Abstract This paper compares the dreams of the characters of Walter and Mama in Lorraine Hansberry's play "Raisin in the Sun" and the conflict that emerges between these two dreams.
Abstract This paper discusses the play "Death of a Salesman" which clearly suggests that modern business is so coldly competitive that decent human values are ignored. Through the play, Miller is criticizing his countrymen's overemphasis upon material success.
Abstract This paper examines the ways in which Stanley and Blanche both conform to stereotypes of gender roles in Tennessee Williams' "Streetcar Named Desire".
Abstract This paper will discuss the two plays"Antigone" and "Everyman" in the scope of morality plays, and also to reveal how the individual fares within the scope of the dramas. In both plays the cultural themes presented in the differing ages of these plays tell us the nature of the responsibility the characters feel to others in the play. By understanding how both of these attempt this, we can how they are both trying to convey a sense of history in the scope of their characters development.
Abstract This paper will examine the idea of illusion and reality in the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. By showing how the main character Willy behaves in the play, we can see a man that distorts reality by his lies and self-deception.
Abstract This paper examines and analyzes how Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" reveals how people's private emotions and desires often have consequences far beyond their own lives. Three characters are selected from the play and the author shows how their personal emotions contributed to the outbreak of hysteria in Salem.
Abstract This paper examines Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, and analyzes the theme that weakness and corruption are passed from generation to generation.
Abstract This paper explores the theme of violence in Pinter's play. There are instances of both physical violence and psychological violence the play, and in the centre of the play, we are shown a mixture of the two. This essay discusses each of these types of violence, and also the effect of the tone of menace and violence that underlies the whole play.
From the Paper "Physical violence is the most obvious type of violence in the play. The play begins with Davies, a man of age about sixty and from, what we can gather, homeless, having just been in a brawl in the caf? at which he worked. So right from the outset, Pinter establishes a feel of violence and menace, emphasises by Davies? insults of "Black, Greeks and Poles"."
Abstract This paper shows that, at the end of a decade of revolution in civil rights, the African-American situation in everyday life is unchanged, due to mainstream society's denial of the marked history and future of African-Americans. Wilson uses "loud-talking" to identify this denial, as well as to bring about changes in social responsibility and African-Americans' searches for prosperity.
From the Paper "?"Wilson's plays show, if anything, that slavery isn"t "historical" or time-bound, or even continuous. It's something that starts all over again wherever oppression is elided or forgotten?(Fleche 13). At the end of the 1960's it seems that the civil rights revolution has not freed the African American from the urban wasteland created by racism. Memphis's restaurant once a thriving business within the community is now barely profitable due to the loss of wealth of the city. As Memphis looks to sell his building to the city, other essential businesses have already moved on, such as the doctor, supermarket, and five and ten (Bogumil 97). The drug store owner, Meyer, burns his business down to collect the insurance money and lets an innocent black man go to jail with the blame. "Two Trains Running is about economic survival of African Americans and the many entrenched oppressive forces with which they collide as they chose among luck, violence and fair play" (Shannon 167)."
Abstract This paper examines how the power of human sadness is illustrated in Henrik Isben's play, "Hedda Gabler", and how ,by employing dramatic techniques, Isben is able to create a complex character inHedda. It analyzes how Isben supplies us with many insights into Hedda's character and how, through powerful devices such as circular conclusion, symbolism and imagery, we are able to piece together aspects of Hedda's personality that might have led her to commit suicide. It looks at how her pain and loss of control push her to believe that the only solution is removing herself from the situation.
From the Paper "Another aspect of the play that the casual observer might miss is Hedda's true character. Many might simply pass her off as a spoiled snob, but upon closer inspection, Hedda is a woman that was suffering. In fact, Mary Kay Norseng notes that the "evil" aspects of Hedda's behavior are more provocative than her pain, but that her pain provides the key to her "inner logic of her character" (Norseng). Norseng even goes as far to say that Hedda's suicide "is not inextricably intertwined in the roots of her past. It is a whim of the present" (Norseng). Norseng also adds that a common misunderstanding about suicide is that it is a selfish act."
