Abstract This paper discusses and compares the two significant relationships portrayed in the play "Angels in America" by Tony Kushner. The characters are described in the context of their relationship, as well as outside the relationship. The paper examines the subliminal messages which are emitted from each of the four central characters, regarding their own self images. The falsity of these self images, is a central theme of the play, and conversely, allows the playwright to emphasize the importance of truth and honesty.
From the Paper "The relationship between Joe and Harper in Tony Kushner's "gay fantasia" of a play entitled "Angels in America" can be seen as parallel to the relationship of Lewis and Prior, despite both relationships? apparent dissimilarities. In both relationships, the two main characters exist in an unbalanced partnership, riddled with inequities. Only by suffering the traumas of a closeted gay relationship and the horror of AIDS does the nature of these essentially unequal and unfulfilling relationships become "outed" within the structure of the play."
Abstract This paper analyzes Shaws play from an historical and moral perspective. The title of the play refers to Mrs Warren's profession of prostitution. It explains that in the late 1800's when the play was first produced, there was a lot of outcry and calls for its censorship. The plot of the play is explained and examined for what could have been considered offensive in nature. The paper shows how morals have developed and progressed and why the play is no longer considered "shocking".
From the Paper "From the time when it was written in 1893, George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession was a problem for the playwright because of censorship. The profession alluded to in the title is prostitution, and Victorians did not like to admit publicly that such a thing existed, let alone allow a play to be performed in which the activity was in some sense celebrated. Modern reaction is very different from what Shaw's contemporaries would write when the play was finally performed in 1902. Early criticism focused more on the subject matter displayed than on the play as a piece of drama, while contemporary criticism turns this around and looks at the play as a play before considering any morality involved in talking about prostitution or treating it less than harshly."
Abstract Ben Jonson's "Volpone", first performed in London in 1605, was a highly successful play centering on the theme of greed. The paper shows that "Volpone" is particularly notable for Jonson's characters? use of disguise, costume and role playing both to advance the action of the story and to visually express Jonson's ethical beliefs to educate his audience. The paper analyzes the different methods of disguise througout the play.
From the Paper "Beyond the clues offered by their names, the characters in Volpone engage in role playing throughout the play. None shifts personality and character more influentially than the title character. Driven by his greed and by his love for trickery, Volpone chooses to play his game not with easily-duped victims, but rather with others like himself. Thus, while pretending to be ill for several years, with the community's knowledge that he has no heir, Volpone accepts the good wishes and gifts of his colleagues, who offer these in the hope that they will gain Volpone's goodwill for the giver. Mosca's task is to convince Volpone's acquaintances that, upon his supposedly-imminent demise, the Fox will leave all of his wealth to one or another of these would-be friends. Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino in turn are all convinced that Volpone has named each of them as his sole heir."
Abstract This paper is in two parts. The first part discusses the Commedia Del Arte or drama that employs comedy and has a happy ending, which began during the Italian Renaissance. It examines its origins and its popularity as well as its methods of acting. It evaluates its effect on modern comedy such as the concept of slapstick, timing in the repartee and romantic comedy. The second part outlines the other contributions of Italian Renaissance theatre to Western theater such as the introduction of the profession of acting and theatre and set design.
From the Paper "Commedia Del Arte made many contributions to modern comedy. First, timing was important in the repartee and has been in comedy ever since. Second, slapstick comedy, such as that practiced by Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd is a direct descendent of Commedia Del Arte. Third, modern romantic comedy had it origins in the plots and characters of Commedia Del Arte. Finally, both situation comedy and animated cartoons employ elements of Commedia Del Arte (Suzuki; Commedia Dell?Arte)."
