Literary Perspective-Exam #2

A Streetcar Named Desire: characters

- Blanche - Stella - Stanley - Mitch - Allen: Blanche's 1st husband -Eunice, steve, pablo: friends of the Kowalski's

Much Ado About Nothing: What was the year of authorship

1598 and 1599

A Streetcar Names Desire: What was the year of authorship

1947

Fences: What was the year of authorship

1985

Oedipus Rex: What was the year of authorship

430 b.c.,

Fences: Who was the author of the play

August Wilson

Much Ado About Nothing: characters

Beatrice - Leonato's niece and Hero's cousin. "a pleasant-spirited lady" with a very sharp tongue. She is generous and loving, but, mocks other people with elaborately tooled jokes and puns. Benedick - An aristocratic soldier who has recently been fighting under Don Pedro, and a friend of Don Pedro and Claudio. Benedick is very witty, always making jokes and puns. He carries on a "merry war" of wits with Beatrice, but at the beginning of the play he swears he will never fall in love or marry. Claudio - A young soldier who has won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro during the recent wars. falls in love with Hero but quick to believe evil rumors and hasty to despair and take revenge. Hero - daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice. Hero is lovely, gentle, and kind. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her, but when Don John slanders her and Claudio rashly takes revenge, she suffers terribly. Don Pedro - An important nobleman from Aragon, sometimes referred to as "Prince." longtime friend of Leonato, Hero's father Don Pedro is generous, courteous, intelligent, and loving to his friends, but he is also quick to believe evil of others and hasty to take revenge. He is the most politically and socially powerful character in the play. Leonato - A respected, well-to-do, elderly noble at whose home, in Messina, Italy, the action is set. Leonato is the father of Hero and the uncle of Beatrice. Don John - The illegitimate brother of Don Pedro; "the Bastard." creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of Hero and Claudio. He is the villain of the play; motivated by his envy of his brother's social authority. Margaret - Hero's serving woman, who unwittingly helps Borachio and Don John deceive Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful. Conrad - One of Don John's more intimate associates, entirely devoted to Don John. Several recent productions have staged Conrad as Don John's potential male lover, possibly to intensify Don John's feelings of being a social outcast and therefore motivate his desire for revenge. Dogberry - The constable in charge of the Watch, or chief policeman, of Messina. Dogberry is very sincere and takes his job seriously, but he has a habit of using exactly the wrong word to convey his meaning. Dogberry is one of the few "middling sort," or middle-class characters, in the play, though his desire to speak formally and elaborately like the noblemen becomes an occasion for parody. Antonio - Leonato's elderly brother and Hero's uncle. He is Beatrice's father. Balthasar - A waiting man in Leonato's household and a musician. Balthasar flirts with Margaret at the masked party and helps Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice. Ursula - One of Hero's waiting women.

Oedipus Rex: common symbols

Crossroads A major symbol in Oedipus Rex is that of the crossroads, the place where the three roads meet in Phocis. When people are said to be at a crossroads, they are about to make decisions that will influence the rest of their lives in major ways. At this crossroads Oedipus kills his father. He does not realize he has fulfilled part of his fate, but the crossroads, as a symbol of a life-altering decision, tells the audience otherwise before Oedipus himself realizes what he has done. Blindness symbolizes the characters' ignorance. Swollen Feet Oedipus's name means "swollen feet" or "knowledge of one's feet." His feet were pierced and bound when he was an infant and his parents abandoned him. He was rescued by a messenger, but his feet were scarred as a result. The scars symbolize the crippling fate destined for him from his birth. It is an example of situational irony that neither Oedipus nor Jocasta connect his scars with the story of his birth.

Oedipus Rex: characters

Oedipus: king Creon: brother in law Tiresias: blind prohpet Jocasta: Oedpus wife and mother Laius: father and previous king, married to Jocasta.

