Download HSC REVISION – DRAMA

HSC REVISION – DRAMA
Australian Drama and Theatre
Early History and Development
1788 – 1850s
1850s - 1900
Melodrama
Ibsen and ‘Realism
Australian ‘Voice’
Rudd and Esson
Musical Comedy 20s
- European settlers brought western traditions of theatre to Australia in the
1780s
- Dominant attitudes shaped by the church (drama was innately evil)
- Early colonial drama consisted of mostly English style musical theatre, comedies
and pantomimes
- Took on local themes and has been described merely as ‘disordered fun’
(humour and entertainment purposes)
- Biggest impact on Australian drama came from the gold rushes of the 1850s
- Population in Australia began to increase, overseas artists and plays started
arriving in Australia to explore the possibilities of a new market
- Rapid urbanisation, immigration and multiculturalism
- People started emigrating to Australia by free will  1850s
- Melodrama became the most popular form of entertainment throughout the
19th c.
- Queen Victoria  most popular time for melodrama
- Melodramas are simple in plot, shallow in character and with a predictable end.
- The arrival of the works of Henrik Ibsen saw drastic changes in the nature if
theatre in Europe, which eventually was to have repercussions in Australia
- ‘Father of Modern Theatre’
- New sense of realism to theatre, demanding that it be made relevant to people.
He saw the theatre had a moral obligation to challenge the injustices apparent in
his world.
- Hedda Gabler, first performed in Melbourne in 1900
- The 1890s saw a surge in Australian ‘nationalism’. Improved communication,
sporting interests, the question of federation were all contributing.
- Writers  Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson. Artists  Tom Roberts and
Frederick McCubbin all strove to find an authentic ‘voice’
- The struggle to develop authentic Australian drama was further challenged by
the arrival of cinema, as popular culture shifted to this new and exciting form of
escapism.
- By WW1 theatre was still predominately imported from England and America
- Australian playwrights were not popular
- Over the coming decades ‘amateur’ theatres provided a stage for Australian
drama and was here that Australian identity was nurtured and the Australian
‘voice’ heard.
- Steele Rudd’s – “On Our Selection”
- Louis Esson’s – “The Time Is Not Yet Ripe”
- Both produced in the 1910s and continued to take up Australian themes.
Though they were essentially melodramas, they took a look at success, struggle
and work in the lives of ordinary Australians.
- The 1920s saw the importation of the American Musical Comedy in both film
and production
- Productions were usually ‘cheap and easy’ to stage and integrated dancing and
based on American ideas and themes
- Although entertaining, did little to assist the development of an authentic
Australian voice.
Between the Wars
Revolution
“New Wave”
DEFINITIONS
Conventions
Forms
Styles
- Major contributions to Australian drama being made my women playwrights.
- Betty Rowland – “A Touch Of Silk” 1928  It probingly examined genuine issues
in Australian society at the time such as immigration, drought, isolation, financial
hardship, marital relationships. Concerns about life in the bush for women and to
some extent challenged the myth associated with the ANZAC legend.
- The characters and story are complex, the language naturalistic
- WW2 before Australian drama began to make its mark.
- Sumner Locke-Elliot – “Rusty Bugles” 1948  the play is well structured,
strongly character driven and the dialogue captures that free-flowing Australian
speech.
- To some degree this was responsible for a surge in interest in Australian theatre
- The Elizabethan Theatre Trust was established in 1954 and with the assistance
from the government was able to set aside funds for the development of the
Arts in Australia.
- 1960s and 1970s was a period of considerable transformation and a time when
Australian drama finally found its own distinct style, where strong connection
between social context and ideas presented on stage
- Pram Factory, La Mama, Old Tote, Nimrod  presented work that was new,
innovative and made some kind of social comment.
- Challenged the ‘high-brow’ (upper-class) of mainstream theatre that was still
dominant by work from Europe and America.
- Challenged theatre to be more then just entertainment – shock you.
