John Proctor – Tragic Hero? How does he fit in to the tradition of tragic heroes e.g. Macbeth, Oedipus, Hamlet? What is modern about him?
John Proctor - Tragic Hero? How does he fit in to the tradition of tragic heroes e.g. Macbeth, Oedipus, Hamlet? What is modern about him? Aristotle said that a tragic hero is "A man neither entirely good nor entirely bad who through some flaw in his character or through some error of judgement, passes from great happiness to great sorrow." Also said of a tragic hero is "an action serious and discrete in itself," "a man of some eminence," and "a tragic flaw - often the result of pride." In this essay I'm going to compare John Proctor to other tragic heroes and decide if he falls into the same situation. Macbeth as a tragic hero is married and relatively happy at the beginning of the play but his flaws are ambition and a suppressed desire to be King. This flaw causes him to go from a well-respected Thane to a dead King. Oedipus is born with his flaw; there is nothing he can do to stop it. Although what makes the downfall to great sorrow happen is that fact he tries to avoid the prophecy. John Proctor is a married man with two sons. At the beginning of the play he is looking to expand his farm. He has had a bad time with his wife. John Proctor has many flaws in his character, which cause him great sorrow. His affair with Abigail is one of his flaws especially when he wants nothing more to do with her. Abigail holds a grudge on John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth and when the
Response To Blood Brothers is a great story, which has comedy, romance and tragedy all locked in.
Response Phase The appreciation to the story Willy Russell wrote a fantastic and well written play called "Blood Brothers" it shows details of its time and history such as the government ruled by Margaret Thatcher and the economic crash. The rough times in Liverpool and the struggle for money. "Blood Brothers which is set in Liverpool tells a story of twins born on the same day and died on the same day but separated at birth. Mrs. Johnstone, a superstitious, loving mother of seven, soon to be nine has to give up one of her children because of the welfare and money problems. Though she can't bear to do it, she gives up one of her babies to her employee who's desperate for a baby. For three decades, she has to see one her children grow up in the hands of another woman. Mrs. Lyons has the perfect life. Perfect house, perfect husband and perfect looks except for one thing she really wants, a child. One day her employer says she wouldn't know how to cope with another child and she had a great idea, she would take one of her twins and she did with the help of an oath on the bible. Now that she has everything she wanted she couldn't be happier. Until her son meets his unknown twin brother. She soon starts to go mad and orders her son not to see his good friend anymore but he still does. She then moves to the country and her mind becomes stable again until she finds out her sons
king lear is it a tragedy
Tragedy is defined in Websters New Collegiate Dictionary as: ) a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man, 2) a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror. The play of King Lear is one of William Shakespears great tragic pieces, it is not only seen as a tragedy in itself, but also a play that includes two tragic heroes and four villains. I felt that a tragic hero must not be all good or all bad, but just by misfortune he is deprived of something very valuable to him by error of judgment. We must be able to identify ourselves with the tragic hero if he is to inspire fear, for we must feel that what happens to him could happen to us. If Lear was completely evil, we would not be fearful of what happens to him: he would merely be repulsive. But Lear does inspire fear because, like us, he is not completely upright, nor is he completely wicked. He is foolish and arrogant, it is true, but later he is also humble and compassionate. He is wrathful, but at times, patient. Because of his good qualities, we experience pity for him and feel that he does not deserve the severity of his punishment. His actions are not occasioned by any corruption or depravity in him, but by an
How through the character of the Inspector does Priestley convey his socialist beliefs to the audience?
How through the character of the Inspector does Priestley convey his socialist beliefs to the audience? "No man is an island, entire of itself. Everyman is a piece of the continent a part of the main * * * Any mans death diminishes me for I am involved in man kind. Therefore do not send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." John Donne (1627) This piece of writing means that we are all linked. No man can stand alone. Everybody needs everybody else for help, and if one person dies over the other side of the world it is still very important. This piece of writing is very humanistic. The Inspector had a very socialist views, he was the complete opposite to Mr Birling who was conservative. The Inspector made his views clear in the play, when Mr Birling tells the Inspector that he refused to pay the workers 25 shillings a week. The Inspector asks "why?" this gives us good reason to believe he wanted fairer pay for people and better basic lives. I think Priestley chose this message to be the theme of the play because he wanted to teach his audience about socialism and the dangers of cutting yourself of from the world just because of your class. Priestley joined the army in 1914, in which he met the young inexperienced officers who were given the job because of their social standing. Priestley felt that these officers often made foolish
'Our Day Out' - How does Russell interest us in the characters of Carol and Briggs? How are comedy and tragedy used to good effect in the play?
