Good Essay About Theater Studies

Literature gives a reflection of the society we live in, authors are able to get their ideas from the issue that face the society and organize these ideas to come up with plays, novels, poems and even songs. Once one can connect what an author presents to the contemporary society, it is very easy to understand the themes and the ideas that the author reflects.
1. Compare and contrast the depiction of female characters in Oedipus Rex, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Glass Menagerie. What does each author suggest about the role of women in his society based upon the way that women are written for the stage? Use direct evident and quotes from the plays in your response.
In the Oedipus Rex play, women characters have been portrayed differently, Oedipus’ wife plays the greatest role in the play she does no talk much, and this is a perception that the society has for women, many people in the society think that women should listen and follow what men tell them to do without questioning. Even though she was the queen, she had very little say on the leadership of the kingdom. After her husband dies, she was forced to, marry the next man who was to become king in Thebes, this shows the oppression that women had to go through in the hands of men, there is also another view of women which is portrayed in the play,Jocasta know very well that Oedipus is her son but goes ahead and gets married to him, this shows that women are poor decision makers and they follow issues blindly.Jocata had also abandoned Oedipus in his childhood for her own selfish gains, this is a portrayal of the wicked nature of many selfish women in the society The queen was a woman who did not gain her motivation from GOD and was only concerned about her relationship with other human beings . She was guided by human selfish gains which made her to forget the voice of reason and only cope with what mattered in her life. In the Athens society women were expected to remain loyal to their husband, this is the reason why Penelope remain loyal to her husband even though she did not know whether he was dead or alive. The Sphinx is also another female character who displays a different role that women play in the society, Oedipus decided to solve the Sphinx’s riddle and this is a reflection of the advisory role that women have in the society.Jacota tried to convince Oedipus that he should not try to solve the Sphinx riddle because she knew that it would reveal her wickeness.Jocasta cannot face Oedipus after he realizes the truth about his birth and she decides to take her own life rather than facing the shame. Even with the death of his husband he married her own son so that she could maintain the queen’s position.
Other female characters in the play are Antigone and Ismene, who are featured at the end of the play, they fit the character of the Athenian woman who had faced oppression and had no say over the men. In the play Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, the main female characters are Hermia and Helena, who is all chasing Lysander and Demetrius, the women are viewed to be solely dependent on men. Helena thinks that the men are just mocking her, and she is not sure whether they are really in love with her.Hermia’s father Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius but this is not the man of his dreams, she is in love with Lysander. This is not what the society expects of her as it is stated in Theseus’s words when he tells her that his father should be like a GOD to her.Egeus goes ahead and declares that her daughter is his alone and he gives all the rights that he has over her top Demitrius.This statement clearly proves that women had no say over men just like in the Oedipus Play.Hermia is ready to fight for the man she loves and she even goes ahead to face Theseus and speaks her mind. The supportive nature of women is portrayed in the play by how Hermia and Helena support each other and keep their childhood friendship.
Unlike in the play Oedipus Rex Play, in this play the women have the freedom to express themselves and also their feelings, they are not being forced into marriage or love, and they have the freedom to choose whom to fall in love with. However, they seem to be more dependent on men and seem to be weak without the love that they desire from men. Other female characters in the play include Hippolyta and Titania, who also represent the role of women in love. These women are able to define what they think love is in a society that so patriarchal, they are able to marry the men they love without under their own self will.Shakespeare is able to show the perception of women when it comes to issues of love. In the play The Glass Menagerie, there are three main characters that have been used to reveal the perception that the society had on women, these characters includes Amanda Wingfield, Laura Winfield and Ton Wingfield.Amanda Wingfield is a single mother who has to struggle in bringing up her children. She is so attached to her childhood memories which have made it difficult for her to adapt to the modern world. She relies on Tom, who is her son for family support. She believes that is then role of a man to support the family, and it is not possible for women to raise the family alone. Amanda pressures her son to even search for lovers who would marry his sister Laura. Laura represents s the feminist nature of many women in the society. Tennessee Williams is able to show how fragile women are, and they only rely on men to succeed in life. She shows how the society has been dominated by men and that women are the main causes of their own oppression. All the three plays have showed that women tend to view themselves as inferior and leave the decision making to men. As much as men have taken over the decision making role, women have the opportunity to make their own decisions in a male dominated society. Even in the modern society, women are considered to be the weaker sex; they have very little say over their male colleagues. Leadership has been left to the men and also key decisions even in the family are made by men. In all the plays women’s role has been to serve and obey men without objection. Even in the modern world literature, the issue the role of women in the society continue to be a major topic of discussion, feminism is a major theme adopted by many authors. There is a very close association with the modern plays and the traditional plays in terms of themes relating to women. In different societies there are different challenges that face women; however most of these challenges such as male chauvinism and gender biasness apply to almost all societies. There are societies where women cannot make decision in marriage and also have been assumed in their efforts to hold leadership positions.
There are other major themes which featured in the plays; literature provides one of the best approaches when recording social issues that affected different societies in history .Readers can be able to link the social challenges that affected the society in the past with the modern world.
2. Consider the characterization of the protagonist in the plays Oedipus Rex, The Glass Menagerie, and Angels in America according to the standards written in Aristotle’s Poetics. How are they similar? How are they different?
When building the plot of a play, one thing the role of the characters has to be considered, the protagonist and the antagonist are the key characters that build up the story line. The protagonist and antagonist help in building the climax and anticlimax of any play. When writing tragic play, the play writer has to ensure that the protagonist is well brought out and his character are distinct.
