Author: geoffrey mcquilkin

Remix of my first post…

Geoffrey McQuilkin 

          After careful considerations and rereading the play and seeing that my teammates disagree with my position, I may have had a change of heart about what the meaning of the play is.  Maybe the play is critique of passivity.   I know that directly contradicts my last post but so be it.  Perhaps Beckett wanted to call the audience to action by showing the petty non-occurrences that accompany a passive life style.

 "Let us do something, while we have the chance€¦Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!" 

          It is possible that Beckett wants to motivate the audience to do something meaningful with their lives by showing them two acts of life that is limitless in potential, yet absurdly monotonous.  Perhaps the fact that Pozzo and Lucky go blind and dumb (respectively) in Act II is meant to serve as a reminder of how precious the gift of life is and how we should never waste it in petty conflicts and hollow repetition.  Carpe Diem indeed!

What is the Play about? (I think I hit this one out of the park)

Geoffrey McQuilkin

          While reading Waiting for Godot, I was "waiting" for a climax or crux moment that would give me a better understanding of the play and facilitate the process of answering the first questions in the Longman analysis.  I waited and waited.  The leaves on the trees changed color and fell from their limbs as seasons came and went, but the plot never came.  In the winter of 2008, when the snow was gently falling on a brisk evening at the University of Richmond and I was warm in my dormitory, I began to uncover what Samuel Beckett had left for me to discover on my own.  Pondering the day's events in my head, it became clear that Waiting for Godot was a social commentary on the repetitive nature of the human experience.  The way that Beckett repeats the actions of Act I in Act II (with some inconsequential changes) is a metaphor for the monotony of our everyday lives.  Human lives consist of a myriad of repetitions of a daily routine that is essentially meaningless.

            The play builds towards a climax that never comes.  Godot never arrives and there is no reason to believe that he would if Beckett had added a third act.  It seems as though the entire play (and perhaps life sadly enough) is about wasting time.  The main characters find themselves "Waiting for…waiting" (50).  It is not a stretch to imagine that GODot represents God or death and the title of the play implies the futility of life.  Beckett seems to imply that life is meaningless as it consists of distracting ourselves with various tasks (and tensions) as we wait to die. Estrogen and Vladimir are the protagonists in the play, yet they both serve as representatives of mankind.  Beckett uses Vladimir to point out how man strives to find meaning in his existence in vein.  One could say that Vladimir is meant to point out the absurdity of religion in this sense.  However, to assign a meaning to anything or any character in this play would be considered an absurdity by Becket as the play is about meaninglessness.  The analysis for "what is this play about" should be left as a blank space in a tribute to meaninglessness.  But that would be too deep for most audiences.

            And just a side note: the word "Meaninglessness" contains far too many letters for what the word actually means.  It should be a one or two letter word or an invisible word such as            .  Thinking about what the meaningless play is about is hurting my brain and I apologize if what I wrote was ridiculous.  I am only human so it doesn't matter anyway (according to Beckett of course, I love blog posting). I suppose this blog post is just one more repetition in the endless cycle of pointless waiting.  And that is what the play is about.  

More Conflicts Acts III-V

Geoggrey McQuilkin.

Conflicts and Obstacles: Act III:

Isabella goes to Claudius in order to get his approval of her decision.  Claudius thinks that his sister is being selfish at first, but then agrees with her decision and feels guilty about trying to persuade her to sacrifice her beliefs for him.

The Duke tries to get a good sense of how his people feel about him as a ruler, yet it is difficult for him to do this without giving away his identity.

Isabelle is an increasingly prudish and rigid character as she believes that Claudius' punishment is not entirely unjust despite the fact that his crime is the least offensive of all his fellow prisoners.

Conflicts and Obstacles: Act IV:

In one of the Duke's schemes, he proposes that Mariana sacrifice her sexuality with Angelo in order to gain some sort of redemption as a woman.  Yet this is deceptive as Mariana believes that she is partaking in the scheme with the friar's blessings.

