1) August Strindberg's dream plays have received mixed interpretations and confusion, limiting his influence in America compared to contemporaries like Ibsen.
2) Strindberg's plays are difficult to appreciate without understanding his background and psychological insights which he incorporated into his unconventional works.
3) His transition from naturalism to experimentation with dreams, visions, and mysticism in plays like his dream plays led to new dramatic techniques that challenged traditional forms and standards.
Lucian Freud was a German-British painter known for his intensely realistic portraits and figure paintings. He fled Nazi Germany with his family as a child and spent most of his career painting in London. Freud is renowned for his candid and intimate portraits of friends, family members, and lovers, which he painted using loose brushwork to capture texture and flesh tones. His candid, autobiographical style reflected themes of sensuality, memory, and the human condition.
Lucian Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, was a renowned British expressionist portrait artist. [1] He fled Germany with his family in the 1930s to escape the rise of the Nazis. While attending art colleges in Britain, he befriended other young artists like Francis Bacon that formed the School of London and influenced his style. [2] Freud was heavily influenced by German Expressionism early in his career and painted surreal scenes, but after WWII he adopted muted colors and gritty perspectives. [3] His favorite technique was thick, messy impasto paint application that built texture on the canvas. Freud was known for painting friends and lovers, and had over 40 children. He viewed painting as autobi
The passage provides a stream-of-consciousness perspective into the thoughts of Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe. Mrs. Ramsay notes the difference between her actions and inner thoughts regarding her displeasure with Mr. Ramsay. Lily observes Mrs. Ramsay pitying William Bankes and recognizes it stirs Mrs. Ramsay's will to live again. Lily then shifts her focus to adjustments needed for her painting, placing down a salt cellar to remind herself of a change to the tree.
This document provides information about the 20th century artist Lucian Freud and his realistic figurative painting style. It summarizes Freud's early life and career, describes some of his most famous paintings like The Refugees and A Woman Painter in detail, and suggests activities and tasks teachers could use to explore Freud's style of portraiture with students. These include recreating Freud's compositions, focusing on tones and shapes in faces, and cross-curricular connections to math, history, and PSHE. The document aims to be a useful resource for teaching drawing and portraiture through the lens of Freud's highly realistic approach.
Expressionism, surrealism, and postmodernism influenced European playwrights. [1] Expressionism originated in Germany in the early 20th century and aimed to distort reality and present subjective perspectives. [2] Surrealism emerged between World Wars I and II and used dream imagery, symbols, and collage to liberate society from traditions. [3] Postmodernism developed in the mid-late 20th century as a reaction against modernism and rejected Western values and beliefs, embracing fragmentation and uncertainty.
This document summarizes Arthur Danto's perspective on the philosophy of art. It discusses how the field of aesthetics was once seen as irrelevant but became important again due to conceptual artworks like Andy Warhol's Brillo Boxes. These raised philosophical questions about what distinguishes art from non-art. Danto argues that art is representational and has meaning or content, unlike indiscernible real objects, making representation key to a theory of art. He also notes that the distinction between art and philosophy has become problematic as art becomes more self-conscious.
This document discusses Virginia Woolf's use of the stream of consciousness technique in her novel "To The Lighthouse". It defines stream of consciousness as a flow of thoughts represented through long sentences without grammatical rules or punctuation. Woolf pioneered this technique by focusing on characters' inner thoughts and mixing narration with different time periods. The document also analyzes specific passages from the novel that demonstrate Woolf's unique implementation of stream of consciousness to delve deeply into characters' changing perspectives and mental experiences over time.
This document discusses Charles Baudelaire and his poetry in the context of modernity and urban life in 19th century Paris. It covers Baudelaire's exploration of themes like the decline of lyric poetry, shock and consciousness in the modern city, and the experience of the flaneur. Walter Benjamin's analysis of Baudelaire frames him as commenting on the fragmentation of experience and "increasing atrophy of experience" in modernity. Technologies like photography are seen as disrupting traditional notions of experience and perception.
Lucian Freud was a German-British painter known for his intensely realistic portraits and figure paintings. He fled Nazi Germany with his family as a child and spent most of his career painting in London. Freud is renowned for his candid and intimate portraits of friends, family members, and lovers, which he painted using loose brushwork to capture texture and flesh tones. His candid, autobiographical style reflected themes of sensuality, memory, and the human condition.
Lucian Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, was a renowned British expressionist portrait artist. [1] He fled Germany with his family in the 1930s to escape the rise of the Nazis. While attending art colleges in Britain, he befriended other young artists like Francis Bacon that formed the School of London and influenced his style. [2] Freud was heavily influenced by German Expressionism early in his career and painted surreal scenes, but after WWII he adopted muted colors and gritty perspectives. [3] His favorite technique was thick, messy impasto paint application that built texture on the canvas. Freud was known for painting friends and lovers, and had over 40 children. He viewed painting as autobi
The passage provides a stream-of-consciousness perspective into the thoughts of Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe. Mrs. Ramsay notes the difference between her actions and inner thoughts regarding her displeasure with Mr. Ramsay. Lily observes Mrs. Ramsay pitying William Bankes and recognizes it stirs Mrs. Ramsay's will to live again. Lily then shifts her focus to adjustments needed for her painting, placing down a salt cellar to remind herself of a change to the tree.
This document provides information about the 20th century artist Lucian Freud and his realistic figurative painting style. It summarizes Freud's early life and career, describes some of his most famous paintings like The Refugees and A Woman Painter in detail, and suggests activities and tasks teachers could use to explore Freud's style of portraiture with students. These include recreating Freud's compositions, focusing on tones and shapes in faces, and cross-curricular connections to math, history, and PSHE. The document aims to be a useful resource for teaching drawing and portraiture through the lens of Freud's highly realistic approach.
Expressionism, surrealism, and postmodernism influenced European playwrights. [1] Expressionism originated in Germany in the early 20th century and aimed to distort reality and present subjective perspectives. [2] Surrealism emerged between World Wars I and II and used dream imagery, symbols, and collage to liberate society from traditions. [3] Postmodernism developed in the mid-late 20th century as a reaction against modernism and rejected Western values and beliefs, embracing fragmentation and uncertainty.
