...I liked how Martha Green Eads summarized the play Wit. She talked about the major scenes and how they developed and built upon each other. I liked how she analyzed each character and explained how they did and didn’t helped Vivian deal with her treatment, cancer and her eventual death. In my reading of the play I did not make as many connections as Martha did. That is why I found the summery very informative and the play more meaningful. For example when I read the play I was confused why E. M. Ashford was reading Vivian, The Runaway Bunny, but actually it was very significant. Plus I didn’t realize that the visit from her mentor was probably a dream. It was in the scene prior to her passing, but I wasn’t sure of the time frame between...
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... Acknowledgement I would like to thank prof. Mgr Franková , CSc., M.A. and PhDr. Věra Pálenská, CSc. for their guidance, advice and kind encouragement. Table of Contents Preface ...............................................................................................2 Introduction ......................................................................................3 Chapter I – The Way of the World 1.1 In General ..................................................................................8 1.2 True Wit and False Wit ............................................................9 1.3 Courtship and Love .................................................................14 1.4 Invention vs. Reality ................................................................18 Chapter II – The Importance of Being Earnest 2.1 In General ................................................................................22 2.2 True Wit and False Wit ..........................................................23 2.3 Courtship and Love ................................................................28 2.4 Invention vs. Reality ...............................................................32 Conclusion .....................................................................................36 Résumé ...........................................................................................40 Notes...
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...Is Mac Flecknoe a lampoon or a satire? At a time when fiction from Grub Street hack writers (whom he called the “multitude of scribblers, who daily pester the world with their insufferable stuff ”) was becoming widely read, courtly poets and dramatists like Dryden felt a need to play the public role of arbiters of literary taste. Dryden was actively engaged in contemporary debates which sought to lay down standards of what was considered high and low art. He published his “Essay of Dramatic Poesie” in 1667 and “Discourses on Satire and Epic Poetry” in 1692. Both of these served as prescriptive texts for what passed muster as “good” art. In an age of a revived interest in the classics, many of the instructions on good satirical writing are based on the works of Horace, Persius and Juvenal. While he did not think highly of Horatian verse which used word-play like anagrams and “ackrosticks” and was favoured by Francophiles poets, he admired Juvenal and Persius for their unity of plot and their use of Wit, which he saw as a more masculine device than lampooning or raillery. In MacFlecknoe, Dryden’s definition of good art also comes to be strongly associated with class. When he says that bad poetry laden with “Pure Clinches” or puns is inspired by the “suburban Muse”, his implication is that it is only the genteel circles of London that produce and read good poetry – thus, Bun-hill and Watling Street are down-market parts of London which by virtue of their economic demography...
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...purpose of a good (fulfillment, competition, perfection) 7. incommensurable(goods have no value) 8. instantiated, infinitely 9 goods 1.human life a) life as such b) health (taking care of ur body) c) transmission (buns in ovens lol) d) protection e) maintenance (nurses and doctors) 2.knowledge(regardless of the degree or grading knowledge is satisfying) 3.pursuit of the beautiful (aesthetic) a. music b. art c. cooking d. eating e. the sublime nature f. theatre/acting/film g. writing/ poetry h.drinking 4.work- creating something with skilled labor, ordering 5.competition/play sports!!!!!!! competitive 6.peace wit/ relationships friendship marriage family serving the community social work 7.peace w/ oneself therapy (process to come 2 terms wit the things u struggle wit) 8.peace w/ a transcendent being pursuing religion 9. peace w/ natural world 10*comedy 7 levels of d.e. 1was the harm intended 2 was it unavoidable 3attempt to limit the side effects 4attunement to fairness 5" " creativity...
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...The minor and principle characters contribute equally to the form of 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. How far do you agree with this statement? A comedy of manners is categorically associated with and elaborate and scandalous plot, a joyous ending and using wit and inversions throughout. Throughout the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, the conventions of a comedy of manners are clearly demonstrated by both the principle characters and the minor characters. However due to Oscar Wilde’s ideology of empowering the minorities and the ideas of reform in a Victorian society, it can be argued that the minor characters contribute more significantly. The first convention of a ‘Comedy of Manners’ that the characters contribute to is an elaborate plot. Unexpectedly, due to her insignificance in previous scenes and portrayal as a minor character, Miss Prism makes the most significant contribution to this. As she is the one who concludes the mystery of where Jack came from and in turn leads him to learn his name is Ernest, which therefore resolves the problem he had with Gwendolen over his name. This then also concludes the play as Lady Bracknell eventually grants permission for them to marry as she realises that he is the son of her “poor sister, Mrs Moncreiff, and consequently Algernon’s elder brother”. Nonetheless, the principle characters all make a significant contribution to the elaborative plot. A forewarning of such plot developing is first hinted by the principle characters...
