Wagner s The Ring of the Nibelung focuses on several types of love relationships,

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "Wagner s The Ring of the Nibelung focuses on several types of love relationships,"

Transcription

1 Wagner s The Ring of the Nibelung focuses on several types of love relationships, including father-daughter, spousal, incestuous and star-crossed. Despite the type of relationship focused upon, Wagner seems to weigh his focus on those relationships that involve a man and a woman only. Given the many types of love relationships available and possible to focus upon in such relationships, to include gender-based, we should consider the following question: why might Wagner focus solely on a gender-based, man/woman relationship? Wagner, as we all do, has many love-relational choices and options to focus upon. Why limit himself to simply the love relationship between a man and a woman? Wagner, writing to his friend August Röckel, describes the full reality of love [as] possible only between the sexes: only as man and woman can we human beings really love, whereas all other forms of love are mere derivatives of it, originating in it, related to it, or an unnatural imitation of it ( Letters. 303). We can infer from Wagner here that Wagner s thought regarding true love relationships define, fundamentally, an engagement between a man and a woman only. All other love relationships, the implication provides to us, stem from this fundamental belief. This constrictive and narrowed view and belief, Wagner s exclusive treatment with such engagement, may also explain why Fricka and Wotan do not really love each other and why Wotan and Brünnhilde, perhaps, do, per Wagner s view and definition, fundamentally love each other.

2 Fricka, cannot love, in the way Wagner understands and pronounces it because she is not human. Man or women presupposes and assumes humanity, that is, not godlike, simply homo sapien. As a goddess, her individual egoism prevents her from partaking in true, human-based love. Wotan, though a god, has human qualities; we see such quality and embodiment when he breaks down to Brünnhilde, wanting nothing but the ending / that ending! (Ring. 111), meaning, we infer, his own demise for killing his own son through his own greediness. Brünnhilde alone / alone knew all my innermost secrets; / Brünnhilde alone / saw to the depths of my spirit! (Ring 140). Brünnhilde is Wotan s dearest companion and he confides in her more than he confides in and with his wife, as she can and does understand his human emotions, while Fricka, not understanding nor even caring to understand such things, simply rejects his emotions. From this, we might see Wagner s belief and view that in order to love a child or friend, a man must learn about human relationships and, ultimately, human love, from a human woman. Brünnhilde, born of Erda ( Mother Earth ) and Wotan, is a love child. Though Erda and Wotan are both gods, they possess and exhibit the strongest connection to humans and, as such, may be viewed as semi-human. Their daughter, Brünnhilde, expresses a certain humanity in Wotan, exposes it, revolting in and for the sake of love, forcing him to make Brünnhilde herself fully human. Once human, she meets Siegfried and falls in love. Brünnhilde is blinded by her love as we see when she asks her sister, Waltraute, if she was brought here by my love? (Ring 272). Waltraute then implies Brünnhilde is crazy. Waltraute instead comes to tell her to give the ring back to the Rhinemaidens. Brünnhilde refuses to give up the ring, as it remains her strength (Letters 312) it is

3 her love, and her love makes her uniquely divine ( Letters 309). In a sense, we see that she would rather destroy both the gods and Walhall than relinquish her love. Ironic, here, as the ring s power belongs to the one who rejects love. In the end, Brünnhilde comes to understand that she can t love Siegfried with or without the ring, let alone, perhaps, simply while being alive. Wagner says that man s desire to descend from the most intellectual heights to the depths of love, the longing to be understood instinctively, is a longing which modern reality cannot yet satisfy (Letters 306). We find that Brünnhilde knew everything until she fell in love with Siegfried, finding more that, then, all she knew was that she loved Siegfried and that was all that mattered to her. Brünnhilde and Siegfried possess and express and Wagnerian true love relationship, a relationship that Wagner believes all people should wish to possess and express but don t because they are so fearful of love and of falling in love; so instead they reject it. Love, for Wagner, requires removing our ego and connecting with another person. For Wagner, we fear losing that connection and so choose to eliminate the connection all together. Siegfried is Wagner s Futurist human, on who is fearless one who never ceases to love (Letters 307). Wagner s belief that modern reality cannot yet satisfy our desire for love can be seen in Brünnhilde and Siegfried s relationship and in Sieglinde and Siegmund. Brünnhilde and Siegfried s love can only exist in death. Other people s egos, the need for power and fear of love, prevent Brünnhilde and Siegfried from their love, and it is only in death that they can satisfy their desire to love. Sieglinde and Siegmund are brother and sister. Fricka, who represents the modern reality, deemed their true love from the outset, useless, unwarranted, unworkable. Wagner suggests that because we fear the taking of

4 that dive of love, we create and define our modern reality, preventing us from having the truest, most real life (Letter 304). In Wagner s depiction of Sieglinde s relationship to Hunding, he suggests ideas regarding our notion of modern reality. Wagner insists that there is no love between them. Sieglinde was forced to marry Hunding, who used her body to make her his slave. In many ways, Wagner suggests that we make ourselves slaves by conforming to the norm: our norm dictates that we get married, have kids and forever live in bliss. However, Wagner gives us pause, suggesting that people rush into relationships and many times make false connections just to be considered normal. Wagner writes at a time when arranged marriages were the norm; people had little or no choice in whom they married. They were not free to fall in love. Wagner s depiction and consequences of this modern reality or norm of an inability to satisfy our desire for love may have been inspired by the expressions of Schopenhauer. Arthur Schopenhauer, a German philosopher, anti-hegelian, as radical in his beliefs as Wagner, thought that our reality was comprised of the human will, more specifically, an animalistic instinct to live. It may be argued that the term survival could be used for such an instinct. Our wills, Schopenhauer insists, consume our lives. For Schopenhauer, our lives remain full in the attempt to feed our wills and desires. Such attempts, per Schopenhauer, are often, mostly, unsuccessful. The more unsuccessful we are, the more we want and desire, and, proportionately, distress over such wants. If we can and do satisfy our desires, Schopenhauer then suggests that we become bored, and, in turn, seek ever-newer desires and newer miseries. It becomes, for Schopenhauer, an never-ending, vicious cycle of chasing and of lust, of never being able to satisfy.