Catherine Evans 11s 12th February 2004 Post 1914 drama: Willy Russell's 'Our Day Out' How does Russell interest us in the characters of Carol and Briggs? How are comedy and tragedy used to good effect in the play? In the book 'Our Day Out', Willy Russell interests us in the characters of Carol and Briggs by showing us the contrast of personalities and the difference in lifestyle between the two. The main differences between Carol and Briggs are that Carol is from a deprived background, while the teacher Briggs, probably doesn't understand what kind of life Carol has out of school hours. In scene One, the introduction describes Carol. It says that she is 'rushing along the street wearing a school uniform which doubles as a street outfit and her Sunday best.' This tells us already that she is poor and can't afford new clothes, so she has to wear her school uniform most of the time. When Carol is talking to Les, the lollipop man, she tells him that they are going on a trip. She tells him that only the 'kids who go to the Progress Class' are going, and explains that children go there if they are 'backward'. This shows us that Carol doesn't have a very high opinion of herself and she has a low self-esteem. On the bus, Carol sits by Mrs Kay, the Progress Class' teacher. As she looks out at the passing Liverpool,
How does Shaw draw the audience's attention to issues of social class in Act II of 'Pygmalion'? (p20-35)
How does Shaw draw the audience's attention to issues of social class in Act II of 'Pygmalion'? (p20-35) In your answer also consider: * in what ways this scene is typical of the play as w hole * what it tells us about life in 1914 England; * other possible interpretations In the early 20th century, social class was a very big part of everyday life. The class system was divided into the upper class, the middle class and the working class. Being born into a certain class meant that you stayed in that social class for the rest of your life. It would also limit an individual to what they would be able to do for a living, where they lived etc. Pygmalion squashes people's beliefs about the class system and shows the audience that you can be whoever or whatever you want to be. The playwright George Bernard Shaw got the name Pygmalion from an ancient Greek myth called 'Metamorphoses' in which there was a sculptor who went by the same name. The statues he created were his biggest love in the world and he tended to spend most of his time with then as he disliked company, especially that of women of his village, Amathus. These women were called Propoetides and had no sense of shame because Aphrodite, who was the Greek goddess of love, had punished them for denying her divinity. Pygmalion however, was a devotee of Aphrodite and prayed to her to breathe life into one of his most
How does Priestly create dramatic tension within these extracts?
How does Priestly create dramatic tension within these extracts? Inspector Calls By J. B. Priestley was written post World War II, but set in the early 1910's. This was a time of great innovation, with the "Titanic" making its voyage to New York, and trouble in the Balkans that was about to spread throughout Europe. Britain at this time was booming after the effects of the Industrial revolution. With this came social ordering, and a difference between the gentry and working class of society. The top 3 percent of the country belong to the Upper class and they contained a staggering 98 percent of the country's wealth. The Birling family are members of the Upper part of society, Mrs Birling being born into it, and Mr Birling achieving it through business. They are leading there lives the way they want to lead them, ignorant to the poverty and suffering of the working class, and indulge in their superficial nonsense they find so important. This is why the Inspector calls in on the family, and finally opens their eyes to the reality of the world, and their role within it. These two chosen extracts are taken from the ends of Act 1 and Act 2. They both have vital roles in the revelation in the death of this mysterious character Eva Smith, both creating a dramatic climax to the end of each act. In Act 1 we see the introduction of all the characters, and an understanding
Essay on An Inspector Calls.
Classwork 17/10/04 Essay on An Inspector Calls The play An Inspector Calls was written by J.B Priestly. The play really wants us to realise we should take responsibility of each other. An Inspector Calls was written in 1948 after two world wars, and after the titanic had sunk. J.B Priestly set the play in 1912, when there was peace, love and hardly any crimes in the world. When the inspector comes dramatically in the scene, he investigates a suicide death of a young girl named Eva-Smith. He starts to questions the Birling family to see how they were involved with her death. The family see the inspector as a normal officer with normal questions, but in a way he is kind of spooky because of his name Inspector Goole (ghoul)., also I see him as a messenger from the future. Before the inspector arrives Mr Birling is saying to Gerald and Eric that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own family. They are also happy celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila to Gerald. The inspector changes the atmosphere of the afternoon by telling them that a young girl named Eva-Smith has died in their infirmary. Mr Birling really doesn't care about the death, but all he wants to know is how is that connected to them. When the inspector first arrives he speaks carefully and very firm. He also has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person
To what extent can John Proctor be described as a tragic hero in Arthur Miler's 'The Crucible'
To what extent can John Proctor be described as a tragic hero in Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible'? In 1952, Arthur Miller wrote the famous play, 'The Crucible'. The play did not only deal with the Salem witch-hunts of 1692, but was also an allegory of a dark chapter in American History. This period is often referred to as McCarthyism, which occurred during the fifties. One of the plays most prominent characters is a steadfast farmer, John Proctor. Throughout the play John Proctor is the medium which Miller utilized to convey a universal depiction of tragedy. A broad definition of a tragic hero is a protagonist who, through faults and flaws of his own and in the society in which he exists, falters in the grand scheme of things. This mistake leads to suffering, which ultimately leads to a self-realization. The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself." It incorporates "incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions." The tragic hero will most effectively evoke both our pity and terror if he is neither thoroughly good nor thoroughly evil but a combination of both. The tragic effect will be stronger if the hero is of higher than ordinary moral worth. Such a man is shown as suffering a change in fortune from happiness to misery because
Was evacuation a great success?
English GCSE: Examine the end of Act One in "The Crucible". Consider the importance of this scene to the rest of the play and analyse how Miller makes it dramatic. "The Crucible" is a play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller in 1952. It is set in a small town called Salem in America where a group of Puritan settlers who arrived from England in 1630 first settled. The play is set in 1692, at which time there was a strong belief in the Devil. Persecution of witches by church authorities was common. Puritans believed in, and feared the Devil and his power to tempt human souls to Hell. Parallels can be drawn between the late seventeenth century and the mid twentieth century, when America was governed by persecution and the fear of communism as the Cold War took place. Arthur Miller equated the hunt for communists in the 1950's with the witch-hunts of Salem 250 years earlier. The end of Act One is an important scene within the play because it is when witchcraft allegations first arise. The witchcraft theme continues throughout the play as accusations are made, people are hanged and what used to be a tightly knit community falls apart. On page 34, Hale, a puritanical Reverend from a neighbouring village, who is well known for his previous exorcisms, is desperately trying to awaken Betty, as it is feared that she has been bewitched. She has been taken
