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Paul Cianciolo response to Blog 8:
ReplyDeleteFaust
It is easy to see how the play Faust was a major shift from reason to heart. Many plays before this tried to capture realist ideas about what is best for man. Faust is able to dig deeper and discover what man really is about. The play states the main idea early when Faust says that the most important thing man has is his ability to choose between good and evil. The devil believes man is naturally evil and he decides to test Faust’s heart. This play also implements the role of nature in Romanticism. The great plague caused by nature brings the good out of Faust, but he eventually falls to the pleasures of evil. The play best shows a great example of Romanticism in showing how God will always save you if you let him into your heart.
The Cherry Orchard
This play seems to come back to realism, but not completely. It mostly evolves around what each character in the play thinks is best, but it later evolves into what each character believes is self fulfilling for them. Faust is based off of good and evil, but The Cherry Orchard is more directed around the personal wishes of the characters whether they are good or evil. The Cherry Orchard also started to make the dialogue of the characters the only focus of play with minimal effects. The play implements the role of the characters true thoughts being cast out among the audience and other characters. These key differences are also scene in today’s theatre.
A Long Day’s Journey into Night
Theatre from Greek till the 18th Century was a slow and gradual growth that evolved from celebrating rituals into entertaining large crowds with complex storylines. Theatres at that time did a good job in making great tragedies, comedies, ect., but they were overall just entertainment to please the crowd. Theatre from the 18th Century to the present was a very progressive process that was more than just pleasing to the eyes. Plays like, A Long Day’s Journey into Night, wants audiences to ask themselves: How did you become who you are today? The complex questions keep audiences entertained, because the audience can’t wait to see the play’s answer. Some plays may not have an actual answer, but there unresolved problem keeps audiences coming back for more.
In Faust, I noticed at the very beginning during the credits was a type of music similar to the No or the Kabuki style of music. As the play starts and progresses, I notice chant between two spirits: one good and one bad. The good and the bad spirit fight over who owns the earth while man is just happy to be able to choose between the two. This was much like early Greek theatre because most people put on plays that focused on man’s connection with a greater being. But within this play, I see man starting to lean towards the idea of choosing right instead of going against the rest of society and doing what is wrong.
ReplyDeleteRealism is a movement based on speaking the truth and all about telling what is real. But, Romanticism is all about trying to go with a certain belief no matter who else believes. In The Cheery Orchard, I see one man trying to stick to his plan even though there are people who do not believe his plan will work. Of coarse, Faust is much different because it deals with man’s choice for right and wrong and The Cheery Orchard is about one man trying to get his opinion out to others. As history has moved on, Man has had a very sad inclination to move away from a higher power, which to me, is God.
As I have mentioned before, men have been moving away from religion and moving more towards wordily possessions. To me, religion is a universal issue that pertains to everyone, even if you are atheist or agnostic. Plays showed man’s interaction to gods when plays first started because gods were the very basis of life back in early plays. However, now plays depict life in modern times. Usually modern plays happen to be about a certain issue that is not universal. For example, somebody's dad dies. This is not universal because some people still have a dad.
My response to Paul Cianciolo
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with your very first statement. Its interest and a little scary to think that someone out there have evil in his heart. Usually you think of people breaking away from society with moral beliefs but that doesn't always have to be the case.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAustin Rudolph Response to Blog 8:
ReplyDeleteFaust
The background music in the beginning of this clip reminds me of the No and Kabuki style of Japanese music and theatre. The fact that Faust is a German play shows how music has spread throughout the years. In this play there is a struggle between good, represented by the Angel, and evil, represented by the devil. Throughout the play this struggle goes back and forth with the dark cloud of evil ultimately winning out.
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is a great example of realism. Realism placed a greater importance on the experiences of real life. In this play, there is a man with a very big idea. Throughout the play he tries convince the others to go along with his idea. The others chose to stick with what they believe is right and not to go along with the man’s ideas. Unlike in Faust, this play tries to influence others through the opinion of one man. Faust is more about man choosing between what is right and what is wrong.
A Long Day’s Journey into Night
From the time of ancient Greek theatre, there was a period of slow, additional growth. After this period, there was a time of exponential growth. Just like The Cherry Orchard, this play is a great example of realism. Throughout this play, the couple deals with life’s daily issues. The discussion between the two allows us to use our imagination and find out how their situations can relate to ours.
Austin Rudolph Response to Marc Hodges:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on Faust. I too believe that the good and the bad appear to fight over earth while the people choose between the two.
The work shows mans choice between good and evil. This is an obvious shift from reason. It is obvious in the way it is presented through the use of the devil and angel. Evil is very luring and difficult to resist, but the good will always be the way to salvation. Although the choice will always ultimately be up to the individual.
ReplyDeleteIn the cherry orchard, the conflict moves away from what is strictly good and evil to individual circumstances of humans. I found that the stage setup is similar to the stage of CBHS. The main conflict in the play is one man’s idea and his trouble in convincing other to follow it. Rather than having a clear cut right and wrong it is dealing with possible outcomes.
This play shows man's continual drift towards more worldly issues. I am able to better enjoy and understand the issues being presented. I think this is because of how close the issues relate to the present. Audiences enjoy these plays more because they are able to apply them to their own lives.
