Book III in Wang Shifu's The Story of the Western Wing
One of China’s most popular love comedies, The Story of the Western Wing (Xixiang Ji) by Wang Shifu (1250-1300) dramatizes a scholar-and-beauty romance. Zhang Sheng, a promising student, and Cui Yingying, a beautiful maiden, meet in a temple, fall in love at first sight and after a series of thwarted attempts, they end up happily marrying each other, after the student has passed the civil exam as the top one, of course. Among the five books of The Story of the Western Wing, Book III stands out in the very middle of the whole play with interesting characteristics in terms of both theatrical features and thematic complexity. First of all, while dan and sheng share most of the arias in the other four books, the “small dan” Hongniang takes all the singing parts in this book and by doing so emerges as the major character as the play goes on. Moreover, due to her liminal status as a housemaid, that is, her relative freedom of entering different private spaces as well as tabooed topics, Hongniang’s domination of the stage adds much more complexity to the scholar-beauty love story. Second, Book III is depleted of spectacular scenes, which are considered fundamental to the Chinese theater (so-called “total theater”) and do appear in the other books, such as the ceremony scene in Book I and the roaring bandits in Book II. Instead, what we have here is the three core characters, namely Hongniang, Zhang Sheng and Yingying getting on and off the stage, conjuring, insinuating and conspiring without fully accomplishing any goal yet significantly complicating their interrelationships and respective desires. Hence, instead of appealing to the audience with spectacular staging, Book...
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...ng wants her mistress to know his bachelor status while Hongniang indicates more interest than anger in her long criticism of his inappropriate inquiry about Yingying’s activities: “Why meddle in something that doesn’t concern you? If it were only me, well, I could forgive that” (133). Then, in Act iii, Book II, Hongniang expresses her admiration for Zhang in a more explicit way: “On account of his exterior appearance/ And because of his inner talents,/ I, who have always had a hard heart, / Am smitten as I see him” (169).
[5] Hongniang does seem more eager than Yingying to meet Zhang Sheng in some cases. In Act iii, that Zhang Sheng mistakes her for Yingying and hugs her is also implicative of Hongniang’s acting as the double of Yingying. Yet these cases may also serve to construct dramatic contrasts between the maid and the mistress and to amuse the audience.
These “hand-picked” classics were the guidelines of society. Women did not have the same privileges as men. When the Classics are interpreted as “hand-picked” selections exemplifying Confucian beliefs, the poem “The Han So Wide” depicts that promiscuous “girls roaming free” need to be civilized by a Confucian lifestyle (The Han So Wide). Meanwhile, it was common for men to have multiple wives, such as Magnate Ma in Rescriptor-in-Waiting Bao’s Clever Trick: The Record of the Chalk Circle (Xingdao). Magnate Ma had two wives, the First Wife, and former prostitute Zhang Haitang, yet he was never shamed (Xingdao). Zhang Haitang, however, was judged heavily by everyone in the town for her social background, causing her to lose her first court case against the first wife for the murder of Magnate Ma (Xingdao). It was unacceptable for women to be seen with more than one man, but men could have as many wives and concubines as he
As seen by the terrorist attacks of September 11th and afterwards this is not an easy approach, if even possible, and it asks for a unreserved commitment, the clear definition of interests within the international system, it asks for the use of force if necessary as well as the clear distinction when not, and it asks for a transformation of institutions and policies. Since this was not done early on, the examples provide the reasons of failure as well as a demonstration of a slow learning process in U.S. foreign Policy.
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.
While Solution-focused therapy is a combination of ideas from other theories, such as cognitive, communication, and crisis intervention. “It’s focus is of helping clients identify and amplify their strengths and resources toward the goal of finding solutions to presenting problems (Walsh, 2013).”
Chang portrays the complexity of Henry’s character by showing the conflict that he faces both in his personal and professional life. His confusion towards his own Cultural identity is noticed in his relationships with his co-workers as well as with his family. His personal relationship with his family, especially with his father and his wife exemplifies the clash between the two cultures which seems to tear Henry apart. Leila, Henry’s wife, seems to epitomize the traditional American Culture which Henry tries very hard to be a part of. Her forthright nature along with the independence and individuality contradicts the stereotypical qualities of an Asian wife. However, Henry’s desperation is seen in his forgiving attitude towards Leila’s action and behavior. His deter...
