When witnessing irrational behavior, there comes a sudden urge. The urge to feel the emotions and read the thoughts of the offender in an attempt to understand their purpose and to set the mind at ease. The play The Tragedy of King Christophe by Aimé Césaire offers the opportunity to peer into the mind of King Henri Christophe and to understand the motives that lead to his undoing. His voice is no longer silenced. His story speaks of a man with selfless aspirations who took an unfortunately fatal detour, a tragedy heard time and time again. Christophe ultimately becomes a victim to his twisted views on racial inequality, his faulty methods for leveling himself to his superiors and his overwhelming power. Henri Christophe believes that “some men have more duties than others [and] that’s where the inequality comes from” (P.41) though this statement appears reversed. For the delegation of duties to different men, there would have to be categories of men and hence pre-existing inequalities among these men. Also, these duties would most likely be fitted to the qualities, strengths and weaknesses of each category again proving the need for an already existing inequality. If a man were in the company of two men with the task of moving a car, he would need to consider which of the men were stronger and chose accordingly. Without acknowledging inequality, he would be making an arbitrary, and most likely wrong decision. Opposing Christophe’s words, inequality isn’t conceived from duties, but is rather enhanced. As duties are assigned and ranks are established, change and equality become less attainable, which Christophe expresses in saying “from the bottom of the pit we cry out […] and if we’re going to climb out, don’t you see that we ne... ... middle of paper ... ...downfall. His blindness transforms him into that which he vows to protect his people from. Though his eyes are focused on liberty and happiness for his people, he plays his moves like a gambler, throwing away all he has for the unattainable jackpot. Being so intent on the imitation of the white men, he develops their repressive ways and enslaves his own people, and even as his people suffer, his desire for state empowerment blinds him from seeing the regression of power and loyalty among his people. Christophe sees the Europeans standing tall atop the growing mountain. Hungering for their height, he climbs using the heads of those below him as stepping-stones, but his feet are too forceful, the heads snap and he falls right back into the pit. Works Cited Césaire, Aimé. The Tragedy of King Christophe. Trans Ralph Manheim. New York: Grove Press, Inc, 1969. Print.
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Comp. Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee. Trans. Wilbour, C.E. Only Complete and Unabridged Paperback Editon ed. New York, New York: Signet Classics, 1987. Print.
First, Doctor Manette, seen as a decrepit, unstable, worn-down man, immediately comes off as a man deserving of a second chance. His release from the Bastille marks the beginning of his being “recalled to life,” and his vast physical and mental recovery over the next five years concretes his new, happier second life. Manette’s regained sense of self can be largely credited to his daughter Lucie, whose maternal care for him helped speed up improvement. She acted as a strong anchor for
Dr. Manette is imprisoned in the French Bastille for eighteen years by the cruel French government and unknown to him those many years of pain and suffering serve as a great sacrifice in the eyes of the Revolutionists. He is recalled to life from the time he served when he meets Lu...
Inequality is an issue which has been analyzed by political thinkers for centuries. Some thinkers have long been supporting the subordination of one gender, race, or class over another with religious, moral, ethical, and scientific factors to support their claims; others, however, argue against any subordination of any decree. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a famous philosopher of the eighteenth century, defined inequality in two parts: natural and social. Natural inequalities are the differences in bodily and mental strengths. Social inequalities, however, are the differences that exist between individuals in wealth, power and honor. For Rousseau, social inequalities are justified when they are able to reflect natural inequalities.
One of the most analyzed plays in existence is the tragedy Hamlet, with its recurring question: "Is Hamlet’s 'antic disposition' feigned or real?" In truth, this question can only be answered by observing the thoughts of the main characters in relation to the cause of Hamlet real or feigned madness. In the tragedy Hamlet, each of the main characters explains Hamlets madness in their own unique way. To discover the cause behind the madness of Hamlet, each character used their own ambitions, emotions and interpretations of past events. Characters tried to explain Hamlet's "antic disposition" by means of association to thwarted ambition, heartbreaking anguish, and denied love. In the workings of their thoughts, the characters inadvertently reveal something about their own desires, emotions and experiences to the reader.
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. “Tartuffe” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Ed. Sarah Lawal. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Northon & Company, 2006. 10-67. Print. 2 vols.
