"He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have- to come out number-one man. He fought it out here and this is where I'm gonna win it for him." p.1630
One thing that I think I am struggling with for this play is the central theme. I was sick today, so I never got to address it with my group. I have a guess, but it is nothing I feel adequately addresses the whole play. I think that the theme can somewhat be conveyed in the quote above. This quote describes the obsession Happy and Willy have to always be number one in life. I think the theme is that trying to be the best always leaves oneself disappointed and short of their goal. Everyone can't honestly expect to be the best at what they do. It is a good goal to strive for, but it is something that only a few ever reach. I think Miller really tries to convey this through the characters Willy and Happy. They never are really satisfied with themselves because they never can feel accomplished in what they do. Biff begins to understand this towards the end of the play and wants to be accepted for who he is. As a result, he seems to be a more composed and level-headed character. Willy and Happy, on the other hand, struggle understanding this throughout the play. This essentially is summarized in what Happy says in the quote above. I don't think I'm too off track with this theme but hopefully my group can help me clarify it tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Death of a Salesman: Irony
"Why didn't anybody come? It was a nice funeral. But where are all the people he knew?" p.1629
Wow I definitely did not expect such an irony like this to end the play. The entire focus of the character Willy is his impressions on other people. He goes about his whole life trying to be well-liked by everyone. He even raises his two sons in this manner. He thinks that success is directly correlated with how many people like you and how well-known you are. Nothing could be more ironic than having only two people outside his family show up to his funeral. All his life Charley had been there for him and still is at his funeral. However, it is ironic that Charley, who never pushed success on his own son, has a son who ended up being the most successful out of all of the characters. It is very ironic for practically no one to pay their respects to Willy at his funeral, and it is even more ironic that the two who do are Charley and Bernard.
Wow I definitely did not expect such an irony like this to end the play. The entire focus of the character Willy is his impressions on other people. He goes about his whole life trying to be well-liked by everyone. He even raises his two sons in this manner. He thinks that success is directly correlated with how many people like you and how well-known you are. Nothing could be more ironic than having only two people outside his family show up to his funeral. All his life Charley had been there for him and still is at his funeral. However, it is ironic that Charley, who never pushed success on his own son, has a son who ended up being the most successful out of all of the characters. It is very ironic for practically no one to pay their respects to Willy at his funeral, and it is even more ironic that the two who do are Charley and Bernard.
Death of a Salesman: Parallels with the Glass Menagerie
"Can you imagine that magnificence with twenty thousand dollars in his pocket?" p.1627
This quote from the story pretty much summarizes one of the key aspects of the play. Willy has good intentions for his son, Biff. He wants him to be the best he can be, however, his intentions are often misguided. He tries to convince Biff that in order to be successful, he has to be popular and loved by everyone. This irrational view distorts Biff's life as he grows up trying to be the best at everything. This quote from Willy shows that he never truly moved on from the idea that Biff has to be great in whatever he does. Willy goes on to kill himself just to give Biff a chance to start a business, something Biff doesn't even want to do. Willy has good intentions, however, they are just really misguided. This parallels with the character Amanda from the "Glass Menagerie". Like Willy, she wanted what was best for Laura but often went about in the wrong way of doing it. Both characters were stuck in their past and never really accepted their children for who they were, but rather what they expected them to be. I found these two plays to be very similar in the many parallels among characters.
This quote from the story pretty much summarizes one of the key aspects of the play. Willy has good intentions for his son, Biff. He wants him to be the best he can be, however, his intentions are often misguided. He tries to convince Biff that in order to be successful, he has to be popular and loved by everyone. This irrational view distorts Biff's life as he grows up trying to be the best at everything. This quote from Willy shows that he never truly moved on from the idea that Biff has to be great in whatever he does. Willy goes on to kill himself just to give Biff a chance to start a business, something Biff doesn't even want to do. Willy has good intentions, however, they are just really misguided. This parallels with the character Amanda from the "Glass Menagerie". Like Willy, she wanted what was best for Laura but often went about in the wrong way of doing it. Both characters were stuck in their past and never really accepted their children for who they were, but rather what they expected them to be. I found these two plays to be very similar in the many parallels among characters.
Monday, February 27, 2012
The Glass Menagerie: Personal Reflection
I usually end up using one of my blogs to discuss my own opinions of the plays we read so here it goes again. Unique is a word that I would use to describe this play. It is really unorthodox in its styles such as its use of nonrealism as the basis for forming characters and virtually everything. I really never have read a play that implements so much nonrealistic material and then uses this to include and exclude certain details to fit the themes. It actually really is enjoyable to read something so different after having to read the typical Shakespeare works in old, poetic English. It definitely is a relief not constantly struggling to figure out what something means or even symbolizes now. Williams literally tells the reader what everything means and in simple language. It honestly doesn't get much better for me, the student. I'd like to think that the reason I like this play so much isn't because it is so easy to follow, but I do know much of it has to do with that. However, the way this play is unfolding and the relationships among characters has made it even more enjoyable for me as well. I'm really interested to see what happens next as I spend the rest of the night finishing up the reading.
