The Role Of The Chorus And Its Impact On The Audience

A chorus is a common element to Greek tragedy’s and in ancient theatre consisted of a group of people who provide a number of different contributions to a play, providing a historical perspective, acting as counsellors and advisors to the plays characters and at times representing various groups such as villagers or a jury. Within this essay, I will consider the main contributions of the chorus within “The Burial at Thebes”

The chorus plays a vital role in interpreting what occurs throughout the play, just as the media plays a vital role in interpreting whether TV is good or bad. Reporters can be nosy and sometimes rude. At the same time, so can the chorus. "Do you really intend to steal this girl from your son?" (Sophocles 324). He's just saying it as if it is and laying out the facts, even though it may seem harsh. This makes it easier for the audience to better appreciate the play. The chorus says, "But the ancient wisdom speaks for our own

Greek tragedies Oedipus the King and Euripides’ Bacchae are both timeless stories in Greek literature. The engaging plot of both is what is most rememberable however the significance of the chorus is overlooked. The chorus can be defined simply as a group of dancers and singers that participate in dramas by singing poetically and lyrically in certain pauses of the play. The music, movements and gestures of the chorus symbolically define the mood and the themes of the play as the story line develops. The flow of Oedipus the King and Bacchae are dependent on the chorus, proving their significance.

Throughout the play the use of dramatic irony is used to a wide extent, adding to this is the use of realism, focusing on the words. We are introduced the chorus in the first Parodos, they all look fairly identical dressed in black and white symbolising knowledge and wisdom. Don Taylor has used the chorus very well in this version of Oedipus; they always seemed to be making distinctive sharp shapes and movements in order. The chorus are directly speaking to the Gods, visually portraying this by focusing on the heavens above when they spoke. Don Taylor modernises them to seem like jury, at the end of each episode reflecting upon the events happening. Their language and the way they are presented are fast pasted and have a very flowing rhythm.

Greek theatre had its beginnings with Dithyrambs, in which choral groups composed of 50 men and boys would sing or chant in unison. These groups told stories written by playwrights. As Greek drama evolved, actors were added separately although the large chorus remained. The poet Thespis, in 534 B.C., was the first known playwright to perform separately. In some plays, as many as half the lines of dialogue belong to the chorus. Dialogue between the actors and the chorus as the play progressed fulfilled a teaching function, providing lessons in morality as well as entertainment. Although the chorus lines weren't songs, music was often played while the chorus

The Chorus, alone, regrets Oedipus' awful destiny and his bound

The Chorus: Picking Sides? In the second choral ode of Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, the chorus seems to condemn the Theban citizens’ lack of respect for Delphi’s oracles and the Gods. The chorus thoroughly explains that the Gods themselves set forth the moral laws of the universe, and nobody should dare to break these rules. The chorus’ noting that the father of these rules is “greater than Time, and ages not” (46) emphasizes the Gods’ power and virtue.

The different formations created by the chorus surprisingly help me understand the story, I worried that the constant changing and shifting of the formations would throw off the message that is being presented to the audience. For example, one formation was when the chorus gathered around Creon, when Oedipus was sentencing him to death. This formation showed to me that the chorus or the citizens believe in, or respected who Creon was to the community.

They help the actors prepare by letting some time pass which also allows the audience to prepare themselves for the next scene. But most importantly, the chorus dramatizes their own development. They sometimes think and doubt, wish and expect the wrong. They are much like us, as they are undergoing the process of being educated and enlightened by the experience of the reality of life. In the beginning they only express some faith in the gods, but they disbelieve and even disregard the prophecy of Teiresias by saying that "these evil words are lies". Then they begin to fear the law of the gods and express that fear, warning us also that the disobedience of the divine laws brings about doom. In the third ode, they express a false wish that Oedipus were the son of the gods, but they do emphasize that we can never see the future. At last, they fully change and purify themselves directing our process of change also. In the fourth ode, they finally realize the ultimate reality that fate rules us absolutely. They pity and fear the plight of Oedipus, and they help us have the catharsis. Their comment is thematic and it dramatizes the full development of their growth. That embodies the dramatic effect intended for the audience

The chorus is a group of performers who dances, sings, and speaks at the sometime. The chorus usually informs and clarifies the audience about the action taking place onstage or offstage. They also offer advice to the tragic hero/heroine, though their influences have little to no effect. For instance, the chorus in “Medea” is a good example of this. In “Medea”, the chorus voices Corinthian women. The role of the chorus is similar to the role of the women in Corinth. Euripides designs the role of the chorus only to sympathize Medea; the chorus serves no other purpose in the play. The chorus is both loyal and sympathetic toward Medea because Jason, Medea’s husband, is neglecting her. The chorus sympathizes: “I heard a bitter cry of lamentation!

In Jean Anouilh’s Antigone and in Euripides’s Medea the Chorus is both a tool for characterization and representation of theme; however, the ways they function in their respective plays are noticeably different. The differences in the way the Choruses function in each respective play make the name of the character “the Chorus” a homonym, same name different meaning.

The role of the Chorus in the Shakespeare's play, Henry V, is significant. Due to the subject matter that the play deals with, it is hard to present in the way that it deserves. The Chorus helps the audience follow the play by helping them to picture things as they were through the use of imagery. It uses descriptive language in describing events that take place in the play. The Chorus also helps in making the plot of the play flow together better by filling the time lapses that occur between acts due to the fact that the event being depicted in only a few hours actually occurred over several years, leaving some gaps between events. It also explains what happens in an act

Mediating, one of the most important roles the chorus plays in the trilogy. The chorus mediates in the sense of space and understanding, such as comments and making known certain ideas and themes that developed in the dramatic world. The chorus had made comments on the fall of Oedipus, about his greatness, weakness and fate and frailty of man, the commentary also sets and creates the mood and aura

The time period of Greek theater’s popularity was a very influential time in our world’s history. Without knowing what Greek theater was all about, how can someone expect to truly understand a tragic play and the history it comes with? The history behind the character of Oedipus, in the play Oedipus the King, is very complicated. His intricate past dealing with prophecies, family members, and murder is the main focus of the story. There are many characteristics that complete Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero; these being the presence of hamartia and peripeteia, a sense of self-awareness, the audience’s pity for the character, and the hero is of noble birth.

On the other hand, the Chorus is the voice of the minority who hunger for truth and just within the community. Sophocles portrays the Chorus as the arm that wrestles with the unfair acts of bloodshed and dishonor to individuals (118). The Chorus is more of an activist stating what is wrong and unjust. The goal of the chorus is to see Creon stopping his arrogance and the shedding of blood.