This document summarizes Arthur Danto's perspective on the philosophy of art. It discusses how the field of aesthetics was once seen as irrelevant but became important again due to conceptual artworks like Andy Warhol's Brillo Boxes. These raised philosophical questions about what distinguishes art from non-art. Danto argues that art is representational and has meaning or content, unlike indiscernible real objects, making representation key to a theory of art. He also notes that the distinction between art and philosophy has become problematic as art becomes more self-conscious.
This document discusses Virginia Woolf's use of the stream of consciousness technique in her novel "To The Lighthouse". It defines stream of consciousness as a flow of thoughts represented through long sentences without grammatical rules or punctuation. Woolf pioneered this technique by focusing on characters' inner thoughts and mixing narration with different time periods. The document also analyzes specific passages from the novel that demonstrate Woolf's unique implementation of stream of consciousness to delve deeply into characters' changing perspectives and mental experiences over time.
This document discusses Charles Baudelaire and his poetry in the context of modernity and urban life in 19th century Paris. It covers Baudelaire's exploration of themes like the decline of lyric poetry, shock and consciousness in the modern city, and the experience of the flaneur. Walter Benjamin's analysis of Baudelaire frames him as commenting on the fragmentation of experience and "increasing atrophy of experience" in modernity. Technologies like photography are seen as disrupting traditional notions of experience and perception.
The document discusses the nature of art and meaning through a series of quotes and thought experiments. It presents a fable in which a philosopher named Geo unveils an abstract painting to a crowd and insists that the painting is "not about anything" despite attempts to explain what it might be about. The document explores the relationship between artist and audience and how meaning is constructed in the artworld through context and interpretation.
Virginia Woolf was one of the most prominent 20th century literary figures known for her innovations in the novel form. She rejected traditional boundaries and sought to develop a more poetic and impressionistic style to better render life. Woolf constantly attempted to produce novels in her own distinctive narrative style, employing techniques like stream of consciousness to follow the inner lives and musings of characters. She also made formal use of silence as a narrative device and presence rather than just an absence.
The art of form versus the art of emotion in thomas mann's death in venice (f...Jesullyna Manuel
This document provides a summary and analysis of Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice. It discusses how the novella explores the conflict between form (rationality and discipline) versus emotion through the story of Gustav von Aschenbach. Von Aschenbach is a repressed writer who becomes obsessed with a young Polish boy named Tadzio while vacationing in Venice. His obsession leads to his dissolution and death, representing the dangers of giving in to one's passions. The document also analyzes how Venice represents sensuality and decline, and how the story uses mythology and Freudian concepts to examine this theme of rationality versus emotion.
Woolf stream of consciousness technique in To the Light HouseISP
Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse explored the minds of characters using the stream of consciousness technique. It presented characters' perspectives through their own and others' thoughts without straightforward narration. Woolf rejected traditional narrative techniques and experimented with stream of consciousness and indirect interior monologue to depict inner realities and capture life's complexity. The story followed a small number of characters over multiple sections united through emotional themes rather than direct events.
Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield is considered a classic Bildungsroman that follows the protagonist's journey from childhood to maturity. Through David's experiences and relationships with various characters, the novel explores themes of disciplining one's emotions and finding one's place in society. While some characters like Agnes Wickfield demonstrate maturity and wisdom, others like Uriah Heep and James Steerforth lack discipline. David develops a disciplined heart through his personal growth over the course of the story. The novel was praised by critics like Tolstoy and influenced many other authors.
Stream of Consciousness is a narrative technique employed by writers to describe unspoken thoughts and feelings of their characters without resorting to conventional dialogue.
The document discusses Virginia Woolf's use of stream of consciousness as a literary technique in her novel "To The Lighthouse." It provides examples from the novel to illustrate key aspects of stream of consciousness, such as having no first person narrator but presenting thoughts and feelings figurally through various characters. The text also examines Woolf's distinctive approach of integrating characters' present impressions with memories from the past. While stream of consciousness allows for a rich exploration of the inner worlds and changing perspectives of characters, it results in a plot that is less conventional and linear.
SHGC The Womens Art Movement (Realism) Part 3rachaelwhare
The document discusses the artwork "Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground)" by artist Barbara Kruger. It summarizes that the work critiques modern standards of beauty through a divided photographic image of a model's face with the text "Your body is a battleground." The work was originally intended as a poster for a pro-choice march. It also discusses Kruger's style of incorporating found images with provocative text.
This document provides an analysis of Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley as an example of a modern novel. It discusses several key characteristics of modern novels, including their realistic portrayal of human nature and focus on psychological characterization through examining a character's inner thoughts and past experiences. The document analyzes Edward Waverley as the passive protagonist in Scott's novel, exploring how his changing costumes and aliases throughout reflect his flexible nature. It also discusses Scott's techniques of characterization in Waverley that demonstrate both emerging a character from events as well as providing initial descriptive portraits.
1) Stream of consciousness is a narrative technique that aims to reproduce a character's mental processes without narration, including thoughts, feelings, and memories flowing freely.
2) The document discusses different types of stream of consciousness narratives like interior monologue, which presents a character's unspoken thoughts, and direct interior monologue, where the author directly presents a character's consciousness.
3) As an example, the document analyzes Virginia Woolf's use of stream of consciousness in her novel To the Lighthouse, where she shifts between characters' perspectives to capture their inner experiences.
This slideshow has been fun for an American Lit class. I try very hard to keep the visuals interesting and to manage the words well. Let me know whether the layout works or not, and you can be honest.
Brief History of the Interior MonologueJames Clegg
An imaginary, inaugural sketch of what a brief history of the 'interior monologue' might look like. Here 'interior monologue' is explored as both a mode of representing a character's thoughts and more problematically as a practice 'we' might actually participate in.
This document provides a summary of a student's paper analyzing two graphic novels: Death of Wolverine and Fun Home. It discusses how both comics use unique narrative techniques to convey temporality spatially through images and text. Specifically, it analyzes how Death of Wolverine uses color in the text boxes to represent sensory experiences, establishing a primacy effect. The student argues this technique merits comparing the two works and applying narrative theory to understand comics.
