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?Tartuffe?, 2002.
A review of Moliere?s play "Tartuffe".
899 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 0 sources, $ 31.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how Moliere?s "Tartuffe" is from 17th century France, during the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason. It looks at how at the time, people in Paris were interested in enlightenment values such as rationality, moderation and order and how social graces, good manners and how gender roles were strictly enforced during this period. It analyzes how Moliere demonstrates all of these enlightenment values in his play. It evaluates how the main theme of "Tartuffe" is the difference between true religious piety and religious hypocrisy and how morality was also considered to be important during the Enlightenment.
From the Paper
"If Cleante represents reason in Tartuffe, then Orgon is the opposite of reason. Although he conforms to society?s conventions and he accepts rigid rules of behavior, Orgon is extremely emotional throughout the play. He also fails to perceive that Tartuff is tricking them and thus is not thinking as rationally as Cleante is. In Act I, scene 6, Cleante accuses his brother of being unable to distinguish ?hypocrisy and genuine devoutness.? He tells Orgon that his love of Tartuffe is ?nonsense,? and attempts to enlighten him about Tartuffe?s true nature. Yet Cleante knows that his brother?s mind is clouded by his emotions. Trying to talk sense into his brother, Cleante is the voice of reason which goes unheard. Orgon believes so intensely in Tartuffe?s piety and goodness that he is willing to sacrifice the happiness of his daughter. "
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Passion and Reasoning, 2002.
Shows how these elements are presented in plays by Jean Baptiste Moliere and Jean Racine.
1,138 words (approx. 4.6 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 39.95
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Abstract
Both "Tartuffe" by Jean Baptiste Moliere and "Phaedra" by Jean Racine are plays about passion and the momentary defeat of reason. The paper explores these themes in both plays. It shows that "Tartuffe" is as much a tale of hypocrisy as of passion and a suspension of reason and that "Phaedra" is about a powerful and passionate queen who is mocked by the object of her passion, Hippolytus, her stepson. The paper also uses Saint Thomas of Aquina's "Summa Theologica" for his views on reason.
From the Paper
"Although Tartuffe appears to be an extreme case of irascibleness, his hypocrisy must be his perceived ?proper? strategy to survive. Reason is entirely absent in his life, which leads to the inference that his life experiences may have completely eliminated its inherent power in Tartuffe. But in Orgon, the loss of reason is temporary and condition by the presence of the light of truth and reason, which his wife Elmire brings back to him. Just as enormously erratic as Tartuffe is Phaedra, whose fear of age and perceived loss of attractiveness, lead her to crave for Hippolytus. She also suffers a blackout of reason. Looking closely, it is a resistance of death in aging that conditions this fear. And Hippolytus? youth, as well as his challenging improbability as a pursuit, makes him seem like the solution to Phaedra?s problems with mortality. She has yet to discover that physical life is not the only, or the better, kind of life there is. But she loses the chance and the time to discover the true answer and solution by destroying herself, finding no more reason to live."
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Hamlet and Ophelia, 2002.
An analysis of the similarties in the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet".
1,802 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 57.95
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Abstract
This paper examines there the several distinct characteristics of misery and madness that abound in both Hamlet and Ophelia. It explains how their lunacy each stems from similar sources of grief, but the true evolution of their madness is methodically different due to their gender and their status in Elizabethan society.
From the Paper
"Throughout Hamlet, Ophelia appears in a mere five scenes and is only one of two females present in the play and therefore stands not to pose as a prominent member of the play. Ophelia's father, Polonius, whom is the chief advisor to the new King Claudius, and a highly respected man, demands that his daughter tell Hamlet that she can no longer be with him even though she desperately is in love with him."
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"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", 2002.
This paper discusses the play ?Who?s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee.
915 words (approx. 3.7 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 32.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at the play 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which presents a typical insight on the disturbed and somewhat revengeful life of a married couple, George and Martha. The writer examines the plot of the play, the writing style and the social message it was trying to portray in the late 1950's.
