John Gay Ballad Opera

During his time at Gallaudet Bragg lead many different productions including “Molière’s The Mister, The Bourgeois Gentleman, and Tartuffe” (Evans, 2015). However, he did not only spend his time in productions of plays, he was also a highly awarded poet during

In 18th century England, poetry was mainly political and satirical. The main philosophical question was “whether the individual or society took precedence as the subject of verse.” (slideshare). This time period was led by Alexander Pope because of his early start into writing and his continued works throughout his life. Pope and most poets/authors of the time wrote with reason over feelings and were typically written in rhymes and heroic couplets.

Based on Richter, H. D. (2006), an Essay on Dramatic Poesy is written in the form of a dialogue among four characters. From the four gentlemen in Dryden’s Essay, each represents a contemporary personage. Crites, is considered to be Sir Robert Howard, Dryden's brother-in-law and former collaborator, with whom Dryden had publicly disagreed over the issue of rhyme in drama. Eugenius, is supposedly Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, Dryden’s patron before his laureateship and an eminent Cavalier poet in his own right. Lisideius is Sir Charles Sedley (the name is a Latinized anagram of Sedley). Finally, Neander is Dryden himself, of middle-class origins. Through the debate form that Dryden has structured the essay he gives the other side equal time (or nearly), but manages to reserve some of the best arguments for himself. The Essay treats the debate between Crites and Eugenius on the merits of classical and modem drama. Eugenius supports modern English dramatists by criticising the classical playwrights, who did not themselves always observe the unity of place. However, Crites defends the ancients and points out that they invited the principles of dramatic art paved by Aristotle and Horace. Crites objects rhyme in plays and argues that though the

During the 17th and early 18th centuries there was a roar of wittiness and logic that came to the forefront of literature in the form of multiple well known Horatian, Juvenalian and Menippean satires (wiseGEEK). The essayist often brought a profound examination and keen persuasive rhetoric that exposed insincere idiocies and outlined the moral and economic decay (wiseGEEK). Satirical works often highlight ideals of reason, order, and social awareness, and thus these works contain a persistent undertone of civility (Holmes). The author superficially uses a façade of conventional traditions, edicts, egotism, and moral codes to incite a new sense of moral and political superiority (Holmes). The satirical literary device was at its peak during the Neoclassical Period in which the enlightenment writer, Jonathan Swift, was exceptional at this writing style (Jokinen). He excelled at rebuking Britain’s flaws and pointed out the hypocrisy at the time by extensive ridicule of the conventual school of thought. Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal is an inspiration to many aspiring satirical authors, as he is admired as a rhetorical virtuoso that shed light on the profuse moral and political decay. He also exposed the corruption in society by using a sly, yet polished voice. An example of a modern work inspired by A Modest Proposal, is Dan Geddes, A Modest Proposal to Convert Shopping Malls into Prisons. Though this is seen obviously in the Dan Geddes’s title of his essay, he also uses

During the 16th Century, English poetry was dominated and institutionalised by the Court. Because it 'excited an intensity that indicates a rare concentration of power and cultural dominance,' the Court was primarily responsible for the popularity of the poets who emerged from it. Sir Thomas Wyatt, one of a multitude of the so-called 'Court poets' of this time period, not only changed the way his society saw poetry through his adaptations of the Petrarchan Sonnet, but also obscurely attempted to recreate the culture norm through his influence. Though much of his poems are merely translations of Petrarch's, these, in addition to his other poetry, are satirical by at least a cultural approach.

The choice of the “Three women of Don Giovanni” can give a good understanding of the type of music which was used to create an opera in the 18th century Italy. The opera buffa was a comic opera with a funny story line and light music. Mozart wrote at different levels.

The video to “Abraham Martin and John” shows significant similarities and differences. Mom’s Mabley have a different tone that make the listener feel one way. Then Dion’s version is put into a more upbeat tone and it give the listener more of a head bobbing tone. The songs both have a great meaning behind them. “Abraham, Martin, and John” videos show the comparison of the beat and speed the song have, their passion behind it, and their feelings towards these men.

