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The Consequences of Marriage, 2002.
This paper uses three different literary works, Anton Chekhov's ?The Lady with the Pet Dog," Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and Leo Tolstoy's ?The Death of Ivan Ilyich," to discuss the role that marriage plays in society.
1,725 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 55.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the role that marriage plays in society, both past and present. The author uses three different literary works, "The Lady with the Pet Dog," "Hedda Gabler" and "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" to illustrate how marriage has maintained itself as an institution of society over the years. The main characters in these three stories demonstrate how societal pressures often lead people to marry for the wrong reasons and how loveless, or meaningless marriages often occur for different reasons. Hedda is forced to marry because she is a woman, Ilyich marries only because society expects him to take a wife and Gurov finds himself in a loveless marriage that leads him to an affair and his finding true love. The author uses these characters to send the message that marriage without thought can often have serious consequences that destroy lives.
From the Paper
"In the play Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen also makes a comment on the institution of marriage in society. Just as in ?The Death of Ivan Ilyich,? marriage is a requirement of society and something people must accept. Ibsen offers his views on the implications of this by focusing on the impact on the woman in the marriage. It is noted that the woman has the least control in a marriage, the woman being seen as inferior and powerless to the man. The main character, Hedda Gabler, is aware of this, with the play being her story of how she reacts to these controls. Hedda is a female with a character that is difficult to contain. She is not the character who accepts restrictions placed upon her, but is fiercely independent. The fact that she has no choice but to accept marriage shows just how certain the role of women is in society."
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"The Glass Menagerie", 2002.
An analysis of the play, "The Glass Menagerie" by American playwright, Tennessee Williams.
956 words (approx. 3.8 pages), 1 source, $ 33.95
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Abstract
The paper discusses the play 1944 play "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams whose plot draws loosely on autobiographical material from the writer?s own life. The paper shows how the play describes the main character (Tom Wingfield)?s anguished struggle between the call of duty towards his mother (Amanda Wingfield) and sister (Laura Wingfield) and his desire to ?live his own life.? Tom is also the ?narrator? in the play who often moves in and out of the action. The paper discusses how, apart from the use of a narrator, "The Glass Menagerie" is notable for the use of music, screen projections and lighting effects that helped to create a dream-like effect that is appropriate for a ?memory play.? This was unusual for the time and challenged the naturalistic convention of plays of the period.
From the Paper
"The play is divided into seven acts and opens in the run-down St. Louis apartment of the family sometime in 1937 with the narrator Tom reflecting on his past memory. By speaking directly to the audience through the narrator the playwright makes a deliberate departure from the naturalistic convention of plays at the time. The essential characteristics of all the characters in the play are established quickly at the beginning with the use of this technique. Amanda is a loving but nagging and meddlesome mother who annoys Tom by her demanding ways. She is also apt to live in the past and far removed from the present realities of her life as she often recalls the days when she was a young Southern belle and a single evening in her past when seventeen gentlemen suitors came calling on her."
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?Julius Caesar? and Elizabethan England, 2002.
A discussion of William Shakespeare's ?Julius Caesar? and life in Elizabethan England.
1,855 words (approx. 7.4 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 59.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews William Shakespeare's play ?Julius Caesar? and examines how it was accepted and performed at the time in Elizabethan England. It provides a history of the Globe theatre where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed beginning with "Julius Caesar" and examines life in the theatre district of London at the time. It attempts to analyze why the play was so popular when it first came out and why a subject such as tyrannicide was presentable in a country governed by a monarch. It looks at how it contained all of the political and social intrigues necessary to make it a timeless classic and all the puerile blood and gore that was needed to entertain a group of theater-hopping commoners in what was considered London?s seediest neighborhood.
