Jacques ‐ Joseph Tissot 's Waiting For The Train

It is not new or unique that an individual is looking for one’s purpose and meaning in life. Nor is it unique that men and women imitate the norms of society. In Kate Chopin’s novella, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, the antagonist, knocked against the societal norms of the late 1800’s. Houses represent Edna’s search for her inner self. The houses which Chopin uses in The Awakening come in pairs which contrast

In her novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin is an artist who paints a picture for the reader with every word:"The sun was low in the west, and the breeze was soft and languorous that came up from the south, charged with the seductive odor of the sea." (12) The inclusion of such alluring and dramatic images allows the reader to see, hear, feel, smell, and live in the scene which she creates. Chopin writes to awaken the senses, and her style is one of beauty and uniqueness. As if stroking a brush across a canvas, or playing a chord on the piano, Chopin’s use of expressive, descriptive, and poignant writing is evident throughout the novel, thus adding to its overall effect.

The relations between art and life is explored throughout Martin McDonagh’s play, The Pillowman and Muriel Spark’s Loitering With Intent. They explore these relations through discussing the stylistic features of their characters and how these characters are perceived in real life. Both authors explore how the preconceived ideas of what a character should be is dismantled and the line which distinguishes between art and life is becoming less clear. Another way in which these authors explore the link between art and life is through the act of storytelling. This suggests that life is a form of art. Both texts deal with the argument of whether it is life that influences art or art that influences life. Some literary critics such as Henry James

The engulfing size of the painting (250.5 x 159.5 cm) drives the audiences mind into a hypnotic frenzy as they are overwhelmed by bright and sensual colours, which, have the ability to evoke deep emotions and realisations. Kandinsky has portrayed this through the disorientation of his own personal visions of society during the industrial revolution. The rough yet expressive outline of buildings, a rainbow and the sun gives reference to realism as it allows viewers to connect and understand underlying motifs and shapes yet is painted abstractly to move away from the oppressive and consumerist society. Thus, Kandinsky breaks boundaries through his innovative approach to his art-making practise concluded from his personal belief of ‘art for arts sake’. He believed that art should mainly convey the artist’s personal views and self-expressionism that translated a constant individuality throughout his work from an inner intentional emotive drive. This broke traditional boundaries as art in the renaissance period was meant to be a ‘narration’ or an artwork where an audience could learn and benefit from. This is evidently shown in Composition IV as it exemplifies Kandinsky’s inner feelings towards the industrialised society

The young, innocent, promising lives of our past drive emotions through artistic expressions that can be displayed though many outsources. Upon our day to view the art gallery, I entered the gallery feeling apprehensive that I would view any piece of art that I found relatable or even one that I found any interest in. I was wrong in my assumptions and found a beautiful painting named “Console” by Barlow Palminteri. Tasked with describing what the painting looks like, what it means to me, as well as my overall connection with the painting is what I’ll discuss within this paper. The painting’s colors, sizes, shapes, and artistic aspects drew me into its beauty and torment. Likewise, the painting reminded me of my youth that roused many different

The most effective symbol in this work is in fact the artist herself. Moffatt appears in this work as the centre character, a young woman seemingly looking longingly into the distance. This symbol and use of subject matter improves to the expression of the work and makes gives a closer insight into the artists' background. To help contribute to the viewer’s understanding of the work, Moffatt has used the media of photography. The artist is able to effectively portray a realist style and show the viewer how real and current the meaning of her work is. Moffartt has been able to demonstrate a dynamic combination of media and methods by creating the movie-like setting of her scene and photographing it. This further symbolises the influence of media had on her ideal of the big city

In Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery, gentleman burglar Edward Pierce organizes a gold heist. He has the opportunity and means to commit the crime, but his motive is never explicitly revealed. Crichton indicates that Pierce’s motive sprouts not from greed nor necessity. Instead, Pierce commits the crime because he is obsessed with manipulating other people.

Kate Chopin’s novel challenges the very foundation of late nineteenth century beliefs. The main character Edna is living in a society built with a wall of ideals to which she is “different from the crowd” (Chopin 15). She questions whether she should conform to popular belief or swim against the rigorous tide of upper class society. Edna is eager for adventure and something more than the passing whims of luxury. With this, Kate Chopin portrays her hunger for a new life through the title, The Awakening.

