Explore the ways that Tennessee Williams constructs the character of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire and Willy Russell constructs the character of Rita in Educating Rita in light of the opinion that they have the desire to escape reality and fulfil their fantasies. Despite being set in different periods of history, both plays ‘Educating Rita’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ share similar themes of the fine line between fantasy and reality, and losing yourself in the former. In 1945 Tennessee Williams began work on the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, and with the war ending in the same year, the play to reflects the cultural tensions of World War 2. Many felt uncomfortable being an environment with so many nationalities they were only a few years ago at war with. Cultural tensions are present in Blanche’s remark that Stanley is a ‘Polack’; during World War 2, the Polish were seen as the enemy; Blanche using this insult is not because she is against Polacks, but is her taking advantage of the frequently used insult at the time.
When one refers to the legendary play by Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, one would think of the blatant contrast between the two main characters, Stanley and Blanche. Their blazing differences are partly to blame for the explosive and dramatic impact the audience would experience. Blanche and Stanley are about as different as night and day. Williams way of writing isn’t exactly the bombastic kind, but the guy writes DEEP. Every little thing has its own significance.
is laid upon your hate That heaven finds means to kills yours joys with love” (V, iii, 291-293) “For there never was a story of more woe, then this of Juliet and her Romeo” (V, iii, 309-310) Tragedy- Reinforced by the death of Mercutio as it is seen by Levin as quite an ironic end, as he has been the satirist- “represents the play moving from Romantic comedy to Romantic tragedy.” Comparing Comedy & Tragedy- Tragedy tends to isolate where comedy bring together, to reveal the uniqueness of individuals rather than what they have in common with others. Examples have been shown with the progression of Juliet whom begun in tragic settings as an only child mother “But one, poor one, one poor, and loving child” (IV, v. 46) whilst Romeo friar reflects on then as “two in one” (II.iv.37) yet again when taking the potion “my dismal scene I needs must act alone.” (IV.iii. 19) reflected in the setting of each of them dying
Pacino, however, contends with a time where it is increasingly becoming the norm, but still contends with a society that can be considered moral devoid in some manners, and thus the importance of spirituality and thought is evident in both. Pacino is able to effectively portray Shakespeare’s core values in a manner that is able to best serve his context, and the values he aims to present. Within Elizabethan times, power was a hereditary property, not based upon skill, but upon heritage, but still kept in check by the great chain of being. Shakespeare’s Richard usurps this natural order, and thus brings tyranny and corruption upon the Kingdom. From the outset, Richard makes his evil intent clear, noting cynically and declaratively “Since I cannot prove a lover … I am determined to prove a villain,” revealing that power itself has not corrupted him, but the desire for it.
Why is “The Devil and Tom Walker” a gothic tale? As I can’t answer this in just a few sentences I will need to write a structured essay in order to really answer it well. To begin I’ll go through the list of gothic elements and see if I can find examples of each in the story. foreshadowing of evil---the setting, the devil, sometimes the mood forbidden secrets---Kidd’s gold, what really happened to Tom and his wife insanity---no baleful influence of the past---no / cultural degeneracy---slave trade, usury, religious persecution eccentricity---Tom’s behaviors esp. at end lure of terror---mood, setting, knowing one day the devil will come imprisonment---separation at the beginning, abduction violence---domestic abuse, wife’s killing Now I have to put these ideas with more specific details into sentence form and organize paragraphs.
“Thou art not what thou seemest” Playing a part is the only way to gain power in Henry IV part 1 In William Shakespeare’s, King Henry Part 1, role playing and he act of being a counterfeit aid key characters in their success. The 16th century play, written for an Elizabethan audience clandestinely address the vital question of the qualities and characteristics that the next leader of England should have as the 64 year old “virgin queen Elizabeth” had no close relatives. Shakespeare shows that sometimes people are not what they seem through all the major characters and shows the direction in which the modern world is heading. Calculative and deceiving behaviour are often the traits of the modern man, which can help them to succeed. Power is a privilege and should only be given to those who can handle it.
Vous êtes- Armand » (104) which was said by Blanche is an allusion to the play “Camille” by: Alexandre Dumas. The play is about a lady who is a courtesan who forsakes Armand. In this case, Blanche may have foreseen her relationship with Mitch in the same manner. The similarity Blanche and the “Lady of Camillias” is that they are both frail and are tainted by past sexual indiscretion with idealistic young men who are still trying to find true love and a new chance in life. When Blanche says “We are very Bohemian...” (104), the term Bohemian is the allusion itself.
The power that the old South held for Ransom drove his works, as can be evidenced in his poem, “Old Mansion,” which describes his ultimately futile attempts to return to the old traditions. The common thread unifying Ransom’s work is that of longing for the stability and tradition that the old South embodies. As in his essays, this poem explores the possibilities of what unlocking the secrets of this lost era might entail, and what benefits could be reaped in today’s society from such an undertaking. In this poem, Ransom fails; however, the poem remains an important step in his journey to seek out the old traditions and integrate them into a modern framework. To begin this journey, Ransom introduces the “old mansion” as a concrete concept to represent the traditional values and lifestyles sought.
Fighting for Our Mind: The Grotesque in “Clytie” The representation of mental ideas through a medium of communication is the fundamental challenge facing artists. On a rudimentary level, conceptualization in literature is a balancing act – the writer on one side and the reader on the other. This involves the somewhat nebulous processes of creation of meaning on the part of the writer and translation of this meaning by the reader. Flannery O’Connor’s “Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction” written in 1960, is a reactionary essay to the democratization of literature, and attempts to elevate the role of the writer in the creation of meaning. The writer is seen as a literary “prophet”, a “realist of distances” (O’Connor, 818), because he takes upon himself the task of explicitly illuminating that which most other texts merely imply, and thus the scales of meaning are tipped almost entirely in favor of the writer.
“Money, Love and Aspirations in The Great Gatsby” by Roger Lewis attempts to tour the foundations of the characters in the original text by F. Scott Fitzgerald by replicating Gatsby’s world, and adding to it an anthropomorphic sheen that interrupts the novel’s didactic resonance and disconnects love, money, and aspiration. Lewis tries to argue that many of the characters have a sort of “doubleness” about them, meaning they fit two or more opposing stereotypes. Gatsby can be considered a scoundrel with dirty money and at the same time a helpless romantic, for example—he can aspire for love and money, while the journey for each inhibits the other. He asserts that Gatsby is a man aware of his own “doubleness”; disregarding the fact that Gatsby is, in reality, nothing more than ink on a bound stack of paper. Lewis also claims that, since Gatsby “sprang from his own Platonic conception of himself” (Fitzgerald, 98), Gatsby is “in a paradoxical position” where he “knows everything about [himself] that can be known, and yet the significance of such knowledge is unclear, for no outside contexts exist to create meaning” (47), forcing him to look to the past for purpose.