- Created work on low budget and main focus was on experimenting with ideas.
Common principles of form and/or style shared by performers and audiences,
usually by tradition, but sometimes negotiated with the performance
Established sets of structural principles by which drama and/or theatre is
produced and/or critically evaluated. E.g. Historical forms such as Greek theatre
and recent forms such as Avant-Garde performances
Establish aesthetic features of any part of the process of making and performing
works of drama and theatre.
Alex Buzo – Norm and Ahmed
Social, Political and
Historical Context
Themes
- ‘Norm and Ahmed’ was written and first performed at a time in Australian
history when changes in governmental policy forced Australians to re-evaluate
their own identity.
- Australia, in the 1950s had encouraged immigrants from Europe in the late
1960s, began to foster a closer association with those of the Asia Pacific region.
- Up until the 1960s a policy of assimilation had been pursued by the Australian
government and from this time the face if Australia was beginning to change
more noticeably and the idea of Australia as a ‘Multicultural’ society began to
take hold.
- Forced Australians to consider what being Australian meant (e.g. values,
customs, traditions)
-The concept of multicultural Australia was, and continues to a be a highly
divisive topic and tends to bring polarised views. In his own way, Buzo was
simply contributing to the debate.
- Alienation of Individuals
- Australian Idioms (speech/language)
Controversy
Theatrical
Significance
Style And Structure
The Set and
Costume
Social Impact
- Australian Society
- In 1969 Buzo was arrested because of the obscene language thought to be
evident in the play. Ironically it was the use of the work “fuckin’” not ‘boong’
that was the issue. This ignited much publicity regarding censorship and ended in
the supreme court
- “My aim as a writer was to put Australian drama on the front page. I didn’t
anticipate this sort of front page treatment but, I thought it did have a good
result in the sense that people knew that Australian drama was alive and well,
whereas up until that point it had no publicity whatsoever.”
- “I’d be disappointed if people didn’t think the play had something to say about
racism and generational envy.”
- In terms of Australia’s theatrical heritage, “Norm and Ahmed” was a ground
breaking work and was one of the first plays to link male aggression with
insecurity and challenge popular Australian notions such as the Great Australian
Dream, Mateship, the ‘fair go’ and the ANZAC legend.
- In the 1960s, ethnic characters in Australian plays tended to be subjected to
stereotype. In Buzo’s words: “All ethnic characters were played in a pop-eyed
ungrammatical greengrocer style. The spectacle of a well-spoken ethnic
character was something of an affront.”
- “Norm and Ahmed” was a one act play
- Takes place during the course of 1 hour
- The place is deceptively simple in structure – a conversation between 2
characters, but its simplicity lies its dramatic strength
- Buzo uses the tension created by the disparate (contrasting) match of working
class Norm with articulate, educated Ahmed to drive the action of the play and
gradually reveal that Norm is just as alienated from his supposed native culture
as Ahmed.
- Debate in Australian theatre concerning why Norm lashes out at Ahmed when
they appear to have eventually found common ground. Buzo himself responds
“What do you think?”
- The ambiguity of the play gives it its driving force and the ending is a deliberate
move away from a conventional, predictable ending.
-Buzo’s belief in “never underestimate that power of difference” does however,
come the closest to providing an explanation.
- To maintain the tautness of the action, the audience must warm to both Norm
and Ahmed.
- Buzo makes this possible through humour, their mutual willingness to listen to
each other and giving each other a chance to talk about their lives with depth
and warmth.
- The key to an effective playing style with this text is the balanced use of both
Norm’s aggression and insecurity. John McCallum writes: “If Norm is played as a
complete ocker, aggression and all. The Ahmed begins to look like a total fool.
Why does he not simply walk away?”
- Both are open to the directors interpretations but the set is very simple –
neutral urban landscape.
- Designed especially and appropriate for an intimate performance space.
- Main features are a bus stop sign, an aluminium bench and a trash can.
