against evils in his soul. The dilemmas of choice “to be or not to be” form the biggest part of our life. Shakespeare’s works describe human virtues and evils, faithfulness, love, treachery, altruism and egoism. A special place in works of Shakespeare is devoted to mercantile ambitions and purist of power, but his famous plays “Julius Caesar”, “Macbeth” , “King Liar”, “Hamlet” and others show that doctrine “aim justifies means” always fails as material prosperity gained on blood and betrayal is always supplement by moral sufferings and revenge (Granville-Barker 47).
One of the best examples of how power destroys personality and ruins one’s life is tragedy “Macbeth”, where the pursuit of absolute power of king Macbeth ends with establishment of justice and his death. “Macbeth” is also a perfect example of author’s humanism and protest against despotic orders and tyrannical rule, typical for European monarchies of his time (Muir 119).
Shakespeare starts the play narrating that Macbeth is a positive character as he is a noble man, with good will, courage and sense of dignity. He is a good military man and has a perfect attitude towards his responsibilities and duties. King of Scotland values him as a talented general and skillful military man as his heroism and personal sacrifice led to important victories. Personal merits give admiration and universal respect to Macbeth; king rewards him with wealth and new titles.
Macbeth once met witches, whose talks and words result in his future destiny. It’s quite clear that the episode with witches is nothing by imagination or semi-reality, a product of his thoughts and fantasies. In more global scope it was a natural reaction of a person with selfish attitudes and arrogance towards reality and towards potential, which could be realized in case he neglected morals and ethic norms. Long before this episode it’s clear that most of Macbeth’s actions are directed only on personal profits, he wants to receive satisfaction, glory and be honored by everyone. His abnormal pride and ambitious, greedy nature resulted in future megalomania, which paved the way to crime and murders. Till the end of the story his moral struggle against cupidity and despotism is the central theme, but nevertheless his soul at the end of the story was fully submitted to the sense of tyranny.
Macbeth uses his glory and popularity in order to usurpate power. Macbeth realizes his desire to become a king of Scotland killing king Duncan and king’s security, later accusing them in the committed murder. After a while he also sets a task to get rid of anyone who could present any danger to his reign and stability he had achieved. Macbeth as a result turns into an obedient slave of his megalomaniac paranoia at the same time experiencing moral sufferings from all the horror and murders he committed. He is chased by spirits of persons he killed, he sees their spirits and hears their voices. But nevertheless always having a chance to stop this despotism, he always chooses to continue.
By the end of the play Shakespeare makes an emphasis on Macbeth’s tyranny and cruelty as never. Explanation to it is simple; witches said that he could be killed only by person who wasn’t born by mother. Symbolism of these words was not perceived by Macbeth seriously as it gave him a strong belief in unpunishment and immortality. His sufferings and conscience left him, as his soul and mind were only occupied by unlimited despotism since then. But the fight with Macduf dissolved his ideas, as he realized how short the life was and how miserable was his being as Macduf appeared to be born by Caesarian operation, made to his mother. Before Macbeth dies he breaks ties with witchcraft and devil, but it’s too late. His despotism could be only stopped by death. Repentance of Macbeth shows the triumph of human virtues over evil, it shows that qualities of nobility which are typical for a man of honor never disappear and return once person back to true life, even when it’s too late.
Another example of an ill human nature is the character of Lady Macbeth, who is shown as a woman equal in her nobility and virtues to Macbeth, courageous military man and hero. She is admired by king Duncan, but like her husband she appeared to be a very ambitious and prudent. She was one who advised Macbeth the easiest and quickest way to become a king: to kill king Duncan. It’s also important to say that were also ready to kill Duncan herself. It may seem that the whole story of Macbeth’s usurpation of power was a skillful plan of lady Macbeth who knew how to manipulate her husband. But it’s not true as Macbeth was very ambitious and vainglorious, support of his wife only inspired him on these actions. But their pursuit of power had a tragic end for both of them. Moral sufferings, fears and paranoia of Macbeth began to chance lady Macbeth, too. She lost her sleep and her health was gradually ruining by fears and nightmares. None of the physicians could help her, as none of them cured soul. Lady Macbeth’s death was tragic as she committed suicide.
“Macbeth” shows that people will have to pay once for all their deeds. Shakespeare says that there are not “get rich quick” strategies as quick success is always supplemented by deprivations, which lead to personal fiasco and punishment (Bradley 65).

