A View from the Bridge Essay Example for Free

A View from the Bridge Essay A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller is a play describing the affairs of the Brooklyn dockworkers of post war America. The play is as colourful as the lives of those it depicts: it contains aspects of love, hatred, passion, suffering, pain and despair (to name but a few) but what of tragedy? In order for a play to be a tragedy it follows that it must have tragic elements to its plot but what are these elements? Why are they considered tragic? And most importantly of all: In what from are they present in A View from the Bridge? Answering this question requires that we obtain a sound definition of tragedy in the classic sense, and for this task I refer throughout to Aristotles Poetics. Over the next few pages I will be examining the main events and aspects of the play, showing how explicitly they follow the principles outlined by Aristotle, therefore earning the tragic title. Foremost in a tragedy is the protagonist; he is the hub around which the events of the play rotate, without whom all would soon crumble. In classic tragedy the protagonist is usually distinguished early in the play: the protagonist in A View from the Bridge is established from the outset. An early stage direction sees Eddie pitching coins with the men and is highlighted among them this and Eddies prominence in the following family scene firmly establish his role as the lead character. Once this entity has been confirmed we must then examine his character. In the first family scene Eddie is shown to command the love and respect of both his wife and niece: Beatrice claims that he is an Angel! and that Godll bless him and Catherine greets him enthusiastically Hi, Eddie! This show of love has the effect of portraying Eddie Carbone in a favourable light and raising the audiences opinion of him. This was a deliberate effort on Millers part to satisfy one of Aristotles necessities for tragedy, that the lead role should embody nobility and virtue as part of his/her innate character. Initial nobility and virtue serve to accentuate the eventual demise of the character and heighten the sense of loss felt by the audience. The family love of the opening scene, while serving a purpose, is notably ordinary and not at all unusual. At first glance Eddie Carbone seems a surprisingly normal figure He is forty- a husky, slightly overweight longshoreman. This normality however serves a very important purpose, it allows the audience to identify with the character, a necessity for the tragic hero since he has to command sympathy, pity, and later invoke fear. Another tragic requirement is that the lead character must have a certain flaw, or imperfection, known as hamartia which serves to trigger the characters demise. This is present in A View from the Bridge and is subtly exposed in the first scene when Eddie is pleased and therefore shy about it when Catherine lovingly greets him. The first family scene can therefore be described as tragic because it complies with tragic ideals, and establishes both the character of the protagonist and his fatal flaw: two essentials of tragedy. Following this scene I was aware of the potential for catastrophe (in Eddies incestuous love, and over protectiveness) but was at a loss as to how this potential was to be realised. This invoked in me as the reader or as a member of the audience a sense of or intense anticipation and anxiety: anticipation because the catastrophic ending was foretold in Alfieris warnings and anxiety because I did not know what form this catastrophe would take. My anxiety was relieved upon the arrival of the immigrants, when I realised the means by which the potential was to be realised. As the scene progresses Catherines attraction to Rodolpho is made apparent. Catherine wondrously asks Rodolpho about his hair, and is enthralled by his singing; she asks if he is married and references to sugar you like sugar? -Sugar? Yes! I like sugar very much! imply that they are sweet on each other. This affection unnerves Eddie, who, upon hearing Rodolphos rendition of Paper Doll interrupts as soon as flirtation is mentioned and then those flirty, flirty guysWill have to flirt with dollies that are real. This scene, while not satisfying any tragic ideas wholly in itself, helps with the progression of the tragedy since it develops the fatal flaw, Eddies love for Catherine. It also informs the audience of the course the play is to take, accentuating the sense of fate or inevitable progression.

Suffering in Charles Dickens Oliver Twist and James Watsons Talking in Whispers :: English Literature

Suffering in Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and James Watson's 'Talking in Whispers' I am going to explore the ways in which human suffering is portrayed in Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and James Watson's 'Talking in Whispers'. I am also going to explore the ways in which sympathy is created for the characters Oliver Twist and Andres Larreta. With consideration of Oliver Twist's and Andres Larreta's suffering I am going to see if they can be considered as heroes. I am going to do all of this by analysing areas of the novels, 'Oliver Twist' and 'Talking in Whispers'. Oliver Twist and Andres Larreta both experience a great deal of suffering. They experience physical, emotional and mental suffering. The societies in which they are a part of also suffer. The suffering of society in both novels 'Oliver Twist' and 'Talking in Whispers' are caused by the authorities. However, the society in 'Talking in Whispers' seems to be much bigger than the society that comes across in 'Oliver Twist'. I think this is because 'Oliver Twist' is mainly about the life of Oliver Twist and how he reunites with some of his relatives, whereas 'Talking in Whispers' mainly focuses on Andres Larreta's life and Chile under dictatorship. It also has lots of information about the Chileans as a whole. Both character's Andres Larreta and Oliver Twist possess heroic qualities. I believe they are both heroes for surviving the suffering they had received. Oliver Twist and Andres Larreta both experience physical and emotional suffering. Oliver Twist is a young child, below the age of 10 years. He experiences a great deal of physical suffering. Oliver experiences abuse at the workhouse. He was very poor and had little food, which made him hungry. He had to work to stay alive. Although his work only earned him just about enough to survive. "The hungry and destitute situation of the infant orphan was duly reported by the workhouse authorities." The author Charles Dickens states that Oliver is hungry and is in a poor situation. Another instance of physical suffering Oliver experiences, is the beating he receives after he has a fight with Noah. "Oliver's clothes had been torn in the beating he had received; his face was bruised and scratched; and his hair scattered over his forehead." Dickens describes his condition and implies to the reader that his beating was rough, violent and severe. He makes the reader sympathise with Oliver. Not only is this physical suffering for Oliver, but for a child as young as Oliver it is also emotional suffering. It leads him to believe nobody cares for him and that he is