Response to Paul Cianciolo: I agree with your incite on the realism movement. Your thoughts pertaining to mans move towards more worldly issues are in agreement with mine
ReplyDeleteFaust: In this I see classic symbols for plays. There are some stock characters. There is good and evil in this. This is very different from the primitive cultures we have studied. There is actual acting in the and not just a group of people singing.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard: The writing is more down to earth. In Faust things are going crazy and there are giant people and crazy storms. The realistic play is more real, it gets a glimpse of real life and what the people have to go through. Some of the major differences between the two are acting, because the actors are more involved in realistic plays. Also dialoged, in Faust there is not good dialogue but in The Cherry Orchard they carry on more complex and sophisticated conversations. Some things that are still around today are singing, dancing, acting, and other aspects of theatre.
Long Day's Journey Into Night: Our theatre now is a lot better than that of the 1800’s. We have more technology to help the audience more enjoy the play. Now there are more elements of theatre and the theatre itself has also changed. Over the past 200 years theatre has progressed more than it ever has. It is more universal today because more people can relate because people are exposed to more stuff now.
xander: yours was very interesting i agree with some of the things you had to say.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Blog 8:
ReplyDeleteFaust:
Faust is a play that I think shows the true struggle that people deal with in our world today, good and evil. At the beginning of the play, Faust, the music that I hear is most defintely some sort of oriential music and makes me think of the East like Japan or China. Since this play is not Japanese or Chinese it really shows how the world has adapted to different things. The play is about the struggle between good,the angel, and the evil, the devil. Eventually man ends up falling to the evil, much like people do today.
The Cherry Orchard:
The Cherry Orchard is a realism play. The play is about how each person thinks what they think is best. The Cherry Orchard is a play that deals with what humans want and what they think is the best, whether good or evil. This play differs from Faust because in Faust it was more about humans choosing good and evil, while The Cherry Orchard is about people choosing what they think is right and trying to convince other people their own ideas, no matter good or evil.
A Long Day's Journey Into Night:
A Long Day's Journey Into Night is a play that has developed from the 18th Century Greek style of plays. This play is a play that is a crowd pleaser and keeps people coming back and back to theatre because they want to know what happens. This play is very entertaining because it makes us ask ourselves who we are and what are we doing here now. This play also directs our and the actor's attention towards worldly issues, much like we have today.
Response to Cody Costa:
ReplyDeleteCody I really agree with you about what you said about Faust and how it is a step away from what we have been studying. I also like how you metioned that The Cherry Orchard's playwright i more down to earth and easy to understand.
Justin Scheuner Response to blog 8:
ReplyDeleteIn the first work, there are quite a few noticeable elements of romanticism at play. The one that really jumped out to me was the contrast between good and evil, God and Satan. It was a shift away from industrialism in Europe to find one's self that sparked Romanticism, and this is a shift away from industrialism back to religion and God. Another aspect of Romanticism that I saw was the turning inward to find one's true self. I viewed the two characters as the two sides of one's conscience, and the battle between the two in order to settle an issue. THe most noticeable differences between this and the primitive theatre would be the themes (God/monotheistic religion) and the complexity of the plot and dialogue. It shows a massive expansion on primitive theatre. In the second work, the writing becomes more modern, and is realistic (the style is realism), whereas in Faust, it was Romantic in style. The major difference in the two styles would be that realism tries extremely hard to portray life as real as possible, whereas Romanticism tries to turn inward, through allegory often, to find one's true self, even if it means not portraying things realistically. The one aspect of this style that remains today is the fact that the playwright attempts to make everything as historically accurate as possible while still portraying things the way they see it, but also maintaining a realistic nature of the work. Regarding the progression of theatre over the last 200 years, I'm not at all surprised by the amount of change that has occurred and is still occuring. This amount of change happened in every aspect of society as nations began to industrialize, whether it be the economy, politics, or even likes and dislikes. The industrializaiton of nations allowed for the faster transport of ideas on all levels of society which effected everyone, not just those in the theatre. As for the statement about theatre being more universal than in the past, I view it both ways. I do think that it is more universal, but only by a slim margin, and that is only because of the resources we have today. But I also believe that it might just seem that way, because theatre is more modern, and it is thus easier to understand. I think that everyone has their own opinion concerning this, and that if you asked 100 people about this, you would end up with at least 100 different answers.
Justin Scheuner Response to Will Grisanti:
ReplyDeleteWill, I definitely agree with what you said about Faust being a deep examination of what people face in the battle of good and evil. It is full of not so subtle imagery that backs this up, as I am sure you probably noticed.
Response to Blog 8:
ReplyDeleteFaust: When I first started to watch Faust, I was puzzled by it's theme. Then, after getting over the very strange character designs and music (that sounded slighty Asian in origin) I finally realized that it was a simple story of good and evil. Only the Germans could create such a strange video for a play with such direct and relevant themes. This type of play is a midpoint between the German Romantic era and the modern eclectic era.
The Cherry Orchard: This play really bridges the gap between realism and romanticism. It is like Faust in tat it deals with both good and evil, but in very different ways. Faust uses much more emotions and obscure characters to tell of good and evil, while The Cherry Orchard uses more dialogue, especially dialogue centered around persuation, to tell a story centered around the same theme. The story in this work relates to modern theatre because both center around human fault. One just says it in a different way.