“NASA’s budget continues to be reduced from almost $18.5 billion in 2011 to $17.8 billion in 2012” (McBrien). With NASA expecting more budget cuts in the future, something
Willowbrook Institute was built in the late 1930s. It was a state-supported institution for mentally retarded children located in central Staten Island in New York City. By 1965 it had 6,000 residents, while it was only planned for 4,000. “A combination of rising placements, budget cuts, ignorance, arrogance and indifference, created notorious conditions at Willowbrook.” This institution was called a “snake pit” by Senator Robert Kennedy. It was very unsanitary and short staffed. Even though it was called a state school but very little “teaching” happened. Under these horrible conditions, children were deliberately infected with Hepatitis under the guidance of Dr. Saul Krugman, as part of an experiment to understand it more.
Although we did not have time for the lecture on Chapter 15, I found myself intrigued with the information I read on solution-focused therapies. The term solution-focused therapy kept coming up in my classes, but I really did not have an understanding of exactly what it entailed. In reviewing this chapter, I not only learned a lot, but also found myself in agreement with much of what I read. While there is no such thing as a one size fits all therapy, Solution-focused therapy has a lot to offer clients.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare decides to have a few of the characters act out the story of Pyramus and Thisbe for four other personages. What is curious is that, rather than simply having them quickly act out the short skit, Shakespeare has the characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream who are watching comment on the playlet as it is being presented by Bottom and his friends, in turn affecting the way it is demonstrated by influencing the ‘characters’. Shakespeare has the audience (Theseus, Demetrius, Hippolyta, and Lysander) bring attention to and complement the moon, wall, and lion, despite the fact that Pyramus and Thisbe are supposed to be the main focus and play the most important roles. Additionally, he has both the comments and the acting de-romanticize Pyramus and Thisbe, who are known for their tragic yet romantic story of love and death. These elements make a mockery of the so-called ‘romantic’ tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, in a way de-romanticizing it by
In conclusion, Continuing NASA and the programs run by it, is harmful to American society and Government. NASA harms the economy. NASA also harms the environment in which we live. And the money that NASA spends could be used to help solve problems in our country, not on another planet. Only if we work together, fixing our own problems first, respectfully with each other, as one body, one world, and one planet, then we will be able to reach out into space. We will be able to explore it safely, efficiently, and environmentally soundly.
...?NASA’s advancements in technology continues to generate billions of dollars, provide employment to numerous people and most importantly ,save lives. Today we see more and more young people taking up careers and jobs in the field of science.
Xin Ran meets with a college student who gives Xin Ran a definition of a “good woman”. The good Chinese woman is conditioned to behave in a “soft, meek manner” (42). She then goes on to say that the bad woman, or the mistress, is a woman a man despises and that is why he does not marry her. This idea of a good woman is a topic that is explored by a lot of literature. Looking at Shakespeare’s Hamlet,
However, this film rarely announced the realistic of a female character, that is, despite the obsession hatred of White Hair Girl toward the landlord, and the joy of starting a new life with the Communist Party, audience can rarely feel the other kind of emotion from this female character, for example, the desire of to be loved, is absent in this film. Therefore, in the other hand, another question had been raisen: Do the White Hair Girl necessary to be a female character when she hasn’t shown any of the desire of female? In this film, White Hair Girl is not necessary to be a female, only the reason for it is , a victimized female is more easy to grip audience’s sympathy. And this also suggested the position of women as women itself is not important during that period. But obviously, this film is just purely a popanganda from the Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution - a model performance (geming yangbanxi)
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is written in an entertaining and adventurous spirit, but serves a higher purpose by illustrating the century’s view of courtly love. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other pieces of literature written in the same century prevail to commemorate the coupling of breathtaking princesses with lionhearted knights after going through unimaginable adventures, but only a slight few examine the viability of such courtly love and the related dilemmas that always succeed. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that women desire most their husband’s love, Overall, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that the meaning of true love does not stay consistent, whether between singular or separate communities and remains timeless as the depictions of love from this 14th century tale still hold true today.
As it can be seen from the characteristics of the two servants, they have some differences. These differences not only affect their characteristics but also their relationships with others too. In the book we can see two servants with different relationships with the same person who is Prosp...