...Trifles: A Moral Justification for Murder The one act play “Trifles” depicts the views and passions of both men and women during the late-nineteenth century regarding the role of a woman. The characters in the play are the County Attorney, the Sheriff, and Mr. Hale, who are accompanied by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters into the Wright’s home to investigate the murder of Mr. Wright. The men feel that the women are only concerning themselves with little things and make several condescending comments throughout the play displaying their views. While the men search for clues upstairs and in the outside barn yard, it is the women who cleverly piece together several clues leading to Mrs. Wright’s guilt in the murder mystery. But, because of the shocking evidence found by the women, they become sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright and decide to conceal their findings from the authorities. The women feel that the mental and emotional abuse Mrs. Wright received from her husband was justification for the crime in which she committed. Although murder is usually looked upon as an indefensible crime of selfishness, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters actions were morally validated because of Mr. Wright’s own selfish and tyrannical actions; which left Mrs. Wright with no other alternative but to murder him in order to reclaim her liberty. From the beginning of the play, when Mr. Hale explains to the other men that he was visiting the Wright’s home in hopes of convincing John Wright to pitch in on a party line...
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...The Man of Destiny Audition Notice Summary: The Man of Destiny, written in 1897 by George Bernard Shaw, is a one act play, with two leads (one male one female) and two smaller roles (both male). The play depicts a fictional meeting between a young Napoleon and a mysterious lady, where the evenly matched intellects take part in a savage battle of wits with liberty, honour and reputation at stake. It's Shaw on War, Patriotism, Loyalty and Class: clever, funny and incisive. Characters: Napoleon – the esteemed general when on the cusp of his greatest victory, 26-year-old Napoleon is clever, ruthless, unassailable, and vulnerable… The Lady – never named, the (possibly) slightly older lady who verbally duels with the revered commander is wily, smart, attractive, devious, well bred, and loyal. Giuseppe Grandi – the owner of the tavern where Napoleon is resting between battles is ‘a swarthy, shrewdly cheerful, grinning little man of 40’ The Lieutenant - a young man of 24, a man without fear, without reverence, without imagination, without sense, hopelessly insusceptible to the Napoleonic or any other idea, stupendously egotistical, eminently qualified to rush in where angels fear to tread, yet of a vigorous babbling vitality which bustles him into the thick of things. Auditions will take place on the 24th and 26th April, with recalls on 29th April. The auditions will in part take the form of prepared speeches and reading from sections of the text (which will be made available...
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...Summary... One act play: Riders to the sea By John Millington The play begins with Maurya, who has fallen into a fitful sleep. She is certain that her son, Michael, has drowned, even though she has no proof, and has been constantly grieving for nine days. Cathleen, her daughter, is doing household chores when Nora, another daughter arrives. She quietly slips into the kitchen with a bundle that had been given to her by a young priest. In the bundle are clothes taken from the body of a man who drowned in the far north. They were sent to Maurya's home, hoping that she would be able to identify the body. Maurya begins to look as if she is going to wake up soon, so the daughters hide the bundle until a time when they are alone. Maurya awakes, and her fear for losing her only remaining son Bartley intensifies her grieving for Michael. Keep in mind, she has already lost five sons and a husband to the sea. The priest claims that that "insatiable tyrant" will not take her sixth. However, Bartley proclaims that he is going to venture over to the mainland that same day, in order to sell a horse at the fair, despite knowing of the high winds and seas. Maurya begs Bartley not to go, yet he insists despite her pleas. In a flustered state of irritation, Maurya bids him gone without her blessing. Upon seeing these events unfold, the sisters tell Maurya, that she should go out and search for Bartley in order to give him the lunch that they he had forgotten to bring, and while at it, give...
