Abstract A paper which discusses the hero/antihero motif used in literature. The writer uses the Shakespearean play, "Hamlet", as a backdrop to discuss the various aspects of the motif and to dissect its components. The term "hero" is defined and shows that the heroism depicted in America today is different since the September 11 terror attacks.
From the Paper "The use of the hero motif in the play is a key factor to its success. The entire plot of the story is based in Hamlet's courage and handling of the death of his father and the revenge that he seeks. However, the revenge is a while in coming because of Hamlet's very real human traits that cause him to hesitate when it comes to the murder of his uncle. The process of hero motif action is played out in this work and it is the foundational basis of the story itself. If one were to remove all elements of the hero and the anti-hero the story would have no plot and would never have been considered complete. "
Abstract This paper presents a detailed description of the hero/antihero motif used in literature. The writer uses the Shakespearean play, "Hamlet", as a backdrop to discuss the various aspects of the motif and to dissect its components.
From the Paper "Throughout literary history the hero motif has been used to portray a person of character and virtue. Famed playwright William Shakespeare used the theme of heroes for many of his productions. In Hamlet the hero aspect of the work is intricately woven throughout the story in a pattern that allows the reader to understand that heroes have human traits as well as the traits that make them heroes. Hamlet himself is the hero in the play named after his character while the Uncle is the anti-hero. The use of a hero and anti-hero allows for the conflict and struggle that makes the story interesting and the plot something to follow."
Abstract This paper examines the way in which "Goodbye Pork Pie" reflects the social and political climate of New Zealand in the 1970s. The author investigate the "Kiwi" culture as portrayed through the film. The author writes that New Zealand is presented as distinctive through iconographical features of the culture and countryside through which the journey takes place, as well as the time period. Women are sidelined as the narrative is engineered around the comradery of two kiwi 'blokes', John and Jerry. Furthermore, the paper describes that the film criticizes the right-wing government of its time and focuses on two antiheroes.
From the Paper "Goodbye Pork Pie, directed by Geoff Murphy, and released in Cannes in 1980, is a distinctively New Zealand interpretation of the popular American road movie: a derivative of the buddy-western genre. The buddies, John and Jerry, are propelled by circumstance into a chance meeting and a consequential life of running from authority that seems to have nothing else to do, but to pursue (and pursue?) a little stolen yellow mini."
Abstract This paper examines the novel " Dracula", written by Bram (Abraham) Stoker in 1897. It describes the novel as the modern tale of the anti-hero as a fallen angel of the romantic dreams. The paper illustrates Stoker's use of the first person character voice, as the reader is taken through the dark gothic tale through the diaries of the participants. In addition, the paper examines sexual symbolism, the empowerment of women and the submissive attitude of the men.
From the Paper "The Book "Dracula" has created many arguments of blood, power, sexual symbolism, political and even magical discussions. The main question that needs to be asked concerning the book and even the author is what Stoker had in mind when he created this masterpiece. After all the book itself is Stokers? Frankenstein monster, he has taken from nearly every aspect of his life that has been influential to him in some way. From the holidays in Cruden Bay and Whitby to the people in his life who became the characters of his book."
Abstract Discusses the theme in three literary works. EdgarAllan Poe's "The Purloined Letter." Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street." Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."
The literary and narrative content of each story; first person narration. How each work constructs a portrait of a modern her as antihero.
From the Paper "This research examines the theme of personal alienation in Poe's "The Purloined Letter;" Melville's "Bartleby, the Scriv.ener: A Story of Wall-Street"; and Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The research will set forth the literary and narrative context of the stories and then discuss ways in which each story constructs a portrait of a modern hero as antihero who remains permanently on the periphery of civilization, convention, and morality, sometimes functioning vis-a-vis conventional society as nonfunctional, thus positioning himself as recluse, stranger in a strange land, outsider, anti-authoritarian rebel--even an anarchist.
A self-conscious critic of his craft as a dramatist, Bertolt Brecht gives the name "A-effect" or alienation effect to the process whereby a scene or play may "allow the spectator to ..."
Abstract This paper explains that T.S. Eliot is one of the defining voices of modern poetry; his works, such as "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Prufrock), incorporate and explore almost all of the qualities which define modernity. The author explains that, through his technique of expressing emotions through an "objective correlative", Eliot uses Prufrock's thoughts to describe a breakdown of the social order and the fragmentation of experience so prevalent in modernist literature. The paper relates that the most striking modernist trend in this poem is Eliot's use of multiple allusions from a variety of sources, such as literature, history, mythology, science, the arts and his own work.
