THET110 Final Exam Notes Format Multiple choice T F Short answer Matching Artaud Brecht Set the stage for Avant garde ideas Avant garde Pushes the boundary Artaud sensory Brecht intellectual Not responsible for dates but need to know chronology of events Responsible for names REQUIRED READINGS W BRIEF SUMMARY 1 Oedipus a Written by Sophocles b Told over the course of one day i Oedipus sends his brother in law Creon to the oracle Delphi because there was a plague cast on Thebes Creon comes back saying that the plague is as a result of religious pollution due to the murder of King Laius Oedipus decides he s going to figure out who killed the king so that the plague can end so he summons the blind prophet Tiresias ii Oedipus finds out that he killed Laius his father and slept with his mother Jocasta just like the oracle had predicted Jocasta commits suicide after she finds out that Oedipus is her son iii iv Oedipus claws his eyes out with Jocasta s gold pins from her robe v Oedipus king Jocasta wife Creon Oedipus brother in law Laius king whose a Written by Antonin Artaud b an attack on what Artaud believed to be the elitist of an irrelevant outdated literary murder we look into vi Thebes 2 Modern Theatre is Epic Theatre a Written by Brecht b Gesamtkunstwerk integrated work of art c Difference between epic and dramatic theatre 3 No More Masterpieces canon 4 Hamlet 5 A Doll s House a Written by William Shakespeare b 1 a Written by Henrik Ibsen b Norway c Characters i Nora ii Torvald iii Kristine iv Krongstad v Dr Rank 6 A Raisin in the Sun a Written by Lorraine Hansberry b 3 acts c Tells the story of the Younger family i Mama aka Lena god fearing women who is the matriarch of her family She deeply cares for her children and wants them to succeed She has a plant that she cares for throughout the play ii Ruth Walter s wife she finds out that she is pregnant and against her better judgement considers having an abortion because she fears her marriage and money troubles iii Walter Lena s son and Beneatha s brother he has dreams of becoming rich and has plans to start a liquor store with his two friends Bobo and Willy Harris His desires can cause him to make rash decisions and cause problems between the other members of his family In the end he redeems himself iv Beneatha Lena s daughter and Walter s sister she is studying to be a doctor and also wants to connect to her roots she questions the existence of God and this causes tension between her and mama In my mama s house there is still God scene Joseph Asagai a nigerian student who is in love with Beneatha and proposes to her and invites her to move back to Nigeria with him v vi George Murchison a wealthy man who courts beneatha but she doesn t like him because he ignores his roots d vii Mr Karl Linder only white character in the play He delivers the letter offering to buy the house that the younger s just bought because he thinks that they won t be a good fit for the neighborhood Everyone has different ideas for how the money should be spent and this causes tension between the family members After a huge fight Lena takes the money and buys a house Later Lena in order to please her son gives him the rest of the money and instructs him to put some money into a fund for Beneatha s school bill and keep the rest for himself He doesn t obey and uses all the money for his liquor store There is a short time of happiness and peace until Mr Linder arrives with the offer to buy the house The Youngers proudly tell him to leave There is happiness once again and they continue packing Then Bobo visits Walter with the horrible news that Willy scammed both of them and left with all the money Unbelievable disappointment and sadness overwhelm them all Walter invites Mr Linder back so that they can accept his offer and give in and become what people see them as He eventually realizes that this is a mistake and proudly declares to Mr Linder that they will not accept the offer Beneatha agrees to go with Asagai to Nigeria The family packs up and leaves but not before Mama grabs her plant e This play also emphasizes the search for personal identity and the fulfillment of dreams 2 f What is the meaning of mama s plant her family her care and dream for her family takes pride in how it flourishes under her care anyway i I interpreted the plant a symbolic execution of the concept of hope Throughout the play Mama watered the plant thinking that there is still hope for the family moving to a white community is a start to a new beginning At the very end of the play Mama purposely almost left her plant in the house when the family was about to move thinking that hope is gone BUT she goes back to bring it with her 7 Young Introductions a more opportunities needed to be made available to non white artists to create and engage in work that reflect their unique cultural experience and history b address issue regarding African theatre remains both incomplete and controversial 8 Trifles a Written by Susan Glaspell b 1 act play c Women find a bird with its neck rung d Decide not to tell their husbands to protect the wife e Hints toward equal rights for women lol 9 Spurt of Blood aka Jet of Blood a by Antonin Artaud b Never actually performed due to the impossible stage directions THEATRE HISTORY Difficulties in studying theatre history We are focusing on western theatre We make large generalizations about time and geographies Theatre is ephemeral short lived fleeting There is limited existing material o There were thousands of plays written in Ancient Greece Only 32 tragedies and 12 comedies survive from four playwrights Shakespeare s The Globe Theatre De Witt Van Buchell drawing of swan theatre 1596 o Sketch of a sketch of a theatre that was NOT The Globe Theatre o Globe Theatre was a Thrust Stage Sources of information about Greek Theatre Extant texts a lot of info from texts in existence Archaeological remains Visual art o In Greece primarily vase paintings Commentaries such as Aristotle We don t know if women were allowed in the Greek theatre Greek Theatre Tragedy 32 plays o Big themes 3 Comedy 12 plays o Mocking men in power Satyr Plays o Making fun of the tragic protagonists Greek Tragedy Time Period 80 Years o Battle of Salamis 480 B C First tragedy by Aeschylus 472 B C o Peloponnesian War 431 B C 404 B C o End of Golden Age of Greece between Persian and Peloponnesian War o Golden age and Pericles peace harmony prosperity stability o Aristophanes The Frogs 405 B C
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