Mother Courage and her children by Brecht
Mother Courage and her children Exploration notes * Plot and sub-plot Anna Fierling is a canteen woman who bears the name, "Mother Courage" and travels in her wagon along with her children serving the Swedish Army during the Thirty Years War, (1618-1648 ). Although she has been warned that war can never be all take and no give she intends to make a living from the war whilst keeping her children out of it. > Sweden, spring 1624 A truce has occurred in the Swedish-Polish war, a recruiter and his Sergeant are seeking without success to enlist new troops for the Swedish campaign in Poland. The recruiting officer attempts to enlist Eilif, her son, into the army. Courage sees her brave son being seduced by the officer and demands he leaves her children alone. The Sergeant protests and asks why; since Courage wishes to live off the war should she not give it something in return. When Eilif admits he would like to sign up, Mother Courage tells the recruiter's fortune and then prophesises his early death. Manipulating the situation and installing fear into her children, Courage then draws black crosses out of the hat signifying her children's death, telling them that Eilif will die for his bravery, Swiss Cheese for his honesty and Kattrin for her kindness. As the play progresses we find this "prophesy" is fulfilled. Whilst Courage is distracted, the recruiter officer takes
What do you find interesting about Shakespeare's presentation of deception in 'Much Ado About Nothing'?
Q. What do you find interesting about Shakespeare's presentation of deception in 'Much Ado About Nothing'? Shakespeare uses a wide range of effective devices in his presentation of deception through the course of "Much Ado About Nothing". These include strong elements of plot construction and characterisation, as well as effective imagery through various sound and visual techniques. The plot of "Much Ado About Nothing" is an intricate network of scandalous schemes and friendly trickeries. Deception is a rampant theme in the play - each of the major characters is involved in at least one deception - and Shakespeare uses this theme to advance character development through the play, as well as provide comic distraction from the more serious tone present towards the dénouement. Within the matrix of deception ploys in the play, there is also an underlying theme of self-deception, involving some of the most significant characters. Furthermore, all through the play, there is a subtle undercurrent of error. People are often misled by appearances; they make mistakes about others and themselves and can be quite wrong in their judgements of situations. Such failures in understanding are used by Shakespeare to consolidate the setting for plotting and trickery. Also, this theme of misconception is cunningly mirrored by the title of the play: in the context of the play, 'nothing' can be
Much Ado About Nothing is a play in which language is a key focus.
Much Ado About Nothing A Play in Which Language is a Key Focus In this coursework I will be analysing the play 'Much Ado About Nothing' written by Arden Shakespeare. This addition is edited by A.R Humphreys, which was written in 1958. 'Much Ado About Nothing' is a comedy from Shakespeare's collection. In 'Much Ado About Nothing', Shakespeare uses comedy and a touch of tragedy to send a message of deceit and noting as a key issue. The content of the play basically underlines the story of Claudio's engagement of Hero, which is ruined by Don Pedro's intervention and plotting. This then becomes more complicated when Hero fakes her death. Simultaneously another subplot is seen through Benedick and Beatrice, as they begin to fall in love regardless of their frequent battles of wit despite the hatred they have for each other. Both plots combine which leads into an affair of honour between Benedick and Claudio. Additionally there are two facetious local constables, Dogberry and Verges who try to expose the scheming of Don John and Borachio. The core part of my essay will discuss language and how Shakespeare uses different types of language for different characters. The style of the language is rather different from other plays that Shakespeare has written: as 'Much Ado About Nothing' is written in one third prose then blank verse. Shakespeare therefore changes the tempo and turns
Compare and contrast the two love stories ("Peleus and Thetis"; "Ariadne and Theseus") in Catullus' Poem 64.