We see the meaning of the play's title expand as the Duke reveals the nature of his schemes.  Many of the conflicts that occur during the play involve measuring the relevant value of two things (such as Isabelle's virtue verses Claudius' life or the Duke's wanting to know how good of a leader he is verses Angelo having free reign in Vienna).  In this scene, the Duke judges the value of Claudius' life to be greater than that of Barnadine as he is willing to sacrifice her life for his in one of his schemes.

Barnadine refuses to be executed which shows that he recognizes the value of life where the Duke might not.  This shows that perhaps the Duke is too far separated and not connected enough with the lives of his citizens.  The duke begins to appear manipulative and deceptive as he uses both of his identities to make Isabella go along with his plans as she refuses Angelo's proposal.  Although his scheme with Mariana does work and the ability to put plans into action successfully is a quality of a good leader.

Conflicts Act V:

Isabelle's marriage to the Duke does conflict with her previous beliefs in chastity so in a way she is surrendering her sexuality to the will of a man.  However, she does not partake in premarital sex, which is her main objection in the play.

In the end, the Duke uses marriage as a punishment for Lucio and Angelo, and a reward for Claudio and Mariana (and himself).  It is ironic how the institution of marriage is used in this absurd sense at the end of the play after it was built up as the main staple of Angelo's laws in the previous acts.

Some Conflicts and Obstacles ActI-II

Geoffrey McQuilkin 

Conflicts and Obstacles: Act I

Claudio, who is well intentioned and virtuous, gives into his lust for Juliet and ends up impregnating her and getting sentenced to death for it.

Angelo seeks to right the city's wrongs by strictly enforcing punishment on violations of premarital sex, yet when he sentences Claudio to death, he is seen as unjust and unmerciful. 

The Duke does not want Angelo to have free reign because he knows that he is too strict although he does want his city to become a virtuous place.

Isabelle seeks shelter from the wicked ways of Vienna as a nun, however, Lucio brings her back into her discomfort zone where she must confront the sins that surround her.  She is repulsed in Act II, when Lucio encourages her to seduce Angelo (who feels drawn to her).

Isabelle makes the decision that family is more important than her religious virtues when she stands up for her brother because she believes that his punishment is too severe.

Conflicts and Obstacles: Act II: 

Characters such as Escalus and the provost believe that Angelo is narrow minded and that Claudius' punishment is too harsh.  However, they seem to fear Angelo and it takes the Duke's intervention in order to motivate them to act.

During their meeting, Angelo begins to have lustful thoughts for Isabelle, and he has an inner conflict in maintaining control over the sexual impulses that he has outlawed.

Isabelle is furious at the idea of having sex with Angelo, yet his attraction to her does give her some power in saving her brother's life.  Oddly enough, Angelo does not want to have sex with any other woman in Vienna.

Angelo says that he loves Isabelle, but would not marry her.  This lust turns Angelo into a hypocrite for enforcing the law that he would so easily break with Isabelle.  Yet, Isabelle decides that death is better than shame, and refuses to have sex with Angelo to save her brother's life.

Original Statis and First Intrusion

Geoffrey McQuilkin 

 In the original stasis of the play, the Duke is the leader of Vienna.  Vienna is at war with Hungary.  Vienna is a hedonistic city which is full of brothels, unlawful sexual activity, and the pestering venereal diseases that accompany such behavior. Citizens frivolously engage in various debaucheries and have a disregard for the law which is rarely enforced.  Claudio's sister, Isabella, is in the process of joining a nunnery in order to separate herself from the sinfully saturated city.  Claudio has been having premarital, consensual sex with Juliet.  He intends to marry her but he is awaiting her parents' approval.  Juliet is pregnant with Claudio's child. 

