Djordje Janicijevic Sophie Treadwell’s play,
Machinal is an expressionistic play written in 1928, depicting a life of young woman who can not adapt with people and environment around her.
Expressionism, is an artistic style that originated in Germany at the end of the 19th century in which the artist aims to depict subjective perspective of the character through distortion and exaggeration of reality. Expressionist plays often amplify the inner awakening and suffering of the main character. The expressionist dramas have specificity in: mood atmosphere, setting, plot, structure, characters, dialogue, movement, acting style. In this reading response paper, I will define few specific elements of expressionistic drama that I
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Interactions among the characters in the first scene seem to be rhythmical, energetic and robotic. With a rapid dialogue and robotic movements of characters, scene gains a dream like state. Regarding plot and structure of the play we can see that the play is disjointed and broken into episodes. We have 9 episodes in machinal. Episodes such as
To Business, At Home or
Honeymoon and etc
.
Each of these episodes makes point of it’s own and they are not causally
The expressionist movement emerged in two separate cultural hearths in Germany. Centered in Dresden, a group of artists known as Die Brücke (The Bridge), “wanted to create a radical art that could speak to modern audiences, which they characterized as young, vital, and
The play is episodic. Tension builds throughout each scene so that the audience can see the deeper mystery and bigger
Expressionism appeared in poetry and drama in Germany and Austria just before World War I, and was influenced by Freudian Theories of the subconscious and Nietzsche’s anti-rationalism ideas. Expressionism was mostly popular during times of social change or spiritual crisis. This kind of art was a way for people to express their emotions and feelings during a time in the world when they didn’t know any other way to express themselves.
Firstly let us consider conflict. In each act of the play, we see the overpowering desire to belong leading to a climax of conflict
The overall dramatic meaning of this play has been successfully shown by the elements of drama. The
To begin with, the production of this play was done very well in order to appeal to the audience’s emotions. While reading this play, or any play for that matter it is not always easy to pick up on what the characters are actually feeling. Once those
major conflict of this play that ends in tragedy. During Act I, the play progresses more in
7. One theme of the play is that "things are not as they seem". What action takes place that night that is also not as it seems?
Art has evolved and regenerated itself many times during our human existence. These differences are defined through changes in styles under various theories. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a style known as Expressionism became popular. During this movement the artists were trying to use their artwork as a tool of expression toward life. It was mainly dominant in the nonrepresentational arts, such as abstract visual arts and music. It also was probably one of the most difficult movements to understand because the whole point of the piece lay within the artist. Not only was it a movement, it defined the act of art as a whole. From the beginning of time, each work of art, excluding replicas, show a way of expressing
To begin with, in this play the author unfolds family conflicts that involve its characters into a series of events that affected their lives and pushed them to unexpected ways.
shall firstly do a summery of the play and give a basic image of what
look at both of the aspects of the play. In my piece of writing I
The movements of German Expressionism and Japanese pre-war cinema produced trends greatly influenced by its historical context. These contexts contributed to shaping their own stylistic styles captured throughout the theme, mise-en-scene, and cultural ideologies. Although these two movements occurred in fairly similar time periods, they both occurred in different parts of the world which had a fundamental role in generating key contrasts between these movements. Both occurring in pre-war periods, a striking similarity existed between the two; they both displayed the economic instabilities. Both subtly exhibited the internal anxieties that the individuals faced in the differing societies. German Expressionism had the stylistic forms that in turn captured distorted images or grotesque style to convey an abstract sense of reality throughout 1920’s. On the other hand, the Japanese pre-war cinema expressed the humanistic family by displaying their everyday struggles of the lower middle class known as the “common people” during the 1930’s. Although these movements were individually unique throughout their distinct stylistic devices and ideologies, they essentially came together during this time period to help transform the art of national cinema.
Abstract Expressionism is making its comeback within the art world. Coined as an artist movement in the 1940’s and 1950’s, at the New York School, American Abstract Expressionist began to express many ideas relevant to humanity and the world around human civilization. However, the subject matters, contributing to artists, were not meant to represent the ever-changing world around them. Rather, how the world around them affected the artist themselves. The works swayed by such worldly influences, become an important article within the artists’ pieces. Subjectively, looking inward to express the artist psyche, artists within the Abstract Expressionism movement became a part of their paintings. Making the paintings more of a representation
felt that the frame of mind of the artist when he creates a work of