Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Theater reflection essay
Introduction: The time of writing and performance of the one act comedy, Birds of a Feather by J.O. Francis, act as an effective background behind creation of this drama. The first performance of the play was provided by the Welsh Society on 2nd March 1923 at the London School of Economics (Francis 106). Almost a century prior to this time industrial revolution occurred in the English society, introducing drastic changes at different levels of the English socio-cultural aspects. Effects of these changes were not so strikingly realized till inception of the 20th century. Separation from nature, division of the society in name of class and status and abundant growth of urban culture created huge impact over lifestyle of common English people in such a manner that was never experienced before. Literature became an effective medium that mirrored the frustration generated from increasingly isolated social existence of English commoners. The Birds of a Feather is one such brilliant instance, encompassing all these aspects. Despite entire flow of events in this drama occurs in a comical manner, the audience clearly receives the impression that how people in the modern society are tired of surviving in a hypocritical manner, forgetting essential spontaneity of their nature. This one act comedy by J.O. Francis has beautifully reflected over the theme of individual freedom, spontaneous urge for social unity irrespective of all the differentiating aspects and finally basic human aspiration to enjoy living in a classless society. Symbolism, Choice of backdrop and Thematic Appeal: The playwright’s choice of Welsh as background of the drama signifies his desire to remain in close proximity with natural existence. Consequently, through... ... middle of paper ... ...their social and cultural entities. The play has metaphorically emphasized over the eternal artistic realization that proper appreciation of individual freedom, social harmony and a classless existence can only make the situation better for people. Works Cited Denver, John. “Sweet Surrender”. n.d. available at: http://www.lyricstime.com/john-denver-sweet-surrender-lyrics.html. Retrieved on: 17th December, 2009 Donohue, Joseph W., Thomson, Peter, Kershaw, Baz, and Milling, Jane,. The Cambridge History of British Theatre: Since 1895 / edited by Baz Kershaw. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2004 Francis, J.O. The Birds of a Feather (Source: Twenty-Four One-Act Plays). Vancouver: READ BOOKS, 2008 Kozlenko, William,. The one-act play today: a discussion of the technique, scope & history of the contemporary short drama. New Hampshire: Ayer Publishing, 1970
While it is widely understood now that Victorian society was one of excess and frivolity, it most certainly seemed legitimate to members of high society at the time. However, this was not the case with Oscar Wilde, who in his final play made mockery of his countrymen by satirizing the way in which they lived. This play, entitled The Importance of Being Earnest, follows the courtship of two young girls and exaggerates the absurd formalities of such a process in high society. The characters are shallow and delusional as a result of their upbringing, and collectively their words bring harsh criticism to the British upper class. These characters can be split into two clear categories. The majority, which is comprised of characters raised as orthodox aristocrats, is completely engrained with its ideals, primarily that of aesthetics over morals. These characters are in many ways like machines; so thorough is their connection with high society that they cannot function as individuals. In the other group, the minority, are those characters who would be referred to as “dandies” in Wilde’s time. They have retained their individuality, and use it seek their own slice of aristocratic influence. But by becoming so involved with high society they subject themselves to its triviality, and ultimately become as mechanical as their peers. In this way Wilde shows Victorian life to be corrupting rather than beneficial. Rather than a leading group in society, it’s obsession with luxury twists the upper class into meaningless robots. It is true that the aristocracy hold money and power, but there is an emptiness present that far outweighs the gains.
Wilson, August. "The Piano Lesson." Drama: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. 5th ed. New York: Pearson, 2012. 362-442. Print.
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
At the beginning of the development in drama and theatre in the Elizabethan era the first temporary stages were set at the end of the inn-yards. Those inn-yard theatres evolved into first outdoor theatres and what both of these have in common is that the plays performed on stages attracted many people from all social classes. Shakespeare as a playwright uses many different types of humor in his comedies in order to amuse all of the audience. Many examples of humouristic situations can be seen in ‘’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’’.
