Is the Octoroon a Typical Victorian Melodrama

I will be studying the fight scene where Mercutio and Tybalt die, and comparing, the two film versions of the play, I will find differences and similarities as well as describing how each director / producer interprets and makes their version of the film. I will describe how eight different factors are present in each version of the film:

Giving the classic play this modern twist makes for a new understanding of the text and brings the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets to a whole new, dramatic level. Shakespeare may be rolling around in his grave after seeing this film, but English classes all over the world can breathe a little easier when it comes time to take

In Summary, with these three examples it is shown that the play and the movie contrast quite a bit. Most of the story line and the dialogue were very similar to the original story in the movie but some things were changed, possibly to shorten the story to be able to make

Not so long ago few Americans spoke of slavery – which was swept under the rug until the civil rights movement in the 1950s. The shame of slavery gradually rose to public consciousness over the last five decades. Now the topic appears everywhere, in movies, television documentaries and academia. Nearly every major museum has mounted an exhibition on slavery. This issue has become an integral part of the foundation for understanding America’s past. With specific attributes, slavery is distinct from all other forms of oppression, giving it a unique place in human history. Many consider Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) as the best among anti-slavery propaganda that appeared with increasing frequency during the years preceding the Civil War. The primary reason of its appeal is the unsurpassed clarity of Douglass’ writing, which displays his superior sensitivity and intellectual capacity as he addresses the woeful irony of the existence of slavery in a Christian, democratic

The phrase “art imitates life” can be used to describe many works of literature. Authors and the stories they write are often influenced by the changing world around them along with the evolution of new perspectives and ways of thinking regarding a subject. While this may sound simply like a common literary trope, it is of great importance and significance in many genres of literature. None has this been more apparent than in both the anti-slavery and women’s empowerment movement of the early to mid-1800s. Two major influence authors in their respective subjects, Frederick Douglass and Fanny Fern, were heavily influenced by the changing societal trends of the time of which they expressed through their writing. Douglass’s speech in particular “What to a Slave is the 4th of July?” was heavily influenced by Douglass’s own personal experience as a slave as well as the rising prominence of the abolitionist movement in the United States. By referencing the contradictory nature of the Constitution relegating personal freedoms exclusively to white, property owning males, Douglass bluntly references the systematic inequalities faced by people of color in the United States. Never would the works of an African American author, especially one challenging the established institution of slavery, gain so much attention if not for the anti-slavery movement and shifting perspectives surrounding it.

1 What action did Douglass take after Covey struck him? What did Thomas order Douglass to do? After Covey Struck Douglass, He ran away into a corn field and hid until Mr. Covey gave up. It is at this moment Douglass realized he could go back and be whipped to death or he could starve to death.

The anti-slavery topic was the inspiration behind Lydia’s first anti-slavery piece, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans. This piece was received poorly and many people were horrified that the beloved author of their historical novels, children’s literature, and household advice could write such a horrific piece. Many of Lydia’s customers at this time were wealthy white Americans and this customer group considered abolitionist to be extremist and uneducated when it came to the politics and philosophies. With this in mind, Lydia’s sales drastically dropped and subscriptions to her pieces The Juvenile Miscellany, stalled so aggressively that it caused her journal to fail entirely. When she noticed how she writings were being received she was appalled and was very unapologetic to her critics. In fact, she believed so strongly in her voice and her opinion she followed this writing with additional antislavery writings.

The film 12 Years a Slave, an adaptation of the 1853 autobiography by a slave named Solomon Northup, depicts his everyday life after his rights and freedoms are ripped away. Through the unpleasant slave auction scenes to the sickening slave punishments, 12 Years a Slave is a heartbreaking story that unfortunately conveys the harsh truth on the issues surrounding slavery. Consequently, during the film there are many themes and events that trigger different thoughts and reactions varying between viewers, and importantly a better understanding of Solomon Northup’s story and slavery itself.

