Shakespeare 's Notre Dame Of Paris

In American comedian/actor/writer/director Steve Martin's L.A. Story, there are many Shakespearean references. This is displayed on multiple levels. Sometimes it is subtle, like a borrowed plot device that bears a tiny resemblance to the play it was borrowed from. At other times, there will be a direct quote credited to Shakespeare himself. Or there will be a scene directly taken from a Shakespeare play, almost verbatim. The movie itself serves as a model of the influence that Shakespeare has had on filmmaking.

In this excerpt, von Simson looks at how the writings of intellectuals influenced the development of Gothic architecture. He begins by looking at the writings of St. Augustine and his love for music and how the importance of measurement found in music also applies to architecture. He then goes on to address two important schools of thought that influenced the formation of the Gothic style: The Platonists with their focus on cosmology, and the monks at Clairvaux, including St. Bernard, who focused on spirituality. In this section, von Simson focuses on the former and the connection between the cosmos and the Gothic cathedral. He argues that these medieval scholars saw God as an architect and the cosmos as his cathedral. In his study of both St. Augustine and the Plantonists, von Simson works to identify the ways in which these intellectual schools of thought influenced Gothic architecture.

Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.

“The basement windows of the church sent shafts of yellow light far across the endless undulations” (Wharton 13).

The narrator in “The Cathedral” begins the story with the issue of hesitation in seeing the light. The light in this story just like the light in Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” represents reality. The narrator expresses the fear of expressing reality when he said “ I wasn’t

In the novel, The Crucible, the Reverend Paris unfolds to be a judgmental and condemning figure. In act one Paris points fingers and accuses those who are close to him of witchcraft. When Abigail urges him to go forward and speak against the rumors of witchcraft he responds, “And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest?” Here it is revealed, that Paris assumes the worst of, and ignorantly accuses his loved ones. In scenarios like this Paris’s judgemental qualities come into clear sight. Later in the story, Paris is quick to accuse Abigail of speaking with evils and practicing witchcraft. In these scenes, Paris is not only judgemental, but he is condemning! He speaks as if he God.

The narrator of the Cathedral is a unique and interesting character. He possesses several undesirable qualities, which he displays throughout the story. As protagonist he is a shallow, insensitive, ignorant and jealous individual. The author shows evidence of this through the narrator interaction with other characters, and his choice of words, when describing other characters. However, at the end of the story we witness the transformation of the narrator and the opening of his eyes as the story unfold.

Setting and imagery, is important in the novel, the word ‘Abbey’, represents connotations of the gothic itself, which conjures up expectations of horror, and danger, and visions of the uncanny.

Mystery is the driving force of Gothic Literature both from within the story and within the reader. In both the Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and The Romance in the Forest by Ann Radcliffe mystery is implemented onto the story by the use of Gothic architecture, specifically its effect on the human senses and its interactions with the characters. In Aiken and Aiken’s On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror, it is stated that pleasure and curiosity are the main cause on why people read Gothic literature, proving that in Gothic Literature, curiosity is what keeps the readers entranced with the story, and curiosity is always best portrayed in mysteries or suspenceful stories. The architectural environments of the Gothic stories, convey a sense of fear, dread, and terror

In Charles Rearick’s book, Paris Dreams, Paris Memories, he describes the various ways in which Paris is “represented” through various images he identifies as the City of Light, Old Paris, the Capital of Pleasures, and Paname. Rearick further writes how and why these images of Paris came of importance and how they shaped the geographical layout of the city we know today. All of these images together have likewise produced the city of Paris while also providing the framework of Parisian events and experiences.

Both the SaltWorks at Arc-et-Senans and The Tower Eifel in Paris, France, share similarities in which they were constructed to provide a specific function. Furthermore, both monuments are considered to have been influenced by the style of their respected times. I express, that even though these two monuments share a similar past, they both have been swayed to leap beyond their intended design and have adapted to become more than they were originally intended to be; both functional and metaphysical in their meanings. For example, The SaltWorks at Arc-et-Senans intention was meant to be factory to produce salt. It’s function and meaning later transform from being just a factory to instill the ideology of the Enlighten Age. This Enlightenment age is

Shakespeare followed the Capulet/Paris scene with jokes for many reasons. Firstly, the groundlings could become restless. The conversation about Juliet dragged on and did not include even one joke. This could anger the groundlings, who had a tendency to throw whatever they were holding at the actors. To make them laugh the next scene needs to contain crude jokes. One of those is “It is/ written, that the shoemaker should meddle with his/ yard”(Rom 1.2.39-41). This is a bawdy penis joke designed to make the audience roar. Another reason is that Shakespeare needs to lighten up the mood. The earlier scene touched on a very morbid subject. Many of the people in the audience knew relatives who suffered loss through plague and childbirth. Capulet

In gothic literature, the architecture that inhabits a story can go a long way not only in establishing the mood, but also in establishing the story’s characters. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1839, readers are introduced to a dreary house that is falling apart, while in another story by Poe published in this same year, “William Wilson,” readers are introduced to a school that, although not in disrepair, is labyrinthian and similarly dreary. Moreover, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, published in 1847, showcases a house, the size of which would normally reflect the wealth and high class of it’s owner, and yet the grounds are overgrown, indicating a lack of attention to maintenance while the house itself only features sparse furnishing. In all of these stories, the buildings that inhabit their pages are more than merely settings. Instead they are fragments of specific characters, representations of some form of wellness, while almost being characters in their own right. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the house represents the physical wellness of both Roderick and Madeline Usher; whereas in “William Wilson” the school reflects the mental wellness of the lead character; and in Wuthering Heights, the titled building represents the emotional wellness of its owner.

This majestic cathedral decorated the land of Paris, dominating both the history of architecture as well as religion history. The cathedral still stands proudly after enduring an eventful history over many centuries. Truly a fascinating historic building to behold, ‘Our Lady of Paris’, another term for Notre-Dame of Paris, portrays many diversified characteristics which will help identify a structure as Gothic. One may lay eyes upon this building and refer it to one of Gothic’s grand structure. For many, their first concept of Gothic architecture derives from some reference to this majestic construction. In this research, I shall consider the following questions as an approach to appreciate and comprehend Notre Dame de Paris’s architectural aesthetic and value better:

The central theme of all Gothic novels is the presence and symbolism of the Gothic castle. Depiction of ruinous abbeys, monasteries, subterranean passages, vaults, secret panels, and the trapdoors is a standard method of achieving the atmosphere. Howells sees the Gothic castle as being ‘a shadowy world of ruins and twilight scenery lit up from time to time by lurid flashes of passion and violence ’(6). Therefore, the gloominess of the exterior and interior environment is illuminated by intense emotional and passionate moments of the characters that inhabit the castle. As Sage claims, the castle is ‘the lair of the villain’(166), and it is an accurate reflection of his dark and frightening character. Gloomy, dark, and dangerous, the castle reflects the emotions and psychological experience of many of the novel’s characters.