Essays on Arts and Plays

... A third example is when Maurya stated that she would finally would have a good nights rest meant that she was glad that she lost her family. They believed that she was heartless, thinking only of herself and that the men in her life didn’t mean a thing to her. The peasants though, now she has no one to take care of, and she can be free. And finally, a fourth reason the Irish thought that the play was insulting them was the fact that there were no “good times” or happy, pleasant times. It was all about death, and negativity. Many thought Synge was portraying them as being obsessed with death, and their life wasn’t worth living under the circumstances. Realis ...

... of the film knew America craved this portrayal. Critics of the film from this period, applauded it's "realism", but in hindsight studies of the film in the seventies and eighties were a little more critical of the film. David O. Selznick was the man behind the vision of this film and Selznick is best known for film classic's like; Gone With the Wind, (from which the formula of this movie draws heavily from) Rebecca, and King Kong. This film was a special project for Selznick at the time, and it was seen as his contribution to the war effort. The academy awards recognized Selznick's effort and nominated his film for best picture of 1944. David Selznick ...

... from Mordred. Because Camelot seems to immediately precede Morte d' Arthur and there is no overlap in the story, the way the plot is handled in each work cannot be debated. I will however, discuss the mood, tone, and characterization of a few key figures in the two works. One difference in character that I found was that in the introduction to Morte d' Arthur, Mordred is referred to as King Arthurs nephew. Later in the text, when Arthur and Mordred are fighting (p. 96, para.1) it says, ". . . so he smote his father King Arthur with his sword holden in both hands, upon the side of the head . . ." In Camelot, Mordred is Arthur's illegitimate son, although ...

... attempt to hide. Othello refers to the devil as Desdemona, while Cassio sees the devil in drink. Othello enters into a realm in which he is unfamiliar with Desdemona. It is easy for him to trust his officers and military companions, however, he is not as competent in his relationship with Desdemona. Once the suspicions suggested by Iago are brought to his attention, it takes little convincing before he is willing to seek revenge against both Desdemona and Cassio. The contrast in his quickness to judge his own wife versus the trust he has in Iago reveals the lack of competence in romantic relationships that had not been clearly evidenced until this scene. T ...

... sets off the main plot of the story. Hailey gets Brigance to defend him for virtually nothing. During a courtroom scene, Eileen Roarke (Sandra Bullock, in a surprisingly small role for having top billing) helps Brigance to get the trial moved to another town. Unfortunately, the judge (Patrick McGoohan) decides against moving the trial. Brigance needs to get a jury of young, married men with children. What does he get? A jury of women and old men. So Brigance has his work cut out for him, especially when he is up against the cruel and cheating Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey). The film moves along quickly, which I wasn't expecting. The movie is 145 minute ...

... the abyss and into mental instability. Lady Macbeth is like a joined appendage to Macbeth. They work as one, communicate as one, and when that appendage is lost, so is MB's grip with reality. Lady Macbeth was the only person he could truly confide in. The supernatural also had another key factor to her death. In the first act of the play, she calls on the powers of the supernatural to make her strong. The following quote, "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! make thick my blood, stop up the access and passage to remorse… Come to my woman's breasts, and take my milk for g ...

... any regard to its significance. Instead of the traditional bridegroom figurine on top of the cake, we have a real live woman in it. She has, of course, blonde hair, which appear to be brown eyes, perfect body, and it just so happens that she is wearing a yellow two piece bikini. Now that we know what these two cakes are, we can judge for ourselves, which seems to be the most appealing to us. Since this is an alcohol ad, I would say that the one to the right, the little Miss Yellow poke-a-dot bikini, would be the more appealing of the two. Where does the alcohol fit in with the wedding cake? We all know that occasionally we have some champagne at weddings, for the ...

... on several occasions by a ghost that offers thought provoking information. Hamlet knows not whether to trust the spirit or disregard what he has been told. "… the devil hath power T'assume a pleasing shape" Hamlet thought that the spirit may be trying to mislead him in the quest to find his father's killer. Characters of the play become unsure of their intentions due to the odd twists of fortune that they are dealt. Characters in the play that were so sure of their decisions became uncertain. This uncertainty arises when the plans of characters are somehow altered. The alterations change the fate of many characters. Polonius was killed in the wake of Hamlet's p ...

... mask of tragicomedy reveals the polarity of the human condition.” The contrariety of forces in the work serves to enforce a sense of both reality and drama that are present in everyday human life. The comic elements in the play serve as a form of determined self-preservation just as the tragic elements add to the notion of self-destruction. This is the true nature of a tragicomedy. By juxtaposing two irreconcilable positions, ambiguity is produced in the judgement of the main characters, most notably Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois. Ambivalence in the play is largely caused by the relationship between Stanley and Blanche. They concurrently produce b ...

... bastard son, Edmund. He does not seem to be able to understand how what he is saying affects Edmund. Gloucester tells Kent that he has an older son, “by order of law” (legitimate), and then he jokes about how Edmund “came saucily to the world before he was sent for.” When watching the play, the viewer sees Edmund’s reaction to his father’s description, and he definitely does not look happy. Even though Gloucester knows his two sons, he believes the worst of Edgar, and what Edmund says, all too easily. I would think that Gloucester would have had some previous experience with the ways of his sons, and not believe everything that Edmund says about E ...