While both “Morte Darthur” and “The Miller's Tale” display some characteristics of a satirical approach in which human vices are attacked in a whimsical manner through irony, comedy, and folly, they are actually quite different in their literary genre and style. “Morte Darthur”, an adventurous tale with an imaginary setting that perfectly idealizes the chivalrous knight-hero and his noble deeds done for the love of his lady, is a classic example of a tragic medieval romance. A fabliau, of which “The Miller's Tale” is an example, takes a comical approach with the typically large cast of colorful characters: the blissfully ignorant husband, the

Elinor Fuchs sees the play as a world that passes in front of the critic in ‘time and space’; one that has elements that must be understood (Fuchs, 2004, p 6). These elements closely resembles Aristotle’s six elements of a play- plot, character, thought, diction, music and spectacle- elements that are clearly identifiable in Oscar Wilde’s 1895 play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.

The three musical examples that I enjoyed the most each denoted Rhythm, Tempo and Meter in a distinct way. The piece Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, has a weak pulse, creating a slow rhythm. Which can be soothing for the listener. The rhythm in music connects the piece to the listener in a natural way, both mentally and physically. The next song that I liked is, Peer Gynt Suite No.1: In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. The form of this piece conveys a variation in tempo. Beginning with a lento mode approach, gradually working into an andante pace with a gradual acceleration in tempo and dynamics, creating anticipation, which leads into a vivace presto finale. The final piece that I enjoyed is by, G. F. HandelWater Music:

Sir John Suckling was an English Cavalier poet who was born in February 1609 in Whitton, England. Being a Cavalier was a description places on those who showed immense loyalty to King Charles I during the English Civil Wars. They were prided on the belief that their writing included polished and elegant lyrics (Cavalier Poet, n.d). Best known for his lyrics, Suckling wrote four plays, the most popular of which is the tragedy of Aglaura in 1637. Along with his lyrics and plays, Suckling wrote many poems, the most popular being Ballad Upon a Wedding All of his writings have aspects of William Shakespeare, Francis Beaumont, and John Fletcher, all famous dramatists at the time. Early in his life Suckling went to school at Cambridge and later Gray’s Inn in 1627, the latter being a prestigious university for training lawyers.

The genre of comedy, throughout the history of dramatic art has always served to not only entertain audiences, but to make them aware of their own individual flaws, or flaws that exist in society. (Weitz, E.) Comedy has no precise definition, and its boundaries are broad. One function of comedy however has remained the same - to hold up a mirror to the society of the time but through pleasure, inviting audiences to reflect and also providing amusement. Set in the late nineteenth century, the play An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde (1895) epitomises comedy, as both a literary and dramatic genre. Wilde was masterful in his ability to combine aspects of evolved comedic traditions and dramatic conventions to critique Victorian society. Drawing on characteristics of Greek and Roman tragicomedy, the choices in the play’s plot involves elements of tragedy as well as scenes that serve as comic relief and give the audience a sense of finality through a happy resolution. (Bureman, L) Focussing on the upper class stratum, Wilde employs a comedy of manners Molière style, of the Restoration Period in the seventeenth century in the play by combining forms of comedy with aspects of realist drama. The portrayal of archetypal figures such as Lady Chiltern and Lord Goring satirize rigid moral value of the time and expose their hypocrisies, through dialogue involving irony, wit and humour. Elements of farce and disguises characterized by ‘commedia dell’arte’, a form of comedy first developed in

John Gay=s The Beggar=s Opera is a rather complex work, despite its apparent simplicity. Critics have interpreted it variously as political satire, moral satire, even (at a stretch) Christian satire. Common to many interpretations is the assertion that the Opera is a satire directed at both the politics and the art of its day. A fairly conventional interpretation of the play and its composition shows that it is, and was intended by its author to be, specifically a satire of Italian opera and of the aristocrats that patronized that form. While that interpretation is not in doubt, because critics almost universally agree about it in the

Henrik Ibsen published several plays that were highly recognized, sometimes for the level of disgust they caused, and sometimes for their sheer brilliance. One of Ibsen’s better known works, An Enemy of the People, not only bashed Victorian right views but liberal views in showing how one person can stand against society. The Wild Duck, known as one of Ibsen’s most prominent works, highlights on affairs, clearly steeping against Victorian values. Whereas his Peer Gynt is not only disturbing realistic, but also explores folk lore and the unconscious.

In John Drinkwater’s “Wilde's `The Importance of Being Earnest'”, Drinkwater goes in depth on the intensity of his play. Drinkwater strongly believes that this is “the only one of Wilde's works that really has its roots in passion” (Drinkwater 1). He has studied many Oscar Wilde plays and, under his eyes, sees