SILENCE THE COURT IS IN SESSION
1) TITLE-
The original title of the play is SHANTATA! COURT CHALU AHE. The words of the title are very common in law courts where the honourable judges pronounce the words to bring back order and decorum if the parties concerned or the mob present in the court become unruly or create chaos and commotion. In other words the very words SILENCE THE COURT IS IN SESSION indicate the absolute authority of the judge in the court room to decide upon the manners of others. The judge has also the final authority to pronounce contempt of court in case of breach of discipline. In a civilized society the court system is in vogue for the sake of justice. The judiciary is considered to be one of the four main pillars of democracy.
In the present play Vijay Tendulkar chooses a term of judicial register as the title of his play to make a powerful comment on a society with a heavy patriarchal bias that makes justice impossible and that converts the august judicial system into an instrument of oppression of women and the vulnerable. Ideally justice can be provided only if the judge and the judicial system are objectively detached. But the same objective detachment can become the face of a very repressive and dehumanized system if the persons involved in the process of justice are themselves devoid of human value and compassion.
In the present play we find how Benare becomes the victim of sadism of his male counterparts. The audience is made to witness a mere enactment of what is a rehearsal of sorts of a mock-trial to be staged later in the day. But what begins as a harmless game begins to assume a grim aspect before long.
At first all the characters vie to be the accused in the mock-trial. Then, on Sukhatme’s suggestion they decide to make Benare the accused. It is notable that Benare is allotted the role of accused in her absence. As soon as Benare enters the room singing, and wiping her face on the towel, she is caught unaware by Ponkshe,”Miss Leela Benare , you have been arrested on suspicion of a crime of an extremely grave nature, and brought as a prisoner before the bar of this court.” Kashikar, assuming the role of the judge accuses Benare of the crime of infanticide. The way Benare is made the accused without her consent shows the functioning of the patriarchal system.
The play moves in an increasingly intense montage of scenes that lead up to the conviction of nine Order members. A little research informs that many of the members portrayed in the play are still serving jail sentences today. Considering the play was not easy to watch, it must have been just as difficult to perform. Go...
A 21st century audience would look at the play from the perspective of needless hysteria and accusations and would be amazed that human nature when put into these situations reacts the way it does in the play. In modern time we are able to appreciate the play without being concerned with the parallels of McCarthyism. Although my selected scene is only three-quarters way through the play it is very conclusive in the way that it shows the ability of the court to accept the condemnations of people looking for vengeance and the girls’ lies throughout the trials. The historical background to the play, although quite old still relates to human life and behaviour. It shows the willingness of human beings to blame anyone but themselves.
The first main area of art and reality colliding in the play is the existence of characters who are referred to as Characters. Pirandello stretches the bounds of meta-theater by having actors portray Characters who swear they are not actors, when faced with other actors playing actual actors and a Director. The layers of unraveling of reality are astounding. The Characters must try and convince not only the Actors and the Producer of their true nature, but also the audience. Pirandello must convey his beliefs about the essence of art through the mouths of Characters seemingly unattached to the actuality of the theater around them. In the play, the Producer acts on stage in place of the author, questioning the sincerity and the true nature of the Characters, who become his r...
The reader is introduced to an insight of Titus Andronicus’ cruel nature, after he ignores Tamora’s cry to have her first-born son saved from his sacrifice to revenge the lives of his sons that her Goth people took. This new interpretation of Titus as a ruthless murderer heavily contradicts the reader’s first impression of Titus that Marcus gave the reader. Marcus initially leads the reader to except that Titus is good and honorable man. Titus’ sudden act of violence makes the reader realizes that he has two sides to his character: the relentless warrior and the beloved hero. However as the play unfolds, an individual can realize that everything that occurs throughout the play is connected to the initial sacrifice. It is evident that Titus’ character goes through many changes, the not one but many sides of his personality are revealed.
This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall.
‘Titus Andronicus ‘is a play by William Shakespeare that went to become very popular during his time. The play was performed in Rome after the defeat of the Goths by the Romans. The Goths were people from German who invaded their country. Throughout the play, violence can be seen inform of brutal murders, sexual violence and mutilation, suicide, wars and conflicts. This is normally heightened by the urge of the characters to revenge. Examples of such cases include: the raping and mutilation of Lavinia, Titus’s daughter and the killing of Alarbus. Shakespeare presents stage violence that makes the audience concentrate and understand in a better way.
It shouldn't be forgotten that in the body of the play those who are masters of a language of extraordinary wit and polish - language that seems to guarantee rationality and good judgement - get things almost completely wrong. The resolution of the play comes via the agency of the people whose discourse is an assault on language, who are dismissed - by Leonato - as 'tedious' when they should be patiently listened to. But, as Borachio says 'what your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light' (V.1.221-222). And even more disturbing, that resolution comes by mere accident: by the chance overhearing of a conversation.