Kalyan Varma (http://kalyanvarma.net) asked me to give a talk at one of his famed photography workshops on the question of the frame in photography. This is that talk.
The narrative of the portraits was only spoken, and not described on the slides to not take away from the emotion of them.
The document discusses an art exhibition by Paul Harbutt at the John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY. It summarizes that Harbutt's work is often violent, cynical, and ominous but also humorous. The current exhibition features six large semi-abstract canvases inspired by and dedicated to a recently deceased friend named Wendy. Though still dark and sad, the works redeem Harbutt's earlier misanthropy by being heartfelt tributes. They capture the spirit of the mysterious Wendy and the culture she walked through, with the intent to honor friendship, idea to reflect on life, and execution that is elegant yet uncontrolled.
Christopher Isherwood's novel Goodbye to Berlin provides insights into Berlin society in the 1930s through its characters and situations. While some details are not fully explained, social criticism approaches help readers construct the social context inductively. The narrator aims for objectivity with a "camera" perspective, though is also a character. Theoretical frameworks like Lukács and Goldmann's analyze how novels reflect the alienation of individuals in modern capitalist society through value systems and the relationship between people and the world.
Virginia Woolf's novel "To the Lighthouse" uses the stream of consciousness narrative technique. This technique explores characters' inner thoughts and was first developed by philosopher William James. Woolf presents characters both through their own consciousness and how other characters perceive them. She rejects traditional narrative techniques and uses stream of consciousness and interior monologues to give the characters depth and complexity. Woolf skillfully uses this style to tell a cohesive story while representing the richness of human experience.
The document analyzes the poem "The Falling Leaves" by Margareth Postgate Cole. It finds the poem uses extensive metaphor to depict soldiers dying in World War I as autumn leaves falling from trees. The falling leaves represent the vast numbers of young men killed in battle, their lives cut short unexpectedly. Through metaphor and simile, the poem vividly conveys the senseless waste of human life during the war in just 12 lines. It concludes the poem is a moving tribute to soldiers who lost their lives, using natural imagery to reflect on the tragedy of death in conflict.
This document discusses whether a novel described as a "murder mystery" is actually a Bildungsroman genre novel instead. A Bildungsroman tells the story of an individual's growth and development within a defined social order, typically involving a quest for meaningful existence that is spurred by some early loss or discontent that separates them from their family or home, followed by a long, difficult process of maturity over time through clashes between their needs and the rigid social order, eventually leading to their acceptance into society by the end of the novel. The document provides an overview of the typical elements and structure of a Bildungsroman.
The document discusses the Bildungsroman genre of literature, which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of a protagonist from youth to adulthood. It provides definitions and conventions of the genre, including that the protagonist typically undergoes a journey that forces growth and maturity. Examples discussed include Frodo and Sam's journey in Lord of the Rings and various character's coming-of-age stories in Game of Thrones, such as Robb Stark assuming leadership. The document concludes with discussion questions about applying the Bildungsroman concept to other works and characters.
This summary provides an overview of the Victorian literature A-level course and requirements:
- The course is split into two modules, one assessed through coursework and one through exam. Coursework consists of two essays and is worth 40% while the exam is worth 60%.
- The first essay compares two plays, and the second analyzes a novel. Students are provided reading lists and assignments to complete over the summer break in preparation.
- The exam consists of an analysis of an unseen non-fiction extract, and an analytical essay on Thomas Hardy poetry. Students are required to purchase texts to support their independent study.
This document is a play titled "Motherlove" by August Strindberg. It summarizes the interactions between a mother, her daughter, and the daughter's new friend Lizzie. The mother is overbearing and restrictive of her daughter's independence. During a conversation alone, Lizzie reveals to the daughter that they share the same father, making them sisters. The daughter is shocked by this revelation.
The document discusses the nature of art and meaning through a series of quotes and thought experiments. It presents a fable in which a philosopher named Geo unveils an abstract painting to a crowd and insists that the painting is "not about anything" despite attempts to explain what it might be about. The document explores the relationship between artist and audience and how meaning is constructed in the artworld through context and interpretation.
Virginia Woolf was one of the most prominent 20th century literary figures known for her innovations in the novel form. She rejected traditional boundaries and sought to develop a more poetic and impressionistic style to better render life. Woolf constantly attempted to produce novels in her own distinctive narrative style, employing techniques like stream of consciousness to follow the inner lives and musings of characters. She also made formal use of silence as a narrative device and presence rather than just an absence.
The art of form versus the art of emotion in thomas mann's death in venice (f...Jesullyna Manuel
This document provides a summary and analysis of Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice. It discusses how the novella explores the conflict between form (rationality and discipline) versus emotion through the story of Gustav von Aschenbach. Von Aschenbach is a repressed writer who becomes obsessed with a young Polish boy named Tadzio while vacationing in Venice. His obsession leads to his dissolution and death, representing the dangers of giving in to one's passions. The document also analyzes how Venice represents sensuality and decline, and how the story uses mythology and Freudian concepts to examine this theme of rationality versus emotion.
Woolf stream of consciousness technique in To the Light HouseISP
Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse explored the minds of characters using the stream of consciousness technique. It presented characters' perspectives through their own and others' thoughts without straightforward narration. Woolf rejected traditional narrative techniques and experimented with stream of consciousness and indirect interior monologue to depict inner realities and capture life's complexity. The story followed a small number of characters over multiple sections united through emotional themes rather than direct events.
Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield is considered a classic Bildungsroman that follows the protagonist's journey from childhood to maturity. Through David's experiences and relationships with various characters, the novel explores themes of disciplining one's emotions and finding one's place in society. While some characters like Agnes Wickfield demonstrate maturity and wisdom, others like Uriah Heep and James Steerforth lack discipline. David develops a disciplined heart through his personal growth over the course of the story. The novel was praised by critics like Tolstoy and influenced many other authors.
Stream of Consciousness is a narrative technique employed by writers to describe unspoken thoughts and feelings of their characters without resorting to conventional dialogue.
