I decided to write on my essay on Eugene O’ Neill because he has contributed so much to the field of theatre. Eugene O'Neill's greatest plays, was presented by the National Theatre in 2003 celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the playwright's death. A reworking of the “Oresteia” trilogy by Aeschylus and the Electra tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, O’Neill’s epic American tragedy of hatred, passion, jealousy and greed is set in New England after the Civil War. Using Freud’s theories, as O’Neill had done earlier in “Strange Interlude,” he now views classical drama (as had Freud) as a rich field for exploration of character motivation. Eugene did so much for theatre; he also was the first American dramatist to regard the stage as a literary medium and the first U.S. playwright to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1922, O'Neill brought his drama Anna Christie to the Broadway stage; this tale of a prostitute's return home netted the playwright his second Pulitzer Prize. O'Neill suffered a personal loss with the death of his brother the following year. By this time, the playwright had also lost both of his parents. But O'Neill's private struggles seemed to aid him in creating greater dramatic works for the stage, including Desire Under the Elms (1924) andStrange Interlude (1928). Around this time, O'Neill left his second wife and quickly began a relationship with Carlotta Monterey, whom he married in 1929. O'Neill re-imagined the mythic tragedy Oresteia in Mourning Becomes Electra (1931), exchanging ancient Greece for New England in the 19th century. Five years later, he became the first American playwright to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was given this honor "for the power, honesty and deep-felt emo... ... middle of paper ... ...ses to perception to reach the truths of human passion. For life to be felt as noble, it must be seen as tragic." His great final play, Long Day's Journey into Night, finally tells the story of the O'Neill family as he had come to understand it. On one painful day in 1912, Edmund Tyrone learns that he has tuberculosis, and his mother, Mary, falls back into her morphine addiction after the latest effort at a cure; her husband and sons battle despair as she flees from her loneliness. He paved way for a new era of drama and made sure his plays were a great legacy to leave behind to influence other play writers to follow into his footsteps. His works were well known, and have major influence on the playwrights in today’s society dealing with plays, Tv shows, and movies. His ideas were a way of changing the culture aspect of playwrights and the sociopolitical reasoning.
The tradition of the tragedy, the renowned form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis, has principally become a discontinued art. Plays that evoke the sense of tragedy-the creations of Sophocles, Euripides, and William Shakespeare-have not been recreated often, nor recently due to its complex nature. The complexity of the tragedy is due to the plot being the soul of the play, while the character is only secondary. While the soul of the play is the plot, according to Aristotle, the tragic hero is still immensely important because of the need to have a medium of suffering, who tries to reverse his situation once he discovers an important fact, and the sudden downturn in the hero’s fortunes. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the modern tragedy of a common man named Willy Loman, who, like Oedipus from Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, exhibits some qualities of a tragic hero. However, the character Willy Loman should not be considered a full-on tragic hero because, he although bears a comparable tragic flaw in his willingness to sacrifice everything to maintain his own personal dignity, he is unlike a true tragic hero, like Oedipus, because he was in full control of his fate where Oedipus was not.
great reputation and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. He died of heart
...ters he created in his plays. He also developed female characters who were obviously intelligent, dynamic, and strong willed. Thus creating dramatic plots that rise to the surface societal stereotypes and norms. As in modern society theatre and the media allow for people to express issues of concern in a none threatening manner. Shakespeare's dynamic plays have influenced literature globally for hundreds of years.
The winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Singer, like his greatest literary influences, Chekhov ...
...s Circle Award (A&E Networks). Later down the road the play would even be adapted into a musical and win a Tony Award (BHS).
...nly woman he only loved and Hamlet lost Ophelia the only woman he truly loved but was foolish enough to tell her the whole truth before she passed. Interestingly enough both of our protagonists were forced to experience not only the death of their true loves but also society’s silent disdain on the fact that they committed suicide.
his life where it has influences of his writing and how it did impact many people.
Thirdly, he is the father of all western playwrights. Everybody from Ibsen to O'Neil uses techniques and ideas which can be traced back to Shakespeare. Whatever dramatist in whatever language you are required to study, familiarity with Shakespeare can only be an advantage.
Essential to the success of Othello is the fact that the issues and themes explored in this tragedy, written by Shakespeare in about 1604, are still relevant to the modern audience. The interest of an audience is held by themes that are fundamental to the human condition, as these reflect our world and examine human nature. Othello explores the issues of racism, gender, domestic violence, the supernatural and the pathology of the entirely evil person, which are all remarkably relevant to our time. Thus the interest of the audience is held, as issues that affect the viewers and readers of the play spark individual opinions, reflection and thought.
Sinclair Lewis was one of the greatest American authors from the 1920s to the 1930s. Lewis’ early novels failed to bring him fame and success but that later changed when these novels came along. His successes in the novels Babbitt and Main Street shot him up to commercial fame. Lewis was a great American novelist and writer. Lewis wrote novels, poems, and even short stories. His works redefined and brought to light many issues in America that were thought to be normal and just but were not at the time. These issues include social norms, equality, and everyday life. That was what he primarily wrote about He was the first American author to win the Nobel Prize in 1930. Sinclair Lewis had a very positive influence on society because of his Nobel Prize in literature and his portrayal of the rich and the poor. His childhood and his adolescence also molded him to become what he was.
The volume of works that Shakespeare wrote over the course of his lifetime was extensive. In that volume are stories that have influenced so many stories written later, stories that have influenced how many define things like love. Romeo and Juliet is perhaps his best-known work and defined western civilization's concept of love for generations. While slightly lesser known, Hamlet has had much the same degree of impact. This revenge tragedy truly defines the genre and opens up dialogues to many things, like madness. It is often the madness of Hamlet that is delved into but Ophelia too went mad in the end. While her father's murder at the hands of Hamlet undeniably contributed to her suicide, it was not the sole cause. Ophelia was driven to suicide by the way the men in her life treated her.
Shakespeare's works have been a major influence on theatre. Not only did Shakespeare create some of the most admired plays in literature, he also transformed theatre by expanding expectations through characterisation, plot, action, language, and genre. He raised the status of popular theatre, permitting it to be admired by all.
Ernest Hemingway is one of the most significant American authors of the Twentieth century. In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for mastering the art of narrative and also for the impact that he has made on contemporary style. His involvement in the First World War as an ambulance driver greatly impacted his way of thinking. Severely wounded, he returned to the States and his involvement in the war lead him to write many novels concerning its treacheries. To his suicidal death in 1961, Hemingway composed a plethora of works that centered around was a major theme.
The name most associated with excellence in theatre is William Shakespeare. His plays, more than any other playwright, resonate through the ages. It may be safe to say that he has influenced more actors, directors, and playwrights than any thespian in the history of the stage. But what were his influences? During the Middle Ages theatre was dominated by morality, miracle, and mystery plays that were often staged by the church as a means to teach the illiterate masses about Christianity. It wasn’t until the early sixteenth century that Greek tragedy experienced a revival, in turn, inspiring a generation of renaissance playwrights.
Regardless of a person’s age or literary preference it is undeniable that William Shakespeare had a flair for composing dramatic tragedies. Tragedy is a powerful underlining theme which portrays the qualities of the human capacity. In one of Shakespeare’s most brilliant plays, Hamlet, tragedy is portrayed through the protagonist’s constant contemplation of suicide. Shakespeare often alludes to powerful images of death by using pathos and bereavement in life to be inconsequential. In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare produces a tragedy which illustrates the suggestion of suicide and the imagery of death as solutions to problems through Ophelia’s demise, the minor characters reflection upon death, and most importantly the protagonist Hamlet.