From the Paper
"The era when the play was first performed is that of the late 1950s, a period dominated by a loving American President (D.Eisenhower), and good family values were considered as well as emphasized at all levels including American politics and culture. Thus, having a car, owning a house, and having kids were all deemed to present symbols of a perfectly happy family. In spite of all these aspects, there were events in the lives of people, which more often not than remained hidden, and the subject play strives to highlight those hidden feelings, and characteristics of people who continued to live their lives often pretending, or creating a world of their own in their attempts to hide their true feelings of hatred, revenge and lack of being successful in their real lives. The couple of George and Martha do exactly this and from the beginning of the play right to the end, their entire conversations and acts exemplify their hatred for each other. It is also observed that neither George nor Martha make any attempt to stop their negative and sometimes insulting behavior against each other, as evidently witnessed by their colleagues Nick and Honey, another married couple who have just begun their married life as well as their career."
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The Life of Anthony Quinn, 2002.
This is a short biography of actor, Anthony Quinn. It briefly reviews the relevant information about his life from birth until death.
3,190 words (approx. 12.8 pages), 9 sources, MLA, $ 92.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at Anthony Quinn's ancestry, birthplace, adolescence and young adult years. It covers his beginnings in the film industry, his rise to fame, the movies he starred in, his personal life after he achieved success and his slow demise in the film industry.
From the Paper
"Before he launched his acting career, Quinn worked at a variety of odd jobs including a boxer, butcher, street corner preacher and a worker in a slaughterhouse. At one point, he had even been a painter before trying his hand at acting. He launched his film career playing small character roles in several movies in 1936, including his debut in a movie called Parole. He also had small parts in Sworn Enemy and Night Waitress in 1936 before signing with Paramount, where he had an exclusive contract until 1940, generally playing gangsters and Indians. Some of the films he did for Paramount, include The Plainsman in 1936, which was directed by Cecil B. DeMille, who eventually became Quinn's father-in-law, Waikiki Wedding, The Last Train from Madrid, Daughter of Shanghai, all done in 1937, The Buccaneer, Tip-Off Girls, Bulldog Drummond in Africa, King of Alcatraz, all done in 1938, King of Chinatown, Television Spy, Union Pacific, all done in 1939 and Parole Fixer, The Ghost Breakers and Road to Singapore, all done in 1940."
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"The Beggar?s Opera", 2002.
A brief review of "The Beggar?s Opera" written by John Gay, the first ballad opera in the English language.
1,458 words (approx. 5.8 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 48.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the use of satire, metaphor and simile in Gay's "The Beggar's Opera". It shows how Gay used his opera to satirize the society of his time, but that this satirization was not derogatory or moralistic enough to give much offense. It shows how Gay?s entire cast of characters play the role of metaphor depicting social ills of the time.
From the Paper
"In satirizing the conventions of opera and romance, the Beggar?s Opera arranges a meeting of opposites. Macheath the criminal thus refers to himself as a ?man of honor?. Instead of the expected nobleman, this man of honor is a mere criminal, but he is more than that. Gay turns him into a metaphor for the hypocrisy of those who like to believe in their own heroics. Specifically, Macheath represents the aristocrat and the army officer. His affectations and efforts at romance later in the opera reflect this."
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Men's Attitudes Toward Women, 2002.
This paper introduces, discusses and analyzes the pieces, "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen and "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell.
1,025 words (approx. 4.1 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 36.95
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Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts Torvald and his attitude toward Nora in Ibsen's play, to the men's attitudes toward women in the play "Trifles." It discusses how both these pieces show women treated simply as idiotic "things" by the men in the pieces, but the women are clearly smarter than the men are, and it is the men who end up looking idiotic in the end.
