Jane Campion's The Piano

In The Piano Lesson, the central symbol of the play is the 137-year-old piano, an object that incarnates the family history. A gift purchased through the exchange for slaves, it originally exemplifies the interchangeability of person and object under the system of slavery. This traffic in flesh reaffirms a white kinship network at the expense of black ones (Johny, 2005) (Image, 42). The piano bears the marks of generations of both racial oppression and sexist gender ideology.

In The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, Berniece struggles with her personal connection with the piano. Her families past reveal her relationship with the piano. The piano meant a lot of things to a lot of different people over the years. The piano is a complex and multilayers symbol; its meanings are both personal and political. For example, Berniece was affected by the piano positively and negatively. She had a sentimental connection with it and never wanted to get rid of it. But the piano had a lot of history behind it and it also carries a lot of meaning to it. Berniece stopped playing the piano for a while because of all the spirits inside of it and how they started to haunt other people. Berniece saw Boy Willie getting attacked by Sutter’s ghost and that made her realize she needs to let go of the past and play the piano again. But what was ironic is that she tried her best to forget the family history that came with the piano, she can never let go of her families past no matter what she does. This reveals that people should come to good terms with their past and learn to overcome it.

However, she feels that her family’ Chinese heritage is holding her back. During a piano lesson, she fantasizes about an umbrella she believes is a girls from school, “ I want to open it, twirl it around by its slender silver handle; I wanted to dangle it on my wrist on the way to school the way the other girls did” (Gish 419). Her day dreaming proves her desires to be be someone else even nothing that she wishes her American piano teacher could replace her own mother. However, when the family is involved is a small fender bender, the main character truly believes her mother in injured and begins to realize that she truly does love her mother and the life she has. This supports the theme of being happy with the life you have been

The Piano Lesson by August Wilson is a complex play emphasizing on the African-American family life. The main conflict in the play is between the main characters Bernice and her brother Boy Willie. The siblings are arguing over a piano that represents their family heritage. The diverse reaction between the siblings exhibits how dissimilar male and female reacted toward the history of their family and on a broader aspect their nation.

In The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, there is only a singular conflict/story plot. There is nothing particularly spectacular about this piece f writing aside from how vehemently it sticks to the one plot and the redundancy of the characters speech. Specifically boy Willie, the first character introduces who happens to be one of the main characters, which isn’t saying much as most of the characters are main characters. In the novel he is described as impulsive and crude. His one redeeming quality. in my opinion, is how forward his thoughts are for the time period which this novel is set in. He sees himself as an equal to a white man. And he is somewhat impressive seeing as he isn’t simply a man who talks, he puts his plans into motion in order to succeed and move forward.

Screen and Visual images are important in the film; The Piano directed by Jane Campion. The screen and visual images are represented by Motifs. They are related to the dominating characters which makes them important.

Africans being first brought to America as slaves, have over time, changed and adopted the values of the dominant culture in America. The African American is slowly being stripped of their identity, losing their language, religion, and culture. In play “The Piano Lesson” written by August Wilson, it displayed how African Americans had made a new culture in the 1930s, built from a blend of African and European influences. The piano in the play and its carvings primarily serve as a representation and reminder of racial inequality the Charles family has faced in its long history of slavery. Trade and sacrifice of human lives surrounds the origins and significance of the piano.

The Piano Lesson was written by August Wilson, formerly Frederick August Kittel Jr. Wilson wrote the play in 1990, which received various rewards, notably a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 and a Peabody award in 1995. The play takes place in the Hill District of Pennsylvania 1936, where Wilson was born and grew up. It is set during the great depression and revolves around the Charles family and an important family heirloom. A piano that represents the Charles family history during slavery in America. Trouble arises within the Charles family as their recent slave owner has passed and a family member wishes to sell the heirloom. The money received would be used to purchase a piece of the deceased slave owners land. As the conflict ensues we find the

In August Wilson’s play, “The piano lesson,” the author takes his readers on a journey through the life of the Charles family. Sister and brother battle each other over a piano that tells their family’s history. Through examining their history, Wilson uses setting and symbolism to convey his personal belief in the importance of one’s ancestral family roots and the significant impact it has in a person’s everyday life.

August Wilson’s, The Piano Lesson, takes on a perspective of how a group of family members (and a couple close friends) deal with real family issues and life experiences due to their African American heritage. He focuses mainly on the two siblings, Berniece and Boy Willie, who are arguing over a sentimental piano that holds the family history by pieces that were carved in by the grandfather. In this piece of work the writer has accomplished his intention of telling the story of this family, the play was witty, funny, and had its serious moments. I can easily relate to this play and see how the siblings both feel about this treasured piano. Berniece wanted the piano because of the sentimental value and history and Boy Willie wanted to sell

Feminism is played out in a major way in Kate Chopins’ “The Story of an Hour.” The story portrays a story about the lack of freedom that all woman had in the 1800’s. The word feminism as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. A woman’s job and duty in the 1800’s was to tend to the needs of their husband’s needs. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard, one of the main characters, was told about her husband’s death and she was initially very emotional. Her sadness was quickly turned into a burst of joy because she felt a sense of freedom. The story takes a very weird and ironic twist because her husband was really not dead and when Mrs. Mallard finds out about this she regretted abandoning her moment of freedom. If we were looking at this story through the historical and feminist lenses one would suggest that this story is about a male dominated society in the 1800s. This male dominated society caused the woman to have a lack of freedom and really made it hard for woman to have a self-identity.

Likewise, the short film ‘This is Normal’ depicts how unexpected experiences can lead to challenging beliefs. Gwen is the protagonist who is deaf in the film, she has been selected as one of the candidates for the cohearing campaign. When she undertook the surgery, a scene was displayed where she was submerged into the bath captured by use of medium angle shots and hyper saturated cinematography. This sustained symbolism signifies the redemption of her life. Where her past has been washed away and refreshed. From the audiences’ perspective, we attempt to parallel ourselves against her recovery in expecting everything

At times the person we want the most is the person you are best without. In the short story “The Strom” by Kate Chopin it talks about two couples committing in finality during their marriages. Calixta is married to Bobinot with a son named Bibi and Alcee is married to Clarisse along with her children. During the 19th century years had passed by along with Calixta and Alcee not seeing each other one day they run into each other due to a storm passing by. Calixta invites him in her house while the storm passes by. She ends up having sex with him and neither partners find out about it. This short story consists of in finality during the 19th century and how things that occur now occurred back in time as well. The three themes that will be explored in the short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin in relation to sex, marriage, and women’s and femininity

John Updike’s poem “Piano Player” presents the reader with a poetic telling of a magical piano that plays by itself. Updike’s poem is filled with various literary elements that escort life into the piano, while seizing the reader’s attention. The literary element used in the poem along with the musical tone of the piano, creates a magical uplifting moment. Throughout the poem Updike uses irony, sound and rhyme, and rhythm and and meter to make a great poem for all ages. In three stanzas (12 lines) Updike goes through the life of a piano player.

Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993) is a film composed of a variety of genres. In certain aspects it represents a feminist film; at times it becomes melodramatic. The film is melodramatic in many ways; music in this melodrama is used as a motif for the female protagonist Ada, who cannot verbally express her feelings and emotions. Music is a melodrama is a valuable indicator of a scene’s mood or a character’s feelings; the piano in this film is an extension of Ada and the diegetic and non-diegetic scores portrays her voice. On one level the film recounts the tale of a woman at the mercy of a patriarchal society in which she has little power; Ada is forced into an arranged marriage by her father, treated as a commodity by Stewart,