5 Schopenhauer was pessimistic, believing love, egoism and progress, among other human endeavors and activities, were causes of our inabilities to obtain our desires and, thus, the basis of and for our suffering. Love is pleasurable, he insisted, because it creates a want for life in others, while satisfying one s own will to live. Our egoism, Schopenhauer suggests, compels us to inflict pain on others in the hope of lessening our own misery, when, in fact, it might simply heighten it. When we believe we are making progress, Schopenhauer suggests, it s a delusion, for we can never be satisfied, let alone, forever. Such delusion, we can infer from Schopenhauer, just causes more grief when we realize the reality of our life of desires. Schopenhauer views death as the mean and reason for life. He believes that living and suffering are equivalent, death is inevitable, and that life is just a constant cycle of dying. Yet Schopenhauer also maintains that death is the defiance of the will-to-live and our wills, in general, taken even with suicide, though not morally wrong, is philosophically a waste as it asserts the will-to-live. Schopenhauer s ideas can be seen throughout The Ring of the Nibelung. Alas, Wagner s notion of modern reality and Schopenhauer s notion of the reality of the will are really one in the same. Brünnhilde and Siegfried, just like Sieglinde and Siegmund, want to love each other but they can not because other people s egoism prevented them from doing so. When Brünnhilde and Siegfried thought they had or were making progress in their lives and relationship with one another, they were wrong; everything backfires, though not because they secured what they had sought and were then bored with it. The Rhinemaidens, perhaps the best example of progress, had the gold and all that they

6 desired, and then they egged on Alberich (perhaps to prove their beauty and fame) only to lose their gold. Though it would seem that they always had their gold and never worked for it and they also never really ever worked to get it back either. Wotan s strive for power ended in suicide when he realized he couldn t have it. In light of Schopenhauer s notion that suicide actually fulfills the will-to-live, Wagner depicts Wotan and Brünnhilde s as those who get what they want only through death and dying. Fafner kills Fasolt to get the gold. Alberich curses and enslaves creatures, gods and people to get the ring. Each character and their portrayal in The Ring of the Nibelung want something. They all have will. They all fear not getting what they want, except Siegfried. Schopenhauer believed that love served as a mask for a human s desire to reproduce and to pass on the will-to-live. Sex, in itself, makes the characters in The Ring of the Nibelung selfish-like. The male character s desire for sex has more to do with control and dominance than does it romance. Brünnhilde, on the other hand, uses sex as a display of romance and love. Sex consumes the characters, especially Brünnhilde, and changes them. They see nothing and no one. Brünnhilde only sees herself and her love for Siegfried. For Alberich, sex is nothing but evidence of his wealth and power; Hagen s mother was bought by [ Alberich s] gold (Ring 282). Siegfried, once securing the ring (the source that enslaves people to their will) also desires sex, as can be seen we when he hurriedly goes to get Brünnhilde to win Gutrune as his wife, and when he tells the Rhinemaidens were I not Gutrun s husband, I d try to capture one of those pretty maids make her mine (Ring 312)! Because sex and love exist to procreate, in a fundamental level, Wagner believed that love must exist between a man and woman before it could be dispersed to anyone

7 else. Being such, we can see how Wagner s view regarding relationships between males fail. Siegfried and Mime and Alberich and Hagen reflect examples of definite short comings of male-to-male relationships. There is no wife or mother in either relationship; father figures, Mime and Alberich, do not love their sons, instead they use them. Their relationships are based on greed, power and hate. The fathers try to manipulate their sons into winning the ring for them. Their selfish desires prevent them from attaining a true relationship, and keep them far from love. Wotan s want for power kept him from Siegmund as well. Siegfried, born fearless and without seeing or knowing a woman, meets Brünnhilde and learns both fear and love. Wagner shows through Siegfried how love induces fear. Siegfried, however, overcomes his fears, as Wagner believes we are unable to do because our modern reality prevents it. Wagner implies that our fear keeps us from what we want and denies us progress, believing that when we can overcome our fears, our egos and our greed we can truly get what we ultimately desire. That desire remains love. In order to reach what we desire, a man needs a woman, and a woman needs a man. Brünnhilde is thus, of course, Wagner s hero in the opera. Brünnhilde is both god and human. As a god, she can relate to human emotion, the same emotions Wotan felt. When Brünnhilde becomes human, she understands and feels human emotion love, happiness, pain, sorrow, anger and revenge. Brünnhilde had a connection between the old rule of the gods and the new rule of humans. She redeems both Wotan and Siegfried because of this connection. Wagner sought Brünnhilde to be the hero, as, without a female, the world wouldn t be worth having and couldn t be had. The desire to love and procreate cannot be satisfied without a woman.

8 Work cited

9 Wagner, Richard. The Ring of the Nibelung. Trans. Andrew Porter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., Print. ---.Selected Letters of Richard Wagner. Trans. And ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington. New York: W.W. Norton, Print. Jacquette, Dale. "Schopenhauer on Death." The Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer. Ed. Christopher Janaway. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Collections Online. Cambridge University Press. 07 May 2009 Richard Wagner. Wikipedia. 25 Arp Wkipedia Foundation. 26 Arp Web. The Radical Academy. "The Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer." The Radical Academy. 07 May Web. Raiciu, Udor. "Love, Just Another One of Nature's Tricks - Schopenhauer was Right.Latest news - Softpedia. 07 May Web.