The document discusses Virginia Woolf's use of stream of consciousness as a literary technique in her novel "To The Lighthouse." It provides examples from the novel to illustrate key aspects of stream of consciousness, such as having no first person narrator but presenting thoughts and feelings figurally through various characters. The text also examines Woolf's distinctive approach of integrating characters' present impressions with memories from the past. While stream of consciousness allows for a rich exploration of the inner worlds and changing perspectives of characters, it results in a plot that is less conventional and linear.
SHGC The Womens Art Movement (Realism) Part 3rachaelwhare
The document discusses the artwork "Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground)" by artist Barbara Kruger. It summarizes that the work critiques modern standards of beauty through a divided photographic image of a model's face with the text "Your body is a battleground." The work was originally intended as a poster for a pro-choice march. It also discusses Kruger's style of incorporating found images with provocative text.
This document provides an analysis of Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley as an example of a modern novel. It discusses several key characteristics of modern novels, including their realistic portrayal of human nature and focus on psychological characterization through examining a character's inner thoughts and past experiences. The document analyzes Edward Waverley as the passive protagonist in Scott's novel, exploring how his changing costumes and aliases throughout reflect his flexible nature. It also discusses Scott's techniques of characterization in Waverley that demonstrate both emerging a character from events as well as providing initial descriptive portraits.
1) Stream of consciousness is a narrative technique that aims to reproduce a character's mental processes without narration, including thoughts, feelings, and memories flowing freely.
2) The document discusses different types of stream of consciousness narratives like interior monologue, which presents a character's unspoken thoughts, and direct interior monologue, where the author directly presents a character's consciousness.
3) As an example, the document analyzes Virginia Woolf's use of stream of consciousness in her novel To the Lighthouse, where she shifts between characters' perspectives to capture their inner experiences.
This slideshow has been fun for an American Lit class. I try very hard to keep the visuals interesting and to manage the words well. Let me know whether the layout works or not, and you can be honest.
Brief History of the Interior MonologueJames Clegg
An imaginary, inaugural sketch of what a brief history of the 'interior monologue' might look like. Here 'interior monologue' is explored as both a mode of representing a character's thoughts and more problematically as a practice 'we' might actually participate in.
This document provides a summary of a student's paper analyzing two graphic novels: Death of Wolverine and Fun Home. It discusses how both comics use unique narrative techniques to convey temporality spatially through images and text. Specifically, it analyzes how Death of Wolverine uses color in the text boxes to represent sensory experiences, establishing a primacy effect. The student argues this technique merits comparing the two works and applying narrative theory to understand comics.
Kalyan Varma (http://kalyanvarma.net) asked me to give a talk at one of his famed photography workshops on the question of the frame in photography. This is that talk.
The narrative of the portraits was only spoken, and not described on the slides to not take away from the emotion of them.
The document discusses an art exhibition by Paul Harbutt at the John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY. It summarizes that Harbutt's work is often violent, cynical, and ominous but also humorous. The current exhibition features six large semi-abstract canvases inspired by and dedicated to a recently deceased friend named Wendy. Though still dark and sad, the works redeem Harbutt's earlier misanthropy by being heartfelt tributes. They capture the spirit of the mysterious Wendy and the culture she walked through, with the intent to honor friendship, idea to reflect on life, and execution that is elegant yet uncontrolled.
Christopher Isherwood's novel Goodbye to Berlin provides insights into Berlin society in the 1930s through its characters and situations. While some details are not fully explained, social criticism approaches help readers construct the social context inductively. The narrator aims for objectivity with a "camera" perspective, though is also a character. Theoretical frameworks like Lukács and Goldmann's analyze how novels reflect the alienation of individuals in modern capitalist society through value systems and the relationship between people and the world.
Virginia Woolf's novel "To the Lighthouse" uses the stream of consciousness narrative technique. This technique explores characters' inner thoughts and was first developed by philosopher William James. Woolf presents characters both through their own consciousness and how other characters perceive them. She rejects traditional narrative techniques and uses stream of consciousness and interior monologues to give the characters depth and complexity. Woolf skillfully uses this style to tell a cohesive story while representing the richness of human experience.
The document analyzes the poem "The Falling Leaves" by Margareth Postgate Cole. It finds the poem uses extensive metaphor to depict soldiers dying in World War I as autumn leaves falling from trees. The falling leaves represent the vast numbers of young men killed in battle, their lives cut short unexpectedly. Through metaphor and simile, the poem vividly conveys the senseless waste of human life during the war in just 12 lines. It concludes the poem is a moving tribute to soldiers who lost their lives, using natural imagery to reflect on the tragedy of death in conflict.
This document discusses whether a novel described as a "murder mystery" is actually a Bildungsroman genre novel instead. A Bildungsroman tells the story of an individual's growth and development within a defined social order, typically involving a quest for meaningful existence that is spurred by some early loss or discontent that separates them from their family or home, followed by a long, difficult process of maturity over time through clashes between their needs and the rigid social order, eventually leading to their acceptance into society by the end of the novel. The document provides an overview of the typical elements and structure of a Bildungsroman.
The document discusses the Bildungsroman genre of literature, which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of a protagonist from youth to adulthood. It provides definitions and conventions of the genre, including that the protagonist typically undergoes a journey that forces growth and maturity. Examples discussed include Frodo and Sam's journey in Lord of the Rings and various character's coming-of-age stories in Game of Thrones, such as Robb Stark assuming leadership. The document concludes with discussion questions about applying the Bildungsroman concept to other works and characters.
This summary provides an overview of the Victorian literature A-level course and requirements:
- The course is split into two modules, one assessed through coursework and one through exam. Coursework consists of two essays and is worth 40% while the exam is worth 60%.
- The first essay compares two plays, and the second analyzes a novel. Students are provided reading lists and assignments to complete over the summer break in preparation.
- The exam consists of an analysis of an unseen non-fiction extract, and an analytical essay on Thomas Hardy poetry. Students are required to purchase texts to support their independent study.
This document is a play titled "Motherlove" by August Strindberg. It summarizes the interactions between a mother, her daughter, and the daughter's new friend Lizzie. The mother is overbearing and restrictive of her daughter's independence. During a conversation alone, Lizzie reveals to the daughter that they share the same father, making them sisters. The daughter is shocked by this revelation.
