Blood Wedding #3

"Not rounding off, but opening out."

The ending is important in Oedipus and Blood Wedding. In both texts, there is a power and relationship aspect. In Oedipus, he and Jocasta are happily married and ruling over Thebes. However, throughout the play the reader learns of Oedipus' twisted fate and his outcome. This play ends in death; Jocasta kills herself due to the anguish of what she has done, and Oedipus gouges out his eyes. Causing for there to be multiple tragic events within the end of the play. Sophocles allows for this play to be ended in a way that a sequel could be created. But, also, Sophocles does not just end the play in a happy way. There is tragedy!

In Blood Wedding, the Bride and Bridegroom are preparing for marriage. Also, there becomes an idea of what transpired between Leonardo and Bride previously. Because of what transpires during the wedding, leads to a tragic ending. Lorca writes the play in a way that allows for the audience to keep guessing. There could be a sequel with the lack of a capped ending. By having both Leonardo and Bridegroom dying in the end, it allows for a story to blossom around Bride.

In Wild Duck, the way Ibsen ends the play is slightly different from both plays by Sophocles and Lorca. Ibsen allows for there to be a sequel, but the primary storyline dies with Hedvig. (Then again do does that of Oedipus and Blood Wedding). However, Ibsen's play is harder to create a sequel for. By having Hedvig die, Ibsen creates more of a rounding off affect. The play isn't as opened out as the other two.

By not rounding off, it allows for relating to the real world and allows for a more branched discussion. By opening out, readers are more likely to relate to the text and grow fonder to it. The more connection that are able to be made, then the more analysis that can come out of it. Opening out allows for more connections to other texts to be made.

Blood Wedding #2

Should the plot be valued more highly than style in the work?

Yes, the plot should be valued more highly that the style. Especially in Oedipus! In Oedipus, the dramatic irony is important in the play, but the plot is even more important. If the plot weren't there, then the play would be completely different and the dramatic irony wouldn't even matter. Without the story line, the dramatic irony would have no affect and would thus be pointless.

Also, the plot should be more valued than the style in Blood Wedding. The poetic feeling of the play and the rich language isn't as important as the plot. Without the plot, there would be no use for literary devices, therefore the plot should be more valued.

In Wild Duck, the plot is important because it's what makes the play a tragedy. However, without the styles used, the play cannot be what we believe it is.

I'm contradicting myself now, but I guess they are both important. The pot is seen as more important, but isn't necessarily because you would not reach the plot without having the style. Without the style, the play would not be a tragedy either. Without the dramtic irony, the play wouldn't be a tragedy.

Blood Wedding #1

"Although doubt is not a pleasant condition, certainty is an absurd one."

Certainty is absurd because there is no way to be certain. However, doubt has a meaning to it and even though it is unpleasant, it has meaning behind it because there is questioning and understanding. Expressions of doubt exist in Oedipus, Wild Duck, and Blood Wedding.

There is doubt in Oedipus when the messenger comes to tell Oedipus that his father had died. Also, when Oedipus was told that he is not his father's son, he wants to believe it so that he can consider it to be true, but he still had doubts. However, there is certainty for Oedipus when the shepherd is called in to tell the whole story of Oedipus' childhood. The shepherd is the only one that knows the truth. With his story, the whole play becomes tragic. Having doubt caused Oedipus to search further to find certainty. But, by finding certainty, Oedipus is led to a tragic downfall.

Doubt is present in Wild Duck when Gregers tells Hjalmar that there was a sexual relationship between Werle and Gina. Hjalmar wants to believe Gregers because he is his best friend. But, Hjalmar still asks Gina to check for certainty. Gina gives him certainty and Hjalmar becomes disgusted with the daughter that he raised for fourteen years. By finding certainty, Hjalmar is crushed, but also he disowns Hedvig. This disowning of Hedvig leads her to kill herself. The search for certainty leads to the tragic downfall of Hedvig.

In Blood Wedding, doubt is present when Mother is hearing rumors about a previous relationship between Bride and Leonardo. Mother shared the rumors with her son Bridegroom. Certainty isn't really sought for in this situation but certainty is somewhat thrust upon them. In the end when Bride goes off with Leonardo on her wedding day the rumors become certain. This leads the Bridegroom to search for Bride, which leads to his tragic downfall. It is tragic because Bridegroom dies while searching for her.

Wild Duck #5

I am tracking rumors and how they affect the characters that they are told to and told about.