LA Opera Das Rheingold Lesson Plan: The Ring Musical Bingo. Written by Olga Bezrukova for L.A.Opera

LA Opera Das Rheingold Lesson Plan: The Ring Musical Bingo. Written by Olga Bezrukova for L.A.Opera LA Opera Das Rheingold Lesson Plan: The Ring Musical Bingo Written by Olga Bezrukova for L.A.Opera Subjects: Literature, Music, Art GRADE 5 This lesson is easily modified for higher grades. Suggestion

More information

Forces of Love. claiming that to find Truth, one must experience procreation, growth, bloom- withering and

Forces of Love. claiming that to find Truth, one must experience procreation, growth, bloom- withering and Bauer 1 Jared Bauer Weinstock Forces of Love In a letter dated January 25 th and 26 th, 1854, Richard Wagner writes to his friend August Röckel claiming that to find Truth, one must experience procreation,

More information

WAGNER S RING IN DRESDEN. January-February, Graham Bruce

WAGNER S RING IN DRESDEN. January-February, Graham Bruce WAGNER S RING IN DRESDEN January-February, 2018 Graham Bruce Wagner s appointment in 1843 to a position at the Dresden opera, following the success of the Dresden premiere of Rienzi and the acceptance

More information

The Black Book Series: The Lost Art of Magical Charisma (The Unreleased Volume: Beyond The 4 Ingredients)

The Black Book Series: The Lost Art of Magical Charisma (The Unreleased Volume: Beyond The 4 Ingredients) The Black Book Series: The Lost Art of Magical Charisma (The Unreleased Volume: Beyond The 4 Ingredients) A few years ago I created a report called Super Charisma. It was based on common traits that I

More information

Melbourne Ring Cycle 2016

Melbourne Ring Cycle 2016 Melbourne Ring Cycle 2016 21 November-16 December 2016 ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE 1 1 Welcome Wagner s Ring Cycle is one of the most celebrated works in the history of opera and Melbourne is proud to again

More information

A Major Television Event Robert Lepage s Production of Wagner s Ring Cycle with an All-Star Cast -Airs on THIRTEEN s Great Performances at the Met

A Major Television Event Robert Lepage s Production of Wagner s Ring Cycle with an All-Star Cast -Airs on THIRTEEN s Great Performances at the Met Press Contacts: Harry Forbes 212-560-8027; ForbesH@wnet.org Sam Neuman 212-870-7457; sneuman@metopera.org Press materials: www.thirteen.org/pressroom/gperf A Major Television Event Robert Lepage s Production

More information

A Happy Ending: Happiness in the Nicomachean Ethics and Consolation of Philosophy. Wesley Spears

A Happy Ending: Happiness in the Nicomachean Ethics and Consolation of Philosophy. Wesley Spears A Happy Ending: Happiness in the Nicomachean Ethics and Consolation of Philosophy By Wesley Spears For Samford University, UFWT 102, Dr. Jason Wallace, on May 6, 2010 A Happy Ending The matters of philosophy

More information

SPRING 2018 NEWSLETTER

SPRING 2018 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2018 NEWSLETTER The Ring Trilogy / TIMOTHY KING Mary and I spent the last three evenings of 2017 in Vienna, seeing Die Ring- Trilogie at the Theater an der Wien. We had heard about it in early December

More information

WOODWINDS BRASS PERCUSSION STRINGS Once Upon a Time Venn Diagram MOZART Overture to The Marriage of Figaro J. STRAUSS, JR. Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Op. 214 Musical Comic Strip Student Worksheet NAME DATE

More information

Toward a New Understanding of the Wanderer in Siegfried, Act III: Wotan s Voluntary Moral Step Backward

Toward a New Understanding of the Wanderer in Siegfried, Act III: Wotan s Voluntary Moral Step Backward 2015 Solomon Guhl-Miller, Context 39 (2014): 47 56. Toward a New Understanding of the Wanderer in Siegfried, Act III: Wotan s Voluntary Moral Step Backward Solomon Guhl-Miller The thesis that Wotan, or

More information

FREEDOM OBTAINED THROUGH LOVE

FREEDOM OBTAINED THROUGH LOVE Tischgesellschaft, 1988 (Company at Table): polyester, cloth, paint and wood sculpture by Katharina Frisch (b1956) MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany/DACS 2014 Sculpture Inv. Nr.

More information

Today, Daniel Barenboim is to take up this legacy and offer the public his interpretation of Wagner. Stéphane Lissner

Today, Daniel Barenboim is to take up this legacy and offer the public his interpretation of Wagner. Stéphane Lissner The Ring in seven days. Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in succession. Four operas - one Prologue and three days -, four performances, fifteen hours of music in the long but concentrated

More information

Scene 1: The Street.

Scene 1: The Street. Adapted and directed by Sue Flack Scene 1: The Street. Stop! Stop fighting! Never! I ll kill him. And I ll kill you! Just you try it! Come on Quick! The police! The police are coming. I ll get you later.

More information

The Moral Animal. By Robert Wright. Vintage Books, Reviewed by Geoff Gilpin

The Moral Animal. By Robert Wright. Vintage Books, Reviewed by Geoff Gilpin The Moral Animal By Robert Wright Vintage Books, 1995 Reviewed by Geoff Gilpin Long before he published The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin was well acquainted with objections to the theory of evolution.

