The Ritual Performance For Margery Kempe

A severe and proud dame she was, bestowing every day in dressing herself neat as much time as any of the gentry of the land: powdering her hair, and painting her face, going with necklaces, with jewels in her ears, and bracelets upon her hands. When she had dressed herself, her work was to make girdles of wampum and beads.

Being mixed-race often involves issues relating to identity. It is especially challenging for Tayo, the protagonist of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony, because of his half-white and half-Native American identity. Ceremony takes place in the American Southwest during the early 20th century, where Tayo is looked down upon by both white and Laguna Indian society because of the taboo nature of racial mixing, as well as his refusal to fully embrace either group. The racial tensions between these two groups during this period are what sparks Tayo’s alienation, and over the course of the novel, Tayo’s identity takes on a role that affects various aspects of his abnormal life. Tayo’s outlook on race, actions, and perception from other characters in

The Courtier, originally written as a “courtesy book”, can now be considered to provide significant insight into the norms and practices associated with courtship and gender during the Renaissance era. The book’s third volume is a particularly insightful window into 16th century romantic ideals. Throughout Book Three, Baldassare Castiglione builds an elaborate perspective on what makes the perfect court lady, what sexual and social behavior is acceptable, and how an ideal couple (both courtier and court lady) should function.

The 19th century was a time period full of disagreements and wishful thinking. During this time, African Americans were trying to become free from slavery. This led to a Civil War. The 1800’s were a hard time for African Americans, after the Civil War many expressed their thoughts and feelings through plays like Minstrel Shows and other forms of theatre.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.

Ultio, is the Latin word for Revenge, which the witchcraft craze of the 1800’s was indirectly a result of. Richard Godbeer argues that women and men, alike, were accused of witchcraft by vengeful neighbors. These vengeful acts, however, were a direct result of tensions in and around the colonies. In a new land faced by harsh weather, disease, and war with neighboring Native American tribes, many colonists needed an escape, something they could easily control and defeat. Accusing neighbors of witchcraft, was not only an act of revenge, but a way for colonists to band together against a common enemy they could destroy. They essentially created a substitute for their fears and hatred.

An example of the first person’s point of view is Cora’s perspective regarding the character of Darl and Jewel. According to Cora, Darl is heaven-sent while Jewel is a burden. She observes thus, “I always said Darl was different from those others. I always said he was the only one of them that had his mother 's nature, had any natural affection. Not that Jewel…” (Faulkner 20). Clearly, she considers the measure of what she refers to as ‘natural affection’ as something that she has to infer from the way a person behaves. In this regard, she considers Darl as Addie’s savior. Cora also emerges as a very religious person and one learns this from the language she uses in her narration. She says, “I have tried to live right in the sight of God and man, for the honor and comfort of my Christian husband and the love and respect of my Christian children” (Faulkner 23). By using her own perspective in reference to God and Christianity while describing her husband and children, she reveals her deep religious convictions to her audience. Ultimately, the way Cora compares Darl and Jewel shows that she believes that in order not to be a burden one has to be as close to a loved one as possible. As such, she is besides Addie until the very last point of her death because she does not want to be a burden to Addie.

Peter Morton in “The Trials of Tempel Anneke” discusses different types of magic including high magic, used by those educated, such as alchemy, and low magic including spells and charms. It is of the popular belief that maleficium alone would not have caused many witch trials in Europe, rather it was due to the belief of a link between maleficium and diabolism which requires a pact with the Devil (Morton, 2006). Magic was not uncommon in early modern Europe and was accepted in communities. Fear of magic linked to the Devil encouraged fear of low magic and accusations of witchcraft. Anna Roleffes, also known as Tempel Anneke, was arrested in 1663 due to accusations of witchcraft presented by her neighbors. Tempel Anneke had many attributes

For centuries, society has taught its men and women to behave in a clear way and to expect certain things from each other. Due to this, women have been placed second, below men, the submissive gender. Women have been taught to aspire to marriage, to not be too smart, to live their life according to society who tells them how to please a man. In fact, when women saw this degradation of themselves they decided to create a movement known as feminism, the social, economic and political equality of the sexes. Due to this standard of society passed through generations, an average reader would interpret Joan Murray’s “Play-by-Play” to be a poem about older women lustfully longing after younger men and fulfilling their purpose. However, if one were to delve deeper into Murray’s poem, it could be argued that she is taking a satirical approach to the way men objectify women. Marilyn French once said, “The same men who are blind and deaf to feminism are acutely sensitive to what threatens their dominance and privilege.” In looking at the symbols, diction, and tone in Murray’s poem, one can plainly see her disdain towards the societal standard and objectification of women.

“Now she is placing the rhinestone tiara on her head before the mirror of the dressing-table and murmuring excitedly as if to a group of spectral admirers” (Williams 1226).

The novel Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan is about seven teen demigods that must stop the destruction of Rome, the end of the world. This is an action packed story that allows one to better understand Greek Mythology. When reading this book, the author is trying to make the reader realize that there is a hero in all of us, whatever we set our minds to do, and we can accomplish it no matter what obstacles are put in front of us. One quote from the book that is quite iconic is “Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.”(Riordan, pg. 475) Anything is possible if you just give it a chance. The theme throughout this series is that with teamwork much can be accomplished.

In the reading “Performance Studies” by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. She talks about the idea of performance studies as a broad interdisciplinary, intercultural study. She looks at performance studies from a different scope, which allows so much more to become a performance, rather than just having art and theatre as a performance. She backs up her arguments with the three paradigms, which are, the broad spectrum approach, aesthetic communication approach and ethnoscenology. Barbara shows how performance studies has evolved over the years and how the definition of performance studies has become broader in the sense that it no longer just talks about theatre and art but more so the idea that everything is a performance and we present it using embodiment, agency and event (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 43). The argument about embodiment, agency and event really caught my attention and helped me look at things with a different perspective. It also showed me the world in a new light. I’ve always looked at the world with a humanitarian perspective with the “why” but when looking at performances with the semantics perspective you tend to look at the “what” and then the “how”. For example what are they doing this for and what is the motive behind it and how is this a performance.

Giselle is a classical ballet performed by the Teatro Allo Scala Ballet Company and originally choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The ballet company was founded in 1813 as an academy of ballet in Milan, Italy. The choreographers were famous French ballet dancers known for their choreographies in pinnacle performances such as Giselle and Childreich, King of the Franks. Giselle, a romantic ballet, was one of their most famous pieces created in 1841. It is the story of a naive peasant girl, named Giselle, who fell in love with a man that was betrothed to another. After a psychotic breakdown, she kills herself leaving her the man she loved feeling guilty about her death. After her death, Giselle was initiated into a group of supernatural beings known as the Wilis. These supernatural beings would lure men to their deaths by wooing them with their dances. Giselle finds it in her heart to forgive her guilty lover and does everything she can to save his life from the vengeful Wilis.

by his father never to talk about her. It was a terrible burden to Morrie.

Life is full of unexpected changes, advancements and insights. People will look at life through different lenses as they age. However, some social norms will be unwavering. Social norms, such as women being considered the weaker ones in society, have been around for a long time. Hilda Doolittle explores what it means to be a woman in society in her poem “Eurydice”. She alludes to the Orpheus myth and modifies Eurydice’s character from passive to strong to show that women can be resilient and independent even if men try to use women to glorify themselves and even if society tries to downplay women. Doolittle does this through her diction, symbolism and imagery of flowers and colors.