- Buzo insisted that the play was not necessarily a true reflection of life or a
political drama but rather a work of art: “I had been interviewed and
photographed and presented by the media as a ‘young iconoclast’ (someone who
challenges beliefs and values). I managed to get in some good points about an
authors right to call things as he sees them, but whenever I said that Norm nor
ex-servicemen were being lampooned (satirised) in the play and that it was not a
piece of message drama, my words were never printed… the nature of theatrical
truth was not investigated… but whatever the artistic shortcomings might have
been, at least the public got to know that theatre was alive.”
Significance for
- Further illuminating the concept of alienation and to note an interesting
Asian Audiences
variation in the plays context. Buzo describes a Malaysian production in 1989:
“Many in the Malaysian audience had relatives who had studied in Australia. For
them, the play was a background to letters home and the audience response was
the most emotional and expressive I have seen in this pieces long history.
- Buzo explained that in the Malaysian production, when Norm said the line “he
challenges the Gods” in reference to his boss, the actor playing Ahmed and the
audience gasped.
- This highlights the differing religious sensitivities and values between and
Australian and Muslim audience.
- In other words there are nuances (subtle meanings) in the play that affect
different people in different ways.
- The increasing multicultural nature of Australian society means that the play
takes in limitless meaning to its varied audience.
Contemporary
- The September 11 terrorist attacks bought a new wave of relevance for the
Australian Relevance play.
- It seemed to reflect the all to familiar racist undercurrents of Australian society
epitomised by recent high profile incidences such as the Cronulla riots and the
backlash against the Muslim schools in Sydney.
Characters
- Norm  strongly built, middle aged, rough, racist, not open to change
- Ahmed  slim, Pakistani, student, timid, intelligent, striking
- these are ARCHETYPES (representations)
- distinct contrast in character, physically and mentally
Evidence/Quotations - NORM – “I floored this bloody Kraut. Really laid him out”
- “You’re not a black are you? You could pass for a Greek or a Turk.”
- “They’d never call you Mr Midnight, would they”
- “I could never kill a man in cold blood, Ahmed. It’s not in my moral
code of ethics.”
- “All you Asian students coming out here to study and then going back
to your own countries, it’s a good thing, I reckon.”
- “I wouldn’t tell your blokes how to run your country.”
- AHMED – “I crave your forgiveness.”
- “What are you getting at, I fail to understand.”
- “Yes, there is a lot of violence prevalent at the moment.”
- “The people are very friendly.”
- “A thousand apologies.”
David Williamson – The Removalist
Shaping the
Australian Identity
- The ‘New Wave’ saw the metamorphosis for the national identity and the
characterisation of the ‘real Australian’ on stage.
- The national identity developed into the ‘ocker’ character, whose mannerisms
and idiosyncrasies are still relevant to this day.
- The ‘ocker’ was brash, crude, a big talker, a big drinker, middle class and
exclusively male.
- The ‘ocker’ was a character that many Australians not only identified with, but
sometimes aspired to be.
David Williamson
Social and Political
Context
La Mama Theatre
Themes and Issues
Characters
- “The Removalists” was apparently based on a story told to Williamson in a pub
by a removalist.
- “I had an obsessive interest in telling stories from a very early age… it led to an
obsessive interest in the roots of human nature.”
- In its original context, “The Removalists” was seen as a highly confronting play.
- It exposes and deals with several themes that were particularly relevant in
urban Australia during the 1970s
- Work was best described as a social satire
- Australians could directly relate to the characters and their situations on stage.
- The 1970s in Australia was a period of considerable social and political
upheaval.
- Australian perspectives were changing on a whole range of issues including:
immigration, the validity of war, sexual morality, the role and perception of
women, Justice and Authority.
- Whitlam government installed major changes across the fields of health,
education, immigration, Indigenous rights, foreign affairs and industrial relations.
- The issue of women’s rights, working conditions and social perception were
also challenged in the 1970s by the feminist movement.