More information

Feel Like a Natural Human: The Polis By Nature, and Human Nature in Aristotle s The Politics. by Laura Zax

Feel Like a Natural Human: The Polis By Nature, and Human Nature in Aristotle s The Politics. by Laura Zax PLSC 114: Introduction to Political Philosophy Professor Steven Smith Feel Like a Natural Human: The Polis By Nature, and Human Nature in Aristotle s The Politics by Laura Zax Intimately tied to Aristotle

More information

Perspective. The Collective. Unit. Unit Overview. Essential Questions

Perspective. The Collective. Unit. Unit Overview. Essential Questions Unit 2 The Collective Perspective?? Essential Questions How does applying a critical perspective affect an understanding of text? How does a new understanding of a text gained through interpretation help

More information

How is Wit Defined and Portrayed in Aphra Behn s The Rover? C.S. Lewis believed Rational creatures are those to whom God has given wit (qtd.

How is Wit Defined and Portrayed in Aphra Behn s The Rover? C.S. Lewis believed Rational creatures are those to whom God has given wit (qtd. How is Wit Defined and Portrayed in Aphra Behn s The Rover? C.S. Lewis believed Rational creatures are those to whom God has given wit (qtd. Lund 53), a judgement stemming from its Anglo-Saxon origins.

More information

Acknowledgments Longwood Opera would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance:

Acknowledgments Longwood Opera would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance: y Longwood Opera's mission is: to prepare trained emerging singers for the next stage in their operatic careers by providing them with the opportunity to practice their art and to polish their performing

More information

Gender, the Family and 'The German Ideology'

Gender, the Family and 'The German Ideology' Gender, the Family and 'The German Ideology' Wed, 06/03/2009-21:18 Anonymous By Heather Tomanovsky The German Ideology (1845), often seen as the most materialistic of Marx s early writings, has been taken

More information

HOW TO ENJOY LIFE. We didn t ask to be born, but now that we re alive we should enjoy life to the fullest maximum. 1. Make art

HOW TO ENJOY LIFE. We didn t ask to be born, but now that we re alive we should enjoy life to the fullest maximum. 1. Make art HOW TO ENJOY LIFE 2 HOW TO ENJOY LIFE I think I enjoy life more so than other people. Why? And how? First of all, to be alive is a blessing. We didn t ask to be born, but now that we re alive we should

More information

Christopher Nolan: Director Extraordinaire. something that makes them want to go back and see the movie again. Stories have become

Christopher Nolan: Director Extraordinaire. something that makes them want to go back and see the movie again. Stories have become Christopher Nolan: Director Extraordinaire When people go to the movies, they want to see something new, something exciting, something that makes them want to go back and see the movie again. Stories have

More information

Nicomachean Ethics. p. 1. Aristotle. Translated by W. D. Ross. Book II. Moral Virtue (excerpts)

Nicomachean Ethics. p. 1. Aristotle. Translated by W. D. Ross. Book II. Moral Virtue (excerpts) Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle Translated by W. D. Ross Book II. Moral Virtue (excerpts) 1. Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual virtue in the main owes both its birth and

More information

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray Teaching Oscar Wilde's from by Eva Richardson General Introduction to the Work Introduction to The Picture of Dorian Gr ay is a novel detailing the story of a Victorian gentleman named Dorian Gray, who

More information

Moralistic Criticism. Post Modern Moral Criticism asks how the work in question affects the reader.

Moralistic Criticism. Post Modern Moral Criticism asks how the work in question affects the reader. Literary Criticism Moralistic Criticism Plato argues that literature (and art) is capable of corrupting or influencing people to act or behave in various ways. Sometimes these themes, subject matter, or

More information

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA A JACOBS MASTERWORKS CONCERT. February 28, March 1 and 2, 2014

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA A JACOBS MASTERWORKS CONCERT. February 28, March 1 and 2, 2014 SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA A JACOBS MASTERWORKS CONCERT February 28, March 1 and 2, 2014 SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 Andante sostenuto Allegretto scherzando Presto INTERMISSION

More information

Music: The Beauty of Loneliness, Pain, and Disappointment in Kate Chopin s The Awakening

Music: The Beauty of Loneliness, Pain, and Disappointment in Kate Chopin s The Awakening Summers 1 Katie Summers ENGL 305 Close Reading 6 September 2014 Music: The Beauty of Loneliness, Pain, and Disappointment in Kate Chopin s The Awakening Music has the ability to capture an emotion in song,

More information

Wagner s Complete Ring Cycle Coming to Participating Movie Theatres in Canada Four iconic operas and a documentary to be shown in May

Wagner s Complete Ring Cycle Coming to Participating Movie Theatres in Canada Four iconic operas and a documentary to be shown in May FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wagner s Complete Ring Cycle Coming to Participating Movie Theatres in Canada Four iconic operas and a documentary to be shown in May Toronto, ON, April 26, 2012, (TSX: CGX) - Cineplex

More information

I Am Not Yours by Sara Teasdale. The typical little girl grows up thinking about one day being in love with a boy. Not

I Am Not Yours by Sara Teasdale. The typical little girl grows up thinking about one day being in love with a boy. Not Rennich 1 Taylor Rennich College Writing and Research Groninga 11 November 2012 I Am Not Yours by Sara Teasdale The typical little girl grows up thinking about one day being in love with a boy. Not just

More information

Open-ended Questions for Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition,

Open-ended Questions for Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, Open-ended Questions for Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, 1970-2007 1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a)

More information

5. Analysis 5.1. Defenses and their state in narrated and enacted episodes. Table I: Defenses (narration)

5. Analysis 5.1. Defenses and their state in narrated and enacted episodes. Table I: Defenses (narration) (2009f) Truscello de Manson, M., Tate de Stanley, C., Roitman, C., Sloin, R., Aparain, A., Falice, C., Maldavsky, D. (2009) Irony in a violent patient, 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychotherapy

More information

Schopenhauer s Concept of Suffering and Aesthetics

Schopenhauer s Concept of Suffering and Aesthetics Schopenhauer s Concept of Suffering and Aesthetics John Alexis C. de Guzman University of Santo Tomas deguzmanjohnalexis@gmail.com Abstract: The fundamental goal of this paper is to explore Schopenhauer

