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The importance of theatre and its role in society
Theatre, culture and society
The importance of theatre and its role in society
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Liebelei
Arthur Schnitzler's 1895 play `Liebelei' provoked mass controversy within the Viennese upper class upon its premier in the `Burgtheater', as did many of his plays. This reaction could in part be explained by Schnitzler's "frank description of sexuality"¹ and his crudely realistic portrayal of Viennese society at that time through his application of very common personalities for his characters. In this essay, I intend to demonstrate the insight which Schnitzler gives the reader through the characters of `Liebelei', into Viennese society at the turn of the century.
First of all, strong insight is perhaps given into the Viennese high society, who were "devoted to order, mannered charm and the grandiloquent facades on the `Ringstrasse' "³ by the reaction of the audiences alone to the play and its characters. Both shocked and embarrassed the Viennese bourgeoisie with its "uncompromising representation of the Viennese world"². Schnitzler's writing of the play and his inclusion of these common, gritty characters coupled with the reaction of this part of Viennese society represents the "test of wills... [sic] between well-behaved traditionalism and liberated modernism"³ emerging in Vienna at this time.
Furthermore, within the play these "facades" belonging to the confident upper classes of the period are like wise displayed amongst the lower classes. For example, during the interaction between Christine and Katharina Binder (pp. 133-135 ), Katharina almost lectures Christine on the appropriate and expected behaviour of young working class girls within the Viennese `Vorstadt' - it
¹ Arthur Schnitzler - Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia, www.wikipedia.com
² Translation from in-clas...
... middle of paper ...
...hly emotional circumstances such as love affairs, duels and death, Schnitzler gives a huge insight into the social workings and expectations of Viennese society at the turn of the century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Leibelei - Arthur Schnitzler
www.Wikipedia.com
In-class translation - Arthur Schnitzler
Essay: Vienna Moderne 1895-1930, www.artsmia.org/modernism/e_vm.html
Outcast Vienna 1900: the Politics of Transgression http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=/ILW/ILW64/S0147547903000176a.pdf&code=22726a314
dcbb7089a5cdd4ecca8b84c
International Labour and Working Class History www.ingenta.com
The Empire of Austria; It's Rise and Present Power - John S C Abbott www.gutenberg.org/files/16070/16070-h/16070-h.htm#chap31
Gluckel's memoir enables a reader to gain an understanding of what a widowed Jewish woman would face in Christian dominated Germany both from a personal and public perspective throughout seventeenth and eighteenth century. Throughout her memoirs Gluckel describes the worries that a mother would have over her children, her relations with both her first and second husband while addressing the responsibilities she faced as a businesswoman. Gluckel arranged her life narrative in seven books. The first four books and the opening section of the fifth book have been written consecutively in the months or year of mourning after Haim's (her first husbands) death in 1689. The rest of Book 5 was written during the decade of the 1690's but given final form after her second marriage. The sixth book was written in 1702 or shortly afterward, during the initial shock of Hirsch Levy's (Gluckel's second husbands) bankruptcy in Metz, and the seventh and final book was composed in 1715, during her second widowhood, with a final paragraph from 1719 before her death. Gluckel has conveniently broken down her narratives in seven books, which help the reader clearly identify with individual aspects occurring in her life. In her memoirs Gluckel thoroughly encompasses a social, cultural and economical perspective about her life as a Jewish woman while contrasting it to Christian ways which dominated Germany during both 17th and 18th century.
Kleist, Heinrich Von, Ludwig Tieck, and E. T. A. Hoffmann. "Eckbert the Fair."Six German Romantic Tales. Chester Springs, PA: Du¬¬¬four, 1993. 16-33. Print.
Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
the people of the upper class are acting in the world today. Furthermore, Martin discusses her
One example of gender criticism Chopin accounts in her writing is the love between the women in the novel which has been suppressed throughout history as “lesbian” encounters in order to uphold male power and privilege (LeBlanc 2). Edna’ friendships with Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele Ratignolle both act as different buffers into Edna’s sexual and personal “awakening.” Edna’s a...
... it is the theatre of the working class, featuring the “popular waltz” and frequented by a “vast crowd” that “had an air throughout of having just quitted labor” (28). This is hardly high society and Crane emphasizes this in his descriptions of the actress who “galloped upon the stage,” the “brazen soprano tones,” and the “half-tipsy” audience members who join in the “rollicking refrain.” Maggie’s world is so limited that even the burlesque, and rowdy time that an unrefined Pete shows her is elevated to a position of grandeur and possibilities.
