«“Aristotle, the man with a Grecian plan”
Aristotle along with many of the other ancient Grecian philosophers are considered to have given birth to rational thought and its integration into philosophy, so it is no surprise that Aristotle’s work...» Document abstract
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Summary“Aristotle, the man with a Grecian plan”
Aristotle along with many of the other ancient Grecian philosophers are considered to have given birth to rational thought and its integration into philosophy, so it is no surprise that Aristotle’s work on moral philosophy would focus on reason. Essentially, his moral theory emphasizes the excellent use of the rational soul over a long life. There is a lot more to it than just thinking rationally and living long though. He starts off by seeking to determine what the highest good is. Since the highest good should be the goal of a life he seeks to first find the highest good and then from there place that highest good at the base of his moral theory.
Aristotle along with many of the other ancient Grecian philosophers are considered to have given birth to rational thought and its integration into philosophy, so it is no surprise that Aristotle’s work on moral philosophy would focus on reason. Essentially, his moral theory emphasizes the excellent use of the rational soul over a long life. There is a lot more to it than just thinking rationally and living long though. He starts off by seeking to determine what the highest good is. Since the highest good should be the goal of a life he seeks to first find the highest good and then from there place that highest good at the base of his moral theory.
Table of Contents
- Aristotle, the man with a Grecian plan.
- But how exactly does one flourish?
- There is a difficulty with living Aristotle's life of contemplation.
- The thought component of virtue revolves around what Aristotle describes as the Doctrine of the Mean.
- Epicureanism, less is more.
- The second major source of our restlessness is our fear of death.
- Utilitarianism is based on the notion that there are two masters of all human behavior.
- Comparison, a moral battle royal.
- Very few people live a life anywhere near aestheticism.
Political Aesthetes: Emily Mann’s Execution of Justice and the Identity Crisis of Documentary Theatre
«The documentary theatre, unlike conventional theatre, defines itself in terms of actuality, authenticity, and verifiability. Reality plays draw their power and identity from their use of “actuals,” authentic materials such as transcripts,...» Document abstract
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23/06/2008
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SummaryThe documentary theatre, unlike conventional theatre, defines itself in terms of actuality, authenticity, and verifiability. Reality plays draw their power and identity from their use of “actuals,” authentic materials such as transcripts, interviews, testimonies, published documents, and the like. These source texts can merely inform or inspire the play’s text or they can actually compose it, creating a theatre that adheres as closely as possible to the textual and factual circumstances it addresses and “making reality the object rather than the subject of theater” (Favorini xix). And yet, within the wider structural framework of documentary theatre, there is vibrant debate and discourse concerning the proper use and application of the genre, whether it is an inherently political entity or an artistic endeavor. While critics, theorists, and writers of reality theatre can agree fairly easily on the principle that reality plays demand reference to and use of primary source materials, they have difficulty establishing a consensus on the balance between politics and aestheticism, objectivity and didacticism, point of view and propaganda. Peter Weiss elucidates what may be the cause of this uncertainty in his analysis of the ersatz nature of documentary theatre, heralding “the stage of the documentary theatre does not represent reality at a given moment, but the image of a fragment of reality wrested from the continuous flux of life” (Weiss 381). Indeed, though it seeks to offer scrutiny and criticism of the social issues of the real world, reality theatre is no facsimile of reality; what it offers is a lens through which the audience can begin to see and evaluate the factual or historical events depicted. Emily Mann’s play Execution of Justice lends itself particularly well to an analysis of these contradictory elements and the artistic construction required for theatrical performance, as it explores all of these themes through its treatment of a controversial murder trial and the citizens affected by its outcome. What makes documentary theatre powerful is its ability to transform reality into art, and Execution of Justice, with its adept manipulation of source materials and careful formation of linguistic structures, does an exemplary job of expressing this transformative act.
Table of Contents
- Tensions were growing in San Francisco as the gay community expanded.
- Commissioned in 1982 by the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco to address a subject relevant to the area.
- Difficulties with delving into the intricacies of theories on documentary theatre and its purposes.
- The other word that Barranger and others use seemingly at cross purposes is 'propaganda.?
- Without formulating and expressing an opinion on the factual subject at hand, the playwright does nothing more than present information already known.
- Execution of Justice presents an amalgam of 'trial transcript, interview, reportage, the street,' in Mann's own words.
- In his interview of Emily Mann, called 'Hearing Many Voices at Once,' David Savran explores Mann's own perception of her piece.
- The final major structural element employed by Mann in Execution of Justice.