Abstract This paper examines "The Beggar's Opera" written by John Gay and first performed on 29th January 1728. It tries to ascertain how a play that depicted the society of when it was originally performed still remains popular today. It illustrates how "The Beggar's Opera" as it was mockingly named, is anything but an opera for it lacks the antiquity, seriousness and most importantly the Italian touch to qualify to be an opera. What it is, is a humorous musical which involves the character periodically busting into song, with the audience finding it hard to restraint their laughter as the play takes as many opportunities to attack the classical opera setting. It concludes that the primary reason why people still enjoy the play is the sad but obvious similarities that were all so obvious in Gay's world to the present day world and that nothing has really changed.
From the Paper "A world in which the custodians of public trust turn a blind eye to the pilferages committed by minor thieves to serve as greasing to their grand design. The characters of The Beggar's Opera employ methods of profit making, just as every kind of position holder and scoundrel employed in the 18th century and still do. One can draw distinct parallels between the mischievous behaviors of the 18th century statesmen who had access to other people's money and trust, with the corporate raiders of today."
Abstract This paper discusses the modern acting methodology created by Constantin Stanislavski and his follower, another great acting teacher, Uta Hagen. The paper details many elements of Stanislavski's theory such as the core concept of the "creative objective": A character's objective on the simplest level is what the character wants. The author points out that the modern actor would never go into a play without having an understanding of his or her character's relationships with other characters.
From the Paper "The "magic if" technique essentially places the actor in a situation wherein he or she may use the imagination to develop the appropriate emotions. For example, an actor may have never tried out for the football team, but he is playing a character that has just been cut from the team. The actor may not know what that feels like; but, by employing the "magic if", he can place himself in that position. In other words, as the actor prepares he might say to himself: "It's as if I walked up to look at the cast list and saw that I"d been cut or not cast.? Through the use of ?if,? an actor can find similar emotions."
Abstract Examines the relevance of gender-specific themes in the three plays of the ORESTEIA trilogy by Aeschylus. AGAMEMNON, THE LIBATION BEARERS (CHOEPHORIA) & EUMENIDIS (FURIES). Discusses curse of the House of Atreus & the Trojan War. Plots. Characters; their motivations, actions & relationships. The important role Agamemnon plays in sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, which sets the tragedy of the triology into motion.
From the Paper "This research analyzes gender issues in Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy, comprising the plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers (Choephoroi), and Eumenides. The relevance of gender-specific themes that emerge in the plays will be discussed.
The Oresteia cannot be understood without reference to the curse of the house of Atreus of Argos, which is bound up with the legend of the Trojan war. The curse began when Atreus killed sons of his brother Thyestes, who had seduced Atreus's wife. After a banquet in which Atreus fed Thyestes's children to him, Thyestes laid a curse on Atreus's descendants. Atreus's two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, married two sisters, Clytemnestra and Helen, respectively, and when Helen either eloped with or was abducted by Paris to Troy, Agamemnon, like Menelaus, assembled an army of Greeks and prepared to sail for Troy. But that..."
Abstract Examines theme of justice in Susan Glaspell's play 'TRIFLES." Action and setting of the one-act play. Plot of investigation of a farmer's murder. Wife as the husband killer. All male legal system. Theme of abused wife who kills her abusive husband and how the women of the play decide the murder was justifiable.
From the Paper "This research examines the theme of justifiable homicide as the experience of finding justice in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles. The research will set forth the pattern of ideas in the work and then discuss the means by which it illustrates the emergence of justice.
The action of Trifles takes place in the winter of 1916 and is confined to the kitchen of a farmer's wife. It takes place in the aftermath of the peculiar strangling death of the farmer. The wife of the sheriff, Mrs. Peters, and a friend of hers, Mrs. Hale, whose husband discovered the body, are gathering personal things for the farmer's wife, who is being held in jail. While Sheriff Peters, the county attorney, and Mr. Hale set about looking through the house and barn to search for evidence that might be useful in a trial, the women busy themselves in the ..."
Abstract The paper examines how August Strindberg makes use of the form of the dream in the plays "A Dream Play" and "The Ghost Sonata," with varied results. "A Dream Play" was written in 1901, and "The Ghost Sonata" in 1907. The paper shows how the structure of both plays is dreamlike and the characters experience the world as if in a dream. The subject matter of the plays, though, is life itself, with a strong religious and moral tone.
