The painting "Starry Night," by Vincent Van Gogh, has a similar emotional reaction and theme to the poem "What a Piece of Work is Man," by William Shakespeare. The dark colours and textures of the painting bring to mind the "brave o'erhanging firmament" of the sky, and how it is a "magestical roof fretted with golden fire." Although the painting is beautiful, it also brings to mind the feeling that the sky is a "foul and pestilent congregation of vapours." The small town in the painting, with its prominent church, gives a feeling of cozy comfort, peace, and serenity, and depicts man as "the beauty of the world, [and] the paragon of animals." The skill of the artist and the beauties of the painting show man as "noble in reason...infinite in faculty," and "express and admirable" in form and reason. The theme of the painting, and of the poem, directly compare, as they are both about man's small and insignificant place in the universe. However, the poem's theme is also a connotation of a pessimistic view of life, and a "[loss] of mirth," while the painting more directly brings to mind optimism at the vast beauty of the universe. All in all, the emotions and themes of the painting "Starry Night," by Vincent Van Gogh, and the poem "What a piece of work is Man," by William Shakespeare, share many similarities, and both bring to mind man's insignificant place in the universe. What are we, if not a "quintessence of dust?"
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Link to "What a piece of Work is Man?"
Lines 305-320
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