"Nowadays the plays' meaning is usually blurred by the fact that the actor plays to the audiences hearts. The figures portrayed are foisted on the audience and are falsified in the process. Contrary to present custom they ought to be presented quite coldly, classically and objectively. For they are not matter for empathy; they are there to be understood and politely added

The book was published in 1788 -- substantially after the events described took place. The time gap did not seriously affect the main content of the material because the events he describes were very serious and unforgettable ones. He wrote the material at the time he had already been a member of the Anti- Slavery Society leaving room for a little suspicion of his tendency to exaggerate some descriptions in his narrative. This been said, it is pertinent to note that it is unequivocally clear that the events he describes in this book are those he witnessed firsthand and they made a lasting impression on him. Consequently, this impression

Paragraph 6: At one point he called for the abolition of slavery, but later he saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to democracy. One of his poems was about an egalitarian view of the races and his attitude in life reflected many of the racial prejudices common to the nineteenth -century his opposition to slavery was not necessarily based on belief in the equality of races.

Schiff’s article specifies on Butler’s use of fiction to expand the portrayal of slavery in order to give the audience a new perspective on colonialism from the oppressed view of Dana. Therefore, Schiff argues that Butler utilizes the expressive freedom of fictional ideas such as time travel to reveal the extent and harshness of slavery. Parallel to Schiff’s argument, Thelma Shinn Richard’s “Defining Kindred: Octavia Butler 's Postcolonial Perspective” underscores Butler’s ability to utilize the postcolonial perspective of an African-American woman to expose the reality of slavery. Richard argues that our current perspective is limited as we have not witnessed the extent of colonial racism, but have simply been educated from a historical standpoint. Richard’s article combines the focuses of both the other articles as she aims to educate her audience on the cruelty of slavery from the empowering perspective of a female slave in a society fueled by white patriarchy. Altogether, the articles aim to analyze Butler’s use of perspective and literary techniques in order to reveal the repressive extent of slavery in the past.

[4] A constant problem I find in slavery films is that the pro-slavery argument is made to look ridiculous, an illustration that lends itself to polarization, a problem certainly present in this film. White characters, whether sympathetic to their slaves or not, agree that the African is an inferior being, a savage privileged to be taught the civilization offered by slavery. The most blatantly ridiculous defender of the slave order is the Count. Believing what he says, the Count pushes on the slaves the idea that nature has made them inferior and that any ills brought on them are the result of their own folly. His world view is blatantly preposterous, making the institution ridiculous and oppressive.

Around the turn of the century, he argues that Americans lost their love of and patience with oratory. At the same time, those who read Shakespeare’s plays began to insist that the Bard’s talent as a poet went unappreciated when his plays were performed alongside farces, juggling acts, and other popular forms of entertainment. Theatres began to perform Shakespeare’s plays less frequently, and isolated from the other acts that formerly accompanied them. Parodies and alterations of Shakespeare became less popular and even seen as blasphemy. Shakespeare’s works moved from the body of common cultural knowledge to the realm of high art worthy of study by the elite and educated, not crude enjoyment by the masses. This shift in conception of Shakespeare’s place in American culture did not happen suddenly and was not fully accepted, as evinced by the conflict between Mcready and Forrest and the subsequent riots as the masses defended the rights of the audience and the popular theatrical styles while the elite insisted that “discreet” audiences should be privileged to view the plays enacted with more decorum. Those who wished to divorce Shakespeare from popular culture appear to have won in the 20th century, as Shakespeare is now viewed as an artist to be admired and studied but whose works aren’t accessible to the population as a whole, and are certainly not to be compared with popular entertainment, despite their origins as such.

Boucicault offers his perspective in The Octoroon from a distance, choosing to weave his message through the action of the play. Zoe’s text, specifically, provides ample context in which Boucicault can introduce the audience to his then-counterculture, abolitionist morality. Zoe reveals his stance on illegitimate slave children, for