The Poetic Practice of Alexander Pope: The Authoritative Voice of Reason and the Expulsion of Pride of Man
«Alexander Pope was a poet greatly concerned with perception: his perception of God and his fellow man, and how he was perceived by others, both personally and as an artist. Despite his physical maladies, he saw himself as a great poet, destined for...» Document abstract
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SummaryAlexander Pope was a poet greatly concerned with perception: his perception of God and his fellow man, and how he was perceived by others, both personally and as an artist. Despite his physical maladies, he saw himself as a great poet, destined for the craft and blessed with true talent. Many of his works assume a didactic air, denouncing the vainglorious pride of Man and proffering as a solution his own successful transcendence of this common folly. In his Essay on Criticism, Pope addresses his own literary critics, who, in his opinion, take joy in criticizing his work because they have no talent of their own to nurture.
Table of Contents
- Alexander Pope was a poet greatly concerned with perception.
- The term 'true taste' seems somewhat ambiguous.
- Pope has no qualms about matching every insult given to him with a cutting remark in return.
- Instead of demanding why perfection was not given to man, he argues, we ought to ask why humans were given such abilities as they were.
- Pope, however, seems to have no reservations about violating his own counsel.
- The other characters in Rape of the Lock do not, however, seem to appreciate hearing Clarissa's earth-bound reason.
The Rhetoric of the Personal and Pictorial: Portrayal of the Self and the Abstract in Young, Gray, and Collins
«Following the ethical and didactic works popular in the early eighteenth century, which offered a view of Man as an imperfect but scientific being in search of meaning in a universe created by a perfect God, a crop of poets emerged who wrote instead...» Document abstract
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SummaryFollowing the ethical and didactic works popular in the early eighteenth century, which offered a view of Man as an imperfect but scientific being in search of meaning in a universe created by a perfect God, a crop of poets emerged who wrote instead about “a preponderance of sentiment, affect, imagination, melancholy, genteel arts, botany, and ruminative gardening.” These poets, among them Thomas Gray, William Collins and Edward Young, characterized the Age of Sensibility, a movement away from the scientism of the Age of Reason and towards knowledge embodied by more personal experience. Instead of encapsulating all human experience under the title ‘Man,’ as the socially minded Augustans did, these poets sought to portray a unique and individual experience of emotion, be it one of fear, grief, or creation. Their fascination with the natural world and man’s relation to it is a clear continuation of Augustan works such as Pope’s “Windsor Forest” and “An Essay on Man,” but for the poets of Sensibility, the invocation of nature becomes something more akin to prayer than empirical study. Wishing to deny certain similarities to their predecessors, these poets “avowedly wished to counteract the didactic poetry that appealed to the mind by writing the more sensuous poetry that appealed to the fancy.” Many of these works embody a religious voice that impresses upon the reader the pervasive darkness, sometimes portrayed as melancholy, other times as terror that floats atop the human world. Collins, Gray and Young are all concerned with the experience of the individual, especially the poet, in relation to this otherworldly darkness, fear, and death, especially how one manages to express that relationship through poetical and pictorial description.
Table of Contents
- Suvir Kaul described the poetic climate in which these poets arose.
- Young's Night Thoughts are quite literally poems.
- Just a few years after Young's publications of the Night Thoughts, Thomas Gray wrote and published his 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,?.
- Gray develops more pictorial representations, anticipating Collins' fully formed pictorial figures.
- These are not the vaguely suggested silhouettes of the other poems.
«There is no single theme that pervades every one of Coleridge’s many poems, but a body of motifs relating to familial relationships and friendship imbue both his conversation poems, such as Frost at Midnight and The Eolian Harp, and his “mystery”...» Document abstract
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24/06/2008
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SummaryThere is no single theme that pervades every one of Coleridge’s many poems, but a body of motifs relating to familial relationships and friendship imbue both his conversation poems, such as Frost at Midnight and The Eolian Harp, and his “mystery” poems, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Kahn, and Christabel. As Kelvin Everest asserts in his study of the conversation poems, Coleridge’s Secret Ministry, this body of motifs is representative of Coleridge’s work as a whole, and gives insight into the personal motivation, stemming from his own experiences, for exploring so extensively the poet-reader and the family-society relationships: The conversation poems represent Coleridge’s most clearly articulated statement of a theme that is present in all his poetry. It is in fact more accurate to speak of a number of related themes and images; friendship, family, marriage, the retired, the self-sufficient ‘dell’ or ‘vale’ or ‘nook’ providing an intimately known home in nature.
Table of Contents
- Coleridge explored idealized familial relationships in Frost at Midnight.
- Born in 1772, the youngest of Reverend John Coleridge's ten children.
- Coleridge analyzes the Lyrical Ballads, his collaborative effort with Wordsworth.
- Coleridge attempts to intimate to his reader the sweetness and joy of familial harmony.
- Frost at Midnight goes through a similar rupture in emotion.
- Like Christabel, this sailor is denied all connection to humanity.