From the Paper
"The play was written and performed in 1599 at the Globe theater in Southwark, London. Southwark is located on the south bank of the Thames river, and was traditionally considered the vice district. This section of London was home to 10% of its population, and more than its share of the city?s beggars. In 1594 the Lord Mayor, Sir John Spencer, asserted that parts of Southwark were "very nurseries and breeding-places of the begging poor" who swarmed the streets of the City. He estimated the number of these beggars at 12,000, and requested a meeting of several local magistrates in an attempt to banish them from the City or prevent them from crossing the Bridge."
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?Miss Julie?, 2002.
A proposal for the theatrical production of August Strindberg's play "Miss Julie".
2,190 words (approx. 8.8 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 68.95
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Abstract
This paper analyzes the Strindberg play, "Miss Julie" and describes how to present it in theatre production. The paper describes the character dialogue of the actors, the nineteenth century setting for the stage and props. It further illustrates the lighting effects, which allude to observing something that the characters want hidden from the audience.
From the Paper
"In August Strindberg's Miss Julie, the use of setting helps advance the theme and conveys meaning to the audience not only through the visible setting but also in terms of off-stage space. For the current production of the play, the basic description in the text will be followed, though the set need not be as naturalistic as originally intended. What is important is that the set suggest a large kitchen in an aristocratic home at the end of the nineteenth century. The script says that the roof and side walls of the kitchen are hidden by drapes and borders, so they need be little more than suggestions of walls and ceiling. To the rear, on the right, is an arched exit porch, and through this can be seen a fountain and trees, which can also be suggested rather than naturalistic in design. The important kitchen props are a large stove, a kitchen table, some chairs, an ice-box, a sink, and some shelves. Prominent in the side wall is a large speaking tube, which becomes an important symbol of the master of the house and so which should be given special emphasis through size and position."
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Taming of Katherine, 2002.
Character analysis of Katherine in Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew".
1,487 words (approx. 5.9 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 49.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the character of Katherine; discussing the various techniques used by Shakespeare to establish the theme of the play "Taming the Shrew". It also answers the question whether Katherine was tamed eventually or not.
From the Paper
"Taming The Shrew by William Shakespeare is a comedy play tactfully and purposely divided into five entertaining acts (Plot Structure). The induction highlights the possible reasons for the play?s existence followed by an introduction all the characters playing a vital role in developing the theme of the play and the development of the gist of the story, in the first act (Plot Structure). The taming (the main purpose of the play) of the female lead begins in the Act II and III with Katherine getting married to Petruchio. The climactic act is the act IV when the aim of cultivating and changing Kate to a productive human being is accomplished (Plot Structure). The final Act V establishes the connection and creates harmony between all the characters of the play and brings forward the implied meaning of Katherine?s portrayal (Plot Structure) as a shrew."
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?A Doll's House?, 2002.
An analysis of the character of Nora in Henrik Ibsen?s ?A Doll's House?.
1,590 words (approx. 6.4 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 52.95
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Abstract
This paper examines Ibsen?s ?A Doll?s House?, the story of Nora Helmer, a woman who has been given a certain role in society and has never had the opportunity to question that role or determine who she really is. It evaluates how one of the major themes of the play is self identity, versus the role that society places upon people and how this theme is expressed through the changing character of Nora. It discusses Nora?s character and her transformation through the story showing how her transformation is really just a change in the role she chooses to play and not a change in her actual character.
From the Paper
"These events are the ones that change Nora?s character so that she begins to become aware of herself. At the beginning of the play, Nora is a child, by the end she has become aware of the situation and has matured enough to understand that she needs to find out who she is It is in the play itself that we see her grow up, when her beliefs about her husband are finally shattered and she comes to a new understanding. She then comes to see that her father and her husband have seen her as a doll to be played with and that she is not seen as someone with her own opinions or her own will. She realizes that her whole life has been based on illusion, not reality. It is this realization that forces her to make her brave choice at the end and decide to leave her husband."
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Hamlett and Krapp, 2002.
A comparison of themes in the plays "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett.