The first major action which sets the plot of the story in motion is when the Duke leaves Lord Angelo in charge of ruling Vienna while he attempts to negotiate with the King of Hungary (although he actually remains in Vienna, disguised as a friar, in order to observe the city).  This intrusion alters the stasis of the play because Lord Angelo seeks to define his rule by strictly enforcing the laws that punish unlawful sexual activities.  When authorities notice Juliet's pregnancy, they arrest Claudio and take him to prison.  The intrusion which leaves Lord Angelo on the throne also sets up a major conflict in the play between the sinful pleasure-seekers and the virtuous saints of Vienna. 

Some Previous Actions of Principal Characters who have Polar Attitudes n’ such

Willy's need to be well liked most likely stems from his abandonment issues with his father and brother.   Ben describes his father as a masculine man who was skilled with his hands and had an entrepreneurial spirit.  According to Ben, Willy's father was a successful salesman who produced what he sold.  We see Willy's fear of abandonment in his memory of Ben's visit.  When Ben says he must leave to catch a train, Willy frantically searches for ways to delay his departure.  He shows off his children to Ben in a desperate plea for approval.  With his father and Ben gone, Willy is unable to develop a normal concept of self worth.  Therefore, he models that self worth after the American dream which is highly unrealistic.  He ends up downplaying more important measures such as family love and support, and the freedom to choose what to do with your life.   It becomes fairly clear that Willy made a poor choice in becoming a salesman after we see his dream of living in the Alaskan woods which related to the American dream of living life on the frontier.  The image of the American pioneer who searched for riches began to change in the late 1940s as people realized that the real place to strike it rich was through capitalism and consumerism.  Business entrepreneurs replaced the explorers of the old west.  Ben represents a character that was actually able to get rich by literally searching for riches in the wilderness of an African Jungle.  In the end of the book, Willy may be alluding to the fact that he regrets becoming a salesman when he uses gardening as a metaphor for his legacy.  Just as Biff had enjoyed his time working on a ranch, it seems that Willy preferred working in a more natural environment.

Willy's thought processing ability is marred by a lifetime of him creating his own realities to conceal his own failures in achieving his dreams.  His delusions are often revealed in the contradictions that arise from his multiple mindsets.  For example, he refers to his car as a piece of trash at one point and then claims that it is "the finest car ever built."  He says that Biff is a lazy bum in one instance, and later says that he is anything but lazy.  Willy acts as an enabler to Biff's compulsive thievery which later becomes a crippling habit. He never reprimands Biff for his bad grades or the stealing and even laughs when Biff first steals the football and is impressed with his ability to get away with theft.  It is possible that Willy doesn't reprimand Biff because he fears damaging Biff's ego or that he fears that Biff will no longer like him.

At the beginning of the play, Biff and Happy have come back home and are currently sharing their old room. Biff is the oldest son who was a football star in high school with several scholarships, but for the last fourteen years he has been unable to find himself and he has lost a great deal of his confidence. He is a war veteran and has had six or seven jobs since his time in the war (including one job as a worker on a ranch which he enjoyed).  He taught his younger brother about women although he has no idea how to act around them.  Biff is in a cycle of going home every time that he gets fed up with a job and then leaving home because of a fight with his father.  He recently returned from somewhere in the West because his mother asked him to see his father.  Biff and Happy went to school with Charlie's son, Bernard, who is now a prominent, successful lawyer.  Happy works in a department store and has his own apartment in different part of New York.  Willy has clearly favored Biff over Happy during their childhood because Biff represented a potential for the American dream with his reputation as a football star and his various scholarship offers.  Happy began to emulate the high school Biff in an attempt to get his father's approval.  Willy would praise Biff's success with women and his ability to get away with theft. As a result, Happy competed with more successful men by sleeping with their women as a form of theft that also established his sexual dominance.

Environment note

One noteworthy aspect of the environment is that a good deal of the action in the play is set in the Loman household.  When Willy first moved in, the Brooklyn neighborhood was a distant, quiet suburb of the city.  It represented Willy's American dream home for his future as there was plenty of open space for development and gardening.  However, as time went on, the house began to reflect Willy's diminishing optimism.  The house became overwhelmed by apartment buildings as well as the noise and pollution of New