A Long Day's Journey into Night: I beieve that theatre today is not very different from theatre in 1800. The basic themes are all the same in both eras, but the reason that people think that they are so different is the use of modern dialogue, dress and topics in modern theatre. But, in some ways, I also believe that modern theatre is more universal then theatre in 1800 due to the development of greater ideas today.
Response to Jutin Scheuner: I also agree that the characters in Faust represent the two sides of one's conscience.
ReplyDeleteIn Faust, the Romanticism elements present in the play are completely different from the shift away from realism. Romanticism, as expressed in Faust, shows the emotional side of man and the internal conflicts he faces with good and evil. In Faust, as man is tempted and tries evil, good eventually always wins and triumphs over the evil force. Also in Faust, nature is shown more predominately and is a major theme throughout the play.
ReplyDeleteIn The Cherry Orchard, the focus of realism, rather than romanticism, is the main key focus of this play. The Realistic tone shows not the emotional struggle of good and evil in man, rather it shows the individual’s mind and how he/she thinks or wishes. The play is different from major theatrical styles of the 18th century and is alike today with the focus of the human mind through the play being centered on dialogue. Facts and information are more important than feelings.
A Long Day’s Journey Into Night: My thoughts on how theatre changed over the past 200 years was staggering, but then booming with great change of focus, thought, imagination, and basis. Theatre, from its basic roots, touches the audience’s need to be entertained through any means necessary. But 18th the modern theatre creates a new want from the audience through realism/naturalism/romanticism elements and asking life’s big questions, as in A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. I feel both that the play is universal, using a vague and unspecific question/basis question, but also the more modern material applies to me more because the more modern play touch on more current issues and subjects that are my main focus in my life today.
My response to T.J. Scholl:
ReplyDeleteI agree. Faust uses more emotion than facts and The Cherry Orchard uses human intellect and thought, show in the differences between Romanticism and Realism.
The first thing in Faust to catch my ear is the intricate music. This music to me almost sounds like a séance of some sort. As the play progress the underlined theme seems to be between the two spirits, one spirit fighting for what is good and the other spirit for evil. Also the music does a magnificent job at building up the suspense and portraying the climax. This play to me shows realism by doing what you know is right in your own heart. The Cherry Orchard is obviously more modern then that of Faust. The Cherry Orchard plays more on emotions then the realism of life like Faust. The Cherry Orchard portrays the common grievances of modern societies. This play does an ok job of mixing emotions with real time problems. Another major difference is the ideas in which each play portrays one about the inner fight of man and the other the external battle of life. Long Days Journey into Night, unlike Greek theater does a good job at performing dramas. Modern plays are more universal for modern people the past plays; the reason is theater mirrors society so modern mirrors modern and past mirrors past. To me personally a modern play will always be better than an historic play, the main reason is compatibility between me and the play.
ReplyDeletein response to T.J. Shull
ReplyDeleteI agree with your synopsis of A Long Days Journey into Night, the themes are the same. The main diffrences are the wardrobes and dialogue, this is why I like modern plays.
Response to blog 8:
ReplyDeleteFaust: I believe that Faust exemplified elements of many different types of theatre. The one type of theatre that I picked up on right away was Japanese theatre. Faust is considered to be one of the best works of German Romanticism. I can see why this is so because it seems to blend so many elements of theatre. It was a ground breaking work in that it displayed so many different types of theatre in a well put together manner. I believe German theatre had the advantage because Romanticism developed last in Germany; therefore, the Germans were able to perfect Romantic theatre by working out any flaws that came from other forms of European theatre. This play centers on the fight of Good vs. Evil. This is still one of the most common topics in today’s performing arts.
The Cherry Orchard: The major difference between The Cherry Orchard and Faust is the central topic. Faust is centered on Good vs. Evil where as The Cherry Orchard focuses more on the individual. Realism focuses on objective point of views such as: we are this way because x,y,z, happened. Romanticism focused on looking into oneself to find the true meaning of life. Realism would look to science for answers where as Romanticism would look to God for answers. A difference in writing that I noticed between this work and Faust was the dialogue between actors. The Cherry Orchard had much more in depth dialogue than did Faust.
A Long Day’s Journey into Night: The change of theatre from the Greek era up to the 18th century was minimal compared to the change that has and still is occurring of the past two-hundred years. This rapid change was due one-hundred percent to the Industrial Revolution. The introduction of controlled lighting and the ability to change scenes though the use of several stages was a tremendous leap forward from any work before the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution allowed for the transferring of ideas and concepts to be spread throughout the world at an incomparable rate to before. Plays today are more universal than plays of the past because today’s works seem to represent a struggle that most people can associate themselves with. I feel that plays today are more universal because I can relate more so to problems of today than the social problems of 200 years ago.
Faust is an example of sturm and drang, which is storm and stress. This is Romanticism that was influenced by German literature. Faust is the story of a man who sold his soul to the devil. This story has been remade many times, as in the movie "Bedazzled". Even though the movie is silent and in black and white; there are pretty good special effects. Mephisto is a demon used in German folk stories. Mephisto's eyes are pretty creepy. Romanticism uses extreme emotion and imagination. The audience is frightened by emotion. This is still popular today in scary movies like "Saw".We like to be scared.