879 words (approx. 3.5 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 31.95
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Abstract
The paper shows how "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett are very different sorts of play, emerging from different theatrical traditions, but they have similar themes within the context of their time and in their own style. The paper discusses one theme which is addressed in both - the theme of order versus disorder. It shows how each play finds the main character facing a state of disorder and the desiere to restore order.
From the Paper
"It may be more difficult to see the conflict in a play like Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, which has only one character, but conflict can also be developed within one character warring with himself or between the single character and the audience watching him or her. Conflict is inherent in the vocation of attitudes, ideas, characters, and situations, and it is not possible to have a drama without any of these elements and so it is impossible to have a drama without conflict. As noted, there is only one character on stage, though the voice of the same man from many years before might constitute a separate character, heard only on a tape recorder."
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"Don Giovanni", 2002.
A review of the opera "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
660 words (approx. 2.6 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 23.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the story of "Don Giovanni," a morality tale of what occurs when a man does wrong and evil is punished, told through Mozart's opera of the same name. When the Don?s castle is in ruins, the surviving revelers weave in and out of the ruins and sing ?such is the fate of a wrong doer.? It discusses how the contrast of irony and melodrama in the final scene, suggests a far more nuanced moral vision of Mozart in his opera. It describes how at the end, as the Don is engulfed by flames, the music sweeps up into a more religious, reverent tone and the chorus takes over, rather than individual voices. Although this is supposed to be pious and the Don only gets what he deserves, there is a sense of loss at very end.
From the Paper
"The scene being referenced is, of course, the ending deus ex machina of the opera, where the murdered father of a woman Don Giovanni has raped, the Commendatore, comes back from the dead in the form of a living, breathing, animated statue. The depiction of this phenomenon is alone a theatrical marvel and a challenge in and of itself. However, the Don?s apparent casualness in the face of this event makes the striking nature of the Commendatore, even more astonishing. When the statute, who was unwillingly invited by the Don?s surprised servant Lepordello to the Don?s banquet, arrives, he pounds on the door of the Don?s castle with great clashing blows, an entrance that is underscored by ominous music. He solemnly informs the Don that his time has come."
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"Hamlet", 2002.
An analysis of the character Hamlet's relationship with his parents, as found in Shakespeare?s play ?Hamlet".
1,935 words (approx. 7.7 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 61.95
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Abstract
This paper examines Shakespeare?s play "Hamlet" in terms of the main character?s right to independently choose his own lifestyle and his parent-child relationship with his royal family. The paper describes the play in chronological order and investigates the religious climate in Shakespeare?s time as it reflects the meaning of the play. The paper illustrates Hamlet?s adolescent questioning of all moral codes, and even sanity itself.
From the Paper
'The parent and child relationships within Shakespeare?s ?Hamlet? are primarily characterized by the conflict between a child?s right to question and pursue his or her own destiny, in contrast to the need of honoring the child?s parental directives. The conflict inherent in parent and child is first evidenced, not in Hamlet?s first meeting with his father, but when Hamlet bemoans ?frailty thy name is woman,? in his first extended speech. Hamlet is angry because his mother has married his uncle so quickly, even though he obeys his mother?s wishes to stay in Denmark. Hamlet thus begins the play in a conflict about how to honor both his dead father and his living and remarried mother, a conflict that is highlighted by the advancing Norwegian Fortinbras? own claim for his dying parent."
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"Death of a Salesman", 2002.
The theme of ?American Dream? in Arthur Miller?s ?Death of A Salesman? with references to Mark Twain and Henry Thoreau.
1,587 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 51.95
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Abstract
Arthur Miller?s play entitled ?Death of a Salesman? is a story about a man who has created a conflict with his family because of his great belief in the American Dream. Willy Loman, the main character in the story, makes a living by being a salesman, and the story revolves around his frustrations in life, particularly the strain in his relationship with his eldest son, Biff Loman. This paper examines how this problematic relationship is what leads to Loman's downfall.