- Coleridge cannot, nor does he want to, extricate his personal beliefs and insecurities from his poetry.
Mingled Voices: The Communication between the Contrary Natures of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience
«In his “Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, books of children’s poems” written and illustrated by himself, William Blake explores human perception and the contemporary social milieu, focusing on the transience of opinion and the variability...» Document abstract
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SummaryIn his “Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, books of children’s poems” written and illustrated by himself, William Blake explores human perception and the contemporary social milieu, focusing on the transience of opinion and the variability of fact in two contrary states of human nature. In England prior to and during the French Revolution, social opinion was under great pressure to remain loyal to tradition while still representing the best interests of Europe, resulting in schisms between social classes and religious sects, some of whom wished to maintain the status quo, while others wanted to see change that would equalize their countries. Blake delves into various aspects of London’s social life, as well as England overall, especially the role of children in society, in relation to this struggle for power, money, and God’s approval. While the aristocracy clung to its traditional power structure and monetary superiority, many children were sold or abandoned daily on the streets of London, either to be taken in as destitute charity cases, which could result in a variety of levels of treatment and care, or to be employed as chimney sweeps, the dirtiest, most abused population of children imaginable. Blake displays a multitude of images concerning children in these conditions and others, but his imaginative and vibrant poems offer more than clear-cut portraits of these unrepresented human beings. If the Songs appear to be simply opposing views upon the same subject matter, separated by the ebullient wonder of Innocence and the odious fact of Experience, one must look more closely to discover Blake’s true purpose. That he often switched poems from one book to the other as he printed them by hand is evidence enough that there were no clearly defined divisions between the states of Innocence and Experience, and within the poems, the two contrary states often mingle, tincturing each other with memories of innocence or foreshadowings of experience. While Blake seems to offer us two differing viewpoints on the same subjects and images, the more we look, the more we see the complexity of his perception and his inability to differentiate completely between his two Songs.
Table of Contents
- Following the emerging tradition of writing individually disseminated by poets.
- His poems tend to revolve around a few key themes and symbols which focus these lessons for the reader.
- This narrator is not so accepting of his fate.
- The account of Holy Thursday in Songs of Innocence seems a pleasant outing for both the children and the spectators.
- Blake demands proof that it is indeed holy.
- Blake writes his poems and pieces them together into richly illustrated volumes.
«In his novel Heart of Darkness, published in 1902, Joseph Conrad explores the deepest reaches of the African continent, and at the same time, the innermost secrets of human nature. The novel is narrated mostly by Marlow, a seaman known for his...» Document abstract
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SummaryIn his novel Heart of Darkness, published in 1902, Joseph Conrad explores the deepest reaches of the African continent, and at the same time, the innermost secrets of human nature. The novel is narrated mostly by Marlow, a seaman known for his “inconclusive experiences,” who has, over the course of his travels, voyaged down the Congo in the service of ivory traders. His journey, in addition to investigating the ruthlessness of the ivory merchants and the deplorable exploitation of the African natives, delves into the nature of human civilization and European imperialism. As he travels further into the jungle, Marlow feels that he is also traveling back to the origins of humanity, to the predecessors of his countrymen, insulated by their fierce jungle from the rest of the world until now. Conrad seeks to examine the two antithetical extremes of human existence, the highly disciplined and organized structure of civilization, in the form of imperialist Europe, and the untamed, passionate liberties of the African continent. What Marlow and Conrad discover is that even men born into all the comforts of modern, civilized culture retain the darkness of primeval life, making the title of the book signify both the embodiment of Africa as the central location, the heart of the darkness within man, and the fact that man’s heart, by definition, is created at least in part out of darkness. By the end of the novel, after his voyage is completed and he has encountered Kurtz’s Intended, Marlow comes to realize that only by forging a very delicate balance of proof and faith, fact and illusion, can civilized life continue to exist despite the presence of the “immense darkness” within man.
Table of Contents
- Conrad seems to have been greatly preoccupied with issues of identity, and this preoccupation is expressed in Marlow's journey.
- If these men are pilgrims at all, their god is the 'flabby devil' of folly who rules with a slovenly hand the unkempt Stations
- Mr. Kurtz is possibly the most perfect example of this loss of civilization.
- When Marlow actually meets Kurtz he calls him 'very little more than a voice".
- His loss of civilized behavior is overpowering.
- His sins still exist, but he recognizes the darkness within his heart.