From the Paper
""Trifles" tells the tale of a woman driven to the "end of her rope" by a spiteful, mean-spirited man, but it is also a story for all women, celebrating how they can band together in a crisis. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters sense immediately what Mrs. Wright was dealing with, and they attempt to protect her when the men begin to criticize her housekeeping skills. They astutely note, "MRS. HALE. No, I don't mean anything. But I don't think a place'd be any cheerfuller for John Wright's being in it" (Glaspell). While the men are still fumbling around looking at things and speculating, (and appearing increasingly idiotic), the more introspective and sensitive women have solved the crime, and are on the way to saving Mrs. Wright from paying for the murder. "A Doll's House" relates the story of Nora, a woman far ahead of her time in the Victorian era, who cannot live under her husband's thumb any longer, and must strike out on her own, even if it was not the thing to do in Victorian society."
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?The Iceman Cometh?, 2002.
An analysis of Eugene O'Neill' play ?The Iceman Cometh?.
1,714 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 55.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews the "The Iceman Cometh", a play by Eugene O?Neill that experiments with the painful side of emotional life about the different dreams that people aspire to achieve. It looks at how the play is rather simple and tells the stories about a group of men who are rather depressed with what life has to offer them. They sit around at the bar and live with the hope of making their dreams come true one day. The paper also provides a brief biography of Eugene O'Neill.
From the Paper
"The story is about how and why people manage to live in self denial and how one character called Hickey is challenged to drive them away from this noxious poison and bring them back to reality. The remaining Acts deal with the challenges and struggles that Hickey has to face in order to bring these people out of insanity. This creates suspense in the play too as each Act concludes with bringing that Act to a climax and ending it there. Each revelation in each Act tells us what Hickey plans to do with the harmony he wants to bring to everybody."
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?Long Day?s Journey Into Night?, 2002.
Examines the imagery of fog in Eugene O'Neill's play.
2,293 words (approx. 9.2 pages), 6 sources, APA, $ 70.95
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Abstract
In the play ?A Long Day?s Journey Into Night,? Eugene O?Neill uses fog imagery to suggest that motivations and secret (offstage) lives of each character is partially obscured because each character refuses to really see or hear the others? stories. The paper shows that this refusal to pay attention symbolizes the repeated blame, contempt and self-deception each character practices to deny his or her own complicity in the failure of his or her dreams. Fog is an apt metaphor for this family trait because through fog one can see the general shapes or outlines of things, but the details and the substance of things is mostly hidden. In the paper, the themes of inability to empathize and blame are also explored to varying degrees in O?Neill?s plays ?Desire Under the Elms? and ?Strange Interlude?, but arguably the literary techniques employed by O?Neill in ?Long Day?s Journey? more effectively exploit the dramatic tension these themes create.
From the Paper
"By Act III, fog has rolled in and a foghorn sounds offstage. In response to Mary?s complaint about the foghorn, Cathleen agrees that it sounds like a ?banshee.? (98). The Oxford English Dictionary defines a banshee is a supernatural being supposed by Irish peasantry to wail under the windows of a house where ?one of the inmates is about to die.? With the metaphorical equation of foghorn (which is heard off-stage) and banshee, O?Neill foreshadows the literal death by consumption of Edmund and probably of Mary?s whose morphine addiction returns by the end of the day. Both of these deaths will occur offstage, somewhere outside the scope of the play."
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AIDS in the Theater, 2002.
A review of the plays ?As Is? by William Hoffman and ?The Normal Heart? by Larry Kramer both on the subject of AIDS.
971 words (approx. 3.9 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 34.95
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Abstract
This paper analyzes the topic of AIDS and the way the gay community is dealt with in the "The Normal Heart" by Larry Kramer an ?As is? by William Hoffman. It looks at how "The Normal Heart" centers around a theme of growing realization regarding the AIDS epidemic globally and nationally. An important character in this play is Ned, a gay man, who becomes increasingly worried about the number of people he knows dying from AIDS. It examines how ?As Is? also demonstrates the different factions regarding AIDS homophobia. The play is set in New York City and looks at the disease from a social point of view and perpetuates a more real sense of hope.