ReplyDelete"The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov is realistic theatre from the nineteenth century. It is the story about an upper class family who has mismanaged their finances, but do not want to sell their cherry orchard. The scenery is more realistic and so is the speech used in the play. It brings the audience into real life. The table and chairs are plain as are the costumes. There is not the grandeur of the old Greek or Roman plays. There is not a lot of emotion in the story. It is more objective rather than subjective. The main emotion is frustration toward the Ranevsky family who believe that a miracle will save their beloved cherry orchard.
Unfortunately, they wind up losing their home.
I preferred the classic clip of "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" because the emotion was much more raw in that clip. The story is about a dysfunctional family who's mother has relapsed into opium addiction again. Jamie, the older brother who is alcoholic explodes at Edmund who must be treaated for tuberculosis. All of the family have issues with the Patriarch of their family. The character's background helps build suspense for the climax. This is melodrama at some of its best. The spectacle is an important part of the story. I think that I relate better to modern plays because it is easier to understand the language, but the themes in greek and roman plays are still relevant today.
Response to Ben Haynes:
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you when you said that theatre up until the 18th century was about fulfilling the audience's need to be entertained and theatre since then has focused on the bigger questions in life. That was a good way of summing it up. I would never have thought of it that way.
The elements I see are darkness trying to take over the world. The devil is telling the angel the world is his. Then I see the light of the angel coming telling the devil no you can’t have the world. It is also more realistic than before because they are better educated about theatre history. The lighting has changed to gas lights instead of candles. The props are better looking and the work is better on the stage. Now we have way better staging, props, and lighting that make it a whole lot better.
ReplyDeleteThe play seems to com somewhat back to realism but not completely. It mostly revolves around each character in the play and what each one thinks is best for the orchard but it later turns into what each character believes is best for him/her. The Cherry Orchard is more directed around the personal wishes of characters whether they are good or evil. The Cherry Orchard also started to make the characters dialogue the only focus of play with no much affects. The play takes the role of the characters true thoughts being cast out among the audience and other characters. The differences can be seen in or on the stage of today’s theatres.
Theatre from Greek till the 18th Century was a slow moving growth that came from celebrating rituals into entertaining large crowds with hard story parts. Theatres at the time did a good job with what they had in making good tragedies, comedies, and all that other stage stuff. They were overall just to entertainment the crowd. Theatre from the 18th Century to the present was a very big jump of process that was more than just awesome to the eyes of the crowd. The main thing the play asks people is how did you become who you are today? The questions keep audiences entertained so there mind is trying to figure out what is going to happen and it builds up mystery in the audiences head and they can’t wait till the end to find the answer out. Some plays might not answer the questions but that is what keeps the audiences and all coming back to the theatre to figure more out.
To Vince:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on everything you said. I like your blog its really good.
Faust: Faust shares several themes found in typical Romanticism of this day and age. Romanticism focused strongly on emotion. The audience and the characters of this drama can certainly feel a sense of terror when watching this play/movie. Emotion was a key principal in Storm and Drang. This play, like many others, deals with the idea of good vs. evil.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard: This play does not deal with the emotions, such as terror, as much as Faust does. It also seems to have a much more modern setting compared to Faust, which looked some what medieval. God or religion does not seem to be a part of this play ether. Obviously, Cherry Orchard is more realistic than Faust and deals with society.
A Long Day's Journey into The Night: The changes that have occurred between the 18th century and Greek Theater are due to the better technology that has been added, which would change everything from the scenery to the lighting of the play. It especially changed with the industrial revolution. The dialogue in the classic Long Day's Journey Into The Night is much different compared to the modern. The romantic element of emotion seems to be more present in the classic.
Response to Cody: I can certainly agree that with the increase of technology, theater has become more universal, as you described it.
While I was watching Faust, I was wondering how romanticism could be linked to this video. In my eyes I couldn't really find nothing romantic about it. It was set in a dark setting and it was creepy.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard was more realistic and delt with real problems in society. It was more modern then the Faust. I was able to understand this one more then the first because of the modern elements that used as if in today's society.
The third one was similar to the Cherry Orchard in the fact that they were using similar scenery. It was about these two older couples dicussing their problems and how things use to be when they were younger.
In “Faust,” there is a choice between virtue and vice. The basic of this play shows that man has the opportunity to choose between right and wrong. It also shows that virtue always conquers over vice. This play is more about people’s choices than god’s choices. Former theatre and primitive theatre uses God’s choices for men. In the play, the devil tries to test man’s goodness and states that man is naturally evil and cannot be good. At first, he stays good but eventually turns to evil.
ReplyDeleteIn “Cherry Orchard,” people make their own choices on what they believe is right or wrong. It is different from Faust in that it is about what they believe is right and wrong and not what is morally right and wrong, and Cherry Orchard has more dialogue. It is more about what is going on in the character’s heads than what is going on on stage. This play shows what the people see in themselves through their dialogues which is more like today’s theatre than that of Faust.
