Aayushree Pradhan Essays (909 words) - English-language Films

Aayushree Pradhan 03/10/2017 Conflict between morals and passion in Ethan Frome Everybody in this world is born with certain moral ethics instilled in them. They're taught what is wrong and what is right by their family as well as the society. But there is something else inside people that morals cannot suppress no matter what: passions and desires. Just as one's moral duties are predetermined from birth, it is human nature to want to follow our desires and live a happy life. In Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, Ethan is presented with two options, taking care of his "sickly" wife Zeena and the farm like a good husband, or following his desires by running away and marrying Mattie like a good lover. The book describes the conflict Ethan faces while having to choose between his responsibilities and his passions. Ethan ultimately, like all of his ancestors, decides to sit back and take care of Zeena despite having various opportunities to take bolder steps towards his blooming relationship with Mattie , which in the end, makes things harder for him. Starkfield is a very cold and barren place. Everything is dull and grey - the weather, the land, the people, and Ethan himself. Here, Ethan lives his life as a poor farmer with a sickly wife. There is no other bond or any kind of passion between them besides their marriage. In fact, Ethan only married Zeena because he was lonely after his mother's death. But the marriage just added more bleakness to his life. Ethan, before his parents death, used to be an avid learner attending a college and studying technology and even immersing in a little bit of Physics studies. After his father died, he was forced to give that up in order to take care of his sick mother. After his mother died and Zeena became his wife, he was stuck in an endless loop of working fruitlessly in the gloomy landscape of Starkfield all day and coming back home to listen to Zeena's bickering. Zeena has a legal and moral right to Ethan's "love" and attention. In the book, Zeena is portrayed as some kind of a mor al monster - both physically and spiritually. She is malicious and gets what she wants by making Ethan and the community feel pity for her. As she is described by Ethan in Chapter 3, "She sat opposite the window, and the pale light reflected from the banks of snow made her face look more than usually drawn and bloodless, sharpened the three parallel creases between ear and cheek,, and drew querulous lines from her thin nose to the corners of her mouth." , no amount of light or warmth seems to break through Zeena's icy demeanor. Ethan goes on to reveal that Zeena "was but seven years her husband's senior, and was only twenty-eight, she was already an old woman." Ethan's premature marriage with a woman like Zeena takes a huge toll on his quest for passion and Mattie. On the other hand, Mattie brings not only joy and light to Ethan's life but also a sense of companionship. Mattie listens to Ethan and Ethan listens to Mattie. This happiness and passion is often signified by the color red. Mattie is first introduced wearing a red fascinator in a social gathering and seeing her makes Ethan's heart beat fast. She is described as having rosy red lips and cheeks. The red ribbon she wears and the red pickle dish also represent the passion between Ethan and Mattie. Ethan hangs onto every little movement of Mattie's because she is the only lively thing in his glum life. Ethan also admires Mattie because unlike Ethan, her father managed to escape Massachusetts - although he did not do well later on. Mattie makes the cold farmhouse feel homely and warm. She puts extra effort to set up the dinner table in Chapter 4. In Chapter 4, Ethan and Mattie spend time together in "domestic bliss". Mattie is also naive and innocent compared to the cunning Zeena. Ethan's passivity and concern for his morals causes him to not take any active steps neither in breaking off his current marriage nor setting up a life with