- Women continued to challenge traditional gender roles that confined them to
work as child bearers and in domestic roles, or kept them in low status positions.
- Questions were being asked about female sexuality.
- 1970s saw a wave in ‘sexual liberation’ in western countries and issues of
contraception (especially the pill) were highly controversial.
- La mama was founded in 1967 and is committed to exploring diversity of
artistic approach, to innovation in form and to exploring minority as well as
general cultural and social concerns.
- Famously the cradle of the huge burst of energy which characterised the birth
of Australian theatre in the early 1970’s, it has never ceased to nurture new, vital
and unconventional talents.
- La Mama theatre was established to nurture new Australian theatre practice
and has since played a vital role in the development of the Australian dramatic
voice.
- Key themes in the Removalists are: Abuse and authority, sexism and sexuality
and violence.
- For the first time Australians were seeing themselves on stage. Symbolically
David Williamson explores Australian society through characters, themes and
concerns.
- Violence is a constant theme throughout the play. Words such as ‘fuck’ and
‘shit’ are provocative and confronting but also true of the ‘ocker’ language and
mannerisms that Kenny, Ross and Simmonds embody.
- The tensions between the characters in play and their various manifestations of
power along with a strong sense of realism, create and extraordinarily
confronting piece of theatre.
- Williamson’s genius is to also make comedy and serious drama sit comfortably
together.
- There is an essential truth to the text that parallels modern social and power
relationships
- SIMMONDS  he is the police sergeant who abuses his power by threatening
the new recruit, Ross. He is a chauvinistic hypocrite who has little respect for
women including his own wife and daughter. He sees to satisfy his sexually
perverse needs through the pretext of examining his clients, such as Fiona, for
marks “apparent to the medically untrained eye”. His clients, usually victims of
circumstances, are in desperate need of help.
- ROSS  he is a recruit who has only recently joined the police force after being
in training for 1 year. When he is assigned his first duty at a small police station
located in a small suburb of Melbourne, Ross becomes s subject of abuse from
his sergeant Simmonds. As the play progresses, he begins taking part in the
actions of corruption that Simmonds creates. Near the end of the play, Ross
assaults Kenny after losing his temper. Under the belief that he had killed Kenny,
Ross tries to blackmail Simmonds to save himself. The transformation from a
naïve recruit to abuser of power is clearly depicted. He is no longer a puppet for
Simmonds but a player in this sick game.
- KATE  She arrives at the police station with her sister Fiona; to report Fiona
being assaulted by her husband Kenny. She is promiscuous and uses her body to
get what she desires and it is noted that she does not limit her sexual activity to
her husband. She may have been doing the right thing by trying to help her sister
get away from Kenny, but she is just as bad as Simmonds when it comes to
abusing the power that they hold.
- FIONA  she is a passive housewife and fits into the stereotypical gender roles
of the 1970s Australia. She is married to Kenny, and has a baby daughter Sophie.
She is a complex character. Moments in the play reveal that she is genuinely
cares for Kenny, which makes the relationship more complex and engaging.
- KENNY  he is depicted as a larrikin working-class man, and represents the
stereotypical egoistic Aussie male of the 70s. He is very hot-headed and his
vocabulary is vulgar Australian vernacular. Comparisons to Simmonds reveal they
share similar qualities; they both like to use treats, use sexually explicit and rude
language is both physical forms of violence to make them seem dominant. The
plays major plot twist occurs in the final minutes when Kenny, despite
apparently having recovered from a beating by Ross to the point where he
begins to negotiate a deal with two officers, dies suddenly and mid-conversation
from a brain haemorrhage. Ironically, in the end Kenny seems to be the victim.
- REMOVALIST  his role is very symbolic represent the everyman who sits on
the fence. His main concern is getting paid for work and running off to the next
job. He represents another part of Australian society whom is passive in times of
crisis.