From the Paper
"Willy?s frustrations stems from the fact that Biff was not able to have a permanent and stable job, and is often fired from work because of some petty offense or misconduct on his son?s part. Willy always insist that his son Biff must develop relations with other people, and he must also have charisma and the ability to interact with them in order to achieve prosperity and success in looking and handling work/jobs. Biff, meanwhile, has conflicting opinion about Willy?s advice: he thinks that Willy?s dependence on relations and charisma is not applicable in the advanced, modern American society. Instead, hard work and perseverance are valued instead of personal relations with other people. In addition to Willy?s dependence on personal relations in job-finding and economic prosperity is coupled with his faith in the American Dream. The American Dream is, at Willy?s society, the main ?ideology? of many people: the American Dream is the equal opportunity of every individual in the American society to achieve economic success and prosperity."
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"Everyman", 2002.
An analysis of the morality play "Everyman", written anonymously around 1495.
1,724 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 55.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the concepts of morality, heavan, earth, god and death in this classic play. The paper shows how in the course of the play, all that Everyman has relied on in this world abandons him, for in the end, when faced with death and judgment, man is alone and can rely only on how well he has lived his life, an idea expressed allegorically in this story.
From the Paper
"Clearly, this play was written in a Christian community whose members needed to be reminded from time to time of the nature of their relationship with God, the requirements God placed upon them, and the futility of believing in the things of this world over the requirements of the next. The Messenger who begins the play makes it clear that the moral applies to all when he notes that the play "That of our lives and ending shows/ How transitory we be all day" (Everyman 2121). The moral is for those who "think sin in the beginning full sweet,/ Which in the end causeth the soul to weep" (Everyman 2121). The speech by the Messenger, reinforced subsequently by God and Death, tells the audience for the play precisely what to expect, points out the meaning of the play to come, and relates that meaning to the lives of those in the audience. The play has a didactic purpose, intending to teach a lesson by having the ideas acted out by people representing abstract concepts, and it is more important that the allegorical story communicate with each member of the audience than it is that there by any surprise in the way the plot unfolds. After all, the essential ideas underlying this story are not new in any sense. They are central Christian ideas, known to all members of that religion, but they are also ideas that the Church wants to emphasize again and again in order to overcome the appeal of sin."
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Women in "Hamlet" and "Othello", 2002.
This paper introduces and discusses the role of women in "Hamlet," and "Othello" by William Shakespeare.
2,210 words (approx. 8.8 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 68.95
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Abstract
This paper analyzes the significance of the women and their roles and what they add to the meaning of the two plays. The paper contrasts the women characters in each play and examines which play more important roles. Characters analyzed are Hamlet's fianc?e, Ophelia; Hamlet's mother and Othello's lover Desdemona.
From the Paper
"Therefore, the women exist in Hamlet as a form of support to show why he hates them. They are all evil, troubled, or deceptive, and they back up Hamlet's disgust with the fairer sex. Some critics even go so far as to intimate that Hamlet chooses death to remove himself from his mother's sexuality (Maccary 51).
The women both serve another vital purpose in the play; they become the scapegoats that allow Hamlet to hide his own jealousy and rage at himself, for allowing his father to die, and not living up to his own expectations. His mother is living a seemingly happy life after his father dies, and this is too much for him to take."
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Hamlet as Tragic Hero, 2002.
Examining the qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotles and questioning whether Shakespeare's "Hamlet" falls under this category.
714 words (approx. 2.9 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 25.95
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Abstract
Aristotle describes the characteristics of the tragic hero in "Poetics." Three of these characteristics are: that the character is mainly admirable; that the character exercises free choice in bringing about their own downfall; and that the character has one fatal flaw that leads to their demise. This paper analyzes the character Hamlet and shows that Hamlet meets these three characteristics of the tragic hero.
