Abstract The paper examines how the symbol of fences is used in August Wilson's play, "Fences," a modern contemporary story about a black family living in a poor urban society. The paper discusses how throughout the play, fences are built to keep people in and to keep people out, with every character having a fence around him or her. The second part of the paper compares the Maxson family to the Kennedys.
From the Paper "Fences, by August Wilson is the story of a relationship between a father and son. Troy Maxson is a poor urban black man who was once a boy with a dream. As a child, Troy had hoped and prayed to become a professional baseball player. Unfortunately for Troy, his dreams were destroyed and he found himself spending fifteen years in jail while doing time for murder. The only thing that he comes home to is a job picking up garbage with his friend and co-worker, Jim Bono. According to Milly S. Barranger, Troy Maxson is victim to oppression. He is victimized by his birth, his race, father, his poverty, his employer, his society, and his emotional limitations (Barranger 545)."
Tags: 1957, civil, poverty, rights, Rosa, Parks, Mary, Jo, Kopechne
Abstract The paper discusses King Lear's progress from "Royal Lear," to a man, "bound upon a wheel of fire". The paper examines Shakespeare's tragedy about the downfall of the most powerful man in Britain and how his flawed judgement reduced him to nothing emotionally and physically. The paper shows that at the end of the play, Lear is stripped of everything he possessed, including his sanity.
From the Paper "Out in the storm, Lear begins to lose his sanity. He blames his daughters for his misfortune and moans about their filial ingratitude. ? I am a man/ More sinned against than sinning?. He doesn?t understand that the chaos that has been unleashed into the world began with his fatal mistake. Strangely at this moment he begins to show concern for others, namely the Fool. "How dost, my boy" Art cold?? He finally sees the suffering of his subjects and admits that he has "ta"en too little care of this!? This highlights another one of Lear's flaws. He did not perform his duty as a king satisfactorily before his downfall as he is not even aware of the sufferings endured by his subjects. It is only during his madness that he attains a little self-knowledge."
Abstract The paper reviews the play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare, a tragedy about the downfall of a powerful king and how his flawed judgement affected society at large. It shows how the subplot of Gloucester and Edmund is crucial to the play as Shakespeare has interwoven it as such that the main-plot can?t survive on its own. It examines how Edgar appears throughout Lear's suffering and how the way that Edmund orders Lear and Cordelia's death emphasizes how the two stories are inter-connected. The sub-plot intensifies the tragedy and highlights the important issues of the play such as natural order, filial ingratitude and self-knowledge.
From the Paper "Filial ingratitude is one of the themes in the play and both Lear and Gloucester suffer from it. This occurs because they trust their manipulative children and drive their loyal children away. Cordelia is banished to France when she claims that she cannot, ? heave my heart into my mouth? and Edgar assumes the identity of Tom O? Bedlam after he is made a fugitive. Edmund, Goneril and Regan are surrounded with lies, greed and lust. However, Edmund is a bastard son and could be expected to be of a "base nature". He embraces his illegitimacy,? Thou Nature art my goddess"Now Gods stand up for bastards". On the other hand, Goneril and Regan are both Lear's legitimate daughters and their evil actions are not in their nature, they grow in evil as a result of Lear's flawed judgement and claims that,? the best of his time hath been but rash?. This contrast in their children highlights the fact that Lear is a victim of his own nature whereas Gloucester is a victim of Edmund's machinations."
Abstract This paper examines the story of "Don Giovanni," a morality tale of what occurs when a man does wrong and evil is punished, told through Mozart's opera of the same name. When the Don's castle is in ruins, the surviving revelers weave in and out of the ruins and sing ?such is the fate of a wrong doer.? It discusses how the contrast of irony and melodrama in the final scene, suggests a far more nuanced moral vision of Mozart in his opera. It describes how at the end, as the Don is engulfed by flames, the music sweeps up into a more religious, reverent tone and the chorus takes over, rather than individual voices. Although this is supposed to be pious and the Don only gets what he deserves, there is a sense of loss at very end.
From the Paper "The scene being referenced is, of course, the ending deus ex machina of the opera, where the murdered father of a woman Don Giovanni has raped, the Commendatore, comes back from the dead in the form of a living, breathing, animated statue. The depiction of this phenomenon is alone a theatrical marvel and a challenge in and of itself. However, the Don's apparent casualness in the face of this event makes the striking nature of the Commendatore, even more astonishing. When the statute, who was unwillingly invited by the Don's surprised servant Lepordello to the Don's banquet, arrives, he pounds on the door of the Don's castle with great clashing blows, an entrance that is underscored by ominous music. He solemnly informs the Don that his time has come."
Tags: castle, rape, statue, commendatore, chorus, music
Abstract The paper shows how "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett are very different sorts of play, emerging from different theatrical traditions, but they have similar themes within the context of their time and in their own style. The paper discusses one theme which is addressed in both - the theme of order versus disorder. It shows how each play finds the main character facing a state of disorder and the desiere to restore order.