Evidence/Quotations - SIMMONDS – “Stuff the rulebook up your arse”
- “There’s only one person in authority here mate, and that’s me”
- “Some of the most interesting work is done after hours.”
- KENNY – “That’s your job”
- “I can see that you dumb twit”
- “You dead cunt!”
- ROSS – “Thank Christ! I thought you were gone boy.”
- KATE – “We’ve come to report an offence.”
Tragedy
Sophocles – Oedipus
The Genre of
Tragedy
- In particular, the role of fate (moira), suffering, hubris and moral responsibility
in the experience of the individual tragic heroines and heroes should be
considered in light of the political, social and cultural aspects of that experience.
- The ‘protagonist’ or hero suffers some serious misfortune but is intrinsically
connected to his actions. Tragedy stresses the vulnerability of human beings and
Forms
Origins of Tragedy
Sophocles
Tragedy and Greek
Philosophy
Myth of Oedipus
presents plays of well-known legends that all audience members would be aware
of.
- Athens in 5thC BC was the intellectual centre of the known world. Centre of
philosophy, science and learning. It was a decidedly patriarchal society. Women
played no role whatsoever and slavery was an accepted feature of Athenian
society.
- The Greeks had a profound belief in the presence and activity of Gods as they
had a polytheistic society. They believed that the gods were the cause of all
natural phenomena including plague, floods, drought etc. The gods could be
fickle and jealous and wreak havoc on mankind of the proper rites and rituals
were not performed.
- Ideas of presenting stories and narrative based on Greek history, myth and
legend has a long and ancient tradition. Often elements of song and poetry were
included.
- Financed by the Athenian state as an integral part of an Athenian religious
festival: The Dionysia
- Dionysus was an important Greek god who was patron deity of agriculture and
the theatre.
- The tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides do not belong connected to trilogiues,
but are self contained drama.
- The tragic poets competed with one another and their efforts were ranked by a
panel of judges.
- Sophocles was the second of the three great Greek tragedians (Aeschylus,
Sophocles and Euripides). Only seven of his tragedies have survived into modern
times with their text completely unknown.
- Sophocles influenced the development of the drama, most importantly by
adding a third character and thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in
the presentation of the plot.
- He also developed his characters to a greater extent and used female
characters in his plays.
- It is possible to view these years of prolonged conflict and social struggle as
forcing many Greeks at this time to begin to contemplate what was at the
deepest centres of a mans individual consciousness.
- Though the characters in Sophocles’ plays were mythical, there is fundamental
reasoning in these plays that asks audiences to question their position in the
world around them.
- Greek philosophy was particularly concerned with the question: What made
med do what they do?
- “With incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith to accomplish its kartarsis of
such emotions… Every tragedy therefore, must have six parts, which parts
determine its quality – namely, plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle,
melody” Aristotle
- Most if not all members of the Athenian audience would have been familiar
with certain aspects of the Oedipus story or myth.
 Defeated the female sphinx minster by correctly interpreting her riddle
and thus became ruler of Thebes.
 Unwittingly killed his own father
 Equally unwittingly married his own mother
- Stories relating to Oedipus and his tragic end were popular amongst many
ancient Greek writers including Homer in his Odyssey and the earlier playwright
Aeschylus who devoted a whole trilogy of plays to the story.
Problems of
Interpretation
The Greek Theatre
Chorus of Tragedy
Dramatic Structure
- Reading, of course, is our primary means of access to ancient tragedy except for
occasional modern productions, which help u to a certain degree to appreciate
its theatricality, but was quite a different theatrical experience.
- Private reading of tragedy deprives us of visual and aural effects, which were
important elements of this genre.
- Because of the fact, we miss or sometimes have to speculate the following
elements:  Scenery
 Inflection of actors voices
 Actors’ gestures and postures
 Costumes and masks
 Singing and dancing
 Sounds of the original language
 Various poetic rhythms
- SKENE  was the building directly behind the stage. The skene was directly in
back of the stage, and was usually decorated as a palace or temple, depending
on the needs of the play
- PARODOS  are the paths by which the chorus and some actors made their
entrances and exits.