This new theatre was an extremely risky venture. Any actor caught performing would be imprisoned. Box office receipts would be confiscated for the Commonwealth. Enormous fines would be levied against any daring to sit in an audience. Entire playhouses would be destroyed, their interiors gutted or exteriors burned. Theatre faced extinction. It became an obsequious art, catering to Cromwell's strict moral code. Killigrew would survive, and eventually form the Theatre Royal, but he lived in constant fear. Davenant worked through legal channels to produce theatre Cromwell could not dispute. His pieces were simple, more opera then play, and propaganda for the Commonwealth. Interestingly, the first woman to appear on the British stage did so in this time, in Davenant's The Siege of Rhodes. He began pushing the envelope, uncomfortable in his new sycophantic role. He renewed his ties to the British aristocracy, exiled to France. He befriended Charles II, and when the young king made his triumphant return to power, Davenant was given the monopoly on all theatre in London. He shared this power with his old friend Thomas Killigrew. Under their guidance, the theatre exploded back into being.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print. The.
Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. "Reading More Drama." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York, New York, London: W.W. Norton & Co, 2011. 951-1959. Print.
3. Shipley, Joseph T. The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984. 332 - 333.
---. “Wild Swans.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2002. 459-466. Print.
113- The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. of the book. Vol.
The ineptness and helplessness of the narrator in Parliament of Fowls is only further developed as the...
The social/economic upper-class in England in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray are depicted through the characters’ lifestyles, wealth, and behaviors. Woolf, Austen, and Wilde give insightful portrayals of the characters by emphasizing their social roles in the England society. Their portrayals of the characters suggest that they are critical of the upper-class’ factitious lifestyles.
In society, we are judged by our social class. We are divided into groups depending on our wealth, influence, and status. With each social class, society has certain expectations and norms that they expect people from their catorgorie to follow. For instance, society assumes that the higher an individual is on the hierarchy, the more prosperous and content they are. These are the ideas that Bernard Shaw challenges. Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and socialist that desired to demolish the caste system in Britain. He used his play, Pygmalion to depict the contrast of social classes. He exploited his characters, Eliza and Doolittle to depict their experience with rising to the upper class in terms of realism and idealism. He shows us clearly
A significant influencing factor on drama of the eighteenth century was the changing nature of the audience. By the middle of the eighteenth century, a straitlaced middle class audience had imparted to drama its vision of morality and disapproval of anything immoral. Comedy had become watered down and sentimentalized. Furthermore, the audience’s rejection of unappealing facts following the ugly reality of the French Revolution and the American War of Independence, made emotionalism and tearfulness the order of the day. Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan were two playwrights who saw that if comedy were allowed free reign along this path of sentimentalism, it would signal the end of mirth. Both appreciated the power of pure comedy and the spirit of joyous laughter and wrote plays with situations that had no call for showing the redeeming features of vice and folly at the end, but just good healthy fun.
It is generally suggested that Britain is essentially a class-conscious society where the upper classes are considerably preoccupied with the view of social position, the language and manners. It is sensitivity of people to gradations of prestige, the ritual and etiquette of inter-personal relationships within and across the lines that divide the population in form of social hierarchy. British literature throughout the Victorian period in particular and the twentieth century in general is a reflection of this manifestation of British society. The class-consciousness or social hierarchy has continued to plague the British society through the turbulent years and is still a phenomenon to reckon with. Alan Carter aptly observes, “In Britain they have inherited a society riddled from top to bottom with class barriers and petty snobberies, an establishment still powerfully entrenched, and a royal family still regarded as a British status symbol long after the rest of the world had got rid of even laughing at our pretensions”( 20). In the Post-War Britain, the successive governments initiated a horde of social measures to create a just and egalitarian society, but class continued to be principal feature of the British society. John Osborne responded to this social malaise and dramatized it faithfully and artistically in his plays. He neither condemns the upper class nor glorifies the working class, but places both the classes in a critical perspective, highlighting their virtues and weaknesses.