Compare and contrast the two love stories ("Peleus and Thetis"; "Ariadne and Theseus") in Catullus' Poem 64. Catullus' Poem 64 recounts the blissful marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the narration of which is interrupted by the recounting of another myth. This 'tale-within-a-tale' is the ekphrasis of a tapestry depicting Theseus' abandonment of Ariadne and telling of the ruinous consequences of this act for Theseus. It is this story of betrayed love that is woven into the coverlet of the matrimonial bed of Peleus and Thetis. Although it portends no such betrayal by either Peleus or Thetis, this vivid narrative tapestry dominates the poem and gives mythic idiom to a theme with which Catullus seems to have had much concern throughout his poetry of Lesbia.1 The lament of Ariadne is undoubtedly the centrepiece of the poem, and perhaps "puts into a woman's mouth the grief expressed elsewhere [in the poetry of] Catullus at his own abandonment by Lesbia."2 Theseus' lackadaisical absent-mindedness (made worse by the curse of Ariadne) causes his father's erroneous suicide, and may be indicative of the fecklessness of Lesbia.3 Perhaps then, the Peleus and Thetis narrative is merely a frame for the story of Ariadne.4 Yet, the extravagant wedding of Peleus and Thetis can be seen to represent an apex in the age of heroes - when the gods mingled with mankind. The disturbing
Look at Act 1 Scene 1 again of 'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare. How does Shakespeare establish the central themes in this opening scene?
Look at Act 1 Scene 1 again of 'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare. How does Shakespeare establish the central themes in this opening scene? Through studying Shakespeare's play 'Much Ado about nothing' It quickly becomes apparent that Shakespeare has written the play with three main themes in mind. These themes are love, honour and deception and these form and underpin the entire basis of the play. Throughout the play much of the problems that arise are due primarily to deception of some degree whereas Honour directly ties into the patriarchal society that we are dealing with in Shakespeare's time and the suggestion of 'male honour and pride.' Love is shown throughout the play through inter-character relationships however in very different forms for each. It could be argued that in the play some forms of love shown seam to be more genuine than others. We will explore how these three themes actually link together and affect each other in different ways. The first insight we get into a major theme included in the play comes extremely early on. It is in fact hidden in the title 'Much Ado about Nothing.' We can study this title and extract many different meanings which in a way shows strand of an Appearance versus reality situation. This is because we could look at the title simply how it appears and take it's meaning at face value or we could look at it as a
Annalise Carter
Annalise Carter Julie Mulleny Postcolonial literature and theory assessment - Question 2 'Postcolonial narrative, structured by a tension between the oppressive memory of the past and the libratory promise of the future is necessarily involved in the work of mourning." (Sam Durrant) In what ways and to what effects are colonial pasts remembered and thus rewritten in any one or more of the texts o this unit? Throughout Merle Hodge's postcolonial novel 'Crick Crack, Monkey' we are lead thought the childhood of the main protagonist, Tee. A main and paramount theme that runs throughout this narrative is that of education. It is due to this theme that Tee's colonial past is changed and distorted. At the outset of the narrative that we are introduced to a young girl living a simple, but happy life in Trinidad with her Aunt Tantie. This urban life becomes misshapen when Tee attends secondary school and is sent to live with her Aunt Beatrice. It is through Aunt Beatrice's European ideal and Tee's European socialisation at secondary school that her colonial past is transformed and rewritten. From the outset of the novel we see Tee as a young confused girl. Her mother died in childbirth, which caused her father to emigrate overseas, " Then papa went to sea. I concluded that what he had gone to see was wether he could find Mammy and the baby". This confusion subsides momentarily
What are the most effective aspects of Aristophanes' comic technique in :
What are the most effective aspects of Aristophanes' comic technique in : Aristophanes' play "Qesmoforiazogsai" ("The Poet and the Women") is an excellent comedy. Standing the test of time and the often diminishing process of translation into English it remains amusing today just as it doubtlessly was to its original Athenian audience. It is a well-controlled comedy with a fluent plot, striking dialogue and intelligent characterisation. But above all it passes the fundamental test of its genre in that it is funny. Aristophanes employs a rich and diverse array of comic techniques and devices to prevent the play from ever going stale; some are satirical; some are obscene; some are visual, for it is important to remember that "The Poet and the Women" is a play and hence meant for performance to a live audience. "The Poet and the Women", to use a modern term, is essentially a situation comedy. Much of the humour comes from the incredible and bizarre situations into which the protagonists are delivered. Creating an amusing situation, out of which comes the other humour, provides the backbone for the comedy. It is essential that the most amusing events occur to the most humorous character and the Old Man's (1) response and reaction to the predicament in which he finds himself is the mainstay of the comedy. The comedy of Aristophanes is on several levels. Of the higher, more
Theme of Love and War.
