Love and Death in Cocteau's Film Orpheus
In Jean Cocteau's Orpheus, death is personified through the character of the Princess. The Princess is an extremely powerful figure, although she ultimately succumbs to the power of love. Cocteau uses her actions, clothing, and dialogue to show her as a contradictory mix of being both very powerful, yet still very vulnerable to the power of love.
The main tool used by Cocteau to demonstrate this are her actions. Although she claims that she is not allowed to love, she is in fact in love with Orpheus. Through her actions she attempts to bring Orpheus closer to her and hopefully have him fall in love with her too.
At the beginning of the movie, they are gathered at the Cafe de Poets. Cegeste is killed, and the Princess demands that Orpheus help get him into the car and to her place. While in the car, he insists on knowing what is going on and where they are going. The Princess is very controlling and forces him to be quiet and listen to the messages being broadcast over the radio. She knows that this is something that Orpheus will be very interested in and can help lure him to her. They arrive at her castle and she is very mysterious. She does not let Orpheus know what is going on, she only lets him see just enough to get him more curious and interested in her. The next morning Orpheus awakes on the side of the road and returns home with the Princess's chauffeur Heurtebise. Here he spends most of his time in the garage listening to more mysterious messages on the car radio. In fact, he is so obsessed with the messages that he completely ignores his wife, and is now more preoccupied with finding out about the Princess. Orpheus is then summoned by the detective, who wants to interrogat...
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...e that give death's orders. Here she is very vulnerable. She cannot lie and must admit that she killed Eurydice and is in love with Orpheus, two punishable offenses. She is a very harsh figure, but love changes her to a more tender tone. She talks with Orpheus telling him that she loves him, and she will do anything to get them back together. Throughout the movie, the Princess's clothes change color. Usually she is wearing black, a sign of death, but sometimes her clothes change to white, a sign of love. This shows how she is vulnerable to love, since death should always be in black.
In this film, Cocteau is making the claim that love is more powerful than death. The princess, who represents death, is vulnerable to the power of love. She even ends up breaking the rules of the underworld and getting herself in trouble because she succumbs to the power of love.
The presence of death in the novel looms over the characters, making each of them reflect on the
It is universally acknowledged that one who comes into this world must also leave. Just like everything else, even life and death is a binary composition. You cannot have one without the other. Although not many people like to think about it, death is a very important factor not only in life, but also in literature. Most often, death is portrayed as evil or gruesome, especially in commercial fiction. However, there are literary texts, which portray death through other factors. Through the depiction of the deaths of Arthur Dimmesdale and Mr. Shimerdas in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Willa Cather's My Antonia, respectively, the reader is able to associate the significance of such issues as guilt, revenge/murder, religion, and the consequences of the two deaths. It may seem odd that instead of concentrating on the central female characters to portray these important issues, I have chosen two male characters. However, it is through the deaths of the male characters that the central females, Hester and Antonia are able to shine as women.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans fear that another attack is imminent. To ease these fears, lawmakers created the USA Patriot Act which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. This lengthy bill allows the justice department a great deal of power in criminal cases especially in those dealing with terrorism. While, according to lawmakers, the Patriot Act is aimed at ending terrorism, it is arguable that the Patriot Act is aimed at beginning a Big Brother-type society. For the government of the United States to enforce a law that encourages the obstruction of the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments and other civil liberties is highly hypocritical and quite un-American.
In the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the two get married but Eurydice quickly perishes. Overcome with grief Orpheus convinces Hades to let him bring back Eurydice to the world of the living. He agrees but on one condition; Eurydice has to walk behind Orpheus and he cannot look back to see if she's following. Orpheus agrees, but when the couple are just about to leave Erebus, Orpheus looks back to see his lover. With a final "Farewell" Eurydice
The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether it's on television or newspaper, you'll probably hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death affects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.
The “Masque of the Red Death,” by literary genius Edgar Allan Poe, is an allegory that teaches readers an important lesson; death is an inevitable part of life that cannot be escaped no matter the circumstances. He establishes this central idea through his extensive use of symbolism throughout the text. These symbols include, but are not limited to, the ebony clock, the masked figure that appears at midnight, and Prince Prospero. All of these symbols emphasize the inescapability of death, whether it is the ticking of time closer to the revelers’ demise, the costumed figure taking the lives of all who inhabited the castle, or a character attempting to escape fate through material goods. All in all, Edgar Allan Poe establishes the central idea that death is an inescapable part of life through his use of symbolism.