From the Paper
"Bruce is a gay man who perpetuates homophobic fears by living in fear of discovery in his business world. Bruce is an example of a character that prefers diplomacy and preferred not to confront his pears about the AIDS epidemic. His behavior is shameful. By failing to act in a proactive manner, Bruce cheats the gay community. Ned would have performed in just the opposite manner, acting as a voice against the AIDS epidemic. Bruce states at one point, when asked if he is an activist, that he is not. He says, ?We?re not activists.? He also claims he will do nothing, stating, ?I?m only in this until it goes away.? (44). Bruce also believes that the political platform for gay men has nothing to do with anything except for sex. Ned is referred to in the play by Dr. Emma as a ?big mouth? to which she believes is a ?cure? for the epidemic (22) Emma also expresses her concern that nothing ?important is going to happen because it seems to be happening mostly to gay men."
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Samuel Beckett, 2002.
A discussion of the themes of comedy and death in the work of the playwright Samuel Beckett.
1,879 words (approx. 7.5 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 60.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how Samuel Beckett is one of the most important and influential playwrights of the twentieth century. It looks at how in most of his plays, he reflects an existential feeling that life is essentially absurd and that the only positive elements in it are discovered through the creativity of individuals who attempt to create meaning or else use humor to deal with this absurdity. It analyzes how death also receives a similar treatment in his plays and while the reality of death is exceptionally sad in its terrible finality, it is also dealt with in a humorous fashion. It evaluates how this combination of sadness and humor lead Beckett himself to label his own plays as ?tragicomic,? since these contradictory elements of tragedy and comedy seem to appear at the same in the same amount often in the same passage. It shows how Beckett?s portrayal of the reality of human death is at once hysterical and depressing, whimsical and terrible, as he embraces both the absurdity of life through human creation and mourns the inability of human to triumph completely over those limitations.
From the Paper
"Fittingly, in his play Waiting for Godot, his characters deal with death in a fashion that is both absurd and laments the true tragedy of the brevity and absurdity in their lives. Indeed, early in the play, the characters are considering what they should do with themselves since they are bored by the repetition of days in the strange and unnamed place where the scene is set. In this moment, Vladimir and Estragon decide that they might choose to hang themselves from the tree that is in the center of the stage. While this suggestion of suicide may seem quite grim, it is in reality extremely comic, since the tree is so small and pathetic that it could never hold a man?s weight enough for him to be hanged. In a way, this joke about death is little more than a game that the two characters use to pass the time and one that results in great comedy."
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William Shakespeare, 2002.
Discusses the influence of the Bard's writings on literature and what influenced his own writings.
2,002 words (approx. 8.0 pages), 7 sources, MLA, $ 63.95
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Abstract
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent most of his childhood in Stratford, Great Britain. It wasn't until the age of 28 that Shakespeare began to gain prominence as a playwright. This paper shows that little is known about the private life of the man who would later be recognized as ?the greatest and most famous of English writers?. The paper shows that by skillfully creating realistic characters and situations is his plays, Shakespeares is still considered a major influence on writers across the world. Even in poetry, Shakespeare was able to transcend the boundaries of poetry and engage the reader in such a way in which all poets seek to imitate.
From the Paper
"Up until 1594 his plays appear to be influenced from Roman and medieval dramas. From 1594-1600, Shakespeare began to develop a distinctive style. The histories of this period are Shakespeare's best, portraying the lives of kings and royalty in most human terms. He also begins the interweaving, in these histories, of comedy and tragedy that would become one of his stylistic signatures. His comedies mature in this period as well, portraying more characterization in their subjects than previously. Between 1600-1608, Shakespeare wrote his tragedies, which would be the play that brought him infamy for centuries to come. Clearly, Shakespeare was at his best when he was writing these tragedies. The writing of Shakespeare until 1608, brings into focus the romantic tragicomedy. Many claim that Shakespeare seemed to be concerned with redemption at this time because the writing is more serious. These plays were also more lyrical and demonstrate how Shakespeare successfully mastered the technique of symbolism."
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