Boundaries can cause problems and conflicts between states. They shape the states and influence communication and isolation within states. There are different types of boundaries including physical boundaries defined by natural features, cultural boundaries defined by human-made features, and internal boundaries that divide political power within unitary and federal states. Gerrymandering of electoral boundaries has been used to benefit political parties in some countries.
This document provides information about two influential playwrights of realism - Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. Ibsen was born in Norway in 1828 and is considered the founder of modern realism. Some of his most famous plays like A Doll's House and Ghosts explored social problems and were controversial and banned in some places. Strindberg was born in Sweden in 1849 and also wrote naturalistic dramas like Miss Julie, which shocked audiences with its portrayal of sexuality and was banned in many countries. Both playwrights helped establish realism in drama through their exploration of controversial topics and problems in society.
1. Miss Julie explores the power dynamics between a countess and servant on Midsummer's Eve as they succumb to passion.
2. Written by Swedish playwright August Strindberg in 1888, it examines issues of sexuality, class, and gender roles in a naturalistic single-set work.
3. Directorial interpretations can vary the understanding of who seduces whom between the title character and servant Jean.
Celtic languages were once widely spoken across Europe but were reduced to just a few languages by the arrival of others like Latin and English. Today, Celtic languages are mainly confined to the edges of Europe and include Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, Manx, and Breton. However, many of these languages are endangered with declining numbers of native speakers.
After WWII, most countries joined international and regional organizations to prevent future wars and maintain peace. The UN is the most important international organization, established in 1945 with 49 founding members. It aims to keep peace through peacekeeping forces and bringing countries together to solve conflicts peacefully. Additionally, countries formed regional military alliances like NATO and the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War in response to the rise of the US and Soviet superpowers in order to maintain a balance of power. With the decline of military importance, the EU has become the leading economic alliance and power, promoting cooperation and integration among its member states.
The document discusses the regional concentrations and clustering of different ethnic groups in the United States. It notes that African Americans are concentrated in the Southeast, Hispanics in the Southwest, Asian Americans in California and Hawaii, and Native Americans in the Southwest and Plains regions. It also discusses how ethnic groups cluster in particular cities and neighborhoods within cities.
This document provides instructions for a three-stage webquest on ancient Celtic literature. In stage one, students research aspects of ancient Celtic culture in small groups. In stage two, students work in new small groups to complete a project on archetypes, interview Celtic gods/goddesses, or compare Celtic, Greek and Roman literature. Stage three has students individually write an original poem about the Ultonian or Fenian cycles of Celtic literature. The document provides detailed guidelines and resources for students to complete each stage of the webquest.
Las células Natural Killers (NK) son células del sistema inmune innato que destruyen células infectadas y cancerosas. Derivan de precursores en la médula ósea y expresan receptores que activan o inhiben su función citotóxica dependiendo de la presencia de marcadores en las células diana. Las NK juegan un papel importante en la defensa contra virus y cáncer mediante la liberación de enzimas citotóxicas que destruyen las células dañinas.
Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that play an important role in the innate immune system analogous to cytotoxic T cells in the adaptive immune system. NK cells differentiate and mature in the bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, tonsils and thymus before entering circulation. They recognize and kill stressed, virally infected, or tumor cells through either direct cytolytic granule release or antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Cytokines released during viral infection activate NK cells to secrete interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha to help control viral spread and recruit other immune cells.
NK cells are lymphocytes that constitute 5-10% of cells in human peripheral blood. They play an important role in the innate immune response by killing infected or abnormal cells. NK cells are divided into two main subpopulations, CD56dim NK cells which are highly cytotoxic and mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and CD56bright NK cells which rapidly produce cytokines and chemokines upon activation. A specialized NK cell population in the uterus, uterine NK cells, help form the placenta during pregnancy by enlarging blood vessels to supply the growing fetus.
Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of cytotoxic lymphocyte that provides rapid responses to viral infections and tumors. NK cells recognize and destroy stressed cells in the absence of antibodies and MHC molecules through activating receptors that induce apoptosis. NK cell activity is regulated by a balance between activating and inhibitory receptors - inhibitory receptors prevent killing of normal cells that express MHC class I, while activating receptors induce killing of infected or abnormal cells missing MHC I. NK cells help initiate early immune responses by releasing perforin and granzymes to induce apoptosis of virally-infected cells they detect missing MHC class I.
This document discusses multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). It defines MDR-TB as tuberculosis resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, and defines XDR-TB as MDR-TB additionally resistant to fluoroquinolones and injectable second-line drugs. It also discusses mechanisms of drug resistance development, clinical factors promoting resistance, testing methods, categories of antituberculosis drugs, and public health responsibilities regarding treatment and prevention of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
This document provides a biographical note on Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It summarizes the key events of his life:
- He was born in 1849 in Stockholm to a bankrupt father and struggled financially throughout his life.
- He had an unstable childhood and struggled to find his place between the upper and lower classes.
- He pursued multiple careers including teaching, medicine, and acting before finding success as a dramatist in his 20s.
- His breakthrough play "The Outlaw" was produced in 1871 and gained him royal patronage from King Carl XV.
- He continued writing plays that pushed boundaries and developed new dramatic techniques.
- The note concludes with Strindberg falling in love
CONTENTS
Pirandello 1
The Context of Six Characters in Search of an Author 2
Character Analysis 3
Play-within- a- play; theatre about theatre 5
Theatricality 6
raison d’etre 8
Improvisation 9
Death of the author 11
Commedia dell’arte 13
Brecht 14
The Context of Mother Courage and her Children 15
Character Analysis 15
Themes 17
Epic Theatre 19
Alienation Effect 21
Brecht as a revolutionist in stage technique: Gestus 22
Brecht’s Political Theatre 23
Beckett 25
The Context of Waiting for Godot 26
Character analysis 28
Theatre of the Absurd 37
Theory of Semiotics 45
Time 47
Existentialism 53
Nihilism 55
Habituation 55
Structure of the play (Repetitiveness, Circular development) 57
Vaudeville 60
Visual effect 60
The document provides an overview of various literary and artistic movements from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It discusses absurdism, existentialism, nihilism, modernism, stream of consciousness, avant-garde movements like expressionism, dadaism and surrealism, postmodernism, and theater of the absurd. Key figures and their works are mentioned for each movement. The document aims to ponder over these trends and movements through presentations by three department members.