In Oedipus, I discovered that rumors and what people say is very important. The idea that Oedipus is not his father's son is very important and is one reason for his tragic fall. Oedipus hears a rumor that he is not his father's son and be becomes filled with anxiety; "Some man at a banquet who had drunk too much / shouted out - he was far gone, mind you - / that I am not my father's son. Fighting words!" (lines 858-860). This shows Oedipus' emotional attachment to this topic. Also, the affect of the drunk man's rumors causes Oedipus to fear its truthfulness, but it also helps set up the plot of the play. Another occurrence of when Oedipus is affected by rumors is when the messenger comes to Thebes to share information with Oedipus; "He's from Corinth, he's come to tell you / your father is no more - Polybus - he's dead!" (lines 1045-1046). The messenger's rumors affect Oedipus because it goes further to discuss his fate and the rumor also proves to be true. Oedipus is affected by these rumors because they are true and he fears the outcome of the action that makes them true.

In Wild Duck, I found that the rumors (and gossip) are important because they also created a tragic fall for Hedvig. However, especially in Wild Duck, it is seen that the elite, social, and "upper" class are the ones that primarily spread rumors. Werle tells Gregers that he will marry Mrs. Sorby and a glimpse into the society is seen by the reader; "I'm afraid she won't put up with it much longer/ And even if she did - even if, out of her feeling for me, she ignored the gossip and backbiting and so on" (Ibsen 134). This shows an insight into the gossip of the elite culture. Relationships are affected by rumors and the reactions people have towards them. Also, Werle causes a rumors to form a rift in the relationship between Hjalmar and Gina; "Is it true - can it possibly be that - that there was some kind of involvement between you and Mr. Werle while you were in service there?" (Ibsen 182). This shows that rumors can affect relationships, even those between married couples. This rumor causes Hjalmar to disown Hedvig leading to her tragic downfall.

IOP #5

Final blurbs and ideas for my IOP!!!

Kafka was not a trained philosopher, therefore not an acclaimed existentialist.

Jean-Paul Sartre considered him an existentialist and Albert Camus considered him an absurdist.

Kafka never wrote a long novel. This fact goes with his style.

Albert Camus was born on November 7, 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria and died January 4, 1960. He, like Kafka, also suffered from tuberculosis. He was communist and considered himself an absurdist even though many say that absurdism and existentialism go hand-in-hand. Camus was pacifist. He was married twice and had twin girls.

Camus is considered the originator of absurdism, which is related to existentialism. Absurdism contends that human beings are basically irrational and human suffering is the result of vain attempts by individuals to find reason or meaning in the absurd abyss of existence.

He claimed that the only true philosophical question was that of suicide: should we bother living at all or simply kill ourselves?

A common definition for existentialism is that there is no "higher" meaning to the universe or to man's existence, and no rational order to the events of the world.

Camus did not accept the existential label for The Stranger.

I really need to find evidence in the text. I think when his mother dies and when he dhoots the arab are good places to start. Any ideas?

Wild Duck #4

The heightened emotional moments in the text are important for keeping the reader hooked and continuing to read.

By foreshadowing, the authors, both Ibsen and Sophocles, heightened the intensity of the play.

In Wild Duck, when Hedvig grabs the pistol is good foreshadowing for her death; "She steals over and takes the pistol from the shelf, sets the loft door ajar, slips in and draws the door shut after her". This passage is Hedvig's stage cue, which occurs right in the midst of an argument between Hjalmar and Gina. This passage gets the reader thinking what will happen next. Is Hedvig going to shoot the wild duck? Is she going to shoot herself?

Then Hedvig actually kills herself; "RELLING. You can see for yourself that Hedvig is dead". The intensity breaks once Hedvig is found dead, but the use of foreshadowing makes the scene. Without the foreshadowing, the scene would not have the intensity that it has and the reader would not be as interested in reading it.

In Oedipus, when Jocasta runs off after warning Oedipus about searching for details from his past; "Flinging through the palace doors. A long, tense silence follows". The tension is really strong between all the characters. The reader cannot help but ask questions. What will happen to Oedipus? Will Oedipus find out crucial information about his past?

Then Oedipus gouges out his eyes and Jocasta kills herself; "And there we saw the woman hanging by the neck, / cradled high in a woven noose, spinning, / swinging back and forth". Jocasta kills herself due to the agony felt because of her actions. Oedipus gouges out his eyes in order to not see anymore negative actions; "he digs them down the sockets of his eyes, crying".

The use of foreshadowing makes the intensity of the play and the heightened emotional parts even more emotional.

IOP #4

More on The Trial and its existential ties.