From the Paper
"The first of Aristotle?s characteristics is that that character is mainly admirable. Hamlet achieves this by having many good traits including intelligence, sensitivity and humility. However, the best evidence of Hamlet as an admirable character is his unwillingness to commit murder, even when given a reason that would justify the act. This shows that Hamlet is basically a good man. In the play, the ghost of Hamlet?s father orders him to take action and ?revenge his foul and most unnatural murder? (I,iv). Despite being given what at the time, can be seen as an acceptable reason to take action, Hamlet hesitates and procrastinates. It is Hamlet?s good nature and his rejection of committing murder that causes this hesitation. This represents the good qualities of Hamlet, his intelligence, his ability to be rational and the inherent goodness of his character. This also shows that Hamlet is a man who does what he believes in despite outside pressure to do otherwise. This shows that Hamlet is an admirable character in many ways."
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Making the Familiar Unfamiliar, 2002.
A review of the play, "Conduct of Life" by Maria Irene Fornes, focusing on the theme of making that what is familiar, unfamiliar.
2,102 words (approx. 8.4 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 66.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the part of the process of staging a play that makes the familiar unfamiliar, that isolates elements so as to suggest reality, the familiar, in an unfamiliar way. Maria Irene Fornes' play, "Conduct of Life", is examined and compared with other literary works. A brief background of Fornes is presented.
From the Paper
"Part of the process of staging a play is to make the familiar unfamiliar, to isolate elements so as to suggest reality, the familiar, in an unfamiliar way. Plays do not take place in the real world but in a created world, a world set in one isolated spot (the stage) with several specific individuals isolated from real life (characters) interacting in a manner that conveys thematic issues and concerns to the audience. Such communication is controlled in a way that real life is not. Issues are isolated from the extraneous and conveyed in a way that has been shaped by the playwright for maximum impact. In the play "Conduct of Life" by Maria Irene Fornes, the familiar is made unfamiliar first in the setting, which is suggested as a set of four horizontal planes selectively illuminated and selectively populated as characters move from one area to another, evoking images of life but not life itself."
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Euripides' ?Medea?, 2002.
This paper presents a critical analysis of Euripides' love story, entitled ?Medea?.
950 words (approx. 3.8 pages), 1 source, $ 33.95
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Abstract
The paper begins with a synopsis of the play?s plot, highlighting the themes of family and foreignness. It looks at Medea?s husband?s betrayal and the implications of her plight following this betrayal. Medea?s loss of reputation and status is explored on several levels. The play?s commentary on woman?s rights and its controversiality are discussed, and the text is analyzed for its references to societal injustices against women.
From the Paper
"The Medea relates a story about the power of love, which induces sacrifice as well as jealousy and feelings of revenge aroused by betrayal. Medea, the principal character, is a woman, who is so smitten by her love for Jason that she forsakes her family, country, and people to live in ??the land of Corinth with her husband and children, where her exile found favour with the citizens to whose land she had come?.?
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Tragedy, 2002.
This paper explores the history of the tragic art form.
1,190 words (approx. 4.8 pages), 8 sources, $ 40.95
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Abstract
The paper begins by looking at different forms of tragedy and at the purpose of tragedy, as espoused by Plato. The basic element of tragedy (the fall of a noble person due to their own inherent flaws) is discussed. The writer brings in examples of tragic art forms, such as Shakespeare?s ?Othello? and Arthur Miller?s ?Death of a Salesman? and ?The Crucible?, to highlight variations of tragedy. It looks at Miller?s seminal essay,?On Tragedy? and at the components of the modern tragic drama. It presents a comparison between the themes of the Elizabethan ?Hamlet? and the modern/absurdist ?Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead?, two plays following the same tragedy from radically different angles. The paper concludes with a study of the key to writing a good tragedy.