I believe that plays have grown over the years in universality because it has grown past ritual. Theatre started as purely ritual then it went to try to please God. Then it went to trying to show moral lessons, and now its sole purpose is to please the audience. The reason that it is more liked by more people is that there are so many different types of theatre that at least one of them has to go along with what someone likes. This is shown in “A Long Day’s Journey,” because of its universality.
response to Johnas Venzant:
ReplyDeleteit is romantic in the sense of what we think of romantic, like boy and girl. it is romantic by being dark and gloomy, and outside of normal..i think.
I see many aspects of romanticism in this play. What I see the most is the main character turning to nature for an answer. He turns to God to receive the answer of how to cure the plague. Theatre has come a long way since we started. It seems darker now. It is much more technologically advanced as well. There are lights flashing and dimming everywhere thanks to electricity. Theatre grew dramatically in just a short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a much lighter play than Faust. They are yelling the entire clip but it still seems like a brighter play. Romanticism shows how all answers can be found in nature. Realism shows how messed up society is. The lighting on stage is defiantly still with us today. We still use electric lights.
I’d like to start by saying that I love the classic “A Long Day’s Journey into Night”. The acting is phenomenal. I feel like over the past 200 hundred years, theatre has fallen more upon the actors. The classic scene is some amazing acting and proves that actors took over. Once again, lighting was the major shift from Ancient Greece to the 1800’s. Electric lights completely changed theatre. New technology was founded in the 20th century. This improved plays as well. I think the main reason I liked this play is because it was made not to long ago and is more modern.
MY RESPONSE TO John Wynne
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the plot of Faust. It was kind of hard to understand but i think you have it down pretty well. The Cherry Orchard is much more long and has more dialogue. I didn't like that. Theatre has grown a lot since ancient Greece.
Response to Adrian Vivar: I agree in your ideas about how The Cherry Orchard is a far more modern and realistic over Faust. Faust may hold a deeper meaning, but the Cherry Orchard is something that we can all relate to in some way.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Blog 8:
ReplyDeleteFaust
It's easy to see the main difference in the transition from reason to man following their hearts. It's about temptation, from the devil, to lead Faust away from what he knows is good. It is an ultimate test of his morale. In the end, the devil causes the plague, and only instills fear and causes man to flee. While Faust holds true to his true character, good deeds. There was also a clear and definitive difference between good and evil. It is easy to tell who the devil is by his dark attire and the devil is really ugly. The angel on the other hand, is shining with light and wearing all white. Also, it expressed the idea of man turning from society to his basic emotions. From primitive cultures, this style of theatre embraces emotion, costumes, staging, and embracing beliefs about how good triumphing over evil.
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is a good example of deception in society. The family's land is leased from them, and they receive a considerably less amount originally agreed upon. This exposes their inner emotions because of the deceit, and the sentimental value of the land to the family. It had been the estate where their father and grandfather had been slaves. The difference from earlier theatre and this production is the use of elaborate scenery, emotions, clothing, and criticizing society on stage. Realism's use of the senses is still used today, creating a more noticeable truth in the plot.
Long Day's Journey Into Night
The long journey from eighteenth-century theatre to 20th century theatre was a journey of the playwright expressing changes and emotions through the actors on stage and the moral of the play. I think that modern plays are more universal, but only because it is easier for a modern society to relate to a modern production. A modern production about greed is easier for me to understand, than a production on a family whose farm is sold and they are ripped off in the money that they receive. I believe that each century's productions will be more easily understood than the previous.
Response to John Wynne:
I agree on your view of Faust, because throughout the story, the decisions the people make impact themselves and others. I also agree with you on the change of theatre. It has become more of an entertainment to the audience, and teach the audience about morals, and the type of theatre you like is of preference and customs.
Faust seems very Romantic in nature to me because it deals with the supernatural and folklore elements of German culture. The story seems to be very irrational in nature and demonstrates the focus of imagination that was in the core of the Romanticism movement, and most Romantic works in themselves. The changes I see compared to the more primitive works that we studied are the lack of a chorus or a centralized group acting as one character, the complexity of the plot, and the presence of a moral aspect to the play.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard, compared to Faust, is very much a complete opposite style. Faust was mainly based on folklore and myth, whereas The Cherry Orchard is designed to be as realistic as possible, hence the style of Realism. The major differences between this style and that of the 18th century's is that this style attempts to bring lifelike situations and occurrences to the forefront of theatre and create a desire for change to prevent such tragedies from occurring in real life. Much of this style is still in use today with pieces such as Rent that attempt to display life in its rawest form to bring awareness to the public.
Theatre's movement from the primitive roots to the 1800s has been remarkable in the sense that every aspect of it has changed, from presentation to costume, dialog to setting. This movement was perhaps more strongly noticeable, but no more significant than the change from the 1800s to the present. Over the past 200 years, more has become acceptable in society and in presentation of theatre, thus giving theatre more opportunities to relay its messages in more controversial and direct ways. Along with this came some of the greatest changes in society, showing that modern society has been heavily influenced by the expansion, growth, and change in theatre. I think A Long Day's Journey into Night this an example of timeless theatrical works that will probably always be recognized for being so. However, I do not believe that the present's works can be more or less timeless or universal than the past's because of each works' individual emphasis, but I would be more inclined to believe that of the plays that are being written in the present due to how close they are to my life, in one way or another.