The Trial

The reader meets a man witnessing an absurd from of "justice" - a legal system without logic.

Represents a common theme among his writing: all people are guilty of something and the punishments are in inverse proportion to the sin.

Joseph K. awakes one night to discover men walking about the boarding house in which he resides. These men promptly arrest Josef, without stating a reason. When Josef asks why he is being arrested, one man tells him he will be told in "due course". The reader senses immediately Josef will not learn what crime he has committed, especially if the reader is familiar with Kafka. maybe Josef has committed no crime, or maybe the crime was minor, but the reader knows the punishment is certainly severe.

Existential ties to The Trial:

The individual accepts and even embraces the absurdity of life. Existentialism and the absurdism of Camus are often considered together in philosophy and literature. Kafka explores the absurd relationships between individuals, society, technology, and words. Kafka meets the basic criteria of existentialism.

One aspect shared by most existentialist is their individualism.

Kafka has no philosophical or political motives and merely wants to reflect what he has seen of human nature.

The major difference between Camus and Kafka is that Camus attempts to provide an answer for the problem Kafka sees as inescapable.

-from http://www.tamen.com/csw/exist/kafka.shtml

Wild Duck #3

"Visual action can be as important on the stage as speech."

I think this is true to an extent. I believe that visual action is important, but not neccessarily as important or more important than speech.

In Oedipus, visual action action is important when Jocasta is warning Oedipus about inquiring more into his past; "Flinging through the palace doors. A long, tense silence follows". The stage cues allow the reader to add intensity to Jocasta's movements. She is hoping that Oedipus will stop his search and by running off, the reader can come to the conclusion that she is very emotional about the topic at hand.

Also, in Oedipus, the stage cues are also important when Oedipus is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the shepherd that appears to hold all the answers; "Oedipus strains to see a figure coming from the distance. Attended by palace guards, an old shepherd enters slowly, reluctant to approach the king". This cue allows the reader to predict what will happen between Oedipus and the shepherd. Also, it gives insight into the tension of the scene.

In Wild Duck, the stage cues are also very important. The cues given to Hjalmar after he returns from his long walk with Gregers give the reader an insight into his mood; "He takes off his overcoat. Gina and Hedvig start to help him; he waves them away". This cue gives multiple insights into the story. It provides an idea of what Gregers might have shared with Hjalmar. It also allows the reader to see Gina's position in the household, one of service and help.

Also, in Wild Duck, the stage cue for Gregers is important to feel part of the tension and mood during a slight argument between Gina and Hjalmar; "Gregers cautiously opens the hall door and looks in". This cue suggests that he was listening to Hjalmar and Gina and was wary of an awkward encounter if he was not cautious.

In both Oedipus and Wild Duck, the stage cues are used as an imprtant aspect of the play to give the reader insight into moods and feelings, etc. The stage cues are not more important than speech, however. Though the two can be considered equally important.

IOP #3

I want to touch on the connections between Camus and Kafka and the connection of Kafka's book, The Trial, with existentialism.

Background information on Kafka:

Born = July 3, 1883 in Prague, Austria

Dead = June 3, 1924

Had tuberculosis.

Sex in Kafka's writings is frequently connected with dirt or guilt and treated as an attractive abomination because he had an attraction to prostitutes.

Led an active social life.

He loved to hike, swim, and row, and during vacations he took carefully planned trips.

He wrote primarily at night, the days being preempted by his job. Does this show in his writing? Are there many occurrences of darkness?

Wrote books dealing with outsiders. CONNECTION TO THE STRANGER???

The Trial

Deals with a man persecuted and put to death by the inscrutable agencies of an unfathomable court of law.

Kafka's fiction elicits and defeats attempts at conclusive explanation.

-from http://www.levity.com/corduroy/kafka.htm

Wild Duck #2

Gina's reaction to Hjalmar's lunch with Relling, Molvik, and Gregers.

Gina: Why do I have to do everything around here? Hjalmar does not do anything. I have to do his photography work for him. All he wants to do is spend time in that stupid room with his father. Why does he have no drive to work? He is supposed to be the man that brings home the money. I have to make all the appointments and be there to supervise. And I know that he has Hedvig do touch-ups and other work for him. That is not okay. Hedvig is losing her eye sight and she needs to be specially cared for. Hjalmar does not treat her as carefully aas he should. Also, I do not understand why I always have to serve him. He expects me to be on time and to wait on him hand and foot. If I do not start on something soon enough or I start too soon on something Hjalmar becomes angry with me. If I do not finish soon enough or finish too soon he becomes angry. Hjalmar becomes angry when I ask him to work and when I am making sure that he is working, and he yells at me. But I know he is not working. I cannot do this much longer! I had to serve the Werle family when Mrs. Werle was ill and I should not have to serve my husband in the same way. I feel taken advantage of. Well, I must get back to fixing dinner.