Contents
Modernism
Realism
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen’s Approach to Feminism
(Project #1)
“The Master Builder”
Epistemology, techniques, themes, characters
“The Master Builder”: A Kaleidoscopic Play
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The Equivocal Influence of August Strindberg: Confusion Surrounding his Dream Plays
1. 1
Erica Starr
12/13/12
Dram 175
Research Paper
The Equivocal Influence of August Strindberg: Confusion Surrounding his Dream Plays
Although August Strindberg‟s contributions as a modern dramatist are well known in
countries such as Germany, his influence is lacking in America due to the presence of mixed
interpretations surrounding his controversial “dream plays”. Contrary to the picture that the
name Henrik Ibsen puts into the minds of Americans, Strindberg never garners the same level of
praise from audiences. Instead, he is seen through an inadequate and distorted picture in which
his aims are both misunderstood and misinterpreted1. Viewed by some to be an “outstanding
Scandinavian genius” and “the most tragic figure in modern European literature and the greatest
dramatist of his generation”2, it is possible that Strindberg‟s influence on German expressionism
should warrant more concern for his influence in America. Through taking interdisciplinary
approaches to organizing the mechanisms behind Strindberg‟s dramas, it may be possible to
provide a framework for understanding his plays that focus on increasing acceptance for his
nontraditional methods of dramatic writing.
One reason for the misconceptions surrounding Strindberg and his works may stem from
his being categorized as a “forbiddingly original writer with whose work it is difficult to become
familiar”3. Thus, the stark contrast between the work of his predecessors and Strindberg‟s own
creations are so radically different that it is difficult to compare them to past works which have
become unequivocal classics. Strindberg was extremely in tune with his own psychological self,
1
Arthur Burkhard. “August Strindberg and Modern German Drama”.The German Quarterly 6:4 (Nov. 1933): 163.
2
Burkhard, p. 163.
3
Burkhard, p. 163.
2. 2
and he utilized his insights to bring life to his pieces, especially his so-called dream plays. At
extremes, Strindberg could be at any one time “bourgeois, now bohemian, today monkish and
mystic, tomorrow indulgent and diabolical, yet always theatrical and exhibitionistic”4, and
Strindberg‟s ability to change his view of the world on a dime is onthe one hand disturbing due
to a lack of consistency in his sense of self. On the other hand, it shows an incredible tendency
to make use of a thought process which is centered on adapting to the outside world when
necessary and ignoring it when introspection provides inspiration.
Thus, it can be argued that Strindberg‟s works are difficult to appreciate unless a
thorough examination of his background is discussed in accordance with reading his plays,
especially for those which seem to carry with them remnants of his own life and glimpses into
the life of the “character” of Strindberg. To put it plainly, Strindberg is thought to have lacked
steadfastness because he could never make up his mind concerning which profession suited him
best. He dabbled as a tutor and medical student, tried his hand as a telegraph operator, and
worked as a librarian, chemist, and alchemist in addition to devoting his time to being an actor,
journalist, poet, and author5. Still, despite these inconsistencies, Strindberg regarded himself
first and foremost as a dramatist, and he considered the writing of dramas to be his life‟s work6.
Confused by Strindberg‟s strange tendency to do a little bit of everything yet call himself
primarily a dramatist, the general public which studies his work find his stories to be disturbed,
difficult to follow, and disorderly, especially when comparing his works to those of Ibsen, his
methodical contemporary7. Strindberg has been by far less influential due to his affinity for
unusual subjective works and an erratic sense of productivity. His irrational approach to drama
4
Burkhard, p. 165.
5
Burkhard, p. 166.
6
Burkhard, p. 166.
7
Burkhard, p. 166-67.
3. 3
mimics synthetic, cosmic, and Dionysian self-expression8, which have also been criticized for
being too open to uncertainties and for allowing one to behave in haphazard manners. Much of
American criticism of European drama, which sides in favor of naturalism, fails to realize what
is thought to be the importance of Strindberg‟s dramatic expressionism, which was actually
derived from the focused attention he paid to naturalism in his earlier plays9.
Strindberg‟s transition from portraying the finite and real world to his gravitation toward
the infinite and eternal brought with it heavy focus on the differences between the logical world
of the everyday and the dream world of imagination, which is littered with poetic miracles and
religious mysticism10. Turning away from the literal world in front of him, Strindberg began to
experiment with forming dramas from a combination of dreams, visions, premonitions, and
concepts stemming from his own personal experiences11. Strindberg‟s characters resemble
himself in that they are all capable of living through emotional extremes, which presents the
possibility of having characters who can only function in states of disarray. Though diverse in
his activities, Strindberg held onto a “restless drive to seek out yet unexplored territories and to
experiment with the newest media of his time, a drive that stemmed from his need to find
adequate expression to his ever-changing perception of an elusive reality and his sense of split
and fragmented consciousness in a crumbling and metamorphosing culture”12. This interesting
take on Strindberg‟s vast amount of hobbies (or maybe obsessions) suggests that there may have
been a method to his madness. If Strindberg wished to escape a culture that was not satisfying
his need to abandon objective for subjective realities, his behavior is not only warranted, but
8
Burkhard, p. 167.
9
Burkhard, p. 170.
10
Burkhard, p. 170.
11
Burkhard, p. 170.
12
EszterSzalczer. “Strindberg & the Visual Arts”.PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 25:3 (Sep. 2003): 42.
4. 4
perhaps encouraged. Out of an experience of crisis, Strindberg developed into one of the first
playwrights to have a truly modern sensibility13, which allowed for not only redefining drama,
but for redefining the way he looked at the world and at other types of art as well.