More information

Reality Overtakes Myth: Ivo van Hove s stages Der Ring des Nibelungen. Francis Maes

Reality Overtakes Myth: Ivo van Hove s stages Der Ring des Nibelungen. Francis Maes Reality Overtakes Myth: Ivo van Hove s stages Der Ring des Nibelungen Francis Maes In four successive seasons, from Spring 2006 and to the Fall of 2008, the Flemish Opera (Belgium) entrusted a production

More information

Graded Assignment. Unit Quiz: Turn-of-the-Century Literature. Questions 1-5 are based on the following passage from "Heart of Darkness":

Graded Assignment. Unit Quiz: Turn-of-the-Century Literature. Questions 1-5 are based on the following passage from Heart of Darkness: Name: Date: Graded Assignment Unit Quiz: Turn-of-the-Century Literature Questions 1-5 are based on the following passage from "Heart of Darkness": "The yarns of a seamen have a direct simplicity, the meaning

More information

Literary Theory and Criticism

Literary Theory and Criticism Literary Theory and Criticism The Purpose of Criticism n Purpose #1: To help us resolve a difficulty in the reading n Purpose #2: To help us choose the better of two conflicting readings n Purpose #3:

More information

Objective vs. Subjective

Objective vs. Subjective AESTHETICS WEEK 2 Ancient Greek Philosophy & Objective Beauty Objective vs. Subjective Objective: something that can be known, which exists as part of reality, independent of thought or an observer. Subjective:

More information

Mr. Hampton s MLA / Research Paper Planning Sheet

Mr. Hampton s MLA / Research Paper Planning Sheet Directions: The more you use this planning sheet, the easier your paper will be to write. This planning sheet will cover general tips, the steps to make a paper, how to create a thesis statement, and include

More information

Do you know this man?

Do you know this man? Do you know this man? When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from unquiet dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect. This, very likely the most famous first sentence in modern

More information

VOCABULARY MATCHING: Use each answer in the right-hand column only once. Four answers will not be used.

VOCABULARY MATCHING: Use each answer in the right-hand column only once. Four answers will not be used. VOCABULARY MATCHING: Use each answer in the right-hand column only once. Four answers will not be used. 1. Sonnet 2. Iambic Pentameter 3. Romeo 4. Juliet 5. Prologue 6. Pun 7. Verona 8. Groundlings 9.

More information

BOBBY S BRAIN A Comedy In One Act By Bruce Kane

BOBBY S BRAIN A Comedy In One Act By Bruce Kane BOBBY S BRAIN A Comedy In One Act By Bruce Kane Copyright: Bruce Kane Productions 2016 All Rights Reserved 22448 Bessemer St. Woodland Hills, CA 91367 PH: 818-336-1063 E-mail: bk@kaneprod.com "" is protected

More information

The 12 Guideposts to Auditioning

The 12 Guideposts to Auditioning The 12 Guideposts to Auditioning Guidepost #1: Relationships When determining your relationship with another character you must begin by asking questions. Most obviously, the first question you could ask

More information

Literary Theory and Criticism

Literary Theory and Criticism Literary Theory and Criticism The Purpose of Criticism n Purpose #1: To help us resolve a difficulty in the reading n Purpose #2: To help us choose the better of two conflicting readings n Purpose #3:

More information

History of Tragedy. English 3 Tragedy3 Unit

History of Tragedy. English 3 Tragedy3 Unit History of Tragedy English 3 Tragedy3 Unit 1 Aristotle 384 BCE 322 BCE BCE = Before the Common Era International classification system based on time, not religion. CE = Common Era (AD = Anno Domini = in

More information

Man and Idea: Complexity and Duality in the Hero of Wagner's "Ring"

Man and Idea: Complexity and Duality in the Hero of Wagner's Ring University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2016 Man and Idea: Complexity and Duality in the Hero of Wagner's "Ring" Elizabeth Mary Szott University

More information

Student Worksheet The Merchant of Venice By William Shakespeare

Student Worksheet The Merchant of Venice By William Shakespeare Student Worksheet The Merchant of Venice By William Shakespeare OVERVIEW OF the PLAy Key themes: money, mercy, justice Key characters: Antonio: A rich merchant of Venice (the merchant of the play s title)

More information

Who will make the Princess laugh?

Who will make the Princess laugh? 1 5 Male Actors: Jack King Farmer Male TV Reporter Know-It-All Guy 5 Female Actors: Jack s Mama Princess Tammy Serving Maid Know-It-All Gal 2 or more Narrators: Guys or Girls Narrator : At the newsroom,

More information

Television. The Role of the Director and Writers

Television. The Role of the Director and Writers Television The Role of the Director and Writers In television the purpose on a show are primarily to entertain people in order to draw advertising revenues for the network which helps to pay all involved.