From the Paper "It may be more difficult to see the conflict in a play like Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, which has only one character, but conflict can also be developed within one character warring with himself or between the single character and the audience watching him or her. Conflict is inherent in the vocation of attitudes, ideas, characters, and situations, and it is not possible to have a drama without any of these elements and so it is impossible to have a drama without conflict. As noted, there is only one character on stage, though the voice of the same man from many years before might constitute a separate character, heard only on a tape recorder."
Abstract This paper examines Ibsen's "A Doll's House", the story of Nora Helmer, a woman who has been given a certain role in society and has never had the opportunity to question that role or determine who she really is. It evaluates how one of the major themes of the play is self identity, versus the role that society places upon people and how this theme is expressed through the changing character of Nora. It discusses Nora's character and her transformation through the story showing how her transformation is really just a change in the role she chooses to play and not a change in her actual character.
From the Paper "These events are the ones that change Nora's character so that she begins to become aware of herself. At the beginning of the play, Nora is a child, by the end she has become aware of the situation and has matured enough to understand that she needs to find out who she is It is in the play itself that we see her grow up, when her beliefs about her husband are finally shattered and she comes to a new understanding. She then comes to see that her father and her husband have seen her as a doll to be played with and that she is not seen as someone with her own opinions or her own will. She realizes that her whole life has been based on illusion, not reality. It is this realization that forces her to make her brave choice at the end and decide to leave her husband."
Abstract This paper examines the character of Katherine; discussing the various techniques used by Shakespeare to establish the theme of the play "Taming the Shrew". It also answers the question whether Katherine was tamed eventually or not.
From the Paper "Taming The Shrew by William Shakespeare is a comedy play tactfully and purposely divided into five entertaining acts (Plot Structure). The induction highlights the possible reasons for the play's existence followed by an introduction all the characters playing a vital role in developing the theme of the play and the development of the gist of the story, in the first act (Plot Structure). The taming (the main purpose of the play) of the female lead begins in the Act II and III with Katherine getting married to Petruchio. The climactic act is the act IV when the aim of cultivating and changing Kate to a productive human being is accomplished (Plot Structure). The final Act V establishes the connection and creates harmony between all the characters of the play and brings forward the implied meaning of Katherine's portrayal (Plot Structure) as a shrew."
Abstract This paper analyzes the Strindberg play, "Miss Julie" and describes how to present it in theatre production. The paper describes the character dialogue of the actors, the nineteenth century setting for the stage and props. It further illustrates the lighting effects, which allude to observing something that the characters want hidden from the audience.
From the Paper "In August Strindberg's Miss Julie, the use of setting helps advance the theme and conveys meaning to the audience not only through the visible setting but also in terms of off-stage space. For the current production of the play, the basic description in the text will be followed, though the set need not be as naturalistic as originally intended. What is important is that the set suggest a large kitchen in an aristocratic home at the end of the nineteenth century. The script says that the roof and side walls of the kitchen are hidden by drapes and borders, so they need be little more than suggestions of walls and ceiling. To the rear, on the right, is an arched exit porch, and through this can be seen a fountain and trees, which can also be suggested rather than naturalistic in design. The important kitchen props are a large stove, a kitchen table, some chairs, an ice-box, a sink, and some shelves. Prominent in the side wall is a large speaking tube, which becomes an important symbol of the master of the house and so which should be given special emphasis through size and position."
Tags: stage, props, dialogue, miss, julie, lighting, nineteenth, century
Abstract This paper reviews William Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" and examines how it was accepted and performed at the time in Elizabethan England. It provides a history of the Globe theatre where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed beginning with "Julius Caesar" and examines life in the theatre district of London at the time. It attempts to analyze why the play was so popular when it first came out and why a subject such as tyrannicide was presentable in a country governed by a monarch. It looks at how it contained all of the political and social intrigues necessary to make it a timeless classic and all the puerile blood and gore that was needed to entertain a group of theater-hopping commoners in what was considered London's seediest neighborhood.
From the Paper "The play was written and performed in 1599 at the Globe theater in Southwark, London. Southwark is located on the south bank of the Thames river, and was traditionally considered the vice district. This section of London was home to 10% of its population, and more than its share of the city's beggars. In 1594 the Lord Mayor, Sir John Spencer, asserted that parts of Southwark were "very nurseries and breeding-places of the begging poor" who swarmed the streets of the City. He estimated the number of these beggars at 12,000, and requested a meeting of several local magistrates in an attempt to banish them from the City or prevent them from crossing the Bridge."
Abstract The paper discusses the play 1944 play "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams whose plot draws loosely on autobiographical material from the writer's own life. The paper shows how the play describes the main character (Tom Wingfield)'s anguished struggle between the call of duty towards his mother (Amanda Wingfield) and sister (Laura Wingfield) and his desire to ?live his own life.? Tom is also the "narrator" in the play who often moves in and out of the action. The paper discusses how, apart from the use of a narrator, "The Glass Menagerie" is notable for the use of music, screen projections and lighting effects that helped to create a dream-like effect that is appropriate for a ?memory play.? This was unusual for the time and challenged the naturalistic convention of plays of the period.