The crowded courtroom was absolutely silent as the 12 all white and all men took their seats at the jury box. Chief Justice Albert Mason, one of the presiding judges in the murder case, asked Charles I. Richards, the foreman, to rise. Mr. Richards was asked to read the verdict. “Not guilty”, replied the foreman. Even though the circumstantial and physical evidence pointed to Lizzie Borden guilty of killing her step-mother and father, the all-male jury, men of some financial means, could not fathom that a woman who is well bred and a Sunday school teacher could possibly commit such a heinous crime (Linder 7).
In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” or “What You Will” is one of Shakespeare’s many comedic plays. The passage in Act 1, Scene 5 focused predominately on a conversation between Feste and Olivia about the mourning of her brother. It was through Feste and Olivia’s word games that contributed to the play as a whole because it added humour to the play. The passage also helped to reveal an underlining theme of the play, which is deception as shown through the character of Malvolio. This essay has attempted to explain the meaning of the passage, attempted to unpack the language utilised by Shakespeare and determine his ideas behind the chosen language. It then tried to justify why and how those ideas in the passage contributed to the play as a whole.
clear catharsis achieved in the emotions for the tragic hero: At the outset of the play the audience
The play in all entirety is a major spectacle but Medea’s burning desire for revenge was what captivated viewers the most. As spectators we watch with fascination and horror how the series of events unfold. The chorus also watches Medea’s cutthroat destruction of her enemies. Some might perceive this as an unsettling spectacle. Nonetheless the genius and cunningness of her action is revered not only b...
The ladies make an unspoken decision that Mrs. Wright did not deserve to be punished for killing her husband. In their minds, evidence of his extreme cruelty to his wife negated her guilt.
There is a collective existence of different forms legal systems, because of the country’s diversity in culture, language and religion. This diversity is able to flourish in India only because of representation of different communities. Diversity and pluralism are acknowledged in India which safeguards the interests of different social groups and communities. This led to law being seen as necessarily pluralistic. However, after colonisation there was an effort made by the British to make law uniform, an essential condition in what was seen as ‘modern law’. Nonetheless, after independence an effort was made to have a pluralistic legal system as this would lead to better representation of different communities. This is how the Panchayati Raj system, a form of local self-government came about. Panchayats were reintroduced in 1992 after the British rule, and there a panchayat in every town of village. The people of the village elect the members of the ‘panch’, whose responsibility is the local administration of the village. In many places, gram panchayats are also known as gram sabhas. In this manner, different forms of legal pluralism shape everyday ordering and disputing in rural and urban India. They relate to formal law as well as customary legal orders equally. The two governance systems interact, which can be termed as formal law and traditional law. Customary law is also termed as unnamed law as it does not refer to a specific basis of
Among the tragedies of Shakespeare Othello is supreme in one quality: beauty. Much of its poetry, in imagery, perfection of phrase, and steadiness of rhythm, soaring yet firm, enchants the sensuous imagination. This kind of beauty Othello shares with Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra; it is a corollary of the theme which it shares with them. But Othello is also remarkable for another kind of beauty. Except for the trivial scene with the clown, all is immediately relevant to the central issue; no scene requires critical justification. The play has a rare intellectual beauty, satisfying the desire of the imagination for order and harmony between the parts and the whole. Finally, the play has intense moral beauty. It makes an immediate appeal to the moral imagination, in its presentation in the figure of Desdemona of a love which does not alter ‘when it alteration finds’, but ‘bears it out even to the edge of doom’. (139)
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s behavior and actions cause readers to question his sanity. Hamlet’s character can be interpreted in many different ways. It could be said that he is indeed insane, or it can be disputed that he, as he made known, is simply putting on a good act. The complexity of knowing Hamlet’s true character derives from the fact that we, as readers, are unable to read Shakespeare’s or Hamlet’s minds. Therefore, judgments could be made solely by reading and interpreting his behavior and coming up with a satisfactory conclusion. Taking into consideration incidents such as Polonius’ murder and Hamlet’s contemplating suicide, it is natural for individuals who perform such acts to be categorized as crazy. Ignoring Hamlet’s actual actions, and paying keen attention to what altered his character, one can debate that Hamlet is not at all insane. It is important to consider the situations which triggered Hamlet’s different actions. By giving discreet thought to Hamlet’s position and what he endures, one will realize that he is not demented, but he is actually an angry, betrayed and emotionally devastated fatherless son.