From the Paper "These internal allusions continue in the final portion of the poem. When Prufrock in line 122 asks, "Shall I part my hair behind?" he alludes to the many references in the body of the poem to his thinning, graying hair-thereby alluding to his own impending mortality and again bringing to mind the earlier image of a "patient etherised on a table." When in line 127 Prufrock introduces the image of the mermaids "Combing the white hair of the waves blown back," he again alludes to his earlier references to his hair. The next line's mention of "black water" reinforces the linkage between Prufrock's hair and his mortality."
Abstract This paper defines Medea as the anti-hero of the anti-monomyth. The author traces the stages of the myth of Medea and parallels them with the stages in a typical monomyth. By drawing the parallels, the author is able to show that the Medea myth is a parody of the standard monomyth, showing the phases play out in a manner that is antithetical to the typical monomyth.
From the Paper "Joseph Campbell might well turn over in his grave to hear Medea's final murder of her children described as an example of the monomyth. Certainly, if one were to take into account other moments of Medea's life and her adventures with the Argonauts, it would be possibly --though difficult-- to make such an argument seriously. However, arguing that Medea's tale as told by Euripides is an example of the monomyth at work seems rather blind to the fact that the hero cycle is meant to be about the exaltation, rather than the denial, of life. The problem may be as simple as the fact that Medea is female. Many critics have noted that, "Joseph Campbell is widely acclaimed for his conception of the hero's journey. However it addresses only half the population by excluding females," (Johnson) and that as such a different schema may be necessary for approaching a woman's experience. Medea is not a hero-she is the goddess or temptress without whose aid a hero neither rises nor falls."
This paper presents a mythic critical analysis of the film "Time After Time" (1979), directed by Nicholas Meyer and written by Karl Alexander and Steve Hayes.
Abstract The paper explores some of the ways in which the popular science fiction movie "Time After Time" (1979) expresses and unfolds its narrative in mythic terms. The paper defines the expressions "mythic criticism" and "the archetype" and shows how the film reveals more of a mythic substratum than its makers may even have intended. The paper concludes that the filmmakers of "Time After Time" have followed the lead of much science fiction by their innovative utilization of fact, fiction and fantasy to create a new myth for the scientific age.
From the Paper "According to A Handbook to Literature, the critical perspective known as mythic criticism is defined as that "which explores the nature and significance of the archetypes and archetypal patterns in the work" (Harmon and Holman 136). In this context, myth can be defined as that which portrays "a projection of social patterns upward onto a superhuman level that sanctions and stabilizes the secular ideology" (338). The same definition goes on to explain that myths, among their other functions, "attempt to explain creation, divinity, and religion; to probe the meaning of existence and death; to account for natural phenomena; and to chronicle the adventures of cultural heroes" (338). In reference to the archetype, the same handbook defines this term as a "primordial image" which draws upon the "prelogical mentality" (subconscious) of the reader / viewer and is frequently encountered in myth and folklore (41)."
Abstract This paper presents an analytical viewpoint of Martin Scorsese's film "Taxi Driver". The paper first looks at how the film develops both as a narrative and through the camera angles. It then discusses Scorsese's approach to the cab as a character in the course of the film as well as the concept of the anti-hero as the spark of the film. In addition, the paper examines how the film also includes a theme of alienation and a journey of identity. By relating the plot of the movie, the paper examines each of these themes and elements. According to the paper, ultimately, "Taxi Driver" highlights the path of a man confused about his identity and his purpose. It is this purposelessness, this lack of action that spurs the movie on and allows for the character of Travis to become more real as a character.
From the Paper "The film develops both as a narrative and through the camera angles. The film begins with an urban jungle scene in which war is more than likely thus giving foreshadowing to the events that will unfold during the course of the film. There are open sewers throughout the entire film and there are manhole covers with vapors coming out of them so thick the at home audience can smell the stink, the grime the film on which the movie is based. Scorsese gives the audience an allegory in the film. Scorsese's attention to music and the character's interchange is especially noticeable throughout the movie. The slow jazz sequences in the cab pitted against the writhing music in violent scenes makes each scene correlated with one another. This is one of the links by which the director allows the audience to decipher as a chronological movement between pieces of Travis' narrative."