IOP #2

More details to existentialism...

Existentialists see human life as being basically a series of decisions that must be made with no way of knowing conclusively what the correct choices are. The individual must continually decide what is true and what is false; what is right and what is wrong; which beliefs to accept and which to reject; what to do and what not to do.

To existentialists, human choice is subjective, because individuals finally must make their own decisions without help from such external standards as laws, ethical rules, or traditions. Because individuals make their own choices, they are free;but because they freely choose, they are completely responsible for their choices.

Responsibility is the dark side of freedom. When individuals realize that they are completely responsible for their decisions, actions and beliefs, they are overcome by anxiety. They try to escape from this anxiety by ignoring or denying their freedom and their responsibility. But because this amounts to ignoring or denying their actual situation, they succeed only in deceiving themselves.

Existentialists believe people learn about themselves best by examining the most extreme forms of human experience.

Existentialists write about such topics as death and the shadow it casts on life; the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of maintaining satisfactory relationships with other people; the ultimate futility and absurdity of life; the terrifying possibility of suicide; the alienation of the individual from society, nature, and other individuals; and the inescapable presence of anxiety and dread.

This contradicts the common philosophies, which were focusing on the nature of language more than the experience.

Occurring in the time after WWII.

So broadly used that an exact definition is not possible.

-from the handout from class with Ms. Relyea

Wild Duck #1

Letter from Mr. Werle to Gregers Werle.

Dear Gregers,

How are you? I hope you are being successful in your work. I hope all is well in your travels. There is much going on here. Your good friend Hjalmar was married to Gina five years ago. You remember Gina, right? Well, let us not tell Hjalmar about our family history with Gina. The less he knows, the better.

On a lighter note, Gina and Hjalmar have a daughter named Hedvig. She is an interesting girl. Hedvig is already beginning to lose her eye sight at the young age of three. I have helped Hjalmar get into a career of photography. All is good and eveyone is in a good position with their lives.

Have you found someone? Are you dating? Are you spending your free time with women? I hope you are living life in the grandest of ways and respecting the family name. I hope everyone that has met you thinks you must lead a wonderful lifestyle. Hopefully you have gone to parties and kept social.

Keep well and enjoy your lavish lifestyle. Maybe I should not send this letter to you. I cannot decise. I do not think I want you in connection with Hjalmar, seeing as you are too good for him. Well, write back soon.

Truly yours,

Your Father

Mr. Werle

Blooms Taxonomy Question #2

Why does Sophocles place Creon as Jocasta's brother? What is the importance of that relationship?

Blooms Taxonomy Question #1

What evidence can you provide to support that there is love between Jocasta and Oedipus? If you don't think there is, what evidence do you have for that?

IOP #1

For my IOP, I'm doing The Stranger and the connection to existentialism. I will discuss Albert Camus' views on existentialism and evidence in the text. Also, I will talk about Franz Kafka and his book, The Trial, and its connections with existentialism.

Existentialism: called existentialism because most of it's members are primarily interested in the nature of existence or being, meaning human existence.

Grew out of the work of Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Edmund Husserl influenced the movement greatly.

Prominent existentialist thinkers: Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Gabriel Marcel (French writers); Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger (German philosophers); Nicolas Berdyaev (Russian religious and political thinker); Martin Buber (Jewish philosopher).

What is it?

Largely a revolt against traditional European philosophy.

*Traditional philosophers tended to consider philosophy as a science.

Existensialists reject the methods and ideas of science as being improper or philosophy. They argue hat objective, universal, and certain knowledge is an unattainable ideal.

They investigate what it is like to be an individual human being living in the world.

Existentialists stress the fact that every individual , even the philosopher or scientist seeking absolute knowledge, is only a limited human being. Thus, every person must face important and difficult decisions with only limited knowledge and time which to make these decisions.

Oedipus #4

The stylistic techniques used in this play are interesting and helpful to notice while reading the play.

"Men of Thebes, always first in honor", this passage uses imagery to allow the reader to picture men of great honor, maybe warriors or fighting men. Possibily a warring country/civilization.

"I tell you neither the waters of the Danube nor the Nile can wash this palace clean", this passage uses both imagery and allusions to connect with the reader. This imagery is used to have the readers picture such a mess that a great amount of water can't clean it. And the allusions to the Danube and the Nile are used to gives something to the readers to use as comparison and to assume the amount of water being talked about.