Having given up writing during a particularly stressful time in his life, known as the
Inferno period, Strindberg took up observing nature, painting, photography, and optical
experimentation14. No matter which medium he worked in, Strindberg began to approach his
work with a sense of visual perception that could not be matched. While observing the natural,
spiritual, and social world, he made great use of visual analogies that permeated his paintings
and photographs, and upon returning to the written word, he incorporated highly verbal and
scenic imagery, color symbolism, and attention to spatial composition15 into his works,
techniques which are most notably components of his dream plays. In addition to these
elements, Strindberg began to experiment with replacing “causal plot-construction, rational
linguistic patterns, and realistic character motivation with a “dream-logic” of perceptual
associations, in which images, sound effects, and verbal fragments are interwoven into a
collage”16. These new features brought forth the need to create new, unconventional stage
technologies which proposed many challenges not only to directors during Strindberg‟s time, but
also to contemporary directors who are intimidated by the thought of attempting to produce his
work without skewing the supposed intended meaning of the plays.
Those who do take on the challenge of putting on one of Strindberg‟s plays wrestle with
his being known as the father of modern drama. Contemporary critics have not yet been able to
13
Szalczer, p. 43.
14
Szalczer, p. 43.
15
Szalczer, p. 43.
16
Szalczer, p. 43.
5. 5
approach Strindberg‟s “dream plays” with confidence17. As mentioned, many people find
difficulty in relating to his works because of the striking autobiographical nature of the plays.
Others turn away from his plays because they cannot be judged using traditional standards as far
as drama is concerned, and still others find fault in the inherent esthetic of the dream-art
relationship. This relationship has the greatest influence on contemporary critics, such that
Strindberg‟s dream plays have been considered failures18. If the supposed failure of these plays
is due in part to the mental illness Strindberg suffered during his Inferno period, there is
reasonable explanation for the fact that these plays are inherently difficult to comprehend or
relate to easily. However, taking into consideration Strindberg‟s capacity for producing art even
in his darkest times, it is possible that Strindberg made a conscious effort to create a new form of
drama with his dream plays that would express how sick and irrational the world around him was
in a way in which no one had done before him19. Breaking away from rational thought provided
Strindberg with the freedom to introduce psychology and expressionism into his dramas, which
would ultimately lead to a new style of play that still causes arguments among artists today.
The dream play technique, which Strindberg worked to perfect, tried to balance the
necessary presence of language in drama with poeticized language that operates on both a
musical and a visual level, as opposed to a conceptual one20. Suggestive in nature, Strindberg‟s
use of language is coupled with imagery that provides opposition to normally informative,
surface text. An example of this phenomenon occurs in The Ghost Sonata, in which the
character of the Old Man says, “I prefer silence. Then you can hear thoughts and see into the
17
John R. Milton. “The Esthetic Fault of Strindberg‟s “Dream Plays””. The Tulane Drama Review 4:3 (Mar. 1960):
108.
18
Milton, p. 108.
19
Milton, p. 108.
20
Szalczer, p. 46.
6. 6
past. In silence you can‟t hide anything…as you can in words. The other day I read that the
reason different languages developed was because primitive tribes tried to keep secrets from
each other”21. This statement makes use of mysterious language that highlights the mysteries of
language, which provides multiple levels upon which to consider the sensory experience of the
event. The process of duplicating this type of layered imagery involving language brings with it
a new interdisciplinary approach to presenting his work, which also involves discussing the often
neglected non-literary dimensions of Strindberg‟s works, which often jump traditional
boundaries of genre, art forms, and disciplines22.
Of the Strindberg dream plays that have been performed, The Ghost Sonatahas received
much attention, in particular from Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Both Strindberg and
Bergman are said to have stripped away the illusions that becloud the “hopeless dream of
„being‟”23. Known for utilizing iconic displays, Bergman staged The Ghost Sonatawith an acute
awareness of moral goodness counterbalanced by inescapable bodily needs. The addition to
Strindberg‟s script of blood on both Hummel and The Young Lady, as well as the presence of
stage business that is not mentioned in the text of the play is characteristic of a production that is
rendered much more ominous in its staging than in the actual reading of the play24. Keeping in
line with Strindberg‟s preoccupation with the human condition, Bergman focused on the
importance of class warfare in his production. Having started out as a young director, Bergman
produced four stagings of The Ghost Sonata(as well as other works of Strindberg) over a period
of five decades, leading one to wonder if an obsession with the many layers of Strindberg‟s
dream plays guided his choice to repeatedly stage this one.
21
Strindberg: Five Plays, trans. Harry G. Carlson (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981), 286.
22
Szalczer, p. 47.
23
GautamDasgupta. “The Hopeless Dream of “Being”: Ingmar Bergman‟s “The Ghost Sonata”. PAJ: A Journal of
Performance and Art 23:3 (Sep. 2001): 64.
7. 7
Bergman‟s production utilized “utterly simplified staging, a combination of the
Shakespearean platform stage and Peter Brook‟s empty space, emphasizing stunning visual
connections between physical signs and interior decay”25. The main acting area contained a
rectangular carpet, a few chairs, a pendulum clock, and a statue atop a pedestal on either side of
the stage. On the side walls, which were bare, the façade of a bourgeois house could be seen,
and an image of hyacinths added depth to the imaginary building. The minimalistic stage
conveyed a sense of gloominess, which could be related to both the exterior of the house and the
interior simultaneously. This presence extended to the characters in the play as well. Bergman
created meaning for this complex play through providing visual consistencies between the
actors‟ body language, the costumes and makeup, relationships to the playing space, and layered
imagery imposed by numerous projections26.
This simplified, yet meaningful description of Bergman‟s production of The Ghost
Sonatasounds appropriate for the piece and feels promising when it is read on the page
independent of seeing the play. However, looking at the photos depicting Bergman‟s staging27,
they portray a play that is markedly different from an initial interpretation made after reading the
physical play sans contemporary staging. The costumes are too realistically rendered, which
subtracts from the dream technique, and the ages of The Student and The Young Lady appear to
be an overestimate based on the emotions, innocence, and naiveté conveyed by the characters in
the original play. In addition, even if class warfare is supposed to make an appearance as a
character in this play, the overarching formalities of the clothing depicted destroy the subtle
vision created by the play itself through language alone.
24
Dasgupta, p. 66.
25
Szalczer, p. 46.
26
Szalczer, p. 46.
27
Dasgupta, p. 67.
