Explore how Tennessee Williams uses symbols and expressionistic stage devices in the play.
Explore how Tennessee Williams uses symbols and expressionistic stage devices in the play. The play is rich in symbols, which serve as foreshadowing; hinting of things to come. These hints can be recognized from the beginning of the drama. The most obvious symbol used in A Streetcar Named Desire is its title and the actual reference, in the play, to the streetcars named Desire and Cemeteries. They are the means by which Blanche was brought to the home of Stanley and Stella and, as the play unfolds, we realize the names of the streetcars have a greater significance. Blanche's instructions were to "take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries." When Blanche first arrives she is possessed by a desire for love and understanding, but always in the background lurks the fear of death and destruction. If the one cannot be obtained, a transfer to the other will be the inevitable alternative. Blanche indicates this in her speech to Mitch in scene nine: "Death - I used to sit here and she used to sit over there and death was as close as you are ... We didn't dare even admit we had ever heard of it. The opposite is desire." A subtle use of this symbol makes scene six very poignant: Mitch and Blanche have just returned from the amusement park and she asks how he will get home - she says, "Is that streetcar named Desire still grinding along the tracks at this
Explore the presentation of Faustus in the opening scenes.
Explore the presentation of Faustus in the opening scenes. Marlowe uses many techniques to introduce Faustus to the audience within the first few scenes and even from such an early stage in the play the complexity of his character is made apparent, creating a desire for the audience to want to further engage with Faustus in order to try and understand his personality and nature. Through the use of the prologue Marlowe gives a brief history of Faustus life highlighting his success at studying and his lack of content, which followed. Marlowe warns the audience that Faustus will become involved in 'devilish exercise' which is interesting as from the very beginning the audience are anticipating Faustus' fall, knowing that he is a highly skilled man. Through Marlowe presenting Faustus in such a detached way in the prologue, using just simple facts, suspense is created as the audience await the reasons behind such an educated man's decision to become involved in activities that would with certainty condemn him to hell. To the modern audience it is perhaps harder to relate to the great importance religion played in peoples' lives in Marlowe's day when the concept of hell was much a reality of eternity in a physical place, with various punishments of torture depending on the life the deceased had led. Marlowe further highlights Faustus' scholarly nature through his choice of
How far, and in what ways, do you agree that the story of Polonius and his children is a tragedy within a tragedy?
How far, and in what ways, do you agree that the story of Polonius and his children is a tragedy within a tragedy? 'Hamlet' is a revenge tragedy; a genre originally developed by plays such as 'The Spanish Tragedy' by Thomas Kyd from 1585-1590. The genre is characterized by the inclusion of death, murder, betrayal, madness, poison, surveillance and the supernatural in the narrative - themes that all frequently occur in 'Hamlet'. However to what extent does the story of Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes conform to this idea of a revenge tragedy; and more broadly, how does the story of the family conform to the genre of tragedy as a whole? One issue is how to define a tragedy; Thomas Heywood wrote: "Comedies begin in trouble and end in peace; tragedies begin in calm and end in tempest", 'Apology for Actors', 1612. By this definition, tragedy generally can be summarised as a sequence of events that lead to the destruction of the majority of its characters. In this sense, the story of Polonius and his family conforms to the basic skeleton of a tragedy - by the end of the play Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia are dead. However the family's story does not conform as simply to other definitions of tragedy. '[Tragedy] would look with a sceptical eye at what was happening in the world around', M. Mangan (1991). 'Tragedy would look with a sceptical eye' implies that tragedy has the role
How Does Brian Friel convey a sense of cultural identity through the way his characters speak?