More information

A TEACHER S GUIDE TO

A TEACHER S GUIDE TO A TEACHER S GUIDE TO HarperAcademic.com A TEACHER S GUIDE TO RENEE ENGELN S BEAUTY SICK 2 Contents About the Book 3 About the Author 3 Discussion Questions 3 Part I: This is Beauty Sickness 3 Chapter 1:

More information

1. Physically, because they are all dressed up to look their best, as beautiful as they can.

1. Physically, because they are all dressed up to look their best, as beautiful as they can. Phil 4304 Aesthetics Lectures on Plato s Ion and Hippias Major ION After some introductory banter, Socrates talks about how he envies rhapsodes (professional reciters of poetry who stood between poet and

More information

J.S. Mill s Notion of Qualitative Superiority of Pleasure: A Reappraisal

J.S. Mill s Notion of Qualitative Superiority of Pleasure: A Reappraisal J.S. Mill s Notion of Qualitative Superiority of Pleasure: A Reappraisal Madhumita Mitra, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy Vidyasagar College, Calcutta University, Kolkata, India Abstract

More information

personality, that is, the mental and moral qualities of a figure, as when we say what X s character is

personality, that is, the mental and moral qualities of a figure, as when we say what X s character is There are some definitions of character according to the writer. Barnet (1983:71) says, Character, of course, has two meanings: (1) a figure in literary work, such as; Hamlet and (2) personality, that

More information

Adam Smith and The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Adam Smith and The Theory of Moral Sentiments Adam Smith and The Theory of Moral Sentiments Abstract While Adam Smith was Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow he wrote his Theory of Moral Sentiments. Published in 1759 the book is one of the great

More information

Families Unit 5 of 5: Poetry

Families Unit 5 of 5: Poetry 1 College Guild PO Box 6448 Brunswick, Maine 04011 Families Unit 5 of 5: Poetry Remember: Some of the questions may ask you to put yourself in the place of another gender (for example, asking you how a

More information

The Crucible. Remedial Activities

The Crucible. Remedial Activities Remedial Activities The remedial activities are the same as in the book, but the language and content are simplified. The remedial activities are designated with a star before each handout number and were

More information

Deliberate taking: the author, agency and suicide

Deliberate taking: the author, agency and suicide Deliberate taking: the author, agency and suicide Katrina Jaworski Abstract In the essay, What is an author?, Michel Foucault (1984, pp. 118 119) contended that the author does not precede the works. If

More information

Classical. James A. Selby. Characterization Stage Discovering the Skills of Writing

Classical. James A. Selby. Characterization Stage Discovering the Skills of Writing Composition Classical James A. Selby Characterization Stage Discovering the Skills of Writing Teacher guide Contents Teaching Guidelines 4 Definition of Terms 7 Introduction to the Characterization Stage

More information

Romanticism & the American Renaissance

Romanticism & the American Renaissance Romanticism & the American Renaissance 1800-1860 Romanticism Washington Irving Fireside Poets James Fenimore Cooper Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Walt Whitman Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne

More information

Key Ideas and Details

Key Ideas and Details Marvelous World Book 1: The Marvelous Effect English Language Arts Standards» Reading: Literature» Grades 6-8 This document outlines how Marvelous World Book 1: The Marvelous Effect meets the requirements

More information

Chapter 18. Romantic Opera

Chapter 18. Romantic Opera Chapter 18 Romantic Opera Key Terms Recitative Aria Bel canto Music drama Gesamtkunstwerk Leitmotiv Romantic Opera 19th century a golden age for opera Tied into Romantic themes Transcendence of artistic

More information

Background Notes. William Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet

Background Notes. William Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet Background Notes William Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare: A brief biography Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon, England to an upper/ middle class family. Shakespeare:

More information

Captain Ahab and Her Crew

Captain Ahab and Her Crew Illinois Wesleyan University Digital Commons @ IWU Outstanding Gateway Papers Writing Program 2016 Captain Ahab and Her Crew Abigail Kauerauf '19 Illinois Wesleyan University, akauera1@iwu.edu Recommended

More information

The Confusion of Predictability A Reader-Response Approach of A Respectable Woman

The Confusion of Predictability A Reader-Response Approach of A Respectable Woman 1 Beverly Steele The Confusion of Predictability A Reader-Response Approach of A Respectable Woman In Chopin s story, A Respectable Woman, the readers are taken on a journey where they have to discern

More information

RED SCARE ON SUNSET s Hollywood, wholesome film star, Mary Dale, has found her brooding husband, actor Frank Taggart, stumbling home drunk.

RED SCARE ON SUNSET s Hollywood, wholesome film star, Mary Dale, has found her brooding husband, actor Frank Taggart, stumbling home drunk. Mary, Frank (1 woman, 1 man) 1950 s Hollywood, wholesome film star, Mary Dale, has found her brooding husband, actor Frank Taggart, stumbling home drunk. Act I Scene 3 Really Frank, how many times must

More information

Classificatory Theories of Art: Resemblance and the Artworld

Classificatory Theories of Art: Resemblance and the Artworld Classificatory Theories of Art: Resemblance and the Artworld Family Resemblance A philosophical idea due to Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951); developed into an account of art by Paul Ziff and Morris Weitz

More information

Aristotle on the Human Good

Aristotle on the Human Good 24.200: Aristotle Prof. Sally Haslanger November 15, 2004 Aristotle on the Human Good Aristotle believes that in order to live a well-ordered life, that life must be organized around an ultimate or supreme

More information

WHEN SUMMER DIES OF SHAME. a one act drama. by James Chalmers

WHEN SUMMER DIES OF SHAME. a one act drama. by James Chalmers 1 WHEN SUMMER DIES OF SHAME a one act drama by James Chalmers Copyright January 2015 James Chalmers and Off The Wall Play Publishers http://offthewallplays.com 2 WHEN SUMMER DIES OF SHAME Chalmers by James

More information

Summer Reading: Socratic Seminar

Summer Reading: Socratic Seminar Required Reading Book Summer Reading Program Entering 12 th Grader - Honors Theme: Women s Struggles in Society The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams: By means of a direct monologue to the audience,

More information

Steven Doloff s The Opposite Sex & Virginia Woolf s If Shakespeare Had a Sister. Pages

Steven Doloff s The Opposite Sex & Virginia Woolf s If Shakespeare Had a Sister. Pages Steven Doloff s The Opposite Sex & Virginia Woolf s If Shakespeare Had a Sister Pages 796-800 Don t forget When writing about an essay, make sure you include the title in quotation marks. The Opposite

More information

What Makes the Characters Lives in Waiting for Godot Meaningful?