- ORCHESTRA  The orchestra was usually circular. It was a level space where
the chorus would dance, sing, and interact with the actors who were on the atge
near the skene.
- THYMELE  An altar to Dionysus. Usually in the centre of the orchestra. It is
speculated that offerings were made to this altar prior to the performance.
- One device is the ekkyklema: a platform on wheels rolled out through one of
the doors of the skene, on which a tableau was displayed representing the result
of an action indoors (e.g. murder) and therefore was unseen by the audience.
- The chorus is one of the more foreign elements of tragedy. It is not one of the
conventions of modern tragedy.
- The chorus, unlike actors, were non-professionals who had talent for singing
and dancing and were trained by the playwright in preparation for the
performance.
- To engage in dialogue with characters through its leader, the coryphaeus, who
alone spoke the lines of dialogue assigned to the chorus.
- To sing and dance, choral ‘songs’ called stasima
- The modern reader of Greek tragedy, whether in English or even in the original
Greek, finds it very difficult to appreciate the effect of these choral songs which
are devoid of their music and dance.
- PROLOGUE  spoken by one or two characters before the chorus appears. The
prologue usually gives the mythological background necessary for understanding
the events of the play.
- PARADOS  this is the song sung by the chorus as it first enters the orchestra
and dances.
- EPISODE  this is the first of many episodes, when the character and chorus
talk.
- STASIMON  at the end of each episode, the other characters usually leave the
stage and the chorus dances and sings a stasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually
reflects on the things said and done in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of
larger mythological framework.
- EXODUS  at the end of the play, the chorus exits singing a processional song
which usually offers words of wisdom related to the actions and outcome of the
play.
Concept of Hubris
Staging today
Character/isation
Structure
- The concept of hubris is central to the genre of tragedy and it is exaggerated
self pride or self-confidence, often resulting in fatal retribution.
- Hubris was a crime in classical Athens. The category of acts constituting hubris
for ancient Greeks apparently broadened from the original specific reference to
molestation of a corpse, or a humiliation of a defeated foe, to molestation, or
‘outrageous treatment’ in general.
- The most obvious example oh hubris in Oedipus is where the protagonist on the
road to Thebes, Oedipus meets King Laius of Thebes who is unknown to him as
his biological father. Oedipus kills Laius out of Hubris over which has the right of
way, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle that Oedipus is destined to
murder his own father.
- Aristotle  to cause shame to the victim, not on order that anything may
happen to you, nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your
own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge. As for
the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they
make their own superiority the greater.
- Greek drama is a unique form of dramatic expression that is practically
impossible to recreate exactly as it was intended in ancient times.
- Any performance of Greek tragedy then is ultimately an adaptation or
appropriation that requires directors to seek new dramatic styles of
representation.
- we are unable to fully comprehend particular nuances of language, religious
associations and the context in which they were first produced.
- Our modern perception of drama is vastly different to that of the ancient Greek
as modern society is particular about what and what isn’t entertaining.
- Our reliance on visual entertainment with less dependence on imagination,
rejection of the ancient forms of story telling and myth, would make many
people today see Greek tragedy as strange and probably boring. To some degree
we lack the skill of listening especially without the use of electrical amplification.
- It provides endless opportunities for reinvention and representation and its
stylised action, particularly with the chorus, readily adapts to modern dramatic
forms and the themes are as relevant now as they were then.
- The use of music, movement and the adoption of a circular performance space
can be reasonably adopted in any production. The use of masks however, seems
to be a convention that is largely dropped by modern directors.
- The formalised and poetic forms of language often form and interesting
juxtaposition when placed in a modern context.
