THEA 142: Development of Dramatic Art I

A discussion of the origins and transformations of primarily Western theatre from its origins to the late 18th century, through texts, artists, and theorists.

Monday, April 30, 2007

life is a dream and so is my desire to be two weeks in the future

i really enjoyed the rhetoric in this play, however i am a sucker for Spanish writers(lorca, Marquez,etc). as a play it is a bit monologueish which are lovely but makes it hard to read through like some of the earlier Greek stuff we read. now as for the plot; well, we have ourselves a good old "overthrow of the old power by the younger generation" story going on here. The premonition is also another old one. its all over ancient and forgotten lore. What distinguishes this play is the language, the philosophy, and the ending. The language is terrifically beautiful and contained within the soliloquies are some quite poignant notes on the human condition. in addition, to tell the truth, the ending took me by surprise. what i cannot conceive of is how seigsmund, who has really known not but despair throughout his life has forged a merciful spirit. this is shown with his touching introduction (i dream of freedom yadda yadda yadda), then again with his final sparring of the king, which i could not believe.

1 Comments:

At 11:04 AM, Blogger Katie Marchant said...

I agree with your statement that lengthy monologues make a play hard to read but they also provide some great information about who a character is and why they are acting the way they are. I also liked your interpretation of the plot. That sums up this play quite nicely.

 

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