Alexa

2205

Stanley Milgram was a psychiatrist. In the 1960s, he performed a controversial experiment in which
subjects were informed that they were participating to investigate the effects of punishment on
learning. The subjects were instructed to administer shocks to a “learner” every time the learner make a
mistake on a memory test. The intensity of the shocks is strengthened with each mistake. Unknown to
the subjects, the learner was actually an actor and, in fact, shocks weren’t delivered. However, the actor
reacted more and more frightened as the intensity of the shocks appeared to increase. The actor would
exclaim, screech and repeatedly request to be freed/released.

Milgram surprisingly discovered that an astonishing number of subjects continued to harm the actor,
although they believed that they were causing real pain or distress. Only a few of the subjects refused to
carry on, apparently because many did not want to displease the authority by defying.

The participants in Milgram’s experiment were ordinary individuals. Would majority of mankind react
the same in a similar situation?
Alexa

2205

Shakespearean plays remain well-known even today. His influence is still found across all branches of
entertainment such as music and theatre. Consciously or unconsciously, people tend to use phrases
from his various plays. It is estimated that more than 350 modern-day movies were based on inspiration
from his works. In 2000, the award of “Artist of the Millennium” was presented to William Shakespeare
which is an unusual posthumous recognisation for someone who has been dead for 400 years.

It is astonishing to know that 21st century audience still appreciate his plays. This is because modern
people still have to confront the same issues and difficulties that his characters faced 400 years ago such
as struggling to make moral decisions during personal crises or being censured by parents when
teenagers fall in love in high school.