- OEDIPUS  the king of Thebes, his concern for Thebes is his citizens and his
personal rashness, when he overreacted, ‘lost it’ and killed the man at the
crossing of three roads. His ignorance of his past; his hot temper and
impulsiveness, this is the dilemma, without those traits Oedipus’ heroic course of
self-discovery would never have happened. He is a man of pride and pressure.
- JOCASTA  his wife and mother
- CREON  Jocasta’s brother
- TEIRESIAS  a soothsayer/prophet
- central character – protagonist or hero (Oedipus) suffers some serious
misfortune but is intrinsically linked to his actions.
- The chorus functioned as intermediaries between the action taking place on
stage and the experience of the audience. The chorus contained stylised
movement.
- Greek tragedy has a very melodramatic, rigid structure
Themes/Dramatic
techniques
Terms
Evidence/Quotes
- Greek tragedy stands alone as its own dramatic form and is one of the most
important of dramatic forms as it transcends time and place, and the significant
impact on playwright.
- FATE AND FORTUNE  oedipus calls himself the child of fortune but he has
mistakenly assumed that all his luck is good. The play very clearly shows that
fortune or fate can go either way and that sometimes it is seemingly most
fortunate who can be prone to a great fall.
- KNOWLEDGE, TRUTH AND TIME  oedipus claims that truth is his defence but
in a classic sophoclean irony, it is actually the truth that condemns oedipus to the
most horrible of fates.
- The orchestra was usually the space for the chorus to perform their choral odes
which included singing and dancing. The parados were exit and entrance areas at
either side of the stage. The arena was a curved area for the audience to sit in.
The skena was a raised platform at the back of the orchestra on which the actors
performed and the ex machine was a device used to fly characters as necessary.
- Aristotle considered Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex to be the model of tragedy.
- Sophocles’ great innovation of the third actor enabled 3 characters to interact
on stage and more importantly allowed the audience to hear what was
happening off-stage.
- MOIRA  fate
- PLIGHT  difficulties/concerns
- HUBRIS  excessive/inflated self pride, vulnerability of humanity
- STICHOMYTHIA  fast paced
- SERVANT – “He says you are, be sure, you were born ill-fated”
- JOCASTA – “It frightens me to look at you”
- TIRESIAS – “You think me a fool, but the parents who gave you birth thought
me wise enough”
- “With all your threats and proclamations for the murder of Laius, he
is here”
- CREON – “I have not come to mock you Oedipus”
- MESSENGER – “It was not possible to see how her suffering ended”
- CHORUS – “Suffering terrible for men to see”
- OEDIPUS – “To these hands of mine, the hands of your own brother”
- “Ah, it is all too clear now”
Arthur Miller – Death of A Salesman
Context
Characters
20thC
America was a time of turbulence when society was transitioning
between old and new political realities.
- America suffered the financial devastation of the Great depression, end of 1943
(WW2) saw a new identity as a free world, poised at the brink of a new battle for
supremacy against the forces of communism. Demanded new structures of faith
and values.
- Arthur Miller lived through these times of instability and wrote to examine both
the broader social picture and the role of individuals within it, which invites us to
re-examine the social premises by which we live.
- The ‘American Dream’ – well liked, personally attractive, materialistic, initiative,
hard work, family, freedom, consumerism.
- WILLY LOWMAN  only ‘average’ not a ‘great’ man. No self knowledge of the
tragic hero. Fails to realise his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family
through meticulously constructed artifice of his life.
Dramatic style and
structure
Miller and Greek
Tragedy
Tragedy as a social
function
Themes
Symbols and Motifs
Hubris
- BIFF LOWMAN  seeks truth about himself. Acknowledges his failure and
manages to confront it. Trapped in Willy’s grandiose fantasies.
- HAPPY LOWMAN  one dimensional, lived in the shadow of the inflated
expectations of his brother, self-delusional.
- LINDA LOWMAN  force of reason, enigmatic and complex, freedom is an
escape from depth, internally conflicted, realistic, level-headed, emotional care.