Sophocles also uses words that represent a harvest of some sort; "Your father killed his father, sowed his mother, / one, one and the selfsame womb sprang you - / he cropped the very roots of his existence". Using the connection to plants/harvesting, the imagery is much more indepth because fertilization in humans is easily connected with that of the earth. This passage makes for a good use of literary techniques throughout Sophocles' play.

Oedipus #3

The Point of View and the Characters are very important to the understanding of the play. The story is told from the viewers point of view, but Oedipus is the main character. This remains steady throughout the play. The reader gets to know the characters well, but not as well as a novel because it is a play and all that is being read are the cues and the speech.

From the characters' words, the reader can determine each of their characteristics and personalities. "No - / god's sake, master, no more questions!" this shows that the Shepherd is a more reserved man and has deep emotions regarding what took place with the baby that he was given.

Oedipus is presented as a ruler that seems high on his horse, but throughout the play, he becomes paranoid with the idea that his prophesized fate has/will come true. he begins to become obsessive with finding his innocence.

By giving the reader the knowledge of Oedipus' fate and writing the play to show Oedipus slowly but surely figuring out the truth, makes for a true tragedy. We watch Oedipus suffer as he struggle to find out that his mother and father aren't truly his mother and father. And, also that he stays away from them to avoid any harm done to them when his actions aren't neccessary because they aren't the parents he would kill.

Sophocles sets us up to sympathize for Oedipus because of his fall from greatness. He has no knowledge of the workings that brought him to the parents that raised him. No blame can be put on him for his life happenings. Sophocles writes this play in the most tragic way.

Oedipus #2

The background information that we learned about is very helpful while reading the play. It helps with the visualization of the play itself, such as, the chorus and the three main characters. Also, the knowledge that the scenery was just being added at this time allows for a good image of backdrops and objects being used to help with the feeling of the setting.

For example, the cue says, "Enter JOCASTA from the palace". This cue is helpful because in class we learned that there was being to be painted scenery and all woman were played by men. These facts help me picture the play.

Sophocles also increased the complexity of the plots and characters. This is a sign that something big will probably happen because with that kowledge, we know that the plot is not going to be straight forward.

I've been tracking the motif and recurrence of rumors and how they affect the characters and I found this quote intruiging; "Loose, ignorant talk started dark suspicious / and a sense of injustice cut deeply too". This quote also adds to the idea of a complex plot. From this, the reader can conclude that something important will happen. We can conclude that there might be something deeper going on with the story that just what seems apparent.

Also, because Dionysus is the God of the life cycle and vegetation, the reader sees aspects of this throughout the play; "My baby / no more murdered his father than Laius suffered- / his wildest fear - death at his own son's hands". This shows the life cycle. Marriage and having children are each a part of life. Even though this quote is not a happy quote about family relationships, it still gets the job done in making the connection.

Oedipus #1

Diary entry from Oedipus:

Today I met with Tiresias. He kept speaking about a man that is both husband and son to his wife. This man is also brother and father to his children. And, he killed his father! Tiresias is so mysterious, whith all his riddles. He is so annoying! How can I solve this one? I cannot allow anyone to find out that I cheated on solving the riddle of the Sphinx.

I need to save the city. I need to find Laius' murderer! I wonder if Tiresias is behind it?! He would be the perfect suspect; the one supplyin gthe city with all the unknown answers for such a great amount of time. His riddles are so tricky. These would be perfect tools to confuse his followers and make him seem knowledgeable and wise.

What if Creon or the Priest killed Laius? What if I was in the murderer's position? Why wqould I have killed Laius? Would I have wanted his title? Would I have been jealous? Envious?

Did Laius fight back? Would I have fought back? Did he have any chance?

Tiresias said, "This day will bring your birth and your destruction". What does this mean? Does this mean that I will be destroyed on my birthday? How will I be destroyed? I bet he was just using me as an example to implant fear into the community. Tiresias would do something like that; he will do whatever makes him look the most wise. I bet he's jealous that I solved the Sphinx' riddle.

But, Tiresias is confusing me because he said that if I find that he has lied, I can forever "call the prophet blind", but he is.... Tiresias is the prophet, and he is blind. I'm confused. Maybe he means that he will no longer be the prophet?!

Well I've spent enough time reflecting. I must get my beauty rest. I have to save the world tomorrow.

-Oedipus

AHHH!!!

I successfully created a blog! :)