Integrated project delivery (IPD) includes extensive partnership needed for the present day dense construction. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) defines IPD as “a project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, business structures, and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all project participants to optimize project results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and construction”. (AIA California Council, 2007) Becerik-Ghassemi and Gerber (2011) state that the parameters that differentiate IPD from traditional project delivery methods are:
Orpheus learns what has happened and searches for Euridyce in a hero capacity. However, he does not realize she is hanging onto a power line as he turns it on and she is electrocuted (Black Orpheus). Once the ambulance arrives the mask skeleton hitches a ride which represents Hades taken Euridyce to the underworld (Black Orpheus). This adaptation in the film changes how a Euridyce is sent to the underworld in comparison to the myth. Another modification made in the film is Orpheus attempts to retrieve Euridyce. According to the myth Orpheus plays his music and Hades releases Euridyce to him on the condition he will not look back as he brings her to the surface (Orpheus and Eurydice). The film shows Orpheus witnessing a religious ceremony and Euridyce speaks to him through an elderly women who has her received her spirit (Black Orpheus). At this point the film maker reverts back to the myth where Orpheus is told not to look back. However, he does and in doing so loses Euridyce forever
The USA PATRIOT Act was passed immediately after September 11 as a way to provide law enforcement with added powers to track down and punish those responsible for the attacks and to protect the United States against any similar acts from occurring in the future. According to Introduction to Homeland Security textbook, it also “gave the Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies such as the FBI new and significantly broader investigatory authority” (Oliver, Marion, & Hill. 2015. P.246). Even though this act gave these law enforcement new powers, it also creates controversies. For one, it invades the civil liberties of the American citizens. The act clearly violates the Fourth Amendment Right, which clearly prohibits searches and seizure
Two human beings find out many things about themselves throughout the play, Creon, an ignorant, sexist king, and Antigone, a passionate, selfless, and loyal princess. Sophocles was a man who was influenced by what was going on in the world around him and teaches lessons with his writings. Sophocles edifies the world, through Creon’s ignorance and pride, to never close yourself off from something that will benefit you in the long run. Through Antigone his professes his message of loyalty to one’s family, passion for what she believes in, and selflessness for putting her dead brother over herself.
It also fails to consider inter-textual relations. Furthermore, critical discourse analysis does not effectively reproduce ideologies and power relations related to conversations and use of language (Fairclough, 2013). Nonetheless, critical discourse analysis effectively demonstrates how knowledge systems and social relations are developed through effective use of language and proper engagement in conversations. Additionally, critical discourse analysis is time conscious. Therefore, it is effective in analyzing contemporary forms of communications, including social media conversations. It is also effective in analyzing both rhetoric and language that are expressed in conversations (Bloor & Bloor, 2013). Critical content analysis is relevant to the teaching of linguistics as it indicates effective use of rhetoric and language to establish meaningful
van Dijk, T. “Introduction: the role of discourse analysis in society”. Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Vol 4. London: Academic Press, 1985
Jan blommaert and Chris Bulcaen makes a brief introduction to the study of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA intends to use social-theoretical method in discourse analysis and is primarily linguistically based (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.447). It intends to analyze the structural relationships of dominance, discrimination, power and control through a textual study (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.448). Based on the assumption that social discourse is constructed and socially conditioned, CDA explores the power dynamics in this process.
Love, P., Gunasekaran, A. and Li, H. (1998) 'Concurrent Engineering: A Strategy for Procuring Construction Projects', International Journal of Project Management, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 375-383.
According to Teun A.van Dijk in the paper Multidisciplinary CDA: a plea for diversity (collected by Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. 2001) considers CDA as a critical perspective, so to speak, discourse analysis with an attitude. It focuses on social problems, and especially on the role of discourse in the production and reproduction of power abuse or domination. Wherever possible, it does so from a perspective that is consistent with the best interests of dominated groups. The term critical in CDA is often associated with studying power relations (Fairclough, 1997). In Language and Power (2001), Fairclough mentions power in discourse and power behind discourse. In terms of power in discourse, discourse is the site of struggle, and in terms of power behind discourse, it is the stake in power struggle – for control over orders of