What are the questions that underlie at least two of the works that you have read and how have the authors sought to answer those questions?
Because I've been tracking fate/destiny it is fairy easy for me to write about this prompt.
The question the playwrites present is if it is possible to change your fate or an outcome of an event. Is it possible for someone to change their destiny and make things better? This is seen in all three plays.
Oedipus is fairly obvious but I will go into it anyway. He has a phrophecy that he does not want to fulfull. He lives through life trying to get around it but he does not. Instead everything comes true and his life sucks.
The Wild Duck- Hedvig tries to fix her family's fate by killing herself. She believed that she would fix the situation for them if she did this. The play ended with the scene of the family examining her death so it doesn't really show if they were happy but one can assume that she did not fix any problems in her family.
Blood Wedding- I'm still unsure of this plot... but the Bridegroom's family was cursed.. correct? They lost the father/son already and it was only fate that something would happen to the Bridegroom. Everyone around the Bride and the Bridegroom pushed this marriage and saw it as success. However, the Bride ended up running away and being with Leo anyway, despite the fact that she already got married.
The authors use their plots and conflicts to show that people have very little control over their lives and fate and destiny drive everything.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Blood Wedding/ Comparison
Before I get into this post, I just want to say that this is by far the juiciest play I have ever read! I mean, the wife has a thing with her ex-boyfriend? Then the guy shows up at her wedding with his wife?! And then the scene ends with them running off together!!? AHH I would read this over watching Gossip Girl ANY DAY. Just don't tell Kacey Peterson...
I believe the most appropriate journal for this scene is the first comparison question...
"Readers are attracted to moments of intensity in a writer's work. By what means and with what effect have writers in your study offered heightened emotional moments designed to arrest the reader's attention?"
Blood Wedding- Throughout all of Act 2 the reader learns more about the Bride and her past. We learn about her relationship with Leonardo and the Maid even shoes him away. This conflict already attracts me and leads me to want to know more and more about the plot. I am drawn in as the Bride continues to lie to her husband throughout the act. Scene 2 attracts the reader and slowly heightens the emotional moment by slowly hinting at the fact that Leonadro and the Bride ran off together. First, the Wife is looking for Leonardo which hints at the fact that he is gone. However, the reader is only suspicious of this at first. Then the Bride wants to rest without her new husband which also hints at it. In the end of this act, when everyone discovers that they have ran off they all try to run after him. The drama is intensified by looking at how the Mother speaks. She says things like, "Born of an evil mother, and him-him, too! But now she's my son's wife!" and "Who has a horse? Right now-who has a horse? I'll give you everything I have: my eyes and even my tongue" (77). Her dramatic language intensifies this scene which adds to the fact the drama was already building up from the beginning of the Act!
Oedipus- Similar to Blood Wedding, the drama in Oedipus also added up, increasing the emotional moment. I saw this starting on page 221 with Jocasta's sharp turn. ( I know I have spoken about this passage a lot in my journals but it is significant...). Right before this passage, the audience finally realizes that this is when Oedipus will learn his fate. Because we know this, we are allowed to pick apart all actions that the actors (yes actors, they were all men at this time) take on the stage. By adding little details like the sharp turn, Sophocles increases the emotional moment by allowing the audience to notice them. He allows them to get more involved in the play by looking for other signs that only someone that understands the plot will see. Jocasta avoiding Oedipus's questions and trying to stop him also heightens the moment because seeing this angers me and I'm sure it angers other readers too. By getting the audience/reader emotionally involved it really intensifies the scene.
I believe the most appropriate journal for this scene is the first comparison question...
"Readers are attracted to moments of intensity in a writer's work. By what means and with what effect have writers in your study offered heightened emotional moments designed to arrest the reader's attention?"
Blood Wedding- Throughout all of Act 2 the reader learns more about the Bride and her past. We learn about her relationship with Leonardo and the Maid even shoes him away. This conflict already attracts me and leads me to want to know more and more about the plot. I am drawn in as the Bride continues to lie to her husband throughout the act. Scene 2 attracts the reader and slowly heightens the emotional moment by slowly hinting at the fact that Leonadro and the Bride ran off together. First, the Wife is looking for Leonardo which hints at the fact that he is gone. However, the reader is only suspicious of this at first. Then the Bride wants to rest without her new husband which also hints at it. In the end of this act, when everyone discovers that they have ran off they all try to run after him. The drama is intensified by looking at how the Mother speaks. She says things like, "Born of an evil mother, and him-him, too! But now she's my son's wife!" and "Who has a horse? Right now-who has a horse? I'll give you everything I have: my eyes and even my tongue" (77). Her dramatic language intensifies this scene which adds to the fact the drama was already building up from the beginning of the Act!
Oedipus- Similar to Blood Wedding, the drama in Oedipus also added up, increasing the emotional moment. I saw this starting on page 221 with Jocasta's sharp turn. ( I know I have spoken about this passage a lot in my journals but it is significant...). Right before this passage, the audience finally realizes that this is when Oedipus will learn his fate. Because we know this, we are allowed to pick apart all actions that the actors (yes actors, they were all men at this time) take on the stage. By adding little details like the sharp turn, Sophocles increases the emotional moment by allowing the audience to notice them. He allows them to get more involved in the play by looking for other signs that only someone that understands the plot will see. Jocasta avoiding Oedipus's questions and trying to stop him also heightens the moment because seeing this angers me and I'm sure it angers other readers too. By getting the audience/reader emotionally involved it really intensifies the scene.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Blood Wedding/Literary Topics
Themes and Ideas--
While reading the first act in Blood Wedding, I noticed that the roles in society that the character in the novel played seemed very significant. It seemed like the society the characters lived in had strict rules on what they were allowed and expected to do, who they could marry etc...