Fences:What is the literary school of thought/ style of the play belongs to (ie. southern gothic, greek tragedy, Roman comedy, Postmodernism)

Poetic Realism, postmoderism

Oedipus Rex: What were common themes at stake in the play

Self-Discovery The play is full of self-discovery, but, as is often the case in a tragedy, the self-discovery is painful if not deadly. As a younger man, Oedipus wants to know his true identity at the expense of his presumed parents, Polybus and Merope. In Episode 2 Oedipus tells Jocasta that years ago, in his home of Corinth, a drunken man accused him of not really being his parents' son. Although his parents reassured him that this information was not true, the story spread. He says, "But nonetheless, the accusation always troubled me—the story had become known everywhere. And so I went in secret off to Delphi." Oedipus reacts with selfish pride to the way people are talking about him. He does not find out whether he is really adopted, but Apollo gives him the terrible prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He leaves Corinth forever to avoid his fate, but by doing so he unwittingly brings this fate upon himself. Oedipus's desire to seek out his real parents and true identity is not a sign of selfish pride but simply natural curiosity. His pride lies in his personal conviction that he can defy the oracle and change the course of his fate. Oedipus is persistent in that he sends Creon to the oracle to find out why his people are ill and is also willing to consult Teiresias. However, he cannot handle the answers he gets, and his pride flares again. He accuses Creon of plotting with Teiresias to overtake the throne. But, when he questions Jocasta about the death of Laius, both he and Jocasta begin to see parallels in their pasts, notably the same prophecy. Jocasta attempts to remain blind to her real identity and insists oracles are silly, but she continues to pray at the altar, revealing her budding self-knowledge to the audience. By the time the messenger says that the shepherd was the one who gave him a baby bound at its ankles, Jocasta knows the truth but still refuses to face it, and she tries to protect Oedipus from knowing how disastrous the situation really is. When Oedipus persists and says, "I cannot end this now. I must reveal the details of my birth," Jocasta replies, "In the name of the gods, no! If you have some concern for your own life, then stop! Do not keep on investigating this." Jocasta knows that Oedipus will suffer once he discovers his true identity: "O you unhappy man! May you never find out who you really are!" But the shepherd's story confirms Oedipus's lineage, and he discovers he is Jocasta and Laius's son. Fate versus Free Will A major theme in Sophocles's plays is the idea that the gods, not human beings, determine the fate of an individual. Sophocles was a religious man who did not question who was in control. His plays reflect his belief that suffering serves as a way to clarify the power of the gods and their intentions for humanity. In Oedipus Rex fate is unavoidable, no matter what lies the characters tell others and themselves and no matter what they do to ensure that they escape their destinies. In fact, the attempt to escape fate seems to be the very thing that ensures that fate is inescapable. Trying to avoid, rather than accept, one's fate increases one's suffering even more. This idea does not, however, eradicate free will and the choices characters make over the courses of their lives. A clear tension exists between fate and free will in Greek tragedy, illustrated by the perpetual conflict between humans and the gods. Jocasta also tries to control events to avoid the same prophecy in an unimaginably awful way. She and Laius put a pin through the ankles of their own son, causing him to be lame and scarred for life, and order a shepherd to leave him exposed on a rock in the wilderness, which will surely mean his death. But Jocasta is so determined to avoid her fate that she goes one step further and tells the shepherd to kill the baby instead. The shepherd cannot go through with such a horrible, heartless order and disobeys Jocasta, handing