Existentialism and Theatre
Existentialism is a concept that became popular during the second
World War in France, and just after it. French playrights have often used
the stage to express their views, and these views came to surface even
during a Nazi occupation. Bernard Shaw got his play "Saint Joan" past the
German censors because it appeared to be very Anti-British. French
audiences however immediately understood the real meaning of the play, and
replaced the British with the Germans. Those sorts of "hidden meanings"
were common throughout the period so that plays would be able to pass
censorship.
Existentialism proposes that man is full of anxiety and despair
with no meaning in his life, just simply existing, until he made decisive
choice about his own future. That is the way to achieve dignity as a human
being. Existentialists felt that adopting a social or political cause was
one way of giving purpose to a life. Sartre is well known for the "Theatre
engage" or Theatre 'committed', which is supposedly committed to social
and/or political action.
On of the major playwrights during this period was Jean-Paul Sartre.
Sartre had been imprisoned in Germany in 1940 but managed to escape, and
become one of the leaders of the Existential movement. Other popular
playwrights were Albert Camus, and Jean Anouilh. Just like Anouilh, Camus
accidentally became the spokesman for the French Underground when he wrote
his famous essay, "Le Mythe de Sisyphe" or "The Myth of Sisyphus". Sisyphus
was the man condemned by the gods to roll a rock to the top of a mountain,
only to have it roll back down again. For Camus, this related heavily to
everyday life, and he saw Sisyphus an "absurd" hero, with a pointless
existence. Camus felt that it was necessary to wonder what the meaning of
life was, and that the human being longed for some sense of clarity in the
world, since "if the world were clear, art would not exist". "The Myth of
Sisyphus" became a prototype for existentialism in the theatre, and
eventually The Theatre of the Absurd.
Right after the Second World War, Paris became the theatre capital
of the west, and popularized a new form of surrealistic theatre called
"Theatre of the Absurd". Many historians contribute the sudden popularity
of absurdism in France to the gruesome revelations of gas chambers and war
Hamlet makes use of the idea of theatrical performance through characters presenting themselves falsely to others – from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spying on Hamlet to gain favor with the King, to Hamlet himself playing the part of a madman – and through the play within the play, The Mousetrap. This essay will discuss the ways in which Hamlet explores the idea of theatrical performance, ‘acting’, through analysis of the characters and the ‘roles’ they adopt, specifically that of Hamlet and Claudius. The idea, or the theme of theatrical performance is not an uncommon literary element of Shakespearean works, the most famous of which to encompass this idea being As You Like It. This essay will also briefly explore the ways in which Hamlet reminds its audience of the stark difference between daily life and dramatization of life in the theatre.
Lord of the flies was about a group of boys getting stranded on an island. There was basically to groups I like to identify them as the “civilized group” and the “savage ones”. In this paper I will tell you examples of civilization and savagery in lord of the flies. From the conch to the pig head to the boys that are there .There are mean examples of this theme so let’s get started.
In the early years of China, the Chinese began a period of establishment in the world with ideas and teachings of new religions, changing powers, and building empires. In a nutshell the Chinese were progressing toward new technology, writings, and belief systems. The Chinese saw many dynasties come and go as well as many ups and downs experienced with societies over the course of history. As all nation’s go through change, the Chinese experienced changes from other lands far away and produced many concepts in which helped other realms to see change for themselves. The Chinese used many inventive innovations to prosper as an economic power and stabilize intellectually. Change mixed with innovation proved to be the roots of China’s success as a powerful nation to be reckoned with for the vast numbers appeared in China’s favor.
his own life how he wishes, even if it will damage health or lead to
“What is a stereotype? Stereotypes are qualities assigned to groups of people related to their race, nationality and sexual orientation, to name a few. Because they generalize groups of people in manners that lead to discrimination and ignore the diversity within groups, stereotypes should be avoided” (“What Is a Stereotype”). Both positive and negative stereotypes exist, but both are equally dangerous. All stereotypes, whether positive or negative, limit whatever group of people it is assigned to to a certain set of traits, and let’s face it, a human being’s personality is far too complex to be limited to a mere set of three or four traits. A stereotype creates a preconceived notion of how an individual belonging to a certain group should look, act, dress, and even speak. A prime example of this would be the very recent happenings in the case of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was a seventeen year old African-American male, profiled as a criminal.
Anger can be partly physiological, cognitive, and psychological, and it is also pointedly ideological. Factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, and religion arouse anger (Kim1). Goldhor-lerner stated that:
In conclusion, humankind is blessed with life as God created it. One must reflect on their actions throughout life because one will be judged by God in the next life, one must see the importance of gasping liberation, and one must have a loving and open heart when helping the poor. Life should be lived to its fullest because once time is lost, it cannot be regained; life needs to be appreciated.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
In this essay, I will look at the outpouring of thought, art and literature during the early empire. More so though, I will focus on what factors led to this renewed focus on culture in the early empire. It would seem that there were several factor which would lead to this renewed interest in culture in early China, but the most significant of these factors would be the re-establishment of a strong central government. This re-establishment of a strong central government laid the foundation for cultural growth. It brought with it prosperity to China, through improved infrastructure, such as the canals and graineries. As a result of these improvements, China flourished both economically, militarily and of course culturally. We first must look at some of the history of the centralization of China, which occurred, then was destroyed and then once more established. First by the Han Dynasty, then latter by the Sui and the T'ang
Dumbrell, J. 2004. The US--UK'Special Relationship'in a world twice transformed. Cambridge review of international affairs, 17 (3), pp. 437--450.
Today we can look around ourselves and see thousands of technical innovations that make life easier; But if we take a step back and ask ourselves “How?” we will soon realize that most often, these technological advancements did not just “poof” into existence, but are usually the outcome of building upon yesterday’s technology. If we follow this cycle back into time, we can attribute almost any modern day invention to an ancient civilization during its golden age. China was no exception. China’s Song and Tang dynasties fostered scientific advances comparable to Rome’s during its Pax Romana. The most significant and impacting of these were the development of primitive gunpowder and porcelain of the Tang and paper money, and the magnetic compass of the Song Dynasties. Although these may seem very far off, if you look hard enough, you can see traces of their impacts in society today because most of the advancements today we owe to them.
A stereotype is the grouping of all members of a certain common distinction into a set of standardized rules and aspects (Moore 36). Common areas people stereotype are race and gender; however, people also use sexual preferences, age, religion, and attractiveness as distinctions to group. The use of stereotypes is ethically wrong and not always correct. People use these judgments as a way to separate a...
...life of all individuals: a life in which the past and the future can be faced head on and wrongs can be made right while continuing to embrace life that is yet to come (Moore).
Existentialism is a complicated and diverse set of theories and beliefs. Jean Paul Sartre’s beliefs are very complex as well in how he conveys them to the reader. He firmly believes that the actions of the person should be what they are and that the outside world should not shape a person. Through his play No Exit, each character would come to represent a key point in existentialism, authenticity, angst and absurdity.
For thousands of years, people have been arguing that theatre is a dying art form. Many people think theatre is all just cheesy singing and dancing or just boring old Shakespeare, but there is much more to theatre than those two extremes. Theatre is important to our society because it teaches us more about real life than recorded media. Theatre has been around for thousands of years and began as a religious ceremony that evolved into an art form that teaches about the true essence of life. Theatre can incorporate profound, and provocative, observations of the human condition that can transcend time; lessons found in Greek plays can still be relevant to the modern world. People argue that the very essence of theatre is being snuffed out by modern