The Glass Menagerie: Realistic vs. Nonrealistic
"The scene is memory and is therefore nonrealistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated..." p. 1235
This play really addresses the difference between realistic and nonrealistic conventions. As directly cited in the quote, the play almost always uses nonrealistic conventions because of its memory-based recollection. Tennessee Williams goes into extraordinary detail in describing the settings. This gives the reader a clear understanding of theme and interpretation of meanings. There really is not much up for debate among symbolism. With these descriptions comes the use of nonrealistic conventions in the play. Realism is totally absent in the play because of the way the story is told and even through Williams' stage directions. I thought this was very interesting considering the unique nature in which this play is narrated. I've really never seen these rare and unconventional styles so often outside of this play. I'm interested to see how Williams continues to utilize these tools to develop the story as well as the characters.
This play really addresses the difference between realistic and nonrealistic conventions. As directly cited in the quote, the play almost always uses nonrealistic conventions because of its memory-based recollection. Tennessee Williams goes into extraordinary detail in describing the settings. This gives the reader a clear understanding of theme and interpretation of meanings. There really is not much up for debate among symbolism. With these descriptions comes the use of nonrealistic conventions in the play. Realism is totally absent in the play because of the way the story is told and even through Williams' stage directions. I thought this was very interesting considering the unique nature in which this play is narrated. I've really never seen these rare and unconventional styles so often outside of this play. I'm interested to see how Williams continues to utilize these tools to develop the story as well as the characters.
The Glass Menagerie: Theme
"A fragile, unearthly prettiness has come out in Laura; she is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance, not actual, not lasting." p.1263
Already from reading up until scene 7, the notion that brief happiness will end is evident. Laura is a fragile character who, like her character, enjoys fragile things. Playing with her glass ornaments really conveys her personality and who she is. I am starting to recognize a pattern in a theme that brief fragile happiness will eventually shatter. As the description of Laura in the quote illuminates, Laura is like one of her glass ornaments. She is beautiful in the moment, but the description foreshadows that this brief world will come crashing down. Many supports from the text indicate that this will be the case. This thematic message seems to be playing a key role in driving the action of the plot thus far and seems to indicate the outcome of the play to come.
Already from reading up until scene 7, the notion that brief happiness will end is evident. Laura is a fragile character who, like her character, enjoys fragile things. Playing with her glass ornaments really conveys her personality and who she is. I am starting to recognize a pattern in a theme that brief fragile happiness will eventually shatter. As the description of Laura in the quote illuminates, Laura is like one of her glass ornaments. She is beautiful in the moment, but the description foreshadows that this brief world will come crashing down. Many supports from the text indicate that this will be the case. This thematic message seems to be playing a key role in driving the action of the plot thus far and seems to indicate the outcome of the play to come.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
As You Like It: Question 1 (p. 1119)
"He was to imagine me his love, his mistress; and I set him everyday to woo me." III.ii.p.45
This question touches on whether or not the play employs realistic or unrealistic conventions. I think this scene sums up how unrealistic the play really is. It is very unrealistic that Rosalind, the woman Orlando is madly in love with, is able to just dress up as a man and talk to him without any suspicion. If her disguise didn't already give it away, the dialogue would have to force Orlando to recognize her. Rosalind, as her alter ego, is literally teaching Orlando how to treat and act around her. To me, it just seemed way too unrealistic that this could actually happen without Orlando catching on. In addition to this, the fact that Duke Frederick has a change of heart on a whim when talking to a religious man seems very unrealistic as well. It completely changes the play, and the dialogue between them wasn't even in it; it was simply summarized by another character. Because of all these things, I felt that the play was very unrealistic at times which unfortunately led me to lose a lot of interest in it as well.
This question touches on whether or not the play employs realistic or unrealistic conventions. I think this scene sums up how unrealistic the play really is. It is very unrealistic that Rosalind, the woman Orlando is madly in love with, is able to just dress up as a man and talk to him without any suspicion. If her disguise didn't already give it away, the dialogue would have to force Orlando to recognize her. Rosalind, as her alter ego, is literally teaching Orlando how to treat and act around her. To me, it just seemed way too unrealistic that this could actually happen without Orlando catching on. In addition to this, the fact that Duke Frederick has a change of heart on a whim when talking to a religious man seems very unrealistic as well. It completely changes the play, and the dialogue between them wasn't even in it; it was simply summarized by another character. Because of all these things, I felt that the play was very unrealistic at times which unfortunately led me to lose a lot of interest in it as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)