Realism emerged in American culture as a direct reject against romanticism during the late 19th century. Authors begin to structuralize their works to mirror the simplistic reality of everyday life. As an artist during this era, the principal achievement to develop realistic works is to faithfully capture the essence of the life that surrounds him or her accurately. Writers sought to portray life as beautifully or tragically as it real was, without straying from the absolute truth. In doing so, authors vulnerable allowed readers into the lights of real characters and social problems not often exposed candidly. Kate Chopin is honorably amongst this group of authors. Her works divinely portrayed the culture of New Orleans and the lives of Louisiana 's Creole and Cajun residents. Chopin openly express her views on sex, marriage, and the injustices of women during the time. Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, best exemplifies the contextual achievement of realism through the rejection of conformity, the exploration of love, and the weight of social opinion on individual choices.

To the viewer, this work does not appear vivid or aggressively bold, for Marin’s use of gray and black hues compose the majority of the background and bridge foreground. However, even though the most dominate color is gray, it is not the first noticed by the viewer, for the small sized, vivid hues in the near center background of the painting initially capture the eye. The four intense colors of blue, yellow, purple, and red pop against the monotone city and structural surroundings. These colors instantly give the painting a rush of energy, standing out in the work and drawing the attention of the eye. The darker, black colors of the foreground bridge is proportionately balanced by the brighter colors in the background, contributing to a feel of color balance and evenness. All of the colors are also very saturated and deep, for none are too “light” or unable to be seen, except for a few gray tones, helping to achieve dimensionality and variation. Considering that Marin’s work is overwhelmingly dominated by cool hues, the audience could infer that this painting would possess a soothing, calm feeling, which opposes the thesis analysis. Conversely, through the small use and implementation of these four vivid hues, the feeling of this work is changed in its entirety. Instead of a serene “cool” feel, the painting emits a blast of speed and energy,

Viktor Frankl argues that “man must decide, for better or for worse, what will be the monument of his existence.” Individuals agonize over how they will introduce themselves and make a mark of their existence. In Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery, Edward Pierce organizes the crime not for the money but for the renown.

Money has plagued the human race by turning man against one another and transforming life into a competition. It has allowed the human race to revamp its lifestyle and prosper. On the contrary, money has been the predominant motive for conflict, crimes, and war. Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery took place in Victorian England where money divided people between lavish wealth and dreadful poverty. Edward Pierce executed one of the most heinous crimes on the South Eastern Railway, stealing about £12,000 in gold bullion. In the way he formulated and executed his plan, Edward Pierce’s motive for committing the crime was his desire for money.

Kate Chopin’s “Désirée 's Baby” was set in the days before the abolition of slavery, at a time when the ownership of another person was not only acceptable, but also economically impactful in the south. It was normal to see big plantations owned by whites and tendered by black slaves. We see all of this and more in “Désirée’s Baby”. One of the characters, Monsieur Valmonde finds an abandoned baby one day while out riding. His wife, Madam Valmonde, does not have a child of her own so she takes the baby in and names her Désirée. Madam Valmonde and her husband, Monsieur Valmonde raises the child, until she is old enough to become married. Her attractiveness and especially white skin attract Monsieur Armand Aubigny, a plantation owner, and they immediately become married and have a child. Désirée and Armand both originally associate themselves with the white class, but once the plot unveils their black heritage they are faced with uncertainty, and ultimately their lives become meaningless and not worth living. Throughout the story, Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial biasness and social ladder in a society. The characters and the setting in this short story help provide the readers with more understanding of how racially charged our society was at that time.

Charles Baudelaire’s poetry is a great example of when two seemingly opposing styles of writing, romanticism and realism, meet. The two intertwine in this work to form a masterpiece of natural beauty and painful realism. His use of nature to drive many of his deeper contemplations gives this work an air of romanticism. He contrast this beauty by discussing topics that a writer of strict romanticism would typically stray away from, such as the strongly negative reality of human behavior. However, the combination of these two styles that appear to stand in opposition of one another is part of the unique and haunting beauty that Baudelaire offers in his poetry.

Marcel Proust was a twentieth century French writer best known for his novel In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu) and at over 3000 pages, it is one of the longest novels ever written. This book is difficult to summarize but essentially the work is about learning to appreciate life and existence, rather than focusing on the superficial aspects of the mundane. These ideas are portrayed through Marcel, who is the narrator and the principal character of the novel and by the secondary characters he meets during his life. This work was published in the nineteenth century but Proust’s ideas are reflected in Claude Lorrain’s Pastoral Landscape with the Ponte Molle and in Hyacinthe Rigaud’s Portrait of Louis XIV. Even though these