From the Paper "The play is divided into seven acts and opens in the run-down St. Louis apartment of the family sometime in 1937 with the narrator Tom reflecting on his past memory. By speaking directly to the audience through the narrator the playwright makes a deliberate departure from the naturalistic convention of plays at the time. The essential characteristics of all the characters in the play are established quickly at the beginning with the use of this technique. Amanda is a loving but nagging and meddlesome mother who annoys Tom by her demanding ways. She is also apt to live in the past and far removed from the present realities of her life as she often recalls the days when she was a young Southern belle and a single evening in her past when seventeen gentlemen suitors came calling on her."
This paper uses three different literary works, Anton Chekhov's ?The Lady with the Pet Dog," Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and Leo Tolstoy's ?The Death of Ivan Ilyich," to discuss the role that marriage plays in society.
Abstract This paper examines the role that marriage plays in society, both past and present. The author uses three different literary works, "The Lady with the Pet Dog," "Hedda Gabler" and "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" to illustrate how marriage has maintained itself as an institution of society over the years. The main characters in these three stories demonstrate how societal pressures often lead people to marry for the wrong reasons and how loveless, or meaningless marriages often occur for different reasons. Hedda is forced to marry because she is a woman, Ilyich marries only because society expects him to take a wife and Gurov finds himself in a loveless marriage that leads him to an affair and his finding true love. The author uses these characters to send the message that marriage without thought can often have serious consequences that destroy lives.
From the Paper "In the play Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen also makes a comment on the institution of marriage in society. Just as in ?The Death of Ivan Ilyich,? marriage is a requirement of society and something people must accept. Ibsen offers his views on the implications of this by focusing on the impact on the woman in the marriage. It is noted that the woman has the least control in a marriage, the woman being seen as inferior and powerless to the man. The main character, Hedda Gabler, is aware of this, with the play being her story of how she reacts to these controls. Hedda is a female with a character that is difficult to contain. She is not the character who accepts restrictions placed upon her, but is fiercely independent. The fact that she has no choice but to accept marriage shows just how certain the role of women is in society."
Abstract The paper details the themes of false love and true love in both plays and gives the definition of love as well as the lesson of love according to each play.
From the Paper "False Love is embodied primarily by Lear's two daughters, Regan and Goneril. When their father demands a declaration of love, the two girls offer grand declarations of love, which are also however false. These declarations win them the promised prize of land and marriage to foremost members of society. The love of their husbands is also false, since it is based upon how much the girls can offer in a material sense.
The further romantic pursuits of the sisters also prove their love to be false. When Regan's husband dies, she competes with her sister for Edmund's love. This not only shows her romantic love to be false, but also her love for her sister. This is also proved by the fact that they ultimately turn against each other in their conspiracies."
Abstract Arthur Miller revelled in exposing the frailties of society and human nature. In his plays "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible", he explores American society and what drives its citizens. This paper endeavours to compare and contrast the themes posited by Miller in "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible" and how these themes are conveyed by the plays? characters and plot.
From the Paper ""Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible" both explore how individuals define themselves by the society they live in. However, the definitions that emerge are different among the leading protagonists of each play. In "Death of A Salesman", the themes of success and failure are explored through the dialogue and actions of the main character, Willy Loman. "Death of a Salesman" relates the tale of a man facing failure in American society, known for inculcating amongst its citizens the importance of success."
From the Paper " The purpose of this paper is to compare the ways in which Romeo's and Juliet's characters are developed by their love. Romeo and Juliet is a play about fate, about love, and about the tragic consequences of poor timing. Both Romeo and Juliet are, in one sense, characters whose fates are caught up in the web of intrigue woven by their families and by a society, which condones family feuds. Their lives are not their own. Swept away by the great passion of first love, their attempts to alter their family heritage and to unite in marriage causes their tragic deaths. Shakespeare develops the characters of Romeo and Juliet in the light of the purity of their love, and contrasts these innocents to those who would control their lives, their feelings, and their actions. By using the power of love as a device of character development, Shakespeare has painted a(...)"
From the Paper "This paper examines the various themes to be found in Medea,
the play by Euripides, the 5th-century playwright and friend of
Socrates (70-115). Euripides? play dramatizes the well-known legend of the journeys of Medea, granddaughter of Helios, god of the sun, and her husband Jason. According to this Greek legend Jason, an Argonaut, travels to Colchis on the Black Sea, where, with the help of Medea, he manages to secure the Golden Fleece. Medea, who is a sorceress of significant power, facilitates her escape and that of Jason from Colchis, chiefly by murdering her own brother. When Jason returns to his native Iolcus, he finds that his uncle, Pelias, has cheated him of his father's throne. Medea takes it upon herself to intervene again, on Jason's behalf, in the struggle by getting the daughters of Pelias to slay the ruler. And, once again, the couple takes flight and begins their lives(...)"