For example, in the first scene when mother and Bridegroom are talking, the mother talks about how if he were a girl they would be embroidering and stitching and doing girly things instead of going out to the field. (page 7)
On page 36, the maid of the wife desperatly wants to see the gifts that the wife has received for her engagement. Instead of being friendly, the wife shoes her away. This makes it seem like there should be a distinct line between both the wife and the maid. As this scene continues, the maid is surprised with the wife's strength. She says 'You're stronger than a man!" on page 37. This was interesting for me because it seemed like it was an insult to the wife. This shows the roles they believed the men and women should have in the society.
I also noticed that whenever the wife and the mother-in-law talk to eachother, the structure of the play changes. Their dialogue is centered in the page instead of written in the middle. As of right now I do not know the significance of this but I will keep on thinking!
While reading the first act in Blood Wedding, I noticed that the roles in society that the character in the novel played seemed very significant. It seemed like the society the characters lived in had strict rules on what they were allowed and expected to do, who they could marry etc...
For example, in the first scene when mother and Bridegroom are talking, the mother talks about how if he were a girl they would be embroidering and stitching and doing girly things instead of going out to the field. (page 7)
On page 36, the maid of the wife desperatly wants to see the gifts that the wife has received for her engagement. Instead of being friendly, the wife shoes her away. This makes it seem like there should be a distinct line between both the wife and the maid. As this scene continues, the maid is surprised with the wife's strength. She says 'You're stronger than a man!" on page 37. This was interesting for me because it seemed like it was an insult to the wife. This shows the roles they believed the men and women should have in the society.
I also noticed that whenever the wife and the mother-in-law talk to eachother, the structure of the play changes. Their dialogue is centered in the page instead of written in the middle. As of right now I do not know the significance of this but I will keep on thinking!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Wild Duck/Comparison Journal 4
"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out" To what extent do you find this statement applicable in at least two plays you have studied?
I think that this is extremely applicable in both Oedipus and The Wild Duck.
In Oedipus, the story focuses around him. He is royal, has money and power. Common people do not have these things! During this time, they watched Romanticized plays. From what we've learned about these plays in class, it seems like they make people look a lot better and they do not focus on the middle class. It seems like if the middle class was depicted in a play during this time, no one would be interested. Oedipus is basically life with the dull bits cut out because instead of showing everyday problems a poor/middle class person faces, the story is dolled up with the dull pieces taken out. The story shows a royal/rich family that tries to control their lives completely. This is normal for everyone, however because the dull parts are cut out, it makes the story much more interesting.
I saw the same idea for The Wild Duck. I believe that it is extremely applicable because the Wild
Duck includes family problems that everyone faces. However, to insure that it isn't too "boring" the problems are exaggerated and the boring parts of life ARE edited out... we never really see the characters just sitting and talking about nothing.
I think that this is extremely applicable in both Oedipus and The Wild Duck.
In Oedipus, the story focuses around him. He is royal, has money and power. Common people do not have these things! During this time, they watched Romanticized plays. From what we've learned about these plays in class, it seems like they make people look a lot better and they do not focus on the middle class. It seems like if the middle class was depicted in a play during this time, no one would be interested. Oedipus is basically life with the dull bits cut out because instead of showing everyday problems a poor/middle class person faces, the story is dolled up with the dull pieces taken out. The story shows a royal/rich family that tries to control their lives completely. This is normal for everyone, however because the dull parts are cut out, it makes the story much more interesting.
I saw the same idea for The Wild Duck. I believe that it is extremely applicable because the Wild
Duck includes family problems that everyone faces. However, to insure that it isn't too "boring" the problems are exaggerated and the boring parts of life ARE edited out... we never really see the characters just sitting and talking about nothing.
Tracking for The Wild Duck and Oedipus
I have been tracking the idea of fate and destiny in both The Wild Duck and Oedipus.
In Oedipus the King, the idea of fate or destiny is fairly obvious because of the prophecy that Oedipus fulfilled. The idea of fate is also mentioned throughout the play by the chorus. Ex p 209. Oedipus tried to get away from the prophecy or fix his life and instead he ended up gouging his eyes out.
The Wild Duck- I believe I saw the idea of fate and destiny in the symbol of The Wild Duck. Page 152 describes the capture of the duck. While trying to get away from being caught, the duck instead dove down to the bottom of the river and got caught in the weeds. This is similar to Oedipus and how he was trying to get away from the prophecy but instead ran into it. I believe this is fate because the duck was meant to be caught and he could do nothing about it.
I also see this in Hedvig's character. She was trying to fix things in her family by killing the wild duck. This only led to her messing up and killing herself. This is the idea of fate because she is unable to fix anything even though she was trying.
I found it interesting that in both plays, people were trying to get away from their issues. Instead they ended up causing more. This would be an excellent thing to write a world lit paper on!!
In Oedipus the King, the idea of fate or destiny is fairly obvious because of the prophecy that Oedipus fulfilled. The idea of fate is also mentioned throughout the play by the chorus. Ex p 209. Oedipus tried to get away from the prophecy or fix his life and instead he ended up gouging his eyes out.
The Wild Duck- I believe I saw the idea of fate and destiny in the symbol of The Wild Duck. Page 152 describes the capture of the duck. While trying to get away from being caught, the duck instead dove down to the bottom of the river and got caught in the weeds. This is similar to Oedipus and how he was trying to get away from the prophecy but instead ran into it. I believe this is fate because the duck was meant to be caught and he could do nothing about it.
I also see this in Hedvig's character. She was trying to fix things in her family by killing the wild duck. This only led to her messing up and killing herself. This is the idea of fate because she is unable to fix anything even though she was trying.
I found it interesting that in both plays, people were trying to get away from their issues. Instead they ended up causing more. This would be an excellent thing to write a world lit paper on!!
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