- Heart of Darkness is a terrifying look into the fragility of modern civilization
«In his first novel, a collection of short stories meant to express the paralytic nature of turn-of-the-century Dublin, James Joyce establishes an image of the Irish urban center as a degenerate bed of unhappiness, deprivation, depression, and...» Document abstract
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SummaryIn his first novel, a collection of short stories meant to express the paralytic nature of turn-of-the-century Dublin, James Joyce establishes an image of the Irish urban center as a degenerate bed of unhappiness, deprivation, depression, and imprisonment. All of his characters face the daily trials of unsatisfying jobs, emotional isolation, and violent family members, and their stale hopes of escape and empowerment are unable to combat the dreary realities of Dublin life. Trapped in a world not of their own making, these individuals are consumed with loss, frustration, and failure, driven to drink and violence, the result of which being that they lose their capacity to effectively connect with one another, and so are forced to exist in a kind of emotional vacuum. It seems particularly important to Joyce to illustrate the inadequacies of love and marriage to ameliorate the lives of his characters, despite the dreams they have and the efforts they make to use love and marriage to better themselves. No relationship in the book succeeds in expressing that idealized bliss of marital status, and there are only brief moments when any of the couples in Dubliners manage to maintain even a moderate amount of happiness together. Joyce wastes no opportunity to demonstrate yet again the abuse, both verbal and physical, and mutual dislike so common in his Irish families, and demands that the reader acknowledge the unceasing cycle of victimization and failed escape that his characters face. From the youthful infatuation so bitterly dashed in “Araby” to the destructive truth of past love revealed in “The Dead,” no relationship is free from pain and suffering. Dubliners expresses an evolution of love which progresses from innocent infatuation, frustrated by immobility, to the onset of marriage as escape from family, poverty, and mundanity, to the ultimate realization that marriage is unable to solve the problems of its participants because love does not endure, and even if it did, Joyce seems to say, the problematic realities of life are too stable, too concrete to be destroyed by the tender emotion of love
Table of Contents
- Dubliners expresses an evolution of love which progresses from innocent infatuation.
- One reason why Dublin's emotional life is so stunted - adults are already too scarred from youthful encounters.
- The development of romance in Dubliners.
- The idea of actually leaving Dublin, miserable though it is for Eveline is too great a departure from life as she knows it.
- Her plan is foolproof, but partly because neither her daughter nor Mr. Doran are fighting it.
- Lily's severe disillusionment about love and marriage may be a foreshadowing of difficulties to come for the happy couple.
«He has no mortal enemies; his only adversary is death and even then, defeat inevitable, he surrenders gracefully. There is yet forgiveness in his eyes as he is stripped of all dignity. He has nothing to lose except his pride and life; his pride he...» Document abstract
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SummaryHe has no mortal enemies; his only adversary is death and even then, defeat inevitable, he surrenders gracefully. There is yet forgiveness in his eyes as he is stripped of all dignity. He has nothing to lose except his pride and life; his pride he would take to his grave, his life he would give for any good cause. No blood of a king runs through his veins but his heart is of one and noble he is. All he has is water, yet he claims it is wine. And make do he does, with what he has, fooling others and almost fooling himself as he takes a drink from his empty cup.
Table of Contents
- He has no mortal enemies.
- Cyrano is a man of great integrity.
- Cyrano does not have anything to sacrifice.
- Tragic flaw Cyrano possesses is he is unable to forgive.
- Cyrano has the greatest tragic flaw of all: he gives, but never receives.
«As time changes, so do the interpretations of Shakespeare’s dramas. Newer productions are supposed to appeal to modern audiences by reflecting current attitudes and cultural beliefs. Anti-Semitic viewpoints existed long before Shakespeare and his...» Document abstract
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20/06/2008
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SummaryAs time changes, so do the interpretations of Shakespeare’s dramas. Newer productions are supposed to appeal to modern audiences by reflecting current attitudes and cultural beliefs. Anti-Semitic viewpoints existed long before Shakespeare and his play, The Merchant of Venice, which is considered by many to be anti-Semitic. However, the reasons for anti-Semitic thought have changed greatly over the past century. Tension between Christians and Jews is one of the play’s most important aspects, and is emphasized in earlier productions. In more recent productions, however, more weight has been placed on personal beliefs, and less on religion. Shylock’s profession overshadows his faith. This change represents a shift in modern culture: looking at the individual beliefs, not the religion or ethnicity of a person to define his or her actions.
Table of Contents
- From the late 1800s and into the turn of the twentieth century, England received an influx of Jews escaping the Russian pogroms.
- The strong focus on the many aspects of Jewish culture minimizes the positive aspects of Christianity.
- In Theodore Komisarjevsky's 1932 staging of Merchant, Shylock's religion is still an important aspect.
- Komisarjevsky attempted to overshadow the anti-Semitic undertones of Merchant by staging it in a mythical, fantasy-like Venice.
- Shylock is a banker in this dramatic interpretation, not just an ambiguous 'moneylender.?
- Through his groundbreaking production of Merchant, David Calder showed the difference between religion and personal beliefs.
- The Merchant of Venice is an excellent example of a play that can be molded to fit common social opinions and beliefs.
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