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...A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. In recent years, the 10-minute play known as "flash drama" has emerged as a popular sub-genre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions. The origin of the one-act play may be traced to the very beginning of drama: in ancient Greece, Cyclops, a satyr play byEuripides, is an early example. The One-Act Play, very popular in the 20th century, is regarded by many as a modern product. But this is far from the truth. One-Act Plays were written and staged throughout the 18th and the 19th centuries, as “The Curtain Raisers” or “The After Pieces”. They were chiefly farcial and served to amuse the audience before the commencement of the actual drama or were staged for their amusement, just after it had come to an end. The famous One-Act Play “Monkey’s Paw” was first staged as a “Curtain Raiser” and it proved to be more entertaining than the main drama. It may be said to mark the beginning of the modern One-Act Play. It was great Norwegian dramatist Ibsen that gave to the One-Act Play its modern touch. It was he, who, for the first time, introduced the minute stage-directions into the One-Act Play. Before him one act plays were written in poetry, but he made prose the medium of his one act plays. In short he made the drama, simple and real, and brought it nearer to everyday life. He made the modern One-Act Play what it is and...
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...Keely Jane Melton 12 March, 2015 SFUAD Questions Personal Statement My main interests in this discipline are simple: to become a better and greater actress. I’ve harbored the passion for acting ever since I was a young girl, so when the opportunity arose for me to further my abilities and better myself became apparent, I was over the moon. I want to become as well-rounded of an actress as I can be; in musicals, in straight plays, and in film. While I admired acting as a young child, it wasn’t until middle school when I got involved. With a stroke of bravery, I decided to audition for the middle school one act play. To my surprise, I made it, and I was bitten by the acting bug. Ever since then, with my first show being The Imaginary Invalid by Moliére and my latest show being Don Nigro’s Maelstrom between a five year period, I’ve devoted my entire high school career, and summers, to the shows in my little town. As for one acts, I’ve done A Midsummer Nights Dream, Alice In Wonderland, The Imaginary Invalid, and Maelstrom. Outside of one act I’ve done CATS, Southern Hospitality, and Shrek. Outside of high school, I’ve done musicals with our local Shining Star Productions studio, headed by Amanda Brandenburg. These include Peter Pan, Steel Magnolias, Aladdin, White Christmas and The Wizard of Oz. For college, I’m hoping to take the skills taught to me by my directors and expound upon them— like I said previously, to become a better, well rounded actress. This profession is...
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...Ghobrial Soc 431 Dr. Ian Morrison Frankfurt School Reaction paper: The Frankfurt school was the most interesting reading and discussion this semester. They were different than the other ideas that we discussed this semester. The school presented ideas in different aspects than politics and economics through their different variety of minds that worked together on understanding how did the man reached the form he exists in now. Summary: The first reading was discussing the concept on enlightenment and how the world deals with ideas and knowledge these days. The writing of that piece was done by Adorno and Horkheimer in a very dark period in the human history which is after the World War 2. What they meant by enlightenment wasn’t a certain period of time or a philosophical movement, they were addressing the way of thinking that existed in Europe. Before that spreading of enlightenment, anything wasn’t scientific, a combination between myths and magic. Then enlightenment arrived to bring knowledge and logic and to make the world more scientific. Not all of the information that excited the man was able to fit it and analysis with it with logic and numbers so it has become not scientific. Then people took that division to be the ultimate truth and ignore any new attempts to question both the scientific and not scientific ideas. For them the enlightenment has created a kind of fear; people are afraid to break the scientific ideas and questioning them. The other reading that was...
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...12 ‘night, Mother, Interpretation of mise en scene Joseph Liardi HUMN428 - De Vry University April 14, 2012 Joe, your analysis is very thorough with good attention to detail, and your focus on the psychology at play adds depth and insight. Clearly, you put a lot of time and attention into your study of this play. Terrific job! 200 points 12 ‘night, Mother, Interpretation of mise en scene Joseph Liardi HUMN428 - De Vry University April 14, 2012 Joe, your analysis is very thorough with good attention to detail, and your focus on the psychology at play adds depth and insight. Clearly, you put a lot of time and attention into your study of this play. Terrific job! 200 points ‘night, Mother, Interpretation of mise en scene Marsha Norman was born in Kentucky in 1947. A child who was isolated from the world by her family’s religious norms found comfort in playing the piano, reading books and playing with her imaginary friend called Bettering. Isolation and loneliness of life is something that is familiar to this play wright and is found in her many works such as “The Secret Garden” and “Getting Out”. Marsha Norman’s imaginary friend Bettering can be seen as a metaphor that compares her own relationships with her family, particularly her mother, and the feelings of alienation she felt as a child and her desire to be in control and better her life. (Yes, fascinating name she chose for her imaginary friend! Children can be so wise) Her own childhood...
