As a dramatist, Calderon was not in a position to express his personal opinion in such a direct manner, as perhaps a novelist is able to. Despite this, dramatists found other ways to manipulate their characters and therefore the reaction of their audience. The characterisation of the protagonist don Gutierre in `El Medico de su Honra' has created a multitude of disagreement amongst the critics concerning his culpability. It is through don Gutierre's actions that the audience is able to come to a conclusion about his character and for what reason he has decided to behave in such a way.
What I believe to be the most important characteristic of the whole play is the theme of honour, which evidently is the main motivation for all the characters. It is vital to consider the character of don Gutierre hand in hand with the `code of honour' which is the backdrop for the play. C. A Jones defines in his article "Spanish Honour as Historical Phenomenon, Convention and Artistic Motive" the honour code as a series of "demands made on the individual by the conventions of the society of which he is a member." The conventions of Fourteenth Century Castille in `El Medico de su Honra' made honour, meaning ones reputation and integrity, the primary concern. It is clear from an early stage in the play how high don Gutierre esteems his honour when he refers to `el honor que hoy ha ganado/ nuestra casa' (Act 1, lines 510-511) which is solely due to the prince's injury. Moreover, don Gutierre is prepared to sacrifice his own feelings in order to protect his honour. On the one hand, he is prepared to spy on Mencia as he did to Leonor. Yet on the other, he fulfils the characteristics of a `hombre de bien' who is unwilling to jeopardise the hon...
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...t that this could relieve don Gutierre of some of the responsibility. However, I am still of the opinion that this does not excuse don Gutierre's guilt. His crimes are far too extreme to be excused, especially when they were executed in such a cold and calculated manner.
In conclusion, Calderon has created a multi dimensional character which allows the audience to come to their own conclusion. He has a developed psychological background, and his motives are clearly outlined from the outset. In addition to this, the honour code is also a heavy influence, and these aspects evoke sympathy from the audience. Yet at the same time, don Gutierre reacts in such a barbaric manner, which clearly indicates that he is an irrational human being, even if the circumstances which surround his make him simply a victim of a cruel social code and unfortunate circumstances.
Fundamental to our understanding of El Médico de su Honra, and of any other play is the notion that it was for performance and not intended for reading. Therefore, the action, text and spectacle all work together in producing an overall effect upon the audience. Calderón is described as a `craftsman' of drama and is famous for the dramatic devices which appeal to the various senses in order to convey the play's message with greater profundity. However, the seventeenth century playwright was limited by the facilities available to him. The rudimentary nature of their theatres affected the way in which a play was staged and therefore its interpretation. Public theatres were situated in courtyards, or `corrales', surrounded on three sides by private dwellings. A basic, but nevertheless important point is that theatres were generally exposed to the elements. By necessity, plays were performed during daylight hours and inevitably this would affect the presentation of the play. Atmosphere and mood were of paramount importance in a play, and this is of particular significance in El Médico de su Honra, where darkness is crucial both to the plot and the underlying themes.
...athustra is described as ‘abichado’, with ‘la cara de tocina rancio’ and ‘la bufanda de verde serpiente’ and she is mostly importantly, alluded to a ‘fantoche’. Moreover, Max Estrella shrinks throughout the play and becomes a puppet figure, which is shown in his directionless and aimless wandering throughout the streets of Madrid, emphasizing the absurdity of his life and of the Spanish society. This puppetry of the characters in the play is a source of farce, thus provoking laughter as the audience’s sudden realization of the absurdity of the string of events incites their amusement, showing the dark humour of Valle’s play. Therefore, this way of presenting his characters as helpless puppets and grotesques is Valle’s way of telling his audience that this is what the society has made humanity into, living with the lack of purpose and full of absurdity and futility.
Junot Diaz’s “Otravida, Otravez” depicts a perspective of life where one’s present and future always reflects their past in some way. Diaz’s representation of symbolic figures, convey how a person’s past can be carried into the future. Diaz’s use of symbolic figures includes the dirty sheets washed by Yasmin, the letters sent by Virta to Ramon, and the young girl who begins working with Yasmin at the hospital. These symbolic figures and situations remind the readers that the past will always play a major role in one’s present. Additionally, Diaz’s word choice, where Spanish words appear in many different parts of the reading, suggests that indirectly, one’s past habits are not easily broken.