In this essay my aim is to separate the truth from the predjudice and find out whether Heinrich Schliemann was a greedy charlottarian, a talented archeologist or just someone who stumbled upon a great discovery.
Louise Mallard is a woman who enjoys freedom and independence. She feels soaring relief and fiery triumph upon realizing that, yes, she is finally free. She is free of the weighted ropes of marriage. She fantasizes of her days ahead, living for herself and only herself. “A kind intention or cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (Chopin 234). She views the imposing of one’s will on another person as a crime, no matter the intention behind it. She has a taste of freedom after Mr. Mallard’s death and can finally see days without stress ahead of her. Prior to her husband’s death, young Mrs. Mallard feels tied down and even oppressed. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin 233). Despite the typical oppression of women throughout the centuries prior to the 1920s, Mrs. Mallard possesses a free spirit.
While the script is often one of the most crucial elements in a film, the brevity of speech and precise movements of the primary character accentuate the changing nature of his integrity. As viewers follow Captain Wiesler of the East German secret police, it is soon clear that he only says what is necessary, such as when noting his surveillance partner’s lateness or setting instructions for the surveillance bugging team (“twenty minutes”). It is important to note that Wiesler does not say a single word when Axel Stiegler cracks a joke in the cafeteria about Honecker, or when Grubitz himself makes a joke. Only
The Ottoman was the ideal external enemy for the rulers of the Habsburgs in the 15th and 16th century. Ferdinand I, the second grandson of Maximilian I, was the founder of the Austrian Empire, a multiethnic political union. However, because the region was composed of various ethnic and political systems, it was necessary to have a political ideology or a goal that can unite such diversity in order to achieve long-term and continuous achievement of integration. In this situation, the Türkenschrift functioned as a means of propaganda for strengthening the internal bond in the place with diverse cultures; it was an important driving force for the political and military unity of the region. Ferdinand I, as a justification for regional integration and solidarity, sought to build an integrated defense network connecting the areas facing the Ottoman border.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is, on the surface, a typical romantic comedy with a love-plot that ends in reconciliation and marriage. This surface level conformity to the conventions of the genre, however, conceals a deeper difference that sets Much Ado apart. Unlike Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies, Much Ado about Nothing does not mask class divisions by incorporating them into an idealized community. Instead of concealing or obscuring the problem of social status, the play brings it up explicitly through a minor but important character, Margaret, Hero’s “waiting gentlewoman.” Shakespeare suggests that Margaret is an embodiment of the realistic nature of social class. Despite her ambition, she is unable to move up in hierarchy due to her identity as a maid. Her status, foiling Hero’s rich, protected upbringing, reveals that characters in the play, as well as global citizens, are ultimately oppressed by social relations and social norms despite any ambition to get out.
3. Carl E. Schorske - Politics and Psyche in fin de siecle Vienna: Schnitzler and Hofmannsthal (American Historical Review: Vol. 66, No. 4 , p.930)
`Plays and Poetry by early modern women are primarily concerned with negotiating a position from which women could speak. A concern for ideas of gender, language and silence is, therefore, central, though its expression is sometimes open, sometimes covert.' Discuss with reference to Aemilia Lanyer and / or Elizabeth Cary.
...ve been suffering mental abuse by their husband. This play presents the voice of feminism and tries to illustrate that the power of women is slightly different, but can be strong enough to influence the male dominated society. Although all women are being oppressed in the patriarchal society at that time, Glaspell uses this play as a feminist glory in a witty way to win over men. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters solve the crime by reflecting on Minnie Wright’s unhappy marriage that leads her to murdering. Using the relationship between female and male characters throughout the play, Glaspell speaks up to emphasize how the patriarchal society underestimated women’s rights and restricted women’s desires.
The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay introduced a new theatrical structure in 1728. The comical play included well known balled interlaced with new melodies recognizable to most upper and lower classmen. This revision of the ballads was also a revision for operatic structure, composed of hidden satire. The play deliberately disregards all morality in order to deliver the expectations of an opera’s “happy ending.” With a compelling play, Gay definitely delivered a statement about the reflection of society. He reflected that theatergoers were easily seduced by an overtly sentimental storyline and had no interest in learning any moral lessons. The language proves the irony of the play, conveying which ever type of man, rich or poor, it is human nature