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...Arctic Mining Consultants (Case Study) Tom Parker enjoyed working outdoors. At various times in the past, he worked as a ranch hand, high steel rigger, headstone installer, prospector, and geological field technician. Now 43, Parker is a geological field technician and field coordinator with Arctic Mining Consultants. He has specialized knowledge and experience in all nontechnical aspects of mineral exploration, including claim staking, line cutting and grid installation, soil sampling, prospecting, and trenching. He is responsible for hiring, training, and supervising field assistants for all of Arctic Mining Consultants' programs. Field assistants are paid a fairly low daily wage (no matter how long they work, which may be up to 12 hours or more) but are provided meals and accommodation. Many of the programs are operated by a project manager who reports to Parker. Parker sometimes acts as a project manager , as he did on a job that involved staking 15 claims near Eagle Lake, Alaska. He selected John Talbot, Greg Boyce, and Brian Millar, all of whom had previously worked with Parker, as the field assistants. To stake a claim, the project team marks a line with flagging tape and blazes along the perimeter of the claim, cutting a claim post every 500 yards (called a length). The 15 claims would require almost 60 miles of line in total. Parker had budgeted seven days (plus mobilization and demobilization) to complete the job. This meant that each of the four stakers (Parker, Talbot...
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...Play writers often partake in many different forms of writing to create distinctive values to their characters. Character development is a very important aspect in play writing because of the important role characters have in the creation of the theme and conflicts of a play. A specific attribute that author’s often contribute to their characters are social mask. Social mask can be defined as a character portraying oneself differently in a social setting to create a different identity or engaging in actions in specific scenarios that portray different characteristics a character would not present in social situations. The identities that a character creates are often contributed to the lacking social standards or the attempt to create self-reward....
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...An Introduction To Man Of The Moment Of all the many memorable characters Alan Ayckbourn has written in his career, Man Of The Moment undoubtedly has two of his most fascinating and extraordinary creations. In its exploration of good and evil and the way the media both manipulates and is manipulated by its audience, the play presents us with two men with diametrically opposed moralities who illustrate how in our celebrity obsessed society, the wrong man is invariably the man most rewarded and feted. It is a play which directly tackles issues of good and evil, whilst taking a satirical swipe at our obsession with the facile world of television and celebrity. Vic Parks is the man around whom the play - and all those within it - revolve. The sheer epitome of evil, but in a realistic rather than fantastic sense, he dominates the play with his appealing charisma and barely contained violence. Standing opposite him is the unassuming and placid Douglas Beechey, a man of honest goodness and integrity, who has fallen by the wayside whilst Vic has inexorably risen to the top of the pile. Between them are two women, the television producer Jill Rillington and Vic‘s wife Trudy; the former career-obsessed and determined to let nothing get in the way of what she wants, the latter caught up in Vic‘s world and now regretting her part in it. Man Of The Moment is a remarkable addition to Alan Ayckbourn‘s canon, coming as it does in what he terms his social period and, arguably, when he was at...
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..."As Eugene Waith comments: 'True manhood is a comprehensive ideal, growing out of the familiar Christian concept that man is between beasts and angels in the hierarchy of creation,'" (Asp 156). From Samurai to the modern family man, but anyone from anytime has strived to be accepted as manly, and Shakespeare's Macbeth is no exception. Shakespeare's Macbeth (1623) is about a man named Macbeth and his journey to gain power and his struggle to keep it. In the play Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches on the moor. The witches make a prophesy that Macbeth will be King of Scotland and that Banquo's blood line will rule Scotland even though he will not be King. Macbeth later kills Duncan, the current King of Scotland, and becomes King himself. Macbeth orders for Banquo and his son to be killed, but Fleance escapes. The longer Macbeth is king the more suspicious he becomes of the people around him and the more worried he is about securing his blood line as the ruler of Scotland. The play concludes with Macduff killing Macbeth, and Malcolm (the rightful heir and son of Duncan) becomes King. In Macbeth the definition of a true man can best be seen through gender stereotyping, reversal of gender roles, and the depiction of men who uphold the manly virtue. One of the most important views on being a true man is that of Macbeth's. This view can best be seen in the scene when Macbeth is talking to the murderers about killing Banquo. Macbeth asks the murderers if they are men. Naturally they...
