The Universal Theme Of Power In Olemet's Play Oleanna

How can two people watch or read the same story and yet, interpret it completely differently? Does it have to do with the author’s intentions, or maybe it has to do with the viewers’ own backgrounds and ideologies? Whatever the case may be, viewing one piece of work can lead to a wide array of opinions and critiques. It is through the diversity of such lenses that Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller has become one of the most well-known plays in modern history. There are many different ways in which a play can be criticized, however, criticisms from the approaches of a Marxist and reader-response will be utilized to further dissect Death of a Salesman. Marxist criticism sees pieces of works as a struggle between different socioeconomic classes; what better way to see Miller’s play than for what it is at face value, the struggle of a middle-class man trying to achieve the American dream (1750). On the other hand, a reader-response criticism comes from either an objective or subjective view; in this case Death of a Salesman will be viewed with a subjective lens based on Willy’s deteriorating mental health (1746).

The thesis statement above attempts to examine the role that Elizabeth Bennet plays in the novel as she goes against the women’s idealistic views. This article will help justify my thesis statement in how Greenfield expresses the oppression that women go through and how they lack to see the discrimination they are faced with daily.

In her play Chicago, Maurine Watkins incorporates several different themes that express the realities of the 1920’s. Some of these themes are more easily noticed than others. Among the more noticeable ones is the theme of manipulation. Watkins exemplifies the fact that manipulation was one of the most vital keys to success during this time period at several different points throughout the play. Through the encounters of Roxie Hart, Watkins shows that every character, with the exception of Amos, is manipulative and perform their lives in order to obtain success within the corrupted system.

In the play “Grand Concourse,” the talented playwriter and actress Heidi Schreck develops a plot based on the natural human conflict about the forgiveness toward unintentional actions. Heidi Schreck is a recognized writer who has been awarded with one-year residency by New York's Playwrights Horizons (Silk Road Rising 17,18). Named after the main street of the Bronx in New York City, the play shows the conflict that its characters face in the internal war between goodness and evil. The opposition between the actions of Emma (antagonist) and Shelley (protagonist) shows the complexity of human compassion towards the evil (sometimes unintentional) actions. Looking at the main actions of Emma in the play she egotistically seems to manipulate all the characters to feel better about herself. However, a deeper glazing indicates that her depression leads her to hurt people around her unintentionally; she tries to get forgiveness, but she realizes that the solution it is more complex that just an apologize.

In the early 1900´s women did not have the same rights as men and are not respected as much as men either. Women did not get their voting rights till 1920, four years after the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell. In the play women are suppressed by men and society, Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters prove that women are not constrained by society's rules and are in fact, the most astute characters in *Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles”*.

The first essay, “The Roles of Women in British Drama,” represents my first exposure to a new genre of literature. The essay was also one of my first formal and interpretative essays at the college level. As a woman and a student of literature, I feel a special connection to this essay’s topic of women’s roles in literature. In addition, this essay shows my “knowledge of the social, political, philosophical, and religious forces that influence authors and the people they write about” (Oral/Portfolio). After reading some of the most prominent British plays of the twentieth century, I observed a discontinuity in the roles of women in this genre. Sadly, women’s roles in literature were very similar to their role in society. During the twentieth century, women were still trying and failing to emerge out of the roles they had been cast in by a male dominated society. Even though women were almost always portrayed as inferior to men, I found a strong exception to this stereotype through the role of Thomasina. I admire Thomasina’s intelligence and wit, but I truly admire Tom Stoppard for creating this character.

Anthony’s fourth paragraph, in which she discussed the idea that if women are not citizens, then they are subject to living in a oligarchy, also raises an emotion reaction with the audience. After all, women do not want to feel that they are the lesser subject and do not this unjust ideal to lead to, “…dissension, discord, and rebellion…” in their homes (Anthony 513).

Miller presents the character of Mary Warren in an important way to show the message of status and power. Mary Warren’s character is seen to be vulnerable and timid. The key events that makes her role important are her roles in the girls’ group, the scene with the poppet and her confession in court. Through the events in the play Miller portrays Mary Warren with tension and suspense. This makes the audience question her status and power.

At first glance, Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, and Henrik Isben’s A Doll House seem to have nothing in common. However, the short story and plays have many similarities. Particularly, five women from these tales— Louise Mallard, Minnie Wright, Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Hale, and Nora Helmer—make drastic decisions that appear to be motiveless. Without context, any reader could be confused by Louise’s death, Nora’s departure, and Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale’s unanimous effort to cover up the murder that Minnie Wright committed, which also seems to lack serious motive. However, all of these women’s settings, situations, and lives have connections that make their motives similar. Emotion motivates all five women—not just

Susan Glaspell’s one-act play covers issues regarding female oppression and patriarchal domination. The play still exists as a fascinating hybrid of murder mystery and social commentary on the oppression of women. When Margaret Hossack was charged with the murder of her sixty year old husband John, the man she had been married to for thirty three years. Killed by two blows to his head with an ax, John Hossack was thought to be a cold mannered and difficult man to be married to, but he didn’t deserve his

In the late ninetieth and early twentieth centuries women were thought of as dolls, puppets, or property. In many cases, they weren’t allowed to make decisions for themselves. Women were only good at worrying about frivolous housework and lighthearted pleasantries. In the two plays “A Doll House” by Heinrich Ibsen, and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, there are several exploitations of this way of thinking.

The plot of both Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House” provides scope for a few scenes that lack the presence of all or any men. These scenes, consisting of communication between the female characters, assist in developing the theme of women openly defying the fact that the society they live in is primarily run by men. All the power and authority in their society, no matter the situation, belongs to the men while the women are simply excluded. The women in these plays defy the norms set by society and manage to evade the expectations of their patriarchal societies.

In William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesmen” there is Notable themes of gender role and gender identity. Faulkner’s Character Anse is Comparatively Similar but also Contrastingly different in the roles they both convey as head of their households, In their families and in society. Both Families can also be analyzed by their time period in which each piece of fictional literature took place. Faulkner’s novel “As I Lay Dying” was written in 1930 while Miller’s play was written in 1949.

What I liked about most about this article was the used of psychology to help the reader fully grasp the characterization in the play. With the use of Freud, Erickson, and Kohlberg’s work we are shown that throughout history women have never been fully understood; leading them to be categorized as “less” than a man. The article also goes over how different the developmental years for males and females are because of gender roles placed on them. This helps to understand the built up frustration the murderess and women in the story felt. The underestimation and the belittlement the women experience from the men, their own husbands, leads up to them keeping the evidence to themselves and leaving the murder case

The theme displayed throughout the play that will be examined is the effects of low self-esteem on an individual. The main character Queenie seems to suffer from a negative self-image; she does not understand her worth. Her morals are nonexistent, in result, she lives an unstable life full of sex and abuse. Queenie copes with her low self-esteem in many forms throughout the production.