What Makes the Characters Lives in Waiting for Godot Meaningful? Brandon Miller Interpretation of Literature 8G:001:004, Brochu October 19, 2000 What Makes the Characters Lives in Waiting for Godot Meaningful? Joneal Joplin, who has directed Samual Beckett s play, Waiting

More information

CONCERNING music there are some questions

CONCERNING music there are some questions Excerpt from Aristotle s Politics Book 8 translated by Benjamin Jowett Part V CONCERNING music there are some questions which we have already raised; these we may now resume and carry further; and our

More information

SIEGFRIED 101. Peter Dundas

SIEGFRIED 101. Peter Dundas SIEGFRIED 101 Peter Dundas The illustrations in this presentation were painted by the distinguished English book illustrator Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) used in a two volume set on Wagner s Ring, published

More information

O GOD, HELP ME TO HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUE

O GOD, HELP ME TO HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUE O GOD, HELP ME TO HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUE A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. PROVERBS 15:13 Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows

More information

9.1.3 Lesson 19 D R A F T. Introduction. Standards. Assessment

9.1.3 Lesson 19 D R A F T. Introduction. Standards. Assessment 9.1.3 Lesson 19 Introduction This lesson is the first in a series of two lessons that comprise the End-of-Unit Assessment for Unit 3. This lesson requires students to draw upon their cumulative understanding

More information

ACDI-CV II. If you have any questions, ask the supervisor for help. When you understand these instructions you may begin.

ACDI-CV II. If you have any questions, ask the supervisor for help. When you understand these instructions you may begin. ACDI-CV II Instructions You are completing this inventory to give the staff information that will help them evaluate your situation and needs. Your honesty in completing this inventory is important. The

More information

Excerpt: Karl Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts

Excerpt: Karl Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts Excerpt: Karl Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/epm/1st.htm We shall start out from a present-day economic fact. The worker becomes poorer the

More information

Calm Living Blueprint Podcast

Calm Living Blueprint Podcast Well hello. Welcome to episode thirteen of the Calm Living Blueprint Podcast. I am your host,, the founder of the Calm Living Blueprint. Thanks for listening. I hope you re managing to stay comfortable

More information

DAS RHEINGOLD (THE RHINEGOLD) BY RICHARD WAGNER STUDY GUIDE

DAS RHEINGOLD (THE RHINEGOLD) BY RICHARD WAGNER STUDY GUIDE DAS RHEINGOLD (THE RHINEGOLD) BY RICHARD WAGNER STUDY GUIDE 1 RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) DAS RHEINGOLD Premiere: Munich, September 22, 1869 Opera in one act Libretto: Richard Wagner In German with English

More information

Bas C. van Fraassen, Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford University Press, 2008.

Bas C. van Fraassen, Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford University Press, 2008. Bas C. van Fraassen, Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford University Press, 2008. Reviewed by Christopher Pincock, Purdue University (pincock@purdue.edu) June 11, 2010 2556 words

More information

Dawn M. Phillips The real challenge for an aesthetics of photography

Dawn M. Phillips The real challenge for an aesthetics of photography Dawn M. Phillips 1 Introduction In his 1983 article, Photography and Representation, Roger Scruton presented a powerful and provocative sceptical position. For most people interested in the aesthetics

More information

FICTIONAL ENTITIES AND REAL EMOTIONAL RESPONSES ANTHONY BRANDON UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

FICTIONAL ENTITIES AND REAL EMOTIONAL RESPONSES ANTHONY BRANDON UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 6, No. 3, December 2009 FICTIONAL ENTITIES AND REAL EMOTIONAL RESPONSES ANTHONY BRANDON UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER Is it possible to respond with real emotions (e.g.,

More information

CLASS X MARKING SCHEME ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE CODE: MARKS Q1. 1X8=8 MARKS

CLASS X MARKING SCHEME ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE CODE: MARKS Q1. 1X8=8 MARKS CLASS X MARKING SCHEME ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE CODE: 101 SECTION A 20MARKS READING Q1. 1X8=8 MARKS i. Old, widespread and uncomplicated pastime by which one player served up an object, be it a small piece

More information

Trying to capture the flavor, here are just a few samples of lyrics from the 19 musical numbers:

Trying to capture the flavor, here are just a few samples of lyrics from the 19 musical numbers: Nobody Loves You sounds like a pretty definitive, if disheartening, statement. In the 21 st Century, it also fits what a sadistic TV producer might call a Dating Game show. And that s what Nobody Loves

More information

Carroll 1 Jonathan Carroll. A Portrait of Psychosis: Freudian Thought in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Carroll 1 Jonathan Carroll. A Portrait of Psychosis: Freudian Thought in The Picture of Dorian Gray Carroll 1 Jonathan Carroll ENGL 305 Psychoanalytic Essay October 10, 2014 A Portrait of Psychosis: Freudian Thought in The Picture of Dorian Gray All art is quite useless, claims Oscar Wilde as an introduction

More information

Marxist Criticism. Critical Approach to Literature

Marxist Criticism. Critical Approach to Literature Marxist Criticism Critical Approach to Literature Marxism Marxism has a long and complicated history. It reaches back to the thinking of Karl Marx, a 19 th century German philosopher and economist. The

More information

American Stories The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Lesson Plan by Jill Robbins, Ph.D.

American Stories The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Lesson Plan by Jill Robbins, Ph.D. American Stories The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Lesson Plan by Jill Robbins, Ph.D. Introduc5on This lesson plan is to accompany the American Stories series episode, The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

More information

Literary Analysis. READ 180 rbook Flex II Paragraph Writing. Writing Genre. Introduction. Detail Sentences. Language Use. Concluding Sentence.