Canvas Art

Demonstration Speech Outline Specific purpose statement: To inform my audience about the 5 steps of melted crayon art. Introduction: Attention Getter; Do you ever get bored, and you are a creative person who loves crayons? Well if you are, you can create a piece of art on a canvas. Credentials: I’ve done plenty of canvas arts and they are easy and fun to make. Tie to audience: Crayon canvas art, can be done pretty much by anyone. They are simple to make and can give you a piece of art to hang on your wall that you created. Thesis Statement: There are 5 steps in melting crayons on a canvas.The First step is Gathering your supplies, Second step glue crayons onto the top of your canvas in the order you want, Third step place your canvas against a wall or hold it up, Forth step take your hair-dryer or lighter and apply to canvas, and the Fifth step is once you're satisfied with your canvas, let the wax dry. Body: I. The First step, is Gathering all the supplies. a. Crayons b. Glue c. Canvas d. Hair-dryer or Lighter II. The second step, glue your crayons onto the top of the canvas in the order you want. a. Make sure to place your crayons where you want them. b.Make sure your crayons are glued. c. Make sure your crayons are dried. III. The Third step, place your canvas against a wall or held up so the wax drips down. a. Make sure the glue is dry. b. Make sure the canvas is at a tilt or slant. c. Be sure it is sturdy. IV. The Forth step, take your hair-dryer or lighter, turn it to their highest setting, and blow-dry or melt the crayons. a. Apply any design cutout (Optional). b. Apply the hair-dryer or lighter to the canvas. c. Melt the crayons in the way you want until satisfied. V. The Fifth step is once you're satisfied with your canvas, let the wax dry. . When finished, let it set for a few minutes. b. When your art work is done you can display it on a wall, or give it to someone as a gift. Conclusion: Today I have shown you how to create a piece of art on a canvas using crayons. To do this properly the steps must be done in proper order. Fist gather all of the supplies, second glue the crayons on top of the canvas where you want them, third place your canvas on a wall or help up, forth apply the hair-dryer or lighter to blow-dry or melt the crayons, and fifth once you’re satisfied let the canvas set for a few minutes to dry.

Old Day Crime And Crime - 1370 Words

Old Day Crime Just think about a world that has little to no crime. That would be quite the story. Ever since birth people always hear about crime. People will always hear about the school shooting, or the robbery at the bank. Crime has saw a decrease during the 90’s, but since then the non physical and physical crime has stayed the same. Crime was a lot higher in previous years, but then all of a sudden the 90’s hit, and the crime went down. â€Å"Robbery, burglary and larceny each fell every year between 1991 and 2000.† said Levitt. Looking at Table 1 every crime that could be committed generally went down (Levitt). Most crimes never decreased for more than 3 years (Levitt). Table 1 â€Å"National Trends in SpeciÂŽ c Categories of Crime† (Levitt)†¦show more content†¦One of them is the abortion filter (Goldstien). Abortion was wrong in a lot of people’s mind, so they would have the child (Goldstien). They thought it could be because, people were becoming parents (Goldstein). The parents wanted to better themselves before their baby came, so they were going to be busy supporting a family. They began to try and find jobs, and work. Then again, people had the Happy pill thesis (Goldstien). At this time medicine was becoming better, and helping more people (Goldstien). People thought medicine was improving human behavior and moods. They even thought about a Lead Hypothesis (Goldstien). They thought the kids even adults could have lead in their system (Goldstien). The lead would eventually make its way to the brain (Goldstien ). Then when the lead reached the brain it would cause that person to have aggressive behavio,r and become violent (G oldstien). People in the 90’s began to live longer (Goldstien). They got an idea that people lived longer, so older adults were looking over people (Goldstien). It almost seemed as if people were looking after each other. There was also a lot of new technology (Goldstien). People were staying inside more with T.V.’s and anything else they could buy (Goldstien). Certain people thought it was because a lot people stopped using drugs, especially crack