"A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Introduction There are many techniques of language used by Shakespeare within "A Midsummer Night's Dream". There are many reasons for this. Different character's, or perhaps more importantly, groups of characters, use different language to establish their status throughout the play. This shows us that perhaps language in theory hasn't actually changed all that much since Shakespearean times as particular social groups, speak in a particular manner. Not necessarily using the same words as we do today, but in the same way. Prose A prime example of this is the difference in speech between The Mechanicals, The Fairies and Royalty. The Mechanicals speak in what is known as 'Prose', normal speech; "We will meet, and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously. Take pains, be perfect, adieu." As we can see there are no stanzas, nor are their words fluent. This I feel conveys The Mechanicals' status as low and they are basically shown as 'common workers', implying they are not clever or gifted enough to make their words rhyme or be in verse. Verse Unlike The Mechanicals, Royalty confirm their high status by speaking in verse. They speak in an iambic pentameter, lines of ten syllables, which emphasises their 'intelligence' with how fluent and exotic their speech is; "Therefore fair Hermia question your desires, Know of your youth, examine well your blood." We only see
What does Translations have to say about the individual and the community?
What does Translations have to say about the individual and the community? There tends to be quite a large use of extended metaphors within the play referring to the individual and the community frequently. Translations is said by many to be 'an intelligent and enlightening metaphor for the situation in Northern Ireland'. This statement can be backed up and the reader can see many representations throughout the play. The most obvious example is that of the situation between Maire and Yolland on page 62. A significant part of this scene is when Maire says ' that leap across the ditch nearly killed me', as she is really symbolising the change the Irish people must undergo. Therefore, individuals are used to represent different views and cultures, as well as having their own. Characters are used mainly as a metaphor for Irelands position with the English. This is evidence of a particularly good playwright. Friel uses Sarah as a symbol to represent Baile Beag's loss of language as the English arrive to anglicise the Irish counties. We know from historical references that the English did anglicise much of Ireland, resulting in a loss of language, as shown with Sarah's particularly similar situation. As the play progresses in the beginning, Sarah's speech begins to improve, but when the English come, Sarah's speech is lost again, which symbolises the English power over
Throughout 'Road' Scullery's has many soliloquies in which he uses naturalistic, colloquial language.
Michael Lee Road - Element 2 Throughout 'Road' Scullery's has many soliloquies in which he uses naturalistic, colloquial language. Scullery is guiding the audience through the road. He is narrating to the audience but in very conversational tone. He is almost 'pally' with the audience, 'Let me help you get your bearings'. This involves the audience, it brings them into the play and makes them feel included. Cartwright uses this throughout 'Road' and many of his other works. The language is oversimplified rather than complex. There are not many attempts by Scullery to use complex sentences. All of Scullery's speeches are quite long in length and are sometimes broken up by interruptions from other characters. The sentences of the speech are quite long but broken up using commas. When Scullery is explaining who lives where, he gives the information in terms of a list. The vocabulary is not very varied, there is quite a bit of swearing. The use of the word 'fucking' is quite regular throughout the passage. The language is very colloquial with a north-western dialect. Many of the phrases used are very well known in the north of England. For instance 'what's-'is-name', which is widely used throughout the north. If the play were put on in the north this would make the audience feel at home and at ease because they are used to this type of phrase. The dialogue is believable and
Classics in Friel's Translations
Discuss the importance of the classical content in 'Translations'. How do they contribute to the exploration of colonialism in the play? 'It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation. 1' Translations is a play in which many doors are opened through mythological and classical content. Looking at this content in closer detail allows us to see the play from a different angle, and gives new meanings to many of the themes and ideas presented. Most notably to the theme of colonialism which is at the forefront throughout the play. Jimmy Jack Cassie, for whom the 'world of ancient myths is as real and as immediate as everyday life', provides us with our first examples of the classical content in Translations. He acts as a human 'bridge' between the present worlds of Baile Beag and those of Ancient Greece and Rome, and links many of the themes and events with classical history and mythology. One of the most important thematic links is the development of Jimmy Jack's 'relationship' with the Goddess Athene. Jimmy fails to treat her like a fictional character, even comparing her to women from his village 'no harm to our own Grania... But I would go bull straight for Athene'. His relationship with the mythological character is real to him, and thus the problems he faces
Naming and Power in Friel's Translations
Write a critical appreciation of this passage, focus on Friel's exploration of the relationship between naming and power This passage, near the start of Act Two in Translations shows Owen and Yolland in the process of naming the places they come across on their map of Ireland. The characters and the text itself both deal with the issues surrounding these names and the powers names have over both people and places. The powers of destruction and creation are shown to be one of the effects of the process of naming. The beginning of the passage touches on the destructive side of naming by using the prefix 'de' ('describe' and 'denominate') twice in the words Owen uses to explain what they are trying to do by changing Irish place names; 'we are trying to denominate and at the same time describe that tiny area of soggy, rocky, sandy ground...' . The prefix 'de' usually expresses a reversal or negation which in this case would mean they are 'de - scribing' i.e. 'unwriting' and 'de- nominating' which phonologically sounds as if they are taking away the names of the places, although if one looks at the semantics of the words they mean completely different things. Use of the prefix 'de' also gives Owens remark a more negative feel, making the reader wonder if what they are doing is perhaps a bad, destructive thing rather than the constructive process it was intended to be; a theme
The End(s) of the Canon Minor Writing and Writing of Minorities
The End(s) of the Canon Minor Writing and Writing of Minorities By addressing the concept of "minor literature" in their study of Kafka, Deleuze and Guattari paved the way to new theoretical concepts.1 They interpreted Kafka's cultural marginality as the stimulus for a new mode of writing which resulted in what Kafka himself called a "minor literature" reflecting a polyvocality and heterogeneity that is central to contemporary minority literature. This concept of a small or minor literature, eine kleine Literatur, is seen as the collective and revolutionary literature of a minority writing in a major, dominant language. "A minor literature doesn't come from a minor language; it is rather that which a minority constructs within a major language" (Deleuze 16). Kafka believed himself to be creating a literature that is aware of the established literary works and genres but consciously creates itself a space outside of it. This literature does not imitate but situates itself in a distance to the canon in order to be cognizant of the differences that separate it from the position of established literary works. By this act the canon becomes a fragile construct and as David Lloyd exemplifies with Jean Genet's writing, eventually the canon ceases to exist when a writer refuses to write "literature" that is to say refuses to accept its major or in Genet's case minor status.2
How does Friel explore the concept of identity in Making History, looking at alternative viewpoints in your answer?
How does Friel explore the concept of identity in Making History, looking at alternative viewpoints in your answer? Throughout Making History, Brian Friel presents the audience with ideas that question history, its accuracy and its reliability through the momentous and crucial times of Hugh O'Neill post and prior to the Battle of Kinsale. One of the key ways in which Friel succeeds in doing this is by implementing the theme of Identity and O'Neill's struggle with this issue throughout the play. Other characters are also shown to have split identities, which reinforces Friel's idea of how history will portray them. The play is set in the late 1500s during the renaissance period of Ireland - a regular battle zone where the English fight to gain ownership of land in Gaelic Ireland, under the reign of Elizabeth I. Using the genre of drama, Friel loosely documents the events of O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone as he attempts to secure a deal with Spain that will drive the last of Elizabeth's English forces from Ulster. Defined as a 'dramatic fiction', Friel has played on the events of the Battle of Kinsale in order to convey his own ideas and messages as opposed to sticking to the absolute facts - this ironically and supports Friel's interests in how the 'facts' of history are interpreted and documented. Act 1 Scene 1 importantly begins with the discussion of a Christening, most