After Mexican’s sign of Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty, there has been plenty of complains in the Don Alamars family, worrying that their legal rights would be questioned by the U.S. government. As far as l am concerned, the role that Don Alamars was portrayed was a traditional Mexican man who was stick to feudal orders and the conventions of Mexicans. In The Squatter and the Don, the love story between Mercedes and Clarence can be regarded as the main story pattern that intrigued the interest of the readers. Ruiz de Burton portrayed Clarence as a brave and reasonable young man who posed different attitude towards native California resident (the Mexicans), and who fall in love with daughter of the Darrells. From this regard, Clarence can be regarded as a knight who fight for the integration of Mexican-American culture and the tense relationship between the two groups. Mercedes is another important character in this novel, who shouted out voice towards stereotypes and prejudices. As the description of the scene when Clarence first met with Mercedes, she was a shy girl and afraid of intruding the rules and traditional regulations. However, her final decision of getting married with Clarence can also be considered as a breakthrough to the rigid conventions represented by her father and her
With assertive shouts and short tempers, the prominent character, Ricardo, is characterized as a feisty townsman, doing nothing except trying to protect his town and its members from the judgments of the western world. For example, the characterization of the “‘…quaint’” man is exemplified through the simplicity of his life and the fact that he is “‘…employed’” and is full of knowledge, not a “‘cow in the forest’” (55, 29, 32). Ricardo desperately wants to establish the notion that he is not a heartless, feebleminded man, only an indigent, simple man striving to protect his friends and family from the criticisms of callous cultures. Incessantly Ricardo attempts to make it clear to the photographer the irritation elicited by his prese...
it is unmistakable that life situations inspired Juan Rulfo to write this story. He like no other person had a greater understanding of how to portray the theme of family especially missing a father as a role model, death, survival and revenge. Moreover, through the use of local Mexican language it furthermore developed the society in which peasants had to live during the post-revolution. Additionally Juan Rulfo tries to add all five senses in the story forming magical realism and a vivid picture that the readers can understand. Overall, the readers learn a lot about peasant’s approach to life after revolution that the main drive was
Don John plays an essential role for nearly all of the trickery and deception in this play. He acts like a catalyst and an instigator for trouble, whose sole aim is to marmalize the love and happiness between Claudio and Hero. Shakespeare uses foreshadowing of Don John’s villainy to display the trickery and deception: ’It better fits my blood to be distained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any, in this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchized with a clog: therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my mouth, I would bite, if I had my liberty, I would do my liking.
The author connects Antonio’s anxieties about change in his life to the culture in which he lives. Ultima’s intrusion into Antonio’s life marks a crazy time of change for Antonio. Anaya reiterates Antonio’s position on the threshold of change by showing his nerves about beginning school, moving away from his mother, and facing his unusual future. The vaquero lifestyle preferred by his father renews the values of freedom, independence and mobility, all of which are rules in the vaqueros’ love of the llano. The Luna family lifestyle preferred by Antonio’s mother, but emphasizes family and productivity,
...all want to believe that the crime was truly “foretold”, and that nothing could have been done to change that, each one of the characters share in a part of Santiago Nasar’s death. Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about the true selfishness and ignorance that people have today. Everyone waits for someone else to step in and take the lead so something dreadful can be prevented or stopped. What people still do not notice is that if everyone was to stand back and wait for others, who is going to be the one who decides to do something? People don’t care who gets hurt, as long as it’s not themselves, like Angela Vicario, while other try to reassure themselves by thinking that they did all that they could, like Colonel Lazaro Aponte and Clotilde Armenta. And finally, some people try to fight for something necessary, but lose track of what they set out for in the first place.
The four scenes that best illustrate the theme of selfishness and the realities of a self-centered life, and empathy are the first scene in which Juvencio begged his son to save him, the scene in which Juvencio describes the crime he committed with a total lack of empathy, the scene in which don lupe describes the viciousness with which Juvencio killed his father, and the scene in which don lupe’s son orders that Juvencio be killed. All of these factors add up to a very interesting work of
This fiction symbolizes one of Marquez’s perfect examples of the magical elements that can highlight the disenchanted reality of the people, the critique of politicians, and to demonstrate that anyone is capable of changing. Since it is predictable that the best show for the audience, it is the one that makes anyone believe that their lives will be better if one is reelected.
In “The Fortune Teller,” the author, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, uses symbolism to prove to one that an affair is not worth a person’s life. He uses the letter to symbolize hate between Villela and Camillo regarding the affair. This very ambiguous letter has terrified Camillo and put an end to his life. The letter enhances the theme of the short story by showing the anger and hate that Villela now had for Camillo. This hate is a focal point in the short story that leads to ending the affair along with Camillo and Rita’s life. Ultimately, the affair caused a large amount of tension between the three. However, the author was successful in grabbing the reader’s attention with the letter as the turning point of the short story.
Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these components played an important role in each civilization read, and even over 1,000 years later it continues to be a social topic as well as a large part of the culture. The only difference a reader or scholar could make for this particular piece of literature is its authenticity and how it was based on a true event. Regardless, new views on power and how one obtain it become apparent through the dialogue between characters like Laurencia and the Commander.
...rcía Márquez concentrates on the idea that the animals incorporated into the work are portrayed to highlight the degradation of Santiago Nasar and the nature of his murder.
His final works contain a certain resolve, despite a lack of reason. His inhuman nature persists and he fully intends to take a pound of Antonio’s flesh.