September 28, 2005
Need of Tragedy
Rix, ''Was Oedipus Framed?'' -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Rix claim that Oedipus was framed, has been followed up quite nicely. There's one part in the article when Rix said that Oedipus was the traditional scapegoat in the tragedy. He also stated that it Oedipus was needed to fall from grace so the tragedy can continue. Due to that reason he is "archetypical culprit of parricide and incest". My last blog I've asked you all if you think that Oedipus should pay for the crimes he accidentally done. I think Rix have given a lot of evidence saying that he is innocent. Do you think Rix gave enough evidence? You know the drill.
Posted by KevinHinton at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
September 27, 2005
Oedipus...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
Sophocles, Oedipus the King (Finish) -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Oedipus thought that by gouging his eyes out, he can punish himself for the crimes that he has done. Personally, I don't think that he had to go into any extremes such as eye gouging. Maybe he done it just to be symbolic. He wanted to be blind to the fact that he have done all of these crimes. He chose to remain exiled so that his people could deserve more that what he has given them. The character Oedipus is literally a definition of a theory by Sigmund Frued. It states: in psychoanalytic theory, a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a concomitant sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex; a crucial stage in the normal developmental process. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9056792
Hearing this and thinking that some people are actually a product to this theory. Do you think it will take that much punishment or any at all to free themselves from this stigma? Do you think this should be connected to Oedipus given the fact that he didn't mean to do all of these things? Let me know!
Posted by KevinHinton at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
Success isn't Sure
Sophocles, Oedipus the King (Up to Scene III) -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Oedipus...poor Oedipus... he has no idea. I've read this play before and I was confused the first time I've read it. Now, that I critically reading it I can see it in a different angle. The phrase Oedipus said really stood out to me.
OEDIPUS: Success is sure, 'tis ruin we fail.
Obviously, he is not aware of the events that are about to unfold and crash his world around him. This sort of reminds me of Shakespere's play Macbeth where he was pretty sure by killing King Duncan he will easily become king. When Oedipus discovers he is the murderer of the old king, I think that is when he discovered his dark past. Unlike Macbeth, Oedipus done a lot of bad things by accident. Do you think that he should still be punished for what he did? Or was he an unsespecting victim of a dark prophecy?
Posted by KevinHinton at 3:18 PM | Comments (3)
This is Where Drama Started.
Greek Theatre -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
When I was reading Oedipus Rex, I wondered how the Greeks acted these plays out. I can see it now, under the afternoon sky while people were sitting on the grass or in a forum. It's funny how, when we think about drama, we turn to the classics (Greeks and Romans). It could be just me...but I believe that the acting community has lost touch with the way classic theater does things. We see in Oedipus Rex how we get to the plot without that much detail, it keeps the audience guessing. They're very few contemporary plays that does that. Do you think the same way? Let me know.
Posted by KevinHinton at 2:57 PM | Comments (2)
September 18, 2005
A Sale's Pitch for Marriage
Wojtyla, The Jeweller's Shop -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Wojtyla's look upon marriage is extremely obvious... he thinks highly of it. This was a man who was about to become pope later in his life (John Paul II). In Catholism, marriage is seen as a extremely important value in human life. While I was reading this play I've deterimed that it was sort of like a sales pitch for people to think about marriage. The subtitle of the drama says A meditation on the sacrament of matrimony, passing on occasion into a drama. As being a person that take a stand alongside the santity of marriage, Wojtyla most likely wanted the audience to know and feel what it is like to be involved in all stages started with the engagement. Wojtyla really put emphasis on the engagement between Andrew and Teresa. Check out this quote:
TERESA: So, we are standing reflected in the window, as if in a mirror which catches the future: Andrew takes one of the rings, I take the other, we take each other by the hand- my God, how simple that is.
Notice how raw the emotion is. So, do you think Wojtyla ( who is now the late John Paul II) had an agenda that people difinetly what to hear about marriage?
Posted by KevinHinton at 9:47 PM | Comments (1)
September 15, 2005
Ep.8 Ratted Out!
Treadwell, Machinal (Finish) -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
LAWYER FOR PROSECUTION (reading). In the matter of the State of ---- vs. Helen Jones, I Richard Roe, being of sound mind, do herein depose and state that I know the accused, Helen Jones…
I apologize, I can't type that nonsense anymore. Richard, who is the lover in Ep.6, had given the prosecution all the ammo they would ever need to convict Helen (who the playwright continued to identify her as the young woman). Now, this was a person she loved very much, a lot more than the husband. So what does she get in return? He decided to rat her out! It was just amazing what I was reading and what I was realizing. Why did he do it? He didn't see the murder...He didn't have anything to gain by putting her away. Or is he such a upscale citizen that when he heard about the news he thought that he should help put this murderer in prison. I think he had an agenda by giving the prosecution that statement. Or maybe he didn't have a lot of respect for Helen and when confronted didn't care. But hears another thing that really bothers me...he was in Mexico when he gave the statement. So that can difinetly be something to closly look at.
Posted by KevinHinton at 5:03 PM | Comments (0)
Ep. 6 The Moon and the Lover
Treadwell, Machinal (Finish) -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
MAN:You're awful still, honey. What are you thinking about?
WOMAN:About sea shells.
This conversation means nothing to you, right? By if you watch this scene you can understand the the Young Woman (who is now Woman in this scene)is truly in love with this man. Unlike the relationship with Mr. Jones, The Woman is more confident and more relaxed when around the lover. I find it extremely funny that some people can only find true love through adultery (like the Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlett Letter and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.). But it's very understandable because the Woman didn't have anything in common with Mr. Jones. I don't think she got up one day and said "to hell with the marriage", but I think that due with the completely astranged relationship with her husband, to anybody else that she truly loves one thing will lead to another.... Just the whole entire scene is a bedroom illuminated by moonlight which show a very romantic mood unlike the honeymoon in the third episode. So, what do you think the relationship is between the Woman and the Man
Posted by KevinHinton at 1:18 PM | Comments (2)
September 13, 2005
Ep.2 The Reason of Marriage
Treadwell, Machinal (Scenes 1-5) -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
In this scene, the Young Woman is in a desperate need to get married. She believes that it the only way that she can live a happy life. After hearing this, her Mother just simply called her crazy. Do you think that marriage is essential in life. It's almost everybody goal in life, right? Get married, have kids, and live in a huge house with the white picket fence. During the Salem Witch Trials, women who were single thought to be withes and were simply...killed. I personally don't think that marriage should be the goal in everyone agenda. Don't you know that they're some people out there who can't stand to have a family? So, what do you think about this?
Posted by KevinHinton at 10:09 AM | Comments (3)
September 12, 2005
Ep 1: Is It Love Or Harassment
Treadwell, Machinal (Scenes 1-5) -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Obviously, there is a relationship between Mr. Jones and the Young Woman in the beginning of this play. They're rumors in the work place that suggest this fling, but the Young Woman seem to be scared. Is it because of love or something worse. I think it's harassment. The emotions she suggest give a recoil action against the boss. And it seems everybody knew about it. Like this conversation that really caught my eye. TELEPHONE GIRL: Did you flinch, kid?
YOUNG WOMAN: Flinch?
TELEPHONE GIRL: Did he pinch?
I don't think that very professional. Do you? It also goes on by saying that if she the him no she will be fired. Ponder this, wouldn't be just like a chauvinistic and unetihcal man with a lot of power to oppose his will on anybody, then alone the Young Woman
Posted by KevinHinton at 5:18 PM | Comments (3)