Response to Justin Scheuner:
I agree with, and like, your comparison of Faust with the era's religious inclination because I agree that religion created a strong undertone for Romanticism during that time period. I think it is worth pointing that out because it contributes to the fact that Romanticism is based on human thought and not so on rationalism.
Faust is a very noticeable move back to Romanticism because it focuses on the inner self more rather than simple events happening. There is a battle between good and evil and there is more emphasis put on focusing on ones self and ones own conscious rather than simply looking at events in a worldly and non-personal way. In addition, the main character in Faust looks toward nature for answers. Finally, we can definitely see the technological advances in theatre during this time period in this movie. There is much more advanced lighting, spectacle, and effects rather than a simpler one set play.
ReplyDeleteThe cherry orchard represents a change from romanticism to realism. There is more dialogue and the story deals with the realistic idea that humans are subject to faults and often we come short of what we hope to accomplish. Today, we can see that most playwrights stay on the realistic side of the fence because it is here that the audience can best relate to what is going on onstage. During the 20th century, no longer were plays geared toward presenting works influencing people to find their inner self even if the play was not very realistic, but they were geared toward relating with the common people on problems that were a part of everyday life.
From the time of the ancient Greeks to 1800 there was very little theatrical change. Even up until around 1800 theatre was still very primitive. However, from 1800 to the present day, theatre changed exponentially through experimentations with romanticism, realism, naturalism, eclecticism, surrealism, and expressionalism. This dramatic change is amazing but easy to understand due to the ever-increasing transportation methods such as railroads. Also, economies were changing dramatically with the rise of the middle class and this influenced the theatre as well. Because theatre is now modern and easier to comprehend, it seems as if it is a little bit more universal than the theatrical works of the past. However, my opinion in this case is simply based on the fact that I can relate much more to modern plays than primitive plays.
My response to Brody J...
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that I enjoy modern theatre much more than primitve theatre. However, we must remember that this is simply because we grew up in the culture that is involved in modern theatre. We must try our best to understand what it would have been like to live during the time of a certain primitive theatrical work to appreciate it as much as possible.
Faust
ReplyDeleteThe conflict between good and evil is a classic portrayal of Romanticism in this play. To me, the plays we are studying are becoming much more enjoyable as we approach modern times. The use of costumes, special effects, and especially music, make them much more real.
The Cherry Orchard
While The Cherry Orchard deals with the Realism aspect of human tragedy as the family sits idly by and loses their home, it also reflects a bit of Romanticism in the part where Lopahkin buys the estate where his father and grandfather were once slaves. This style of theatre more closely depicts everyday life than 18th Century theatre. Audiences can more closely relate to the theme of the 19th Century play because it captured events that happened in that modern era. Today, this play would be classified as a drama.
A Long Day’s Journey into Night
It is easy to relate to a play such as this because it touches on issues we see or experience every day. Plays over the last 200 years have evolved into reflections of daily life. While earlier plays often dealt with more spiritual issues, modern plays hit closer to home. Expressionist plays, like those that focus on Realism (like The Cherry Orchard) tackle the problem we all experience at one time or another. I think these plays are designed to entertain through their analysis of our own lives. The issues facing the Tyrone family such as addiction, illness, and financial hardship are just as real today as they were when this play took place almost 100 years ago.
Faust: This play shows great progression from the many plays before it that tried to capture realist ideas about what was the best for mman. Faust does this differently and goes in depth to show how man really behaves and acts. THis play is mainly about man trying to choose between good and evil and how that is the greatetst choice a man must make. This play involves the devil trying to bring Faust towards evil acts and trying to get him to do evil things but Faust is able to resist for a while. Faust eventually lets evil take control but turns to god who is able to help him.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard: This play is a good example of relism and how mans evveryday life goes. It shows a man with an idea he has that he thinks is a really good one and throughout the play he is trying to convince people to agree with his idea and to go along with it. Eventually though the people decidet that they thin their ideas are better and dont listen to what the man has to say. Unlike Faust which compared good and evil this compares peoples thoughts and how people tend to stick with their own beliefs and to not concede to others ideas.
A Long Days Journey: I think that modern theatre has grown greatly since the 1800s in some areas but then again i think that it is the same in others. I think that the stage work and the dialogue and the costumes and stage lighting and set up have completely changed but the ideas for plays in my opinion are still the same, we still use the same concepts for plays, the only difference is we incorporate our day to day issues which is different from theirs.
Response to Carter: i agree with you that the plays are getting much more enjoyable as we advance into modern plays
ReplyDeleteFaust seems like a very confusing video at first. However, once you progress through the video, you realize that it is a fairly simple battle between good and evil. This is a great example of a German Romantic play, because of the constant struggle between God and the devil.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell when you see the video paused, before you even start it, that The Cherry Orchard is a much more modern work than Faust. It is moving away from Romanticism, like Faust, and moving towards Realism. The people of the Realistic Era were trying to imitate life as much as possible in the plays.