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...Everyman, like other morality plays, seeks to present a religious lesson through allegorical figures representing abstract characteristics. The play centers on the life of everyman, a wealthy man, who is suddenly called by death to appear before God for judgment. On his journey to meet God, he seeks assistance from lifelong companions Fellowship (Friends), kindred and cousins (family), and Goods (material wealth), but all abandoned him. Because he has neglected her in life, good deed is too weak to accompany everyman on his journey. She advises him to call on knowledge (awareness of sin). Knowledge escorts everyman to confession, who directs him to do penance. In the process of everyman’s penance, good deed is strengthened and is finally able to accompany everyman to his final reckoning. Everyman, now wearing the garment of contrition, continues his journey. Until now it was a quest for spiritual health but increasingly it is showing the qualities of a pilgrimage to salvation. Everyman, knowledge, and good deeds are joined on the journey by beauty, strength, disgretion, and five wits. After donating his wealth to charity, Everyman follows the advice of knowledge and five wits and receives the sacraments of communion and extreme unction. Meanwhile, knowledge and five wits converse on the subject of corrupt priests in the church. Approaching his grave, Everyman is again deserted by all his companions except knowledge and good deeds. As the story closes, knowledge remains...
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...Donne undertake upon reaching a state of “salvation anxiety”. Immersed in the death of his four still born children, and the plague ridden society that was in the process of forming the first cracks in what would be a paradigm shift away from blind faith, Donne initially struggled to accept his mortality, using “verbal swordplay” as a means in which to “run and hide” from a death which was no longer a mere gateway to the inevitable afterlife. He attempts to conquer death, as seen through the emotive apostrophe and personification of death in Death be not Proud, in which he claims of death, “mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so”. However, just as Vivian realises that “now is not the time for verbal swordplay, for metaphysical conceit, for wit” he to...
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...The issue of life and death is the central theme of Margaret Edson’s play “Wit”; whereas the main character’s (Vivian Bearing) finding of her misconception of witty language’s significance is used by the author for representation of Vivian’s change due to her disease. In particular, Ms. Bearing’s advocacy for the need of wit in language loses its importance under the influence of her experiences in the hospital. Vivian’s concept of witty language undergoes fundamental changes during her hospital stay, which results in her understanding of the role played by simplicity in the expression of real life human experience. Being a professor of English, Vivian Bearing is passionate about the subject of her life, that is, language. Her primary idea of language has cardinally changed under the influence of her experiences in the hospital, where she appeared in the result of her diagnosis of Stage IV ovarian cancer. Vivian in fact adored language in its complicacy, whereas poetry of John Donne was used by the woman as a source of the author’s wit that provided her with great examples for her students’ learning of sophisticated English. In particular, Donne’s sonnet “Death Be Not Proud” was her favorite one, as it was a manifestation of “…wit at work: not so much resolving the issues of life and God as revelling in their complexity” (Edson 39). However, Vivian reshaped her opinion of language’s beauty as triggered by its wit after her own life’s complication by the need to choose between life...
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...festivity and merrymaking as a main theme in his comedy as this ensures the audience can make fun and laugh at the situations displayed. But, as the audience we cannot forget that Shakespeare used this idea of pleasurable entertainment to disguise the underlying Machevellian plots of Don John and Borachio to disrupt the fairy tale type of tenor the characters could have led. Therefore, further into Much Ado About Nothing, discussions about whether Shakespeares play conforms to C.L. Barber’s argument or to what extent is C.L. Barber’s perspective disputed are risen. Initially, from reading the script of Much Ado About Nothing, the reader can respond to C.L. Barber’s argument with firm disagreement as many other genres are used to heighten the effect of comedy in the play, although C.L. Barber’s argument was specifically aimed at comedies, whilst Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is classed as a dramatic comedy, where tragedy is also hung in the balance in the climactic parts of the play. The purpose of Shakespeare’s plays in general and especially Much Ado About Nothing, is to expose the foolishness of society’s customs and unwritten laws such as the disvalue of women, whilst also reminiscing an awkward, preposterous circumstances that the audience can relate to and laugh at to disguise the true sub plot of mischief and interference. Shakespeare uses insults to create a humorous and pleasurable atmosphere for the audience thoroughly throughout...
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...similarities between two texts. Though the works seem very different, there are many minor details in writing that can link two very different pieces together. In the book Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk we see a young Narrators life, described through his own eyes, as we discover the truth of his false reality. In the book Wit by Margaret Edson we follow the life and death of a scholar faced with the battle of cancer. Though the two works sound very different, there are many similar elements that connect the two writings. We can see the similarities in ways, such as the layout of the book, and the main characters development in both....