From the Paper
"The history of the tragic art form has through-out history undergone many apparent metamorphoses, even while keeping certain elements consistent through their many changes in form and theory. This artform is thought by many to have been brought into existence by the Greeks, and it is certainly best known classically according to Aristotle?s definition in the 4th century Poetics. Yet the writing of tragic stories, and the role they play in history predates even Aristotle. The Jewish scriptures and Egyptian mythologies both relate stories of overwhelming loss and tragedy and hold these events up as tales which should be repeated often. According to Plato, tragedy on the stage is nothing more or less than play-actors pretending to be sad or villainous for no reason, and thus detrimental to the minds of the impressionable who might be purposefully made sad or villainous. Yet Aristotle claimed, most astutely, that tragedy serves instead a noble purpose (and surely the writers of Jewish scriptures and Egyptian tales would agree) He writes that tragedy serves as a catharsis, a purging and cleansing of the soul. While most other conventions and concepts of tragedy, have undergone and should undergo radical reinvention, this central theme of spiritual or emotional cleansing remains consistent and it may be suggested is the primary reason why tragedy has and should continue to exist."
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Othello?s Characters, 2002.
A study of the characters in William Shakespeare's "Othello".
1,160 words (approx. 4.6 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 39.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses how the characters in William Shakespeare?s ?Othello? are what really make the play come to life. It provides a brief summary of each of the main characters with a character analysis and a description of their contribution to the plot of the play. It shows how Othello is bold warrior and a good person, how Iago brings all of the evil and fallacy into the play, how Desdemona is young and innocent and how Cassio?s character is vulnerable and easily manipulated.
From the Paper
"The character of Desdemona is young and innocent. When she is wrongly accused of infidelity, her innocent response to his rage is "I never gave him cause!" (III.iv.155). Desdemona?s innocent nature is highlighted in the play, through the contrast with the two other female characters, the cynical Emilia and Cassio's mistress, Bianca. These women are harsh and ugly, and make Desdemona seem all the more pure. Her love for Othello is a major part of her character. She permits his abuse of her, although it shakes her self-confidence. She is an obedient and devoted wife. She carries her love for Othello with her even as he strangles her to death."
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"Tambourines to Glory", 2002.
A review of a play about religion and morals, "Tambourines to Glory" by Langston Hughes.
953 words (approx. 3.8 pages), 7 sources, MLA, $ 33.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses and analyzes the literary work, "Tambourines to Glory" by Langston Hughes. The paper examines the significance of the work, and shows what Hughes was trying to say through his fiction. The paper describes the good versus evil theme of the story and illustrates the author's humorous approach to telling the tale.
From the Paper
"The protagonists are two women who pose as sisters and decide to start a church, not for spiritual salvation or a great belief in the Lord, but for money. "Money! I sure wish I had some. Say Essie, why don't you and me start a church like Mother Bradley's? We ain't doing nothing else useful, and it would beat Home Relief. You sing good. I'll preach. We'll both take up collection and split it" (Hughes 19-20)."
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"Macbeth", 2002.
This paper looks at the natural and unnatural in Shakespeare's "Macbeth".
1,780 words (approx. 7.1 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 57.95
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Abstract
This paper focuses on the presence of natural and unnatural in the Shakespearean play, Macbeth. The paper also discusses supernatural forces and their role in the creation of unnatural events. The author discusses the intermingling of natural and unnatural and how it shows that Shakespeare used supernatural forces in a manner that gave them a realistic, authentic touch.
From the Paper
"Macbeth is a typical Shakespearean tragedy, which is interspersed with supernatural incidents giving birth to some unrealistic situations. In the clash between natural and unnatural, we notice it is the latter which usually triumphs because it is always given a dominant presence in Shakespearean plays. Often the supernatural forces lead to highly unnatural and unrealistic incidents, which include shifting of forests and mountains to other locations. We need to understand that it is the presence of such forces which make Shakespeare?s plays unusual and more exciting than other plays of his times. It is true that most of us find these incidents figments of playwright?s imagination yet we cannot deny their importance as they add to the power and force of the entire play."
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