I feel like theatre in the last 200 years has not changed all that much. Though it is very different in regards to clothing and dialogue, the themes aren't all that different. 200 years ago, they began imitating life in theatre, and that is still done today. Even though theatre has changed the quickest in the past 200 years, it is still easily relatable to theatre of today. Theatre today is a little more universal than 200 years ago, mainly because of our advanced technologies. We can pull ideas from across the world in a matter of seconds, and then right a play about it. 200 years ago, if they wanted ideas from around the world, they would have to wait a few months minimum.
Faust showed its time period of Romanticism throughout, although it was more apparent towards the end. It displays the timeless battle between good and evil, as portrayed by the angel and devil. The work was done well.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard displays a very good performance based on realism. The play involves plausible hardships and occurences for families of the time. It can really captivate its audience and involves their feelings with the work. It definitely was a moving of that pendulum.
A Long Day's Journey into Night shows how far we have come over the past millenia. If you were to compare it to some of the ancient greek plays, then you would definitely see the shift in its being. This play could easily have been written a few months back due to the universiality of theatre in today's world. I think it does hit closer to home due to the time frame it was written in, but I also believe that it works well because the ecletic approach to theatre in modern times allows for greater inclusion of the theatrical types than ever before.
Response to John Wynne:
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the universality of the play allowing it to connect more. The styles seen in today's theatre really are sufficient enough to where almost anyone out there can find his or her own liking in it.
Faust
ReplyDeleteThis play shows the struggles of good and evil. At the beginning of the play the music reminds me of Japanese or Chinese styles of music. Since this play is not Asian, it makes me realize the affects of theatre throughout the world. The play is about the struggle between an angel, good, the devil, evil. Eventually man ends up falling to the evil, much like people do in our world today.
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is about how each person believes what they think is best. It deals with what humans want and what they think is the best, whether it is good or evil. Cherry Orchard is about people choosing what they think is right and trying to convince other people their own ideas, and differs from Faust because in Faust it was more about humans choosing good and evil.
A Long Day's Journey Into Night
A Long Day's Journey Into Night is a play that has developed from the Greek style of plays. This play is for entertainment purposes and creates suspense in the audience making them want more. This play is very entertaining because it makes us questions ourselves and what we are doing with our lives. This play also points our thoughts towards the worldly issues that we encounter today.
Faust: In the play i noticed that in the clip there were a few scene changes romantacism deals with this and lots of emotion. Throughout the clip and the play there is much emotion being portrayed. This comes in the form of Faust having to choose between good and evil and how it seemed like the angel and the devil were argueing over faust. This work really deals with the classic concept of good versus evil. One of the main things that i noticed while watching the work was how much emotion was expressed in it. I do think that even though this is a silent version of the work it really does capture the mood very well and in my opinion if it can be done this well without sound from actors then it should be very interesting to see with sound.
ReplyDeleteThe Cherry Orchard, This was a very good play, i really enjoyed viewing it. From what i could see things that i really noticed that were different was the stage, the clothes worn and the dialogue. The dialogue was very close to what todays drama dialogue is like. The way it was spoken was very easy to understand and made it that much more enjoyable to watch. The costumes worn seemed to go with the time period that the actors were trying to portray. It had a very olden day feel to it. The stage also seemed to change and match accordingly to what was going on in each scene and act. The plots presented in this play are still very much alive in todays society as well.
Long Day's Journey into Night, This play really shows just how far theatre has come in its history. The play uses dialogue that is heard in todays modern time. I really think that theatre has had a huge shift in the last 200 years. Though 200 years is a long time it really is astounding just how far theatre has come. Theatre as we have studied has gone from very primitive values to very modern and easy to relate to themes. The way it is presented and portrayed has also changed dramatically. Some plays for instance do not use a chorus like they used to back in greek and roman times. The way this play is written it really does feel like it is rather new. It uses modern english and themes to portray its plot. I really think that i can relate to this kind of play more than the other plays from back in greek and roman times mainly because this play and ones like the cherry orchard deal with modern themes that still exist today. It helps that the idea and central themes are closer to todays modern society.
Response to William Norman: I agree with you that Faust Portrays the battle of Good versus evil and that in the Cherry Orchard it does seem like each character acts like they know what is best for the situations that they are in.
ReplyDeleteFaust
ReplyDeleteThis play is the classic battle between good vs evil. Good being the angel and evil being the devil. I can see romanticism shown in this play through all the emotion expressed through the play.
The Cherry Orchard
This play is an example of realism. It shows the ideas of the average man and does not go to much into it. This allows the audience to more easily relate to what is happening in the play. It differs from faust because faust focuses more on the fight between good and evil rather than the wishes of the person like in the cherry orchard.
Long Day's Jounrey Into The Night
THis play really shows have far we have progreesed in theatre in the last 200 years. It uses more contemperary english, and better technology in the newer version. It just shows that we are always modernizing based on what is available around us.
Repsons to Michael
ReplyDeleteI agree chery orchard waas a good play , i enojyed watching it as well and i felt the olden day feel to.
Faust:
ReplyDeleteIn this work, although it is silent, had and dealt with a lot of emotion. It seemed to be a constant fight between good and evil, right vs. wrong. An angel and the devil converse and make a bet that Faust will break to evil ways. This is a classic example of Romantic style good vs evil, and is portrayed throughout the whole work.