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...One of the most unique things about the play Hamlet (with Hamlet playing the main character) is the way relationships between the main and lesser characters have not changed from Shakespeare's time period in which he wrote this play to the modern dilemmas of today. The character Hamlet relates through individualism of self to others in the play and Shakespeare uses this confusion of self and nature thus assuring many types of readers who can relate to his Hamlet characterization. Hamlet portrays himself with all his human flaws, but it is this humanity that makes him distinctive from everyone else in the story. In addition, all of Hamlet's waking hours are preoccupied with his own thoughts thus adding more intensity to his feelings and perceptions about where he sees imperfections, worry and tension as well as confusion, but without a doubt it is these human qualities which makes his situation so impossible for him to resolve easily. Another tragic role of the play is its irony. The irony allows the storyline to show humor as well as the cause and effects of each action taken. There is usually little reason for a tragedy to be funny so Shakespeare has used this type of humor to add more irony to the already tragic events of the play. Pause for thought is in the types of conflict that play a major part in the play and the relationships between Hamlet and the two people who have been closest to him; being Ophelia and the ghost. Hamlet cannot share his strong feelings and emotions...
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...William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that tells that story of what happens to a man named Othello after he marries a woman named Desdemona. Othello is a black man, known throughout the play as a Moor and he marries the daughter of a white Venetian Senator. One of the most critical themes of the play is race. While racism is a reoccurring theme throughout the play, the play itself is not racist. The main character is a black man and the evil villain is white. Shakespeare does not dumb down Othello just because he is black, but rather he portrays Othello as a well-liked, high ranking officer in the Venetian military. During the time that Shakespeare wrote Othello many people were racists and people of color where thought of as savage (Essay). Many people at that time would have felt that an interracial marriage was wrong. They would have not thought that Shakespeare’s writing was racist. The audience would be used to the type of racist language Shakespeare used (Blum). Shakespeare would not have been thought of as being racist. The play itself is not racist, but rather individual characters are either racist or not. The most racist character is Iago. Iago is considered “honest” when in reality he is a pure villain. The audience knows that Iago is not what he seems to be. He shares his plans for destroying Othello. Even though Iago is white, he plays the bad guy, while Othello is considered a good man. Iago hates Othello because he did not promote him to his lieutenant. Iago...
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...A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS A Man for All Seasons has probably enjoyed more popularity than any other English play since the war. After a run of 320 performances in the West End, it was a great success on Broadway, where it was voted the Best Foreign Play of the Year (1962). Bolt himself wrote the screenplay, cutting out the part of the Common Man, although the director was in favour of keeping him. The film was made in 1966, with Paul Scofield playing Sir Thomas More, as he had on the stage both in London and New York. It won six academy awards and had long seasons in cinemas in many parts of the world. In style, A Man for All Seasons is quite different from any of Bolt’s previous plays, but it represents a continuation of the same line of thinking about behaviour. Cherry was a man who had so completely lost touch with his ideal that he was incapable of seizing a real chance of joining fantasy and reality together by selling the house and buying an orchard. Dean was basically a good man and though he’d turned a blind eye on some of the things going on around him and made certain moral compromises for the sake of climbing the academic ladder, he’d never got completely cut off from the ideal (which is represented partly by astronomy). And the action forces him to a point where he digs his heels in and. shuts his ears to the counsels of opportunism (which are represented partly by Sir Hugo). A Man for All Seasons is a graph on which Bolt plots two curves: the steady rise of an opportunist...
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...sexual language in his plays. Demetrius has sex with Helena; nevertheless, he does not love her. In society, men target on women. Men can be charming to contract anything they want. He proves women are treated like objects in this play. For example, Helena said “…Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex. / We cannot fight for love, as men may do. / We should be wooed and were not made to woo.” (II, i, 240-242) This can make the audience develop sympathy or empathize with Helena. Making her as human and a character a person in the audience would want to care about. Good literature has empathy and this gives some empathy to the play. In addition, Theseus only sees Hippolyta...
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