We see in addition to this that meaning is not only lost but changed, such as how we view the characters and the impact of their actions due to the variations in the Prologue. Through the loss of informative signs, and overstressed allegories between characters – rather than circumstances – the focal point of the play is also transformed. This results in the film focusing more on Hitler himself, rather than his rise and thus changes the meaning of the play. Technology does however enable Gold to emphasis certain Brechtian tactics in ways the theatre could never have done, adding to and appropriately emphasising this meaning. Brecht consistently uses comedy throughout his play to make a darker point.
A comparison of great satire A satire will always have several life lessons to teach. The question is, will it simply throw it in your face, or will it hit you from the side with laughter? Voltaire’s Candide and Kaufman’s You Can’t Take it with You are two of literature’s greatest satires. While both make similar points against society, they are very different in how they satirize the world. Voltaire uses Candide to throw his beliefs in the reader’s face with the radical extremes of his story.
In the essay, “The Awful German Language”, author Mark Twain expresses his opinion on the, “awful German language”, from which he has gained from his 9 weeks of studying Germany’s native tongue. He reasons his opinion through the works of humor and the art of satire. Twain uses many humorous strategies in the essay to get his outlook across the reader. One of the strategies Twain uses is emphasis on specific words by capitalization. ““Let the pupil make careful note of the following EXCEPTIONS.”” (paragraph 3, lines 8-9), for instance, or, “ ..last line of it - AFTER WHICH COMES THE VERB, and you find out for the first time what the man has been talking about;”(paragraph 5, lines 17-19) are examples of this particular comical approach.
Candide Book Critique In my world history class, we are reading and critiquing the book Candide by François-Marie Arouet, more commonly known under his assumed name, Voltaire. Voltaire wrote this book to make a point about religious intolerance and exhibit his philosophies to influence the world. This is my critique of the novel: Candide was published in 1759 by Gabriel Cramer in French. The book was written in Geneva, Switzerland. My teacher chose this book for me so I could understand how and why Voltaire uses satire by applying humor to explain the ridiculous aspects of life and society in the 1750's, and understand the different things that were going on in history at that point.
Cervantes was satirizing the excessive exotic tales of knights and chivalry popular at the time. As for the book’s narrative structure, it is loosely analogous to the American “Shaggy Dog” story, which may be defined as a long rambling joke whose humor derives from its pointlessness (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). In other words, it goes on until it stops. In the case of Forrest Gump, at least in the film version, Gumps says when splashed with mud, “Shit happens,” which very much applies to Groom’s book: shit happens until it stops. Gump belongs to a classification of literature, discussed by Martin Halliwell in his book, The Idiot Figure in Modern Fiction and Film (Wiehardt).
In Auden’s 1939 poem “The Unknown Citizen,” (Auden, 955) Auden’s uses an exaggerated ironic tone to describe “The Unknown Citizen.” This tone indicates Auden’s sentiments of the government, war, and technology destroying the rights of the average citizen. Several key literary elements form the tone of this poem. The entire poem is satirical, with a humorous tone set throughout. With questions like “Was he free? Was he happy?” (Auden, 955) the author uses a sarcastic questioning method directed at the reader, essentially asking if they feel free and happy with the amount of government involvement in their life.
Through the minds of Palahniuk and Stevenson a common ground is reached in the two books Fight Club and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; both the narrator and Dr. Jekyll create their own misfortune in trying to fix the problems of the world, or better yet what they perceive the problems to be. In a sense the doppelganger of Dr. Jekyll and The Narrator create a misery that is eerie. These characters could be considered Byronic heroes; they start off admirable individuals but by the end of their journey we pity them. Another observation than can be made is through the birth of their alter egos Dr. Jekyll is in essence attempting to play God, and Tyler Durden (The Narrator’s doppelganger) believes he is God. The consequences of their decisions lead them to, ceaseless misery,
The narrator wanted to know if he was mad, or not. Phrases such as "I heard all things in the heaven and in earth" (62), tells the reader that the narrator indeed is mad, yet the narrator thinks himself not. In the following statement, "If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body" (64). This sequentially helps the reader form their opinion that this man is mad .Poe brilliantly manipulates first person point of view to his advantage in this story. It brings out many emotions in the readers mind.
Voltaire on Religious Tolerance During the age of Enlightenment many people, especially those belonging to the middle class, began writing against the way society lived. Many people also wrote against the church and the way the church wanted to run things. Voltaire always spoke against the church but he also believed in religious tolerance because in the end he was raised with religious beliefs that could not be forgotten. Just like John Huss and Martin Luther, Voltaire received punishment for trying to unmask the church although what they spoke the truth. This is why I believe he started this piece talking about an Irish priest who wrote a pamphlet on religious tolerance.
Therefore, this suggests society has lost confidence and belief in religion. When analysing the poem, it can be understood that Yeats infers that history will repeat itself through the image of a “widening gyre”. The Second Coming was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First Word War. This war was also known as ‘The War to End all Wars’ because it was so terrible that it was hoped that it would be the last. However, the use of “widening gyre” and “tide” highlights a sense of foreboding, suggesting that history will make a reoccurrence and peace will never be restored because society will not learn from its mistakes.