References:
1. Shakespeare, W. Macbeth
2. Bradley, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1966.
3. Evans Lloyd Gareth. Shakespeare IV. London: Oxford university Press, 1967.
4. Granville-Barker, Henry. Prefaces to Shakespeare. New York: Hill and Wang, 1970.
5. Loske, Olaf. Outrageous Fortune. Oslo: Oslo University Press, 1960.
6. Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare and the Tragic Pattern. Proceedings of the British Academy, Vol.XLIV. London: Oxford University Press, 1958

This article originally appeared on http://www.essay-911.com/samples/6306004-literature.htm

Shakespeare’s Iago is one of Shakespeare’s most complex
villains. At first glance Iago’s character seems to be pure evil.
However, such a villain would distract from the impact of the play and
would be trite. Shakespeare to add depth to his villain makes him
amoral, as opposed to the typical immoral villain. Iago’s entire
scheme begins when the “ignorant, ill-suited” Cassio is given the
position he desired. Iago is consumed with envy and plots to steal the
position he feels he most justly deserves. Iago deceives, steals, and
kills to gain that position. However, it is not that Iago pushes aside
his conscience to commit these acts, but that he lacks a conscience to
begin with. Iago’s amorality can be seen throughout the play and is
demonstrated by his actions.

For someone to constantly lie and deceive one’s wife and
friends, one must be extremely evil or, in the case of Iago, amoral.
In every scene in which Iago speaks one can point out his deceptive
manner. Iago tricks Othello into beleiving that his own wife is
having an affair, without any concrete proof. Othello is so caught up
in Iago’s lies that he refuses to believe Desdemona when she denies
the whole thing. Much credit must be given to Iago’s diabolical
prowess which enables him to bend and twist the supple minds of his
friends and spouse. In today’s society Iago would be called a
psychopath without a conscience not the devil incarnate.

Iago also manages to steal from his own friend without the
slightest feeling of guilt. He embezzles the money that Roderigo gives
him to win over Desdemona. When Roderigo discovers that Iago has been
hoarding his money he screams at Iago and threatens him. However, when
Iago tells him some fanciful plot in order to capture Desdemona’s
heart Roderigo forgets Iago’s theft and agrees to kill Cassio. Iago’s
keen intellect is what intrigues the reader most. His ability to say
the right things at the right time is what makes him such a successful
villain. However, someone with a conscience would never be able to
keep up such a ploy and deceive everyone around him. This is why it is
necessary to say that Iago is amoral, because if you don’t his
character becomes fictional and hard to believe.

At the climactic ending of the play, Iago’s plot is given away
to Othello by his own wife, Emilia. Iago sees his wife as an obstacle
and a nuisance so he kills her. He kills her not as much out of anger
but for pragmatic reasons. Emilia is a stumbling block in front of his
path. She serves no purpose to him anymore and she can now only hurt
his chances of keeping the position he has been given by Othello.
Iago’s merciless taking of Emilia’s and Roderigo’s lives is another
proof of his amorality.

If one looks in modern day cinema, one will see the trite
villain, evil to the core. Shakespeare took his villains to a higher
level. He did not make them transparent like the villains of modern
cinema. He gave his villains depth and spirit. Iago is a perfect
example of “Shakespeare’s villain.” His amorality and cynicism give,
what would be a very dull character, life.

Source: http://www.cyberessays.com/English/206.htm

• Life of Lord Norton (Right hon. Sir Charles Adderley, K.C.M.G., M.P.) 1814-1905 : statesman and philanthropist : illust by Pemberton, William Shakespeare Childe-
• Elizabeth Blount and Henry the eight, with some account of her surroundings : [illust.] by Pemberton, William Shakespear, Childe London, 1913
• The passionate pilgrime
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London : [Cambridge : Printed for W. Leggard, and are to be sold by W. Leake, at the Greyhound in Paules Churchyard, Trinity College Library, 1599 ; 1964]
• The vvhole contention betvveene the tvvo famous houses, Lancaster and Yorke [electronic resource] : With the tragicall ends of the good Duke Humfrey, Richard Duke of Yorke, and…
  Uniform title: King Henry VI. Part 2-3
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Printed at London : [By William Jaggard] for T[homas] P[avier], [1619]
• Troilus and Cressida. First quarto, 1609. With an introductory note by W. W. Greg
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London, Shakespeare Association, 1952
• The plays of Lear and Cymbeline, by William Shakspeare. In two volumes. With the notes and illustrations of various commentators. To which are added, remarks by the editor…
  Uniform title: King Lear
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Dublin : printed by Zachariah Jackson, for A. Grueber, 1793
• Songs and sonnets / by William Shakespeare
  Uniform title: Songs
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London : Macmillan, 1879
• Othello, 1622 / [William Shakespeare]
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1975
• Hamlet: first quarto, 1603. With an introductory note by W. W. Greg
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London, Shakespeare Association, 1951
• King Lear / by William Shakespeare
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London : Sands, [19--]
• The dramatick works of William Shakespeare [microform] / with explanatory notes by Samuel Ayscough
  Uniform title: Romeo and Juliet
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Philadelphia : Robert Johnson, 1811
• The dramatick works of William Shakespeare [electronic resource] / with explanatory notes by Samuel Ayscough
  Uniform title: Romeo and Juliet
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Philadelphia : Robert Johnson, 1811
• The vvhole contention betvveene the tvvo famous houses, Lancaster and Yorke. [microform] With the tragicall ends of the good Duke Humfrey, Richard Duke of Yorke, and King Henrie…
  Uniform title: King Henry VI. Part 2-3
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Printed at London : [By William Jaggard] for T[homas] P[avier], [1619]
• The plays of Lear and Cymbeline, / [electronic resource] by William Shakspeare. In two volumes. With the notes and illustrations of various commentators. To which are added,…
  Uniform title: King Lear
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Dublin : printed by Zachariah Jackson, for A. Grueber, 1793
• Richard the Second, 1597
  Uniform title: Richard II
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  Oxford [Eng.] Clarendon, 1966
• The first edition of the tragedy of Hamlet / by William Shakespeare
  Uniform title: Hamlet. 1603
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  [London] : Reprinted at the Shakespeare Press, by William Nicol, for Payne and Foss, 1825
• Julius Caesar
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London : Blackie & Son, [19--?]
• King Lear, 1608 : (Pied Bull quarto)
  by Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
  London : Shakespeare Association : Sidgwick and Jackson, 1939