From the Paper "Much of the dialogue also makes the action of the play seem dreamlike, for though the dialogue could be taken as metaphorical, it has the tone of something surrealistic when the daughter says that the "castle keeps on growing up out of the earth" (Strindberg, "A Dream Play" 199). The action as well has a surrealistic quality, as when the daughter of Indra goes on her dream journey to the opera house, where a mystical door opens to show the four learned representatives of different faculties busily arguing over their disciplines and the great problems of human knowledge. This leads to the great fire that consumes the castle, followed by a wall of questioning human faces as the roof turns into a giant chrysanthemum. Such transformations are of the sort that occur in a dream, carrying symbolic meaning on a deep level."
Abstract This paper examines Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" about Walter the resentful patriarch of the family who acts out certain attitudes affecting the black community in his time. It looks at how Hansberry clearly writes from her own experience, the family she writes about exists in a specific time period--the 1950s--and a specific milieu--the south side of Chicago. It shows how The Younger family is on the verge of escaping from the ghetto, with each family member having his or her own dream and how this dream begins with the desire to achieve the American dream. It discusses how by the end of the play the seamy reality of that dream has been exposed and the family has shifted to a celebration of its own value system rather than aspiring to emulate white society.
From the Paper "The kind of experience the Youngers have leads them to a spiritual and familial regeneration, and they transcend their ghetto not by moving to the suburbs but by understanding themselves and their place in black society. The prevailing racism has left the Youngers with a feeling of inferiority they try to overcome. The anger that such treatment creates is subdued in this family. The one vital element in the Younger family that sets them apart from much of the black experience today is the fact that they are, in the end, a family. The breakdown of the family in the ghetto is much discussed today. The Youngers have stayed together, something difficult even in the 1950s and something which shows them as atypical. Hansberry is not painting a false picture, and she is promoting the idea that family can help solve some of the problems faced in a racist society."
Abstract This paper analyzes William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" and Prokofiev's ballet version and shows how, because Prokofiev's ballet is quite lengthy and leaves out few elements of Shakespeare's version, the two works provide an unusual opportunity to compare verbal and non-verbal approaches to telling the same story. It examines how Shakespeare's language requires actors to render some very beautiful, intensely lyrical passages in a manner that approximates, without really becoming, natural speech. In comparison, it looks at how in the ballet the heightened emotions between the two protagonists can only be expressed in the music and the movements of their bodies. It shows how they must, in essence, communicate non-verbally what Shakespeare conveyed in some of the most famous speeches he ever wrote.
From the Paper "One of the best scenes for comparison is the most famous in the play, the balcony scene in Act II, scene 2. Here the lovers speak almost freely for the first time. They declare their love and commitment and are reluctant to part even though they must. This is one scene where Prokofiev's score had to accommodate the differences between a ballet and a play -- the challenges of presenting a story nonverbally. In Shakespeare's play Romeo returns to the Capulet house after the party and sees Juliet as she comes out to stand on her balcony. The conversation between the lovers is dangerous and fraught with suspense and it is frustrating, as they express their intense longing to be together and wonder whether they will ever find a way to accomplish this."
Abstract This paper explains how the behavior of Nora, the main character in "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen, is connected to the title in the sense that she is like a doll living in a doll's house. This lifestyle was common during the Victorian Era, the time period in which the play was written, and gave fuel to the fire of rising feminism. The paper shows that the play's most significant feature is the real-life change that it sparked in the lifestyles of women in the late nineteenth century.
From the Paper "A Doll's House, written by Henrik Ibsen, is a play that shocked audiences upon its release. The author wrote it to say something about commonplace marriages that took place during the late nineteenth century. The title, A Doll's House refers to the disempowered position of the wife in referring to her as a doll. This play helped to begin the feminist movement, where women began to stand up for themselves and question the legitimacy of the societal conditioning. What makes this play connected to feminism lies in its title, the fact that it was written during the Victorian Era, and the way it began the destruction of the gender roles that are still apparent today."