Literary Analysis. READ 180 rbook Flex II Paragraph Writing. Writing Genre. Introduction. Detail Sentences. Language Use. Concluding Sentence. Writing Genre Literary Analysis In a literary analysis, the writer carefully examines a text, or elements of a text, such as character, plot, setting, or theme in a story. Read Brenna Gerry s literary

More information

Book Review: Neelam Saxena Chandra s Silhouette of Reflections

Book Review: Neelam Saxena Chandra s Silhouette of Reflections 337 www.the-criterion.com Book Review: Neelam Saxena Chandra s Silhouette of Reflections Reviewed By Syeda Shahzia Batool Naqvi Lahore, Pakistan There is a golden saying that you don t see things as they

More information

TEXT 6 Dear Mama Tupac Shakur

TEXT 6 Dear Mama Tupac Shakur TEXT 6 Dear Mama Tupac Shakur 1 You are appreciated When I was young, me and my mama had beef 17 years old, kicked out on the streets Though back at the time I never thought I'd see her face 5 Ain't a

More information

CRITICAL THEORY BEYOND NEGATIVITY

CRITICAL THEORY BEYOND NEGATIVITY CRITICAL THEORY BEYOND NEGATIVITY The Ethics, Politics and Aesthetics of Affirmation : a Course by Rosi Braidotti Aggeliki Sifaki Were a possible future attendant to ask me if the one-week intensive course,

More information

OPNION CORNER No. 10 1

OPNION CORNER No. 10 1 OPNION CORNER No. 10 1 OPNION CORNER No. 10 2 Dear Students! The end of this school year is very near, so we would like to encourage you to read the last issue of the school newspaper OPINION CORNER. You

More information

Austyn Rybicki Professor Joel Froomkin Theatre and Society-201-A 25 January 2015 The Effects of Catharsis

Austyn Rybicki Professor Joel Froomkin Theatre and Society-201-A 25 January 2015 The Effects of Catharsis Rybicki 1 Austyn Rybicki Professor Joel Froomkin Theatre and Society-201-A 25 January 2015 The Effects of Catharsis The idea of Catharsis can be defined as purification through an extreme change in emotion

More information

Seattle Opera: A "Ring" that Would Make Even Wagner Proud

Seattle Opera: A Ring that Would Make Even Wagner Proud Seattle Opera: A "Ring" that Would Make Even Wagner Proud Seattle, Seattle Opera, Mc Caw Hall DAS RHEINGOLD Preliminary Evening of the scenic saga Der Ring Des Nibelungen, in four days. Libretto and music

More information

Little Jack receives his Call to Adventure

Little Jack receives his Call to Adventure 1 7 Male Actors: Little Jack Tom Will Ancient One Steven Chad Kevin 2 or more Narrators: Guys or Girls Narrator : We are now going to hear another story about sixth-grader Jack. Narrator : Watch how his

More information

Edge Level A Unit 1 Cluster 3 The Open Window

Edge Level A Unit 1 Cluster 3 The Open Window 1. Why did Framton Nuttrel go to the country? A. he wanted to meet some new people B. he needed some rest and relaxation C. to go hunting for birds and ducks D. to deliver some letters for his sister Edge

More information

Director's Notes. Violence and the Social Context

Director's Notes. Violence and the Social Context Director's Notes During the first week of rehearsals for Romeo and Juliet, director Gadi Roll shared his thoughts on the play with the cast. The following are excerpts of notes taken during those rehearsals.

More information

English 9 Romeo and Juliet Act IV -V Quiz. Part 1 Multiple Choice (2 pts. each)

English 9 Romeo and Juliet Act IV -V Quiz. Part 1 Multiple Choice (2 pts. each) English 9 Romeo and Juliet Act IV -V Quiz Part 1 Multiple Choice (2 pts. each) 1.Friar Laurence gives Juliet a potion that he says will A) make her forget Romeo and fall in love with Paris B) stop her

More information

The Id, Ego, Superego: Freud s influence on all ages in the media. Alessia Carlton. Claire Criss. Davis Emmert. Molly Jamison.

The Id, Ego, Superego: Freud s influence on all ages in the media. Alessia Carlton. Claire Criss. Davis Emmert. Molly Jamison. Running head: THE ID, EGO, SUPEREGO: FREUD S INFLUENCE ON ALL AGES IN THE MEDIA 1 The Id, Ego, Superego: Freud s influence on all ages in the media Alessia Carlton Claire Criss Davis Emmert Molly Jamison

More information

Commentary on Candidate Evidence. Drama (Higher): Question Paper

Commentary on Candidate Evidence. Drama (Higher): Question Paper Commentary on Candidate Evidence Drama (Higher): Question Paper The for this candidate has achieved the following s for this Course Candidate 1 Q6 Section 1 The candidate was awarded 13 s because: Describes

More information

SONNET 116 AND THE MANHUNT LINKS

SONNET 116 AND THE MANHUNT LINKS SONNET 116 AND THE MANHUNT LINKS Both of these poems discuss similar subject matter and come to the same conclusion despite there being over 5oo years between the times that they were written. Both poems

More information

U N I T 2 : T H E M I D D L E A G E S E N G 1 2 A

U N I T 2 : T H E M I D D L E A G E S E N G 1 2 A U N I T 2 : T H E M I D D L E A G E S 1 0 6 6-1 4 8 5 E N G 1 2 A WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Unit Objectives Read, analyze, and interpret selections from the medieval period Identify and analyze elements of

More information

WAGNER SOCIETY OF IRELAND NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2017

WAGNER SOCIETY OF IRELAND NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2017 WAGNER SOCIETY OF IRELAND NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2017 Dear Member, As we come to the end of our talks for 2016-17 I would like to thank our excellent speakers. We are looking forward to our trip to Prague/Budapest

More information