Peter Brook Essays

Peter Brook Essays Peter Brook Paper Peter Brook Paper How do you think that Peter Brook has employed the ideas/techniques of the practitioners detailed in Mitters study? Please refer to Brooks own writings, particularly The Shifting Point, in answering this question. Peter Brook is one of the worlds most famous directors and has much in-depth knowledge and experience of the theatre. Brook is a key figure in modern theatre, building on the innovations of earlier practitioners and continuing that uniquely twentieth century institution, the directors theatre. (Halfyard, 2000:maxopus. com/essays/8songs_m. htm) Brook is known as the leading director of his generation (Peter Hall) and he claims he can take any empty space and call it a bare stage, but where did he get his inspiration? Who are his influences? In this essay, I am going to try and find any similarities between Brooks theatre techniques and those of Konstantin Stanislavsky, Bertolt Brecht and Jerzy Grotowski. I am looking for if he has more preference towards one of these directors or uses a combination of each of their rehearsal methods with his actors. Shomit Mitters study, Systems of Rehearsal, looks at the process of rehearsal according to Brook, associating his rehearsal techniques with those created by Stanislavsky, Grotowski and Brecht. In Mitters introduction at first, I felt a sense of criticism towards Brook; Brook seemed to me more a mimic than an inventor (Mitter, 1992:30) and he mentions the extent of Brooks debt to each of the above directors. Although in the latter part of Mitters introduction, he goes on to say that it is extraordinary how Brook showed such a likeness with such completely different directors: I began to feel that his ability to absorb the influence of vastly dissimilar theatres could only be seen as an achievement. (Mitter, 1992:4) In Brooks study The Shifting Point, looking back on his career in theatre, he speaks about a misunderstanding that exists in theatre which is the assumption that theatrical process falls into two stages; the first: making, and the second: selling. Brook then shows disagreement with Stanislavsky: Even in the title of Stanislavskys great work Building a Character, this misunderstanding persists, implying that a character can be built up like a wall, until one day the last brick is laid and the character is complete. To my mind, it is just the opposite. I would say that the process consists not of two stages but of two phases. First: preparation. Second: birth. This is very different. (Brook, 1987:7) In one of the very few references to Stanislavsky in Brooks book The Empty Space, Brook describes this same subject very briefly, explaining that a character isnt a static thing and it cant be built like a wall. (Brook, 1968:114) This emphasis on how he wants to shape his actors, prove that he wants his actors to be constantly learning, encountering new approaches to acting and experiencing different practical exercises within the rehearsal process. Brook does not refer to Stanislavsky as often as I expected in both The Shifting Point and The Empty Space, whereas Mitters first chapter in his book shows immense comparison between Stanislavsky and Brook. Like Stanislavsky, Brook believes that the entire corpus of objectively available material on the character is insufficient. The actors need a far more detailed picture of the world in which their characters live. (Mitter, 1992:28) This method Stanislavsky employed consisted of questioning each actor and asking each one about their characters lives; the information that was not written in the text. The actors, for example, were asked to answer questions about their individual characters family members, the characters profession and where they lived. The questions were created to give a personal view into the character, thinking how they thought and recognising the depth of the character. In order to be, the actor must feel, and in order to feel, the actor must move from the self to the play via the mind. (Mitter,1992:11) Stanislavsky had accepted how set-design could play in creating emotion. Brook also uses the set to help create emotion; Instead of standing their ground four-square they will now run up and down ladders The life of these exchanges is, at the last, not to come from the actors words but from their actions. Rhythm and impulse, unfound in the lines, will be found in the ladders. (Mitter,1992:38, from The Making of A Midsummer Nights Dream) This meant that whilst the actors were physically climbing up and down the ladders, it was affecting the pace and the impact of the lines spoken; resulting in what Brook required from the start. He had found a way, physiologically rather than psychologically, to generate what he required from the actors. One would note Brooks repeated insistence that he doesnt want things acted. Echoing precisely Grotowskis claim that acting is abandoned in his theatre. (Mitter, 1992:108) Here, Mitter is describing a similarity Brook has to Jerzy Grotowski; how both their ideal theatre performances are true to life. Brook asked his actors not to perform, not to characterise and do a movement as an everyday person would without exaggerating. The actors arent acting, they are being. (Mitter,1992:109, from Peter Brook: A Theatrical Casebook, 1988) Brooks association with these ideas returns in The Shifting Point: A real person is someone who is open in all parts of himself, a person who has developed himself to the point where he can open himself completely- with his body, with his intelligence, with his feelings, so that none of these channels are blocked.