Abstract This paper examines how Tennessee Williams is a playwright who makes strong use of symbolism and how he makes good use of symbolism in "The Glass Menagerie", a play that recalls Williams' own family situation. It looks at how in the play, the brother, Tom, is a budding writer who leaves home, much as Williams himself did and how the family structure also mirrors his own, with the aristocratic mother trying to hold onto her youth and expecting more of the lame daughter than she can ever achieve. It analyzes how the play itself is presented as a memory, something that Tom as narrator emphasizes at the outset as well as the emphasizing the symbolic nature of the play itself by describing the characters to be presented and indicating that one of them is more realistic than the others. It discusses how the play uses projections to evoke certain symbols in a more direct manner and how this symbolism always links back in some manner to Williams' own earlier life.
From the Paper "Laura is a fragile creature, as fragile as the glass figures in her collection of the title. The glass menagerie therefore is a symbol for her fragility. The glass menagerie and the phonograph records Laura plays are also a means of escape for the girl: "Through her timidity, her suffering from the friction between Tom and Amanda, and her retreat into a world of dreams, Laura evokes genuine sympathy; she is the one who must be cared for, loved, and understood" (Falk 49). The fragile glass creatures are just like Laura, and yet it is when the Gentleman Caller accidentally breaks one of the figures when he is dancing with Laura that Laura is suddenly set free from her dream world. In a larger sense, this also sets Tom free, allowing him to escape from the home after a fight with Amanda because the Gentleman Caller is already engaged. The broken glass figure is a symbol of the break with the past, though that break is always incomplete because memory, almost as fragile as the glass figures, keeps the past alive."
Abstract This paper discusses the use of satire, metaphor and simile in Gay's "The Beggar's Opera". It shows how Gay used his opera to satirize the society of his time, but that this satirization was not derogatory or moralistic enough to give much offense. It shows how Gay's entire cast of characters play the role of metaphor depicting social ills of the time.
From the Paper "In satirizing the conventions of opera and romance, the Beggar's Opera arranges a meeting of opposites. Macheath the criminal thus refers to himself as a "man of honor". Instead of the expected nobleman, this man of honor is a mere criminal, but he is more than that. Gay turns him into a metaphor for the hypocrisy of those who like to believe in their own heroics. Specifically, Macheath represents the aristocrat and the army officer. His affectations and efforts at romance later in the opera reflect this."
Abstract "Mrs. Warren's Profession" by George Bernard Shaw is a play written in 1894. The roles that women play in this masterpiece show that Shaw was far ahead of his time in his thoughts about what women should do and be. The paper shows that in this work, Shaw presented a new vision of an intellectual, entrepreneurial woman and challenged the conventional roles imposed by society. He also included accounts of women victimized by a capitalist society and defended their rights to take whatever actions they had to in order to changer their circumstances even if that meant prostitution. The paper shows that in fact, Shaw's beliefs are consistent with modern-day feminism with only one exception. Shaw seemed to fear that a woman's independence and choice of a career had to come at the expense of something else, namely love and family. Nonetheless, "Mrs. Warren's Profession" is still revolutionary in comparison to the idealized Victorian version of what a woman should be.
From the Paper "Shaw's view that women must sacrifice love and relations with family members is the most disappointing aspect of his play. While the majority of his work represents a dramatic leap forward for women in the Victorian time, he hasn?t allowed for women to progress in their intellectual growth and entrepreneurship without a consequence. He seems to support their advancement, but is at the same time, afraid of it. This is apparent in Praed's questions to Vivie, "What happens to the world of chivalry, feeling, and beauty in the modern business world" Does practicality not appear more viable than romance in a world where sentiment has been reduced to sentimentality?? Regrettably, these concerns are still present in today's society where it's argued that a woman going to work will negatively impact the unity of the family and the nurturing of their children."