the baby over to a messenger to give to Polybus and Merope. That baby is, of course, Oedipus. Jocasta's attempt to orchestrate infanticide secures her fate: the gods are not happy with that shameful act. Jocasta even tries to stop Oedipus from knowing the full story, and she is willing to accept her fate and suffer in silence as long as Oedipus does not know he is the one she tried to have killed. However, neither one can avoid fate nor the knowledge they have come face to face with. Blindness Sophocles builds the theme of blindness by having all of the characters in Oedipus Rex either start off as blind, become blind, refuse to see the truth, or wish they had never seen it. Blindness symbolizes the characters' ignorance. By extension this theme includes sight as well, and in Oedipus Rex none of the characters want to see what is finally revealed to be a terrible misjudgment of the power of the god Apollo. However, once they acquire the knowledge or understanding that leads to the truth, their vision becomes clear. The first instance of blindness is Teiresias, the old, blind prophet. Interestingly, this type of blindness occurs in a character who is the first representation of the truth behind Oedipus's birth and life story. Willful blindness is something that both Creon and Jocasta have in common, to differing degrees. Creon, when accused of wanting the throne, says he does not want to deal with all of the problems that come with running a city. He would rather be blind to all of that and enjoy his life as the brother of a king and queen. Jocasta, however, blinds herself to the power of the gods by trying to avoid her fate, and, when she discovers the truth about Oedipus, she adopts a willful blindness to the facts: "Why should a man whose life seems ruled by chance live in fear—a man who never looks ahead, who has no certain vision of his future?" She encourages Oedipus to join her in her blindness, and she keeps it up until she can no longer deny the facts. At that point Jocasta runs from the room. In the next episode, she kills herself rather than face what is before her. After the shepherd admits that he disobeyed Jocasta's order to kill her son, everyone listening knows who Oedipus is and that the prophecy has come true. The Chorus wishes they were blind, singing, "O child of Laius, how I wish I'd never seen you." Oedipus, having discovered that he has murdered his father and fathered children with his own mother, also has to witness the suicide of the woman who is both his wife and mother. He is the one who finds her hanging in their room, and her death raises his level of suffering to a degree that he cannot stand. He takes the brooches from her clothing and uses the pins to gouge out his eyes, blinding himself permanently. When the second messenger describes the agony of both Jocasta and Oedipus, the Chorus wishes they had never seen Oedipus. Pride Pride figures prominently in many Greek tragedies. It is closely related to the Greek idea of hubris, a character trait that leads a person to disregard the limits of human potential preordained by the gods. Oedipus is an intelligent man, but his pride gets the best of him. Oedipus's pride ultimately leads to his downfall. Hamartia, often referred to as the tragic flaw, is one of the key aspects of Greek tragedy. The main characters in many tragedies are nearly superhuman but burdened with tragic flaws that prevent them from becoming godlike. Oedipus's tragic flaw is his pride. By attempting to escape the prophecy dictated by the gods, he ends up fulfilling it. In doing so, Oedipus becomes guilty of hubris as he tries to overcome his human limitations and rescind the prophecy. Like Oedipus, Jocasta is guilty of pride and hubris in her attempt to alter fate and later deny it at various points. She sends Oedipus to die as an infant hoping to escape the prophecy. Many years later, when Oedipus reveals to her the prophecy he had heard, she denies it, yet she continues to pray at the altar of Apollo. When she realizes the prophecy has been fulfilled, she tries to shield Oedipus from the truth. Incapable of coping with the prophecy's fulfillment, she commits suicide.

