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.
The Rivals too denounces the hollow morality and hypocrisy associated with the sentimental attitude then prevailing, projecting its writer’s own ideal of a spontaneous and lively light-heartedness. The plot is based on confusion over identities and multiple suitors – a combination that leads to plenty of scope for truly funny situations: Absolute caught in the same room with both Mrs. Malaprop and Lydia present, having to play himself for one and Beverley for the other till the presence of Sir Anthony too prevents him from doing so successfully; Absolute humouring Mrs. Malaprop as himself and poking fun at her as Beverley in his note; Lydia’s acceptance and rejection of the same man according to her romantic whims and fancies; the final duel where one man has to fight two rivals virtually simultaneously. Sheridan’s skill is only underlined by the fact that in an age – and the performance house in which he produced plays – where spectacle, scenery and lighting had become indispensable to success, he achieved his comedy and triumph without recourse to any of it, merely on the strength of his own writing, wit and dialogue.
Sentimentalism is found largely in the characters of Lydia and Faulkland. Sheridan attacks their traits in the overall plot and theme in which he shows how a healthy deep love can be threatened by such fanciful thinking. The only ‘redeeming’ feature – probably in a reversal of the trend of soppy final redemptions - he shows at the end is that both are brought with a rude shock down to earth following the very real possibility of losing the partners they come to know they love deeply.
Eighteenth century British theatre was perhaps the starting point that would evolve into modern theatre. Women started to be allowed on stage and acting techniques were beginning to change. Leading performers were like celebrities with a number of fans. Theatre was an intricate part of the social ladder. In the overall scheme of things the actors and actresses played an important part in making the theatre what it was. Without the performers there wouldn’t really be theatre, so in order to understand the eighteenth century British theatre the performers of that era need to be understood.
Levine’s first chapter presents evidence that 19th century Americans of all social classes enjoyed Shakespeare as an integral part of their culture and entertainment. Shakespeare’s works were familiar enough to the populace that a variety of parodies were written and performed for large crowds that displayed their engagement with the works by applause, vegetable-throwing, interruptions, and commands to the actors. Shakespeare’s plays were performed in frontier communities and in cities, in churches and theatres and make-shift stages, attended by people of all classes. He describes the integration of Shakespeare into the Americans’ language and imagination, and explains Shakespeare’s popularity on the basis of its compatibility with 19th century Americans’ oral rhetorical style and their ability to see their own culture’s emphasis on individualism and morality reflected in Shakespeare’s characters and stories.
Genovese, Michael A. Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. New York: Facts on File, 2010. Print.
Based on the initial pain medicine evaluation report dated 06/22/15, the patient complains of constant neck pain which radiates down to the bilateral upper extremity, fingers and hands. Pain is accompanied by intermittent tingling and numbness in the bilateral upper extremities to the level of the fingers and muscle weakness. The neck pain is associated with occipital, temporal and frontal headaches and muscle spasms in the neck area. The patient describes the pain as aching, burning, pins and needles, sharp, and stabbing. The pain is aggravated by activity, flexion/extension, prolonged sitting, pulling, pushing, repetitive head motions and standing. She also reports severe difficulty in sleep.
In I Henry IV and II Henry IV, William Shakespeare brings together drama and comedy to create two of the most compelling history plays ever written. Many of Shakespeare's other works are nearly absolute in their adherence to either the comic or tragic traditions, but in the two Henry IV plays Shakespeare combines comedy and drama in ways that seem to bring a certain realism to his characters, and thus the plays. The present essay is an examination of the various and significant effects that Shakespeare's comedic scenes have on I Henry IV and II Henry IV. The Diversity of Society
The ability of an author to capture the interest of the audience has and will always be an important factor in the art of storytelling and even the expression of research or related material. When an author is able to seize the attention of any partaking of their work, curiosity will develop which will lead to the wonder of what the conclusion my bring about. Not only is it important to snatch the audience’s attention in the beginning, it is necessary to hold it prisoner throughout the tale. Authors do this by having an interesting plot development in which many unexpected details come into play and the course of the story is thrown from the norm and into the conflict. Shakespeare was a master of this art in the work he produced throughout his life and was able to create stories of humor and those of tragedy. For example, his play King Lear is a terrible tragedy in which many awful things take place and the story ends by disastrous means. While in the play Much Ado About Nothing, very little conflict is present and if it is, it is resolved quickly and the play concludes with the joyfulness of marriage nuptials. His ability to develop plot and story in a way in which the audience who love to devour, Shakespeare will in a way immortalize himself, “Shakespeare proved himself to be both the "soul of the age" his works reflected and adorned and the consummate symbol of the artist whose poetic visions transcend their local habitation and become, in some mysterious way, contemporaneous with ‘all time.’” (Andrews) As stated, Shakespeare went beyond his time and created traditions, symbols, sayings, and even stories that people today will remember forever. King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing are each examples of Shakespeare's detailed ...
4. The Power of the Modern Presidency, Erwin C. Hargrove. Alfred A. Knopf, INC 1974, pg. 304.
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.
William Shakespeare is a brilliant and well-known author for his use of writing techniques and sonnets throughout his pieces. This excessive amount of talent is seen especially in one of his most famous novels about a pair of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. This piece follows the lives of young Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague as they fall in what is assumed to be love. However, this adoration is forbidden by the citizens of Verona, as their families are fixed into an immovable and unjustifiable feud. After catching sight of each other at a Capulet party, they instantaneously grow an immense amount of fondness towards each other. As the story progresses and complicates, the star-crossed lovers face conflicts that lead towards their
Otis Wheeler describes how the surge in sentimental dramas was a direct reaction to the coarse comedies of the Restoration wherein man was depicted as ridiculous and nonsensical. In contrast “the drama of sensibility” was a display of the infinite promise of man. In this way the beginnings of the Cult of Sensibility is inextricably linked to the birth of Romanticism, yet where Romanticism preferred the superfluous and exaggerated the Cult of Sensibility preferred the delicate, softer emotions that would bring people together in harmony. As such it is fair to say that although these two styles were borne of a similar distaste for the neoclassical, they developed into very different types of drama. Romanticism created antagonistic protagonists, such as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.
Goldman, Michael. "'Romeo and Juiliet': The Meaning of the Theatrical Experience." Shakespeare and the Energies of Drama. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP. 1972. 33-44. Rpt.
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
Presidents of the United States of America have been around since the country became it’s own. Each president is given certain responsibilities and rights. Presidential power is listed in the Constitution but since then, there’s been room for more responsibilities to come into play. The powers exercised in the modern world surpass those included in the Constitution. Today, the president has a number of offices and departments serving under him. These institutions help keep the government together and everything running smoothly. The presidents rely on a number of other things. Some include elections, political parties, interest groups, the media, and public opinion. There are different kinds of powers granted to the president. While some are expressed powers and can be found written in the Constitution, others are delegated powers are given by the Congress to the president, and inherent powers, which are powers claimed by the President but aren’t found in the Constitution.
In Shakespeare’s comedies, the audience have come to expect that the play will end on a note of happiness. Indeed, the “happiness of Shakespeare’s comic endings belong in s...
The name most associated with excellence in theatre is William Shakespeare. His plays, more than any other playwright, resonate through the ages. It may be safe to say that he has influenced more actors, directors, and playwrights than any thespian in the history of the stage. But what were his influences? During the Middle Ages theatre was dominated by morality, miracle, and mystery plays that were often staged by the church as a means to teach the illiterate masses about Christianity. It wasn’t until the early sixteenth century that Greek tragedy experienced a revival, in turn, inspiring a generation of renaissance playwrights.