Task: How Does Brian Friel convey a sense of cultural identity through the way his characters speak? In the Play 'Translations' the characters are separated into the two groups the English colonists, Captain Lancey and Lieutenant Yolland, and the Gaelic speaking Irish population, Manus, Sarah, Jimmy Jack, Maire, Doalty, Bridget, Hugh and Owen. Coming from different backgrounds mean the two groups the characters speech has been carefully written by Friel to display different cultural identity within their speech, such as different syntax, dialectical lexis and colloquial language. The two English sappers, Lancey and Yolland, speak in standard English both being formal and correct although Yolland also includes politeness, he apprises negative face needs Lancey dose not although the translation by Owen is changed to do so, in his idiolect where as Lancey seems not to do so, for instance when the two are Hugh by his son Owen, Lancey says, "Good Evening", and then continues to use Minimal responses to address the questions posed to him where as Lancey greets Hugh by saying, "How do you do." which carries more polite connotations with it, although his responses are short to the questions he is asked are short they are not minimal responses, like Lanceys, and show he is more willing to engage in phatic communication. Lancey also conveys an authoritive attitude lacking
Discuss how Iago manipulates language to achieve his aims
Discuss how Iago Manipulates Language to Achieve his Aims Iago is often described as the narrator of 'Othello', he directly speaks to the audience, and they enjoy the privileged exposition of Iago's intricate schemes as he intertwines his network of lies around the rest of the unsuspecting characters. The audience witnesses this through soliloquy, and in the speeches early in the play, he gives several clues as to his motives, modus operandi and intentions. He is open to their scrutiny who, throughout the play, admire, horrified, the progress of his scheming. The first main speech of Iago's is directed to Roderigo in I.i.40-65. This speech exposes Iago's explicit delight in his treachery. The inferiority complex from which he undoubtedly suffers is most obvious at the beginning of the speech; he openly ridicules the 'duteous and knee-crooking knave' in a fashion that is both patronising and contemptuous. He sees men who are faithfully devoted to their masters as no more than a mere donkey, who 'wears out his time much like his masters ass'. Iago uses bestial imagery throughout the play (for example when he referring to Othello and Desdemona as a 'black ram' and 'white ewe' respectively) in a manner that is often very aggressive and insulting. In the Arden edition, this passage consists of several lengthy sentences; his manipulation of their structure reflects cunning nature
Hamlet presents indecision with decisive craft. Discuss Hamlets character in the light of this quote.
Tuesday 15th March "Hamlet presents indecision with decisive craft". Discuss Hamlet's character in the light of this quote. Hamlet was written approximately in 1600, during the Elizabethan era, the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Although the head of church and state was a woman, it was predominantly a patriarchal society. The monarch held a policy such as male-preference primogeniture which allows a female to succeed if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. Prior to her death, she announced that James I of Scotland would also become James VI of England. Elizabeth announced this to her people in order to avoid catastrophic political and social ramifications. Incest was ripe amongst European royalty, and still is still relevant nowadays. Queen Victoria earned the affectionate nickname, "Grandmother of Europe", this royal incestuous behaviour is also evident in Hamlet. Although, adultery and incest is forbidden in the Bible and deemed punishable by death; the Elizabethan audience would have been outraged by the idea of incest and adultery. Although it does not state or there being sufficient evidence that Gertrude was committing adultery with Claudius, considering their hasty marriage shortly after his death, one can certainly allude to the possibility. Being a prince brings with it certain responsibilities and a sense of
Re-read Act 2 Scene 6 of Murmuring Judges. Discuss Hares presentation of the position of women in the police force and the legal profession in this extract and the play as a whole.
Re-read Act 2 Scene 6 of 'Murmuring Judges'. Discuss Hare's presentation of the position of women in the police force and the legal profession in this extract and the play as a whole. Throughout 'Murmuring Judges', women are portrayed in varying, often dichotomous ways, having either much or little power, and being either assertive or submissively coquettish. In Act 2 Scene 6, women are presented as having their own secret culture, running parallel to the dominant culture of the men pervading the police force. For example, after Sandra light-heartedly laments the fact that Irina has chosen to speak to a woman, the stage directions dictate that "For the first time they both smile." The fact that the first time they smile is inspired by Sandra's referring to a liaison exclusively between women evinces that the women have their own kind of female culture which they are aware of. In addition, the form of dialogue which is taken by the entire scene facilitates the presentation of a female secret culture as the only speakers in this scene are female, hence no males are involved, making this a purely female affair. Also, no other characters enter the scene as it progresses, so the conversation between Sandra and Irina, and the issues appertaining secrecy and injustice which it raises, are more well-received by the audience, who focus their attention totally on the speech and
Consider the themes of language and naming in Act 1, and explore their relationship to culture and identity.