Oedipus Rex: Who was the author of the play

Sophocles

A Streetcar Names Desire: What is the literary school of thought/ style of the play belongs to (ie. southern gothic, greek tragedy, Roman comedy, Postmodernism)

Southern Gothic:an awareness of belonging to a dying culture - dashing, romantic, but at the same time living in an economy based on deep injustice and cruelty. The contradiction inherent in the cultural climate favored the individualistic, the eccentric and the outcast.

A Streetcar Named Desire: Who was the author of the play

Tennessee Williams

Much Ado About Nothing: What were common themes at stake in the play

The plot of Much Ado About Nothing is based upon deliberate deceptions, some malevolent and others benign. The duping of Claudio and Don Pedro results in Hero's disgrace, while the ruse of her death prepares the way for her redemption and reconciliation with Claudio. In a more lighthearted vein, Beatrice and Benedick are fooled into thinking that each loves the other, and they actually do fall in love as a result. Much Ado About Nothing shows that deceit is not inherently evil, but something that can be used as a means to good or bad ends. In the play, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between good and bad deception. When Claudio announces his desire to woo Hero, Don Pedro takes it upon himself to woo her for Claudio. Then, at the instigation of Don John, Claudio begins to mistrust Don Pedro, thinking he has been deceived. Just as the play's audience comes to believe, temporarily, in the illusions of the theater, so the play's characters become caught up in the illusions that they help to create for one another. Benedick and Beatrice flirt caustically at the masked ball, each possibly aware of the other's presence yet pretending not to know the person hiding behind the mask. Likewise, when Claudio has shamed and rejected Hero, Leonato and his household "publish" that Hero has died in order to punish Claudio for his mistake. When Claudio returns, penitent, to accept the hand of Leonato's "niece" (actually Hero), a group of masked women enters and Claudio must wed blindly. The masking of Hero and the other women reveals that the social institution of marriage has little to do with love. When Claudio flounders and asks, "Which is the lady I must seize upon?" he is ready and willing to commit the rest of his life to one of a group of unknowns (V.iv.53). His willingness stems not only from his guilt about slandering an innocent woman but also from the fact that he may care more about rising in Leonato's favor than in marrying for love. In the end, deceit is neither purely positive nor purely negative: it is a means to an end, a way to create an illusion that helps one succeed socially. The Importance of Honor The aborted wedding ceremony, in which Claudio rejects Hero, accusing her of infidelity and violated chastity and publicly shaming her in front of her father, is the climax of the play. In Shakespeare's time, a woman's honor was based upon her virginity and chaste behavior. For a woman to lose her honor by having sexual relations before marriage meant that she would lose all social standing, a disaster from which she could never recover. Moreover, this loss of honor would poison the woman's whole family. Thus, when Leonato rashly believes Claudio's shaming of Hero at the wedding ceremony, he tries to obliterate her entirely: "Hence from her, let her die" (IV.i.153). Furthermore, he speaks of her loss of honor as an indelible stain from which he cannot distance himself, no matter how hard he tries: "O she is fallen / Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea / Hath drops too few to wash her clean again" (IV.i.138-140). For women in that era, the loss of honor was a form of annihilation. TAKE THE THEMES, MOTIFS & SYMBOLS QUICK QUIZ 1 2 NEXT MOTIFS Pick 5 Fictional Couples and We'll... ‹ Previous Next › More Help Character List CHARACTERS Beatrice: Character Analysis CHARACTERS Important Quotations Explained MAIN IDEAS Themes MAIN IDEAS Review Quiz FURTHER STUDY From the SparkNotes Blog Every Book on Your English Syllabus Summed Up in a Quote from The Office By Elodie The 7 Best Times Men Were Terrified of Women in Classic Literature By Elodie 8 Greek Mythological Figures You'll Date at Some Point in Your Life By Elodie 6 Scenes from the Book That Were WAY Too Disturbing for the Movie Adaptation By Elodie

Fences: characters

Troy Maxson The main character of the play. Married to Rose. Has three children: Lyons, Cory, and, later in the story, Raynell. He cheated on his wife of 18 years and impregnates Alberta to father Raynell. Jim Bono Troy's best friend and obvious "follower" in their friendship, but is very committed to him. Rose Maxson Troy's wife of 18 years, and the mother of Troy's second son, Cory. She is also very faithful and puts much trust in Troy. Cory Maxson Troy's son who, against his father's wishes, plays football and temporarily leaves his job during the football season, infuriating his father, who eventually kicks him out of the Maxson home. Bono Lyons Cory Rose Troy Gabriel

Much Ado About Nothing: Who was the author of the play

William Shakespeare

before all else [she] is a wife and mother."

a streetcar named desire, breaking up scene

the greatest miracle of all" could happen—the ability to live together in a "true marriage."

a streetcar named desire, breaking up scene

happiness doesn't matter; all that matters is...the appearance."

a streetcar named desire, nora getting dressed for party

Much Ado About Nothing: What is the literary school of thought/style the play belongs to (ie. southern gothic, greek tragedy, Roman comedy, Postmodernism)

comedies, because it combines elements of robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics.

Oedipus Rex: What is the literary school of thought/styleof the play belongs to (ie. southern gothic, greek tragedy, Roman comedy, Postmodernism)

dramatic irony,Greek Tragedy:plays typically take place in one place, in one day, with one main plot

A Streetcar Named Desire:What were common themes at stake in the play

reality versus fantasy

Fences:What were common themes at stake in the play

responsibility: Troys family is his responsibility, he has to provide death: troy is fighting death the whole play, the fence is symbolic in this way, the fence is his way of keeping death out

A Streetcar Named Desire: comon symbols

sickness and fever masquerade costumes, hidden macaroons light Nora calls for when Dr. Rank tells her he loves her. Nora's dancing the tarantella