Essays on Greek Drama

Oedipus Rex, written by the Greek playwright Sophocles, tells the story of the titular King Oedipus, who reaches the status of King of Thebes only to become embroiled in an investigation into the murder of the previous king, Laius. Over the course of the play, he is informed of a prophecy in which he is said to kill his father and marry his mother; despite the inevitable nature of this prophecy, Oedipus refuses to believe it. However, once he is told that he was the one who killed King Laius unknowingly in a raid some time ago, he learns that he ...

Thesis: Based on Aristotle’s definition of not only a tragic hero but also of tragedy, Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice could rightly be described as a tragedy due to the main character’s lack of knowledge as well as due to the play’s depiction of a community and adherence to tragic guidelines. - Othello as a Tragic Hero - Noble and Admirable Characteristics - Common, Human Elements - The Issue of Race in Separating Othello from Other Characters - Othello’s Tragic Flaw or Mistake - Adherence to Greek Tradition - Presence ...

The remarkable story of The Prime of Miss. Jean Brodie illuminates two interlaced eras; the 1930s when most of the action takes place and the 1960s when it was published. . Most of the novel takes place during the 1930s at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh, Scotland, The book center on the schoolmistress, Miss Jean Brodie and her girls, a small group of students, known as "the Brodie set." The girls are six, junior level, ten year old girls when they became Miss Jean Brodie’s “crème de la crème” and started a two year tutelage with ...

Ancient Greece and Rome were very familiar with the concepts of mass entertainment in the form of theaters, games and races, although these were quite different civilizations from the modern world in many ways, such as the absence of television, radio, computers and other forms of electronic mass communications. There was no concept of a 24-hour news cycle or a wide variety of information and entertainment programs offered by cable and satellite television and the Internet. Most people lived at or below the subsistence level, and no middle class or system of mass production, consumption and distribution existed. Almost always the ...

Narrative Structure Outline

General Purpose: To Inform Specific purpose: To inform my audience about how the narrative structure of A Farewell to Arms is constructed Central idea: The narrative structure of A Farewell to Arms follows the Freytag Pyramid.

I. Introduction

A. Freytag Pyramid model of narrative structure

1. Elements of Freytag Pyramid 2. Was originally intended for Greek dramas and Shakespeare

B Thesis and preview of main points

Although Freytag’s Pyramid was created to analyze drama, the novel A Farewell to Arms contains the elements of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/denouement.

1. Exposition 2. Rising action 3. Climax 4. Falling ...

Opera defines a form of art, either comic or tragic, where musicians and vocalists perform dramatic pieces that bring together the elements of musical score and text, more often than not in a theatrical setting. Though dramatic, music forms an essential part of the opera. As such, operas usually contain choruses, arials, recitatives, trios and duets, and congregate the elements of spoken theatre, like costumes, dance, scenery and drama. In simple terms, opera is drama set to music, which could either be orchestral music or music from a lesser ensemble. Opera as we know it is believed to have been created ...

Part 1: Annotated Bibliography

Chris Vervain "Performing Ancient Drama in Mask: the Case of Greek Tragedy." New Theatre Quarterly. 28.2 (2012): 163-181. Internet resource. The author of article has conducted through research into Greek plays and the use of masks in Greek Theater. This resource will be helpful with the paper mainly because it contains extensive information on Greek costumes that are used in plays. In addition, the article is current and up to date with the author being a very credible source. This is mainly because he is a renowned Greek theater mask maker.

Bain, David, and Peter D. Arnott. "The Greek Theatre." Classical Review. 40.2 (1990): 298-300. Print.

The authors of this article have critically examined ...