- The play has a strong connection with the classical notion of tragedy and
Aristotle’s perception of tragedy as the downfall of a great man, whether
through a flaw in his character or a mistake he has made.
- The play is both realistic and expressionistic in its style.
- The play is told entirely from the perspective of the central character who drifts
in and out of ‘reality’
- It centres on Willy’s stream of consciousness and his flashbacks of an idyllic
past.
- Through sometimes resembling a ‘flashback’, these scenes are more like
‘mobile occurrences’. In fact, flashbacks would show and objective (truthful or
accurate) image of the past, Millers mobile occurrences, however, rather show
highly subjective (warped or imagined) memories.
- Set in a 24 hour time period.
- Aristotelian unity of time place and action
- He regarded classical plays as no longer ‘marble masterworks’ but
improvisations that could be shaped to create new perspectives.
- Over the years miller had come to see that it was not only the form that he had
learned from the classical Greeks, but a sense of nature and function of drama
itself
- The play embodies three of what the Greek philosopher Aristotle found
essential for all great tragedies.
- Peripeteia (a reversal of circumstances, or turning point)
- Hamartia (mistake or error in judgement)
- Hubris (exaggerated self pride or self-confidence)
- A major focus for his was the social and ritual function of Greek drama within
particular societies.
In its text and subtext, Death of a Salesman replicates a model of community and
of citizenship to which audiences regardless of time and nationality can respond.
- Abandonment  Willy’s life charts a course from one abandonment to the
next, leaving him in greater despair each time. His efforts to raise perfect sons,
however, reflect his inability to understand reality.
- Betrayal  Willy’s primary obsession throughout the play is that he considers
being Biffs’ betrayal of his ambitions for him.
- Mythic Figures  Willy’s tendency to mythologize people contributes to his
deluded understanding of the world. Willy compares Biff and Happy to the
mythic Greek figures Adonis and Hercules because he believes that his sons are
pinnacles of ‘personal attractiveness’ and power through ‘well-liked’-ness to him,
they seem the very incarnation of the American dream.
- Seeds  represent the opportunity to prove the worth of labour. Symbolise a
sense of failure in family relationships – no growth.
- Diamonds  represent tangible wealth and hence validates one labour and
ability to pass material goods onto offspring. Symbolise Willy’s failure as a
salesman.
- Hubris is often referred to as reckless disregard for the rights of another person
often resulting in some kind of social degradation for the victim. In ancient times,
Arthur Miller –
‘Tragedy and the
Common Man’
Aristotle
Evidence/Quotes
hubris was seen as the error of characters in Greek tragedy.
- In modern times negative consequences of actions stem from hubris and are
often seen to be associated with a lack of knowledge, interest in, or combine
with over confidence and a lack of humility.
- Heroism is only relatable and effective when it is shown in the common man.
- The inevitable conclusion is, that the tragic mode is archaic, fit only for the very
highly placed, the kings, or the kingly, and where this admission is not made in so
many words it is most often implied.
- The common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings
were.
- Tragedy then is the consequence of a man’s total compulsion to elevate him
justly.
- The tale always reveals what has been called his tragic flaw, a failing that is not
peculiar to grand or elevated characters. Inherent unwillingness to remain
passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his
image of his rightful status.
- evoking pity and fear in the audience through great/noble people which fall
from grace/dignity through their own mistakes.
-LINDA – “There's no stranger you'd do that to.”
- “Did you pack fresh underwear?”
- WILLY – “Biff, what are you doing in Boston?”
- “Spite! Spite, it the word of your undoing”
- “A man can’t go out the way he came in”
- BIFF – “The only trouble is, it gets like bowling or something. I just keep
knocking them over and it doesn’t mean anything.”
- “All right, phony! Then let’s lay it on the line!”
- CHARLIE – “Nobody’s worth nothin’ dead”
- BEN – “What are you building? Lay your hand on it.”
- HAPPY – “He had a swell time with us.”