Among the greatest gifts that the renaissance produced was the eloquent and incredible Shakespearean plays. Written mostly in the 1590s these plays have been performed and admired countless times; entertaining mass audiences by providing interesting tales that explore the depth of human insights and the different universal themes. Among the many Shakespearean plays Macbeth, written in 1606, stands out with its short composition but multiple themes. This tragedy narrates the tale of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s quest to grasp ultimate power by ignoring their morals and succumbing to their dark desires, which ultimately leads to their downfall. This tragic play portrays the desires, needs, and temptations that accompany ambition in men and women. However the ambition in Macbeth is blind, it does not abide to the morals, but it allows space for dark actions as means necessary for accomplishment. Blind ambition serves as the main driving force that drives Macbeth to subdue to his dark desires, defy his noble behavior, and ultimately his downfall.
Hamlet’s ability to eradicate his emotions allows him to pursue his noble cause in a proper manner. Although he and Laertes both had noble causes, Hamlet’s control over his emotions allows him to exact his revenge without any regrets or treachery. The play Hamlet, contrasts the characters of Laertes and Hamlet to show how deleterious emotions can be to a noble cause. For many people, a high level of emotions obstructs them in their daily actions. Only by conquering one’s emotions, much like Hamlet accomplished, can one pursue a noble cause properly.
In Hamlet, the motif of a young prince forsaken of his father, family, and rationality, as well as the resulting psychological conflicts develop. Although Hamlet’s inner conflicts derive from the lack of mourning and pain in his family, as manifested in his mother’s incestuous remarrying to his uncle Claudius, his agon¬1 is truly experienced when the ghost of his father reveals the murderer is actually Claudius himself. Thus the weight of filial obligation to obtain revenge is placed upon his shoulders. However, whereas it is common for the tragic hero to be consistent and committed to fulfilling his moira,2 Hamlet is not; his tragic flaw lies in his inability to take action. Having watched an actor’s dramatic catharsis through a speech, Hamlet criticizes himself, venting “what an ass am I! This is most brave, that I, the son of a dear father murdered, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell… [can only] unpack my heart with words” (Hamlet 2.2.611-614). Seeing how the actor can conjure such emotion over simple speech, Hamlet is irate at his lack of volition and is stricken with a cognitive dissonance in which he cannot balance. The reality and ...
Styan, J. L. "The Drama: Reason in Madness." Theatre Journal 32 3 (1980): 371-85. Print.
It is often debated whether or not the reign of King Louis XIV had a positive or negative effect on France. Although there were improvements during his reign in transportation, culture, and national defense, there were far more negative aspects. He depleted the national treasury with his liberal spending on personal luxuries and massive monuments. His extreme fear of the loss of power led to poor decision making, which caused the court to be of lower quality. King Louis XIV’s disastrous rule brought about a series of effects that influenced the French Revolution in the following century.
One of the central theme’s throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the question of madness versus sanity. From the first few scenes of the play, one cannot help but question the way that various character’s throughout the play think and behave. In line with Sigmund Freud’s ideas concerning the Id, Ego, and Superego, we see that various characters’ behaviors are clearly defined by these distinct personality structures although not always in the way they are traditionally expected to. Gertrude and Hamlet both find themselves eventually losing control of their lives as they all give way to the Id portion of their personality. It is this downfall that will continually come across as the madness so central and destructive throughout the course of the play.
The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.
One of the most analyzed plays in existence today is the tragedy Hamlet, with its recurring question: "Is Hamlet's 'antic disposition' feigned or real?" This question can only be answered by observing the thoughts of the main characters in relation to the cause of Hamlet's real or feigned madness. In the tragedy Hamlet, each of the main characters explains Hamlets madness in their own unique way. To discover the cause behind the madness of Hamlet, each character used their own ambitions, emotions and interpretations of past events. Initially one of the most accepted causes for Hamlets instability is that of denied love, conjured by the self fulfilling Polonius.
Despite its undeniable greatness, throughout the last four centuries King Lear has left audiences, readers and critics alike emotionally exhausted and mentally unsatisfied by its conclusion. Shakespeare seems to have created a world too cruel and unmerciful to be true to life and too filled with horror and unrelieved suffering to be true to the art of tragedy. These divergent impressions arise from the fact that of all Shakespeare's works, King Lear expresses human existence in its most universal aspect and in its profoundest depths. A psychological analysis of the characters such as Bradley undertook cannot by itself resolve or place in proper perspective all the elements which contribute to these impressions because there is much here beyond the normal scope of psychology and the conscious or unconscious motivations in men.