LIST A

LIST B

Novels

LIST C – Supplemental Reading List (individual reading)

DRAMA

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is generally considered to be the greatest playwright and poet that has ever lived. His appeal is universal and his works have been translated, read, and analyzed throughout the world. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, many poems, and 37 plays which have been grouped into comedies, histories, and tragedies.

Shakespeare’s plays combine natural human conflict with dramatic flair producing entertainment that appeals to the audiences of today as well as the audiences for which they were written. Shakespeare understood human nature, and he created…

http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/author-biography

Probably composed in late 1606 or early 1607, Macbeth is the last of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, the others being Hamlet, King Lear and Othello. It is a relatively short play without a major subplot, and it is considered by many scholars to be Shakespeare’s darkest work. Learis an utter tragedy in which the natural world is amorally indifferent toward mankind, but inMacbeth, Shakespeare adds a supernatural dimension that purposively conspires against Macbeth and his kingdom. In the tragedy of Lear, the distraught king summons the goddess of Chaos, Hecht; in Macbeth, Hecate appears as an actual character.

On the level of human evil, Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy is about Macbeth’s bloody rise to power, including the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan, and the guilt-ridden pathology of evil deeds generating still more evil deeds. As an integral part of this thematic web is the play’s most memorable character, Lady Macbeth. Like her husband, Lady Macbeth’s ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness. But while Macbeth responds to the prophecies of the play’s famous trio of witches, Lady Macbeth goes even further by figuratively transforming herself into an unnatural, desexualized evil spirit. The current trend of critical opinion is toward an upward reevaluation of Lady Macbeth, who is said to be rehumanized by her insanity and her suicide. Much of this reappraisal of Lady Macbeth has taken place in discussions of her ironically strong marriage to Macbeth, a union that rests on loving bonds but undergoes disintegration as the tragedy unfolds.

Macbeth Summary

The play begins on an open stretch of land in medieval Scotland. Three Witches enter and give the prophecy that the civil war will end that day and that at sunset they will meet Macbeth. The Witches are summoned to leave, but they do not leave without stating that what is normally “fair” will be “foul,” and what is “foul” will be “fair.”

King Duncan learns that Macbeth has been victorious and has defeated Macdonwald. The Thane of Cawdor has betrayed Duncan and is accused of being a traitor. Duncan orders the Thane of Cawdor’s execution and announces that Macbeth will receive the title of Thane of Cawdor.

Macbeth and Banquo leave the battlefield and meet the Witches. The Witches state the prophecy that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor and king and that Banquo will be the father of kings, but not king himself. Macbeth has been victorious on the battlefield and the war is at an end—to what greatness should he now aspire?

The Witches spark the ambitious nature in Macbeth, as he knows his rise to power would greatly be enhanced by being named Thane of Cawdor. After the Witches vanish, Ross and Angus arrive and announce that Macbeth has been named Thane of Cawdor. Banquo is skeptical of the Witches, but Macbeth, driven by a desire for power, considers

http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/

R. Moore.  ”Macbeth: Introduction.” eNotes: Macbeth. Ed. Penny Satoris. Seattle: Enotes.com Inc, October 2002. eNotes.com. 3 January 2010. <http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/introduction>.