Theme of Love and War Satire is the "biting exposure of human folly which criticizes human conduct, and aims to correct it" (Di Yanni 839). Moliere was the French master of satiric comedy, and Shaw has been hailed likewise--as the "Irish Moliere." In Arms and the Man, Shaw demonstrates his genius for satire by exposing the incongruities of life and criticizing the contradictions in human character. Arms and the Man is quite possibly Shaw's most popular play. The success of Arms and the Man has been consistent right from its first production in 1894. The original staging of the play was so well received that Shaw's reputation as one of the greatest wits in the London drama scene was almost instantly established. Shaw himself, present at the opening performance, was actually dissappointed in the response of the audience. It is true that Arms and the Man is a comedy, but it is also about war. The setting of the play is in war-torn Bulgaria, and focusses not only on the romance between the young people of the play, but the atrocities that go on during war times and the ability of people not so very far removed from these atrocities to ignore them completely. Coming just a few years before the start of the Great War, Shaw's play turned out to be sadly prophetic. When war was declared, young men literally flooded the offices in order to sign up. These men carried with them the
To what extent is “El médico de su honra” principally a play about honour?
To what extent is "El médico de su honra" principally a play about honour? Honour was one of the prominent issues in the Spanish Golden Age dramas of which Calderón and Lope de Vega were the main exponents. Indeed, the play is called a "drama de honor". The very fact that Calderón chose to include the word 'honra' in the title of the play 'El Médico de su Honra' indicates that indeed a certain element of honour must be present within. One must find out whether honour is the principal cause of the play or if other themes hold more importance. In the "Diccionario de Autoridades" - the first dictionary of the Spanish language, "honor" is described as: "Se toma muchas veces por reputación y lustre de alguna familia, acción u otra cosa...Se toma assimismo por obsequio, apláuso o celebridad de alguna cosa. Significa tambien la honestidad y recato en las mugéres." "Honra", while interchangeable with "honor" in many regards, has been said to impart honour with a more interior connotation, as in "respect for personal worth": "Reverencia, acatamiento y veneración que se hace á la virtúd, autoridad ò mayoría de alguna persona...Significa tambien pundonór, estimacion y buena fama, que se halla en el sujeto y debe conservar...Se toma tambien por la integridad virginál en las mugéres ." Despite using "honra" in the title, Calderón uses "honor" far more frequently
Comment on the two following scenes: Much Ado About Nothing Act II Scene iii and Love's Labour's Lost Act IV Scene iii.
Comment on the two following scenes: Much Ado About Nothing Act II Scene iii and Love's Labour's Lost Act IV Scene iii. The title Much Ado About Nothing perhaps superficially intimates a great amount of irrelevant, unnecessary fuss, however deeper consideration indicates it has a profound resonance. The major 'Ado' or complication within the plot springs from Claudio's denunciation of Hero and moreover, the minor 'Ado' derives from the deception which unites Beatrice and Benedick. Act II Scene iii is significant in this minor narrative because it acts as a catalyst for the expression of perhaps an already latent attraction between the latter two characters. Furthermore, the Elizabethan pronunciation of 'Nothing' as 'Noting' denotes that the themes of eavesdropping and overhearing are central to the play's importance. Similarly, they can be applied to Act IV Scene iii of the play Love's Labour's Lost although their importance is by contrast, not pivotal to the play's narrative. Thus in this essay the significance of deception, eavesdropping and the discovery of the truth shall be investigated within both scenes in order to analyze their functions within the plots and their overall importance to the corresponding plays. The character of Benedick, within Much Ado About Nothing openly scorns and disdains the notion of love. His misogynistic beliefs are emphasized in his opening