The Cherry Orcard:
This play differs greatly from Faust. It is using Realism, by showing the idea of man. The things that I notice that are different are the clothes, stage, and the dialogue. This play was very easy to follow, unlike Faust. The dialect was very much like today's, which made it a breeze to understand. The clothing was very similar also. Faust seemed to be more of a battle of good and evil, while this dealt with the person and it's ideas.
Long Day's Journey Into the Night:
This play is very modern compared to that of the 18th century. The dialect is like how people now would be speaking to each other. They mention an automobile, showing that there is newer technology. The clothing is very contemporary. I believe that the plays are sometimes more universal, depending on how they are presented. Some plays from the 18th century are more so than those of the 20th.
Response to Trent:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on Long Day's Journey Into the Night. It makes us think of what we do with our lives
Chris mathews response to blog seven
ReplyDeleteIn the first play, there exists a distinct element of Romanticism used throughout. The major contrast, however, was that of good and evil; this is more formally known as the contrast between Satan and God. This shift was a pull away from the Industrial happenings of the 18th and 19th centuries, to a more refined and religious passion. Although main differences over the years are the change in universal perspective, the effects on the audience, and depth of the dialogue; there is a greater difference at play. As time goes on, especially shown in the second play, a form of realism is used to better ascertain a view of one’s self in society, and how they fit into the puzzle of life. These occurrences are not new; rather they have been unfolding since the dawn of drama all those years ago. As will Grisanti said above, there are elements of different cultures in the works of certain dramas far from their origin. Music of oriental ascent are being used in plays around the world further reiterating the massive exchange of cultural information made possible by unending trade and mixture of societies. Over time, plays will continue to change, possibly in the same trends that have forced the changes we see today.
Response to blog of will grisanti:
I agree with many of your points of global acculturation and the continuance of change in modern plays.
I realized that all the operas had to do with someones life or kids. That they have a problem and they have to come up with a witty way to get a problem fixed and without getting in trouble. Most of the operas are in a happy and cheery tone. Operas are mostly sang through the whole performance. Operas have been played for many years and have been playing the same ones for many years. Most operas are in a different language. Operas normally last along time with a-lot of different seines and multiple characters but only a select few sing the whole time and it.
ReplyDeleteMost operas are vary interesting because they have to do with something that is going on it the present time but it has the same theme of a-lot of old peaces.
There are a good bit of comical operas to like most of the African theater is comical. Not all operas are the same old same old singing about there problems and how bad the world is and what they want it is a-lot more than that there os a-lot of comedy and solutions there are also tips on ho to fix things in your own life.
response to: chris mathews:
that there is alot of romanticism in plays
Opera became a major part of theatre in the 19th century and still is one of the major forms we have today. Both opera selections (The Saint of Bleeker Street and Albert Herring) both show modern theatre because of their modern sets and the modern attire that the characters are wearing. Opera actually came from Italy and we can see this is in the way that the action is strung together. Also, in The Saint of Bleeker Street, there is a religious conflict presented. This goes hand in hand with the Italian theatre from which opera stemmed down. I enjoyed watching these clips because I can better relate to works when they are presented in English and in a modern setting.
ReplyDeleteIn the Jewish plays, modern theatre shines through. In I’m not Rappaport, we see the evolution of comedy to the present day. After reading the synopsis, I felt that the main idea of the work is that even though we are happy and lively at one point, we may in the future end up as dull, alone, and boring. This from most likely stemmed from commedia del arte. The Dybbuk was a little bit duller of a piece probably because it is less modern in nature. It has to deal with our happenings in the afterlife and keeping our beliefs and value strong once we get to the afterlife.
The African-American play, A Raisin in the Sun, deals with mostly race relations and moral issues. Race relations is a major part of African-American theater today. In this work, we see that money can make a lot of people do things that they normally wouldn't do. This story was a struggle between the main character and himself in regards to his morals involving money. In our modern world, it is definitely true that money and greed cause many problems.
My response to Stephen Kelly
I agree with you that A Raisin in the Sun is very well acted and in my opinion would be a very fun play to actually go see. It would be interesting to watch the problems of greed and racial issues play itself out on stage.
In Faust the bad spirit is going against the good spirit. The guy in the middle is trying to choose which way to go and decides to go and make the good choice. This is like romanticism in that it is good verses evil and has alot of drama The changes from Faust to The Cherry Orchard is that it is more in touch with problems of actual life and not the supernatual part of our world.This is more dealing with modern problems and the views have changed from showing the audience what is going on to bringing them into the play as if it were real. Yhe attributes that are still with us today are that the people acting are very into the plays and that the audience is ingrossed into it.
ReplyDeleteThe problems that soceity has changed dramatically and the people are very different. These problems are changing the way plays are produced and looked at. The more developed a society is the more developed the plays will be.
My respnse to Donnie:
I agree with you in that you can tell the differences in the productions by just pausing it.
This form of play is made to focus on the realism of man. This play shows realism in that it finds the true meaning of man, and this play says that man is able to decide between good and evil. I think that plays today are more of a entertainment oppourtunity rather than a lesson in ethics and morals like it used to be in the early years
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