Abstract This paper suggests how Aeschylus, author of "Prometheus Bound", uses metaphors to make a number of suggestions about the ideas of tyranny, freedom, and prophecy.
From the Paper "A tragedy like Aeschylus? Prometheus Bound is ripe with metaphors that contribute to the significance of the work as one that has stood the test of time. Aristotle wrote in the Politics that man is, by nature, a political animal. If we accept this to be true, it is no surprise that Prometheus Bound continues to be a relevant tragedy in the 21st century as the most significant metaphor in the final scene, and truly, the entire work is the character of Prometheus himself. Prometheus is the representation of one who suffers unjustly under the harsh reign of a tyrant, yet still remains free (from a certain point of view)."
Abstract This paper looks at the various elements of the film "The Player" by Robert Altman and their thematic effects on shaping viewer response. The paper analyzes the plot, characterization, acting, camera angles, mise en scene and cinematography of the film in great depth.
From the Paper "The 1992 film The Player written by Michael Tolkin and directed by Robert Altman, satirizes the filmmaking industry of Hollywood, whilst criticizing the industries corruption. The film constantly alludes to earlier Hollywood films and comments on the practices of Hollywood film studios. The film utilizes the scope of film medium to simultaneously create meaning and entertain the viewer."
Abstract This paper examines how Lorraine Hansberry's play, "A Raisin in the Sun", is a dramatic tour de force and was one of the more important developments in American dramatic literature in the second half of the 20th century. It looks at how her moving play focuses on the domestic life of the Younger family as they decide what to do with a check that they have received after the death of Walter Lee's father. It shows how, from the very beginning of the play, Hansberry creates a tone that sets the stage for the later dramatic action and how the play is, ultimately, a meditation on how the human spirit is able to rebound after our dreams have been destroyed. It analyzes how Hansberry reveals the specific dreams of each character in the play and how, in each case, their dreams are disappointed in some strange and sad fashion.
From the Paper "All of the Youngers do have important, although different dreams. Beneatha dreams of going to medical school, Mama dreams of moving into a new house, and Walter Lee wants to open a liquor store. The problem is that the amount of money that the family has is finite and can only serve to fulfill some, and not all, of the Younger's dreams. Walter Lee's dream has a particular significance in relation to his manly pride, and the failure of that dream is terrible. However, ?By the end of the play, they learn that the dream of a house is the most important dream because it unites the family,? and it is through this common dream that the Youngers realize their true strength ("Themes, Motifs, and Symbols")."
Abstract This paper examines the play, "Endgame", by Samuel Beckett, which is about the pain and struggle that human relationships endure when founded in pain and human suffering. It looks at how the use of his play to illustrate the decay of one era and the fight against another is not unusual in the literary world and how the underlying theme that brings this play to greatness is the use of Hamm's decaying body, while his mind stays presumably intact and intellectually sound. It also demonstrates how the pain and anger that accompanies such situations illustrates the pain of moving between Modernism and Romanticism.
From the Paper "The character of Hamm provides many examples of the fight against Romanticism by Modernism. Hamm shows anger and disgust for the two which is the way of Modernism against Romanticism. If one has a difficult time exploring the theme of Modernism as it is illustrated through the relationship between Hamm and Nagg and Nell one can view it as a teen fighting against a parent. As teens grow older and start becoming young adults of their own they naturally tend to fight against the parents who have raised them. This path is taken for the purpose of the teen eventually emerging as a self propelled and capable adult who still uses certain elements that the parents have provided along the way."
Abstract Shows the conflict between the father, Troy, and his son, Cory. Examines Troy's relationship with his family, his sense of responsibility, and his bitterness over past and present racial discrimination.
From the Paper "One often wonders whether fences were built to keep people out or to keep them in. August Wilson's play shows us both sides of that old adage. Troy has just finished serving fifteen years in prison and now has an honest job. Upon returning to ..."