There are conditions that a play must meet for it to be a tragedy according to Aristotle, it must have a plot which is well plotted and stimulates pity and fear as some of the key emotions. The play also has to show the downfall of a key figure in the society, there should also be a reversal of fortunes whereby the protagonist suffers due to a tragic error which Aristotle calls Harmatia. Characters must also support the plot and in theme development. The errors of the protagonist occur as a result of pride which in many cases results to the downfall. A tragedy according to Aristotle must have the unity of time, place and action. Aristotle has also defined the plot of a tragic play, according to his definition a plot has to be complete with a beginning, middle section and the end. The beginning section of the play highlights the issues that result to the climax which has to be associated with the issues that have been in the play and not new ideas. Oedipus is the main protagonist and right from the beginning of the play his celebrity status is revealed and his leadership figure. Thebes is attacked by a deadly plague and the people look up to Oedipus to save them from fatal forces of the universe. Oedipus is highly respected by the people not only because of his political powers but also his knowledge and wisdom on issues that they also did not understand. He is a ruler who is ready to deal with the issues that are facing the people of Thebes with lot of confidence. He has full confidence in himself and lot of pride in what he does, in many of his speeches he uses the pronouns “I “and “me” to describe his ability. As a ruler he has been able to do what other rulers have failed to do for the people of Thebes, he is the only person who has been able to solve the Sphinx’s riddle. He ignores the voice of the oracles and counts on his personal ability to find out the truth. His search for the truth of the Sphinx riddle result to him killing the sphinx and marrying Jocasta, who was his own mother. The plot is able to flow effectively and on can be able to follow the paly very easily. His desire to find out the truth that is right on his face result to his downfall and he left Thebes as an old blind man who was once a king. The play is similar to what Aristotle definition of a tragedy and also the protagonist as defined by Aristotle. Oedipus is a victim of fate, he kills his father and marries his mother, however he cannot live with this fate and all through the play he tries to evade his own fate which many readers think he already know. Oedipus does not believe that he would have killed his own father even though he recalls having killed a man at a road junction. Fate makes Oedipus a tragic hero, after knowing the truth he decides to face his own punishment, he does not even ask for advice on what to do in dealing with the truth. His ego results to his downfall even after serving the people of Thebes .Oedipus fits Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy, the plot is also well developed and the issues that result to the downfall of the protagonist are developed in the beginning of the play.
In the Glass Menagerie play, the main protagonist is Tom, who is also the narrator. Tom is the only male in his family, and he has to take care of his family as a family man.The plots and subplots mainly evolve around the issues that Tom’s family is facing as his mother tries to cope with the challenges of single parenting. Tom has to deal with his mother whom does not seem to appreciate what he does for the family and also take care of his sister Laura. Being the main protagonist, Tom might not be holding a key position in the society but he acts as the family head.
He lives a carefree life and even when he is asked by his mother to look for a better job; he fails to listen. The different between the tragedy in this play and the plays that were defined by Aristotle is that it takes place in a modern family set up. Tom decided not to pay the electricity bills and leave his family in search of adventure; however, even in his travels he does not forget about his sister Laura. He is not in good term with his mother and once he decides to leave and search for freedom elsewhere; he realizes that freedom is just an illusion; the only way that he was going to have freedom was through facing the challenges in his life a coming up with solutions. According to Aristotle, the protagonist is the main because of his/her own downfall just like the case of Tom. Being the only person that his family depends on, he is a key social figure who neglects his family duties. He is also a victim of his own fate and he lives regretting his own actions. He wishes that he would have stayed and looked after his sister Laura; one would expect him to live a comfortable life after moving out. Laura is also portrayed as a protagonist but her character does not fit the role of being the main protagonist in the play. She lives in her won world where she is attached to her past and fails to move on. Instead of going of going to school and attaining a college degree, she takes refuge in the museums where is finds her comfort. She is however not a victim of fate as Tom is, he has to take the role of the father who had abandoned the family.
The play, Angels in America shows America’s epic life in mid-1980’s.It focuses on the gay population and how acquire immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has affected the relationship between members of the gay community. It characters in the play hold political offices and other highly ranked offices in the judiciary. The play is more epic than a tragedy and the plots have been arranged in different sub plots which build up the whole play.
In the play, the main protagonist is Louis Ironson working at the federal appeals protagonist. There are four main protagonist in the play; Joe and Louis, who abandon their lovers and later apologize and Prior and Harper, who are abandoned. Later they turn to be the antagonists. Louis leaves his lover Prior after he realized that he had was infected with HIV/AIDS, but he later apologizes to him later in the play. There are no major characters that have key positions in the society and; therefore, the protagonists do not fit the description given by Aristotle. There are also no major key issues in the beginning of the play which lead to the fate of the protagonists at the end of the play; it ends up with unity among the couples which is not the case with Aristotle’s description. Since it is more of an epic play, Aristotle’s poetic in describing the protagonists does not apply so much in the play.
Aristotle’s poetic cannot be used as the main reference point when defining protagonists in a play, there are other factors that need to be considered for the reader to be able to know the main protagonists and how their characters fir their role.Aristole’s definition mainly applied to the traditional plays which are different from the modern plays. Modern plays have a different approach and even plot has changed with modern writers such as Shakespeare used a different style of writing which modern writers have gradually changed, there are many writers who have decided to try new styles of writings, basing the protagonist analysis solely on Aristotle’s poetics would be a biased approach since it would mainly fit plays that were written during the period of writers such as Shakespeare.
The analysis of the plays might differ according to different readers; this does not mean that there is a different understanding. Literature analysis does not change much since the major themes and ideas presented are almost the same. Staging of the plays has changed over the years with the contemporary modern version of the plays being staged in the theatres, this does not change the original ideas that were initially presented in the play, and the names of the characters remain the same and also the plot. When analyzing plays there is need to carry out a research on some of the opinions given by different readers and also people who have written about the plays or any other piece of literature so as to get a detailed analysis.