T.S Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral is well a respected drama composed of the life elements of faith, revenge, and the never-ending struggle for power. Two men, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckett, and King Henry II of England, display this ostentatious struggle for power. This dispute over ruling authority between the Church and the state is indicative of a main theme in Murder in the Cathedra, man versus god. Thomas Beckett serves as the representation of the power of God whereas King Henry II and his advisors serve as the governmental representations, or the power of man. The theme to Eliot's drama is greatly supported by the enhancements of imagery, light and dark as well as sensory, by the usage of metaphors, and by his syntax. Together the elements vividly represent the struggle between the two powers that is occurring within the play.
Light and dark imagery is used throughout the play to show the disparities between Church and State. The state (King Henry II and those in his ruling class) is generally represented by dark imagery that portrays a somber and serious mood. The church on the other hand, is portrayed with a lightness that leans toward the idea that godly rule is to be desired.
In the start of the play, the idea of who controls destiny is presented. As stated by the Chorus, "Destiny waits in the hand of God... I have seen these things in a shaft of sunlight" (12) it is easy to perceive that the idea of Destiny resting in the hands of God is a much-preferred idea to Destiny resting in the hands of man. Sunlight is light imagery that represents goodness and life. By indicating that the idea that destiny rests in the hands of God is preferred and has been shown by the use of sunlight, Elio...
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Come down Daniel and join in the feast.
By only having the characters connected with evil (the downfall of Thomas) Eliot has specified a subtle way to differentiate between the evil characters concerned with the ruling power of man (the rhymers), and those who believe in the ruling power of God. Those that are believers in the ruling power of God do not rhyme. Those vying for the ruling power of man, do.
Murder in the Cathedral is an ingenious play that employs the uses of a variety of literary tactics to better express the theme. Eliot designs many ingenious forms of imagery, metaphor, and diction to better express the noteworthy ideas of the drama. His imagery gave mental pictures between the man and God, the metaphors provided real life connections, and his syntax pulled it all together to form a literary masterpiece.
... middle of paper ... ... This resonates with the dramatic irony of Richard’s depiction of “Christian prince” with “two props of virtue” in RIII, demonstrating the common connection of duplicity to the environment. Evidently, the play itself manipulates the audience’s perception of reality as it presents a historical recount designed to solidify the ruling monarch, and condemn Richard.
...nd optimistic" (Watson 114). The few critics who have written specifically about "Cathedral" tend concentrate on that optimism, seen at the end of the story with the narrator’s "esthetic experience [and] realization" (Robinson 35). In concentrating on the final "realization" experienced by the narrator, the literary community has overlooked his deep-rooted misunderstanding of everything consequential in life.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. We have all heard this cliché at least once in our lifetime. But how many times have we ever followed through with this expression? The author Raymond Carver writes about an experience where a couple is visited by the wife’s acquaintance Robert, whose wife has recently passed. The fact that Robert is blind belittles him in the eyes of the narrator, causing tension and misjudgment. In “Cathedral”, Carver uses irony, point of view, and symbolism to show the difference between looking and truly seeing.
“In a simple allegory, characters and other elements often stand for other definite meanings, which are often abstractions” (Kennedy 234). Since everyone in the town is involved in the stoning, they do not view their sacrifice as murder, but as something needed to be done. “‘All right, folks,’ Mr. Summers said, ‘Let’s finish this quickly.’” (Jackson 259). The young boys in the town are excited about the lottery, but the girls stand off to the side because it is in a boy’s nature to be brutal, yet the women of the town seem just as excited as the boys, and the men calm down as the girls. “The boys’ eager and childish cruelty will turn into the sober reluctance of their fathers, whereas the childish apartness of the girls will become the grown women’s blood lust” (Whittier 357). Most people associate winning a lottery as coming into a large sum of money; but on the contrary, the winner of this lottery must pay with their ultimate sacrifice. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (257). Jackson’s use of allegories is sublime, drawing her readers to the central
... of all time, with a protagonist that is plagued with indecision, but spurred by a desire to avenge his father’s death. At the time of the play’s writing, religion was by far the largest influence on the lives of ordinary people, and the protagonist’s defiance of God for most of the play could only end in tragedy.
Mr. Kenneth Muir, in his introduction to the play - which does not, by the way, interpret it simply from this point of view - aptly describes the cumulative effect of the imagery: "The contrast between light and darkness [suggested by the imagery] is part of a general antithesis between good and evil, devils and angels, evil and grace, hell and heaven . . . (67-68)
The famous playwright William Shakespeare used symbolism throughout all of his thirty-seven plays. Light and dark are used as powerful symbols of good and evil in his tragedy Macbeth. Shakespeare uses these themes of light and dark or day and night to form an actual image of the play's ongoing conflict for the reader or viewer. The meaning behind this specific symbol essentially creates the story of Macbeth.
By the use of visual design elements, the overall production of the play can be considered abstract. For example, the set design uses very little props and forces the audience to focus more on the actors and costumes. In addition, the set designer used very dark and dreary color such as black and grey to display the plague that was taking over the city of Thebes. During this time period that the play produced, the plague has made the people in the city weak, bitter, and unhappy. By using colors that represent this internal feeling that the characters are experiencing, the actors move in a certain way that coincidentally goes hand and hand with the set design. In further detail, the costume designer did a fantastic job of portraying certain status ranking by the color of robe they were wearing. For example, Oedipus was wearing a silk, garnish robe that represented royalty and a sophisticated man. Whereas, the ordinary people of Thebes were wearing dull, grey robes that displayed their lack of social ranking. All in all, the visual design elements were used in an appropriate manner that allowed the audience to get a better understanding of the abstract world that this play took place
“Cathedral” consists of three individuals. The narrator is the main character, which the story revolves around. The wife of the narrator is the second character, who is the least relevant. The third character is the blind man, named Robert, who is a friend of the wife.
In the short story, Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the author uses imagery, symbolism and narrates the story in first person point of view. The Cathedral’s main theme is being able to identify the difference between being able to look and/or see and it is portrayed through the main characters role in the story. Carver uses a unique style of writing which gives the short story a simple way for the reader to understand the story’s theme.
In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, symbolism plays a prominent role to emphasize the theme of corruption of power. Throughout the play there are several main symbols repeatedly used to emphasize this theme. The contrast of light and dark representing good and evil, blood representing guilt, murder, and pain, and the archetypal pattern of purification by using water represents removal of guilt, cleansing and peace. Symbolism is used repeatedly to emphasize the theme of corruption of power.
In today's society we let our lives be led by a certain force that we believe in very strongly. Yet, a common debate that still rages today is whether we, as a species, have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. In the play, Oedipus the King, that special force is also used and is known and defined as fate. This played an important role in the lives of the characters just as it plays one in our daily lives.
Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus has many theatrical elements that aid in creating an interpretation of the written play. One of the most prominent elements that Taymor uses is color. Taymor uses color to develop Shakespeare’s characters. Many times throughout the film, color is used to represent a character’s mood or their hidden agenda during a scene. We also see color used to represent good versus evil.
H. S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, discusses the influence of the imagery of the play:
...are evoked but against the divinely spun destiny and pity is felt for Oedipus, their play-thing, with no more power to change his life than to change his past.