8. 8
The most striking difference between Bergman and Strindberg‟s versions of The Ghost
Sonataconcerns the ending of the play, for which Bergman employed a viewing of the Milkmaid
dancing before she retreats into the shadows. This imagery was constructed to mimic the
opening of the production, in which all appearances, including the façade of the house, are meant
to be deceptive and seem like they are fading away28. At the end of the play, Strindberg brings
the audience out of the world of The Ghost Sonataby replacing the three dimensional scene with
the famous two-dimensional representation of Arnold Böcklin‟s painting The Island of the
Dead29, coupled with calm, melancholy music. This allusion to a real work of art, especially one
with much significance related to the themes of the play, provides a beautiful last moment to
focus on following the completion of the drama. Simple, yet full of some kind of meaning,
Strindberg hit upon the perfect ending for his play. Bergman‟s decision to do away with it,
although backed by artistic freedom, brings too much closure to what should resemble a dream in
which the ending is often unclear and up for interpretation.
The trouble with accepting not only Bergman‟s staging of The Ghost Sonata, but other
possible takes on it as well may be due to the abundance of situations in the play in which the
“main characters reveal themselves in facets that fail to harmonize to form a single rounded
image”30. Meant to put on display a sort of dream-like state, this play contains fragments of
thoughts and ideas that are scattered amongst different characters with entirely different
subjective viewpoints. Whether looking at the Old Man, The Student, or The Mummy, it is
unclear as to exactly what these characters are motivated to do, due to a lack of an omnipotent
narrator within this play or clarification from Strindberg‟s perspective. In this respect, the dream
play offers extreme flexibility as it relates to the form of drama, but not without cost to the
28
Dasgupta, p. 68.
29
Dasgupta, p. 68, Strindberg: Five Plays,p. 297.
30
Milton, p. 108.
9. 9
possible overall success of the work. Still, it cannot be said that there is no possibility that the
character of The Student serves as an external dreamer as well as an internal driving force within
the play toward some end. In the very beginning of the play, The Student converses with the
dead Milkmaid and offers her compensation for helping him clean his eyes, which she refuses.
He says to her, “Forgive me, that was thoughtless, but I‟m not really awake”31, which is an
interesting remark that receives no clarification as it relates to his actually being awake or asleep
for the duration of the play. The Student also admits to being a student of languages, but does
not really know what he wants to be. This uncertainty concerning his identity may mimic the
feeling of wanting to move toward something in a dream because it is attractive, but to no avail,
as the dream world never quite satisfies realistic expectations. The subtle suggestions that an
unusual situation or even a dream may be occurring remains empty throughout the play, and no
definite conclusions are ever drawn.
This type of confusion surrounding Strindberg‟s dream plays has led to criticism that
suggests that “the substance which actually makes up great drama and which appeals to the
audience” is missing from these plays. This substance is the idea that an audience can share in
an experience with the characters in a play, as opposed to being witnesses to ideas so subjective
and so personal to the characters and the author that the audience cannot intrude or hope to land
on equal ground32. With the inclusion of extremely personal circumstances comes an inability
for an audience to experience a break from objective reality, such that they cannot participate or
be drawn into the world of the play. This distancing effect too brings with it a problem of form
as it relates to the dream plays. Even if Strindberg knew he wanted to use a new form of drama
to convey his ideas, the success of his plays still rests upon the audience understanding the need
31
Strindberg: Five Plays,p. 267.
32
Milton, p. 109.
10. 10
for this form. Going back to the idea that it is difficult to appreciate Strindberg‟s work without
knowing his background, comments have been made suggesting that Strindberg‟s choice of form
to express his concepts was appropriate for himself, however, they remain far from being
accepted as a general dramatic form for which other dramatists can utilize on the same level of
seriousness33. If this is true, it is highly unlikely that any dramatist other than Strindberg could
construct what could be called a true dream play, at least as Strindberg would have seen it.
It is possible then, that drama and dreams were never meant to be combined successfully
into one form that could be objectively replicated, at least on stage. Looking again at form, it
can be argued that, “form is meaningful only because the spectator projects his activities or
feelings into the form. The meaning which a drama possesses, then, is not inherent in the drama
but is put there by the spectator in the act of contemplation”34. This argument provides hope for
a greater appreciation of Strindberg‟s dream plays, as it suggests that readers can layer their own
interpretations on top of what is already being subjectively presented in the script, provided that
the play is not being performed onstage. By eliminating the realistic attempt at conveying what
is meant to be dream-logic, plays such as The Ghost Sonata can be looked at from the
perspective of more than one viewer or dreamer, rather than just the subjective mind of
Strindberg or one of his characters within the play, such as The Student.
Problems arise when we try to share our dreams with others, because we will never truly
understand one another on the same subjective level. Translating our dreams into more realistic
terms automatically adds a layer of objectivity to the situation that clouds the beauty of the
dream experience, which is that no clear meaning can or should ever try to be discovered, as any
seemingly final interpretation cannot be made by anyone other than the original dreamer. Left to
33
Milton, p. 109.
34
Milton, p. 110.
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examine dream-like situations such as the ones that take place in the house in Strindberg‟s The
Ghost Sonataby means of reading the play in textual form, the issue of not being able to share in
the personal experience that created the play becomes less noticeable. If there is a desire to
decrease the subjective distance between author and audience, having knowledge of Strindberg‟s
life and where his dramatic choices may have been derived may offer closure for some people.
For others, maintaining the magic of the dream plays by accepting its unusual form is more
important than maintaining a relationship with the dramatist himself.
It is true that if we treat Strindberg‟s dream plays as being his actual dreams, we will
never truly understand them, because dreams cannot be transferred to others without failing to
remain completely subjective. If a character in the play is made to be the dreamer, then the form
of what is known as a “dream play” is lost to a form familiar to traditional drama. If these dream
plays fail by means of what is considered to be a correct use of dramatic technique35, the
question that remains is whether it is still possible to put the harsh criticism of Strindberg‟s
ambiguous methods of dramatic expression aside long enough to consider the merits of his
approaches. If nothing else, Strindberg‟s dream plays have forced us to think more open-
mindedly about how we can best communicate our experiences to each other regarding real life
as well as our dreams.
35
Milton, p. 116.