Consider the themes of language and naming in Act 1, and explore their relationship to culture and identity. 'Translations' is a play by Brian Friel, which is set in a town named Baile Beag, an Irish speaking community. Therefore it is not surprising that when British troops take over Ireland, there is great hostility amongst the Irish people, and this is reflected in the play, as all Irish place names must be changed to British sounding place names. Brian Friel has used this time in history to convey this hostility that the Irish people felt, and through his characters actions and emotions, we see the love hate relationship that the Irish and British felt for one another. He has done so by the use of language and naming in Act 1. Friels use of language and phrases in the play take a key role in the ability to transfer the thoughts of the Irish community, and the reflection that British troops taking over Ireland has had on their sense of belonging, and their identity and culture. The plays name is 'Translations', a word to which we tend to associate a foreign language with. The whole play in itself is a translation from Gaelic to English, so in this way is ironic as the situation that Brian Friel is dealing with in his play is that British troops, apparently unwelcome by most of Ireland, are translating Irish place names into English place names. Therefore, immediately at
Equivocation in Macbeth
Equivocation in Macbeth In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the theme of equivocation to effectively illustrate the evil nature of the witches. Equivocation is the use of ambiguous expressions in order to mislead. The prophecies of the witches play a mischief in this play, as they are a form of deception that at times use vague language to dodge an issue. The three influential prophecies, which the witches make in this play, are that the protagonist Macbeth will become the king of Scotland, Banquo will be the father of the king of Scotland, and Macbeth will not be killed until the Birnam wood moves to Dunsinane hill. The sources of these prophecies are the witches who put together the devious words into Macbeth's mind, which demonstrates the evil nature of the witches. In Macbeth, one of the earliest prophecies that the witches make is that Macbeth will become the king of Scotland. "All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!"(I.iii.50) is the prophecy in which no indication of the doom of Macbeth is present. The literal meaning of this apocalypse is that Macbeth will become the king of Scotland. Thus, his ambition to take the pursuit of breaking the natural order to become the king becomes ungovernable. This is evident when Macbeth is shown hallucinating of a dagger before he kills Duncan, the real king of Scotland. Macbeth says, "Is this a dagger, which I see before me, /
It is not only the heros character that feeds into the construction of a tragedy; external events also play a part. Does either one of these components have, in your opinion, an overriding influence on Macbeth, or do they make an equal contr
It is not only the hero's character that feeds into the construction of a tragedy; external events also play a part. Does either one of these components have, in your opinion, an overriding influence on Macbeth, or do they make an equal contribution to his downfall? Tragic plays, according to the rules laid down by Aristotle, should involve several key components; amongst them the idea of 'the catastrophe', a calamitous outcome, which evokes an emotional response in the audience; 'the three unities', i.e. that the action of the play, the location of the play, and the time period during which the play takes place, should all be synchronised; and the idea that the play should be centred on the protagonist of the play, and that an error in the judgement of the protagonist should result in the previously mentioned 'catastrophe'. Aristotle called this fatal error 'Hamartia', which was often brought about due to the 'hubris' of the protagonist, or his excessive pride. Shakespeare, however, having never read Aristotle nor heard of his 'rules', carves his own form of tragedy, wherein the lines between the 'divine punishment' given to people, and the punishment they bring upon themselves, are blurred. Also blurred are the lines between what is truly 'good' or 'evil', and if we can truly take any comfort in either of these terms. From the outset of Macbeth, we are told of the power of