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...THESIS: Although The Summoning of Everyman is a morality play of a secular’s life, the play presents surprising events in one’s perception of death and is relevant to one’s faith at their time of judgment and therefore serves God’s purposes. I. INTRODUCTION: II. BODY A. Characters: 1. Messenger, God, Death: Scenes I and II 2. Death approaches Everyman, Death forces Everyman to go to his reckoning with God: Scene III 3. Everyman meets Fellowship, Kindred and Cousin, Good: Scenes IV -VI 4. Everyman talks with God, Everyman meets Good Deed, Good Deeds forsake Everyman and Good Deeds gets her sister Knowledge to go on Everyman journey, Knowledge leads Everyman to Confession: Scenes VII - X 5. a. Everyman prays to God and Mary for mercy, Good Deeds rise and walk towards Everyman to accompany on his journey, Everyman clears his reckoning, Everyman calls forth Discretion, Strength, Beauty, and his Five-wits: Scenes XI-XII b. Everyman goes to the Priest and honors the seven Sacraments and receives the sacraments, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits deserts Everyman at the grave, Everyman has an epiphany; he understands he can take nothing with him when he dies, In the company of Knowledge and Good Deeds, Everyman commits his spirit in the hand of the Lord; an angel receives Everyman into Heaven: Scenes XI-XII 6. Relevant Character overview B. Author’s Perception of Death and the treatment of death 1. Everyman’s journey compared to Man’s journey in real...
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...Aaron Cornelius Pledge English III Mrs. Brown December 7, 2013 A Worthy Fool In many of his plays, Shakespeare is able to use characters in a very exciting way. Certain characters are able to transform the entire play in a special way. For Romeo and Juliet, there is Friar Lawrence, Julius Caesar there is Casca, and for As You Like It there is Touchstone. Even though these characters may not be the focus of the play, they do have an indiscrete purpose and serve what turns out to be a paramount role. In the play As You Like It, Shakespeare creates the character Touchstone and uses his quick wit and playful attitude to add an additional amount of comedy. Everything about him is fairly entertaining, from his clothing to his personality and even his name. A touchstone is actually used to test the purity of metals. When scrapping gold against touchstone, it will leave a line of dust that someone can use to show how untainted it is. Much like the stone touchstone, Touchstone has the skill to expose human beings by using his wittiness to scratch their surface. This is really shown when he argues with William and Corin. When attempting to scratch the surface of Corin, Corin comes out unscathed. “Will thou rest damned? God help thee, shallow man. God make incision in; thou art raw.”(iii.2.70-72). Corin is able to counter the remarks of Touchstone. In this situation Corin shows to be a true gold. He does not back down, but counters him. The conversation between Touchstone...
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...importance. The characters try to solve the problem and the story ends with all the characters uniting in either a marriage of a party. Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can gather that though they are different certain similarities can also be seen. One aspect of these genres that can be compared and contrasted is the narrative or plot. A comparison can be analyzed in that both begin with a problem. In Oedipus Rex, the play begins with a plague devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a plague that is upon the land. However, a difference between these two beginnings is that in Oedipus Rex the citizen are effected by it to the point that they look towards Oedipus for a solution to their suffering; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the effects of the plague are never shown to the audience and it seems a minor detail. Another difference is the cause of the plague in the two plays. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the hero ends up being the cause because he murdered the king; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream the cause is a fight between Titania and Oberon. Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus...
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...playwrights and reformed it for once and all. They are known as University Wits. The group includes—John Lyly, George Peele, Robert Greene, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Kyd and Marlowe. With their professionalism, while they rescued English drama from the medieval mire of religion, they also paved the way for Shakespeare. John Lyly was the leader of the group. His receptive mind was hospitable to the more delicate graces of literature. In a series of witty comedies –Campaspe, Sapho and Phao, Endymion, Midas he addressed Elizabeth in delicate flattery praising by turn the charms of the chastity of the woman, the chastity of the virgin, the majority of the queen. It was Lyly who was largely responsible for the first elaboration of romantic sentiment. Lyly wrote in Euphuistic prose, artificial in structure and language, but refined in manner, witty and graceful. Lyly’s plays with their sparkle and courtly air the first artistic plays. They made ready the way for Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It. Like Lyly, George Peele he flattered Elizabeth in his graceful pastoral, The arraignment of Paris. He used the same ornate manner in his scripture drama The Love of David and Fair Bathsabe in which he followed closely the Bible record. In his play Edward I, he turned to national history. He parodied the romanticists in The Old Wive’s Tale. By far the most original of the peoples’ plays was The Old Wive’s Tale which has a perfect charm of romantic humour...
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...importance. The characters try to solve the problem and the story ends with all the characters uniting in either a marriage of a party. Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can gather that though they are different certain similarities can also be seen. One aspect of these genres that can be compared and contrasted is the narrative or plot. A comparison can be analyzed in that both begin with a problem. In Oedipus Rex, the play begins with a plague devastating the city of Thebes. In A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a plague that is upon the land. However, a difference between these two beginnings is that in Oedipus Rex the citizen are effected by it to the point that they look towards Oedipus for a solution to their suffering; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the effects of the plague are never shown to the audience and it seems a minor detail. Another difference is the cause of the plague in the two plays. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the hero ends up being the cause because he murdered the king; while in A Midsummer Night's Dream the cause is a fight between Titania and Oberon. Another point that can be compared and contrasted is the search for a solution in the plots. In Hamlet, Hamlet is searching for the truth to discover if his father was really murdered by his uncle and if this is true he must correct the situation by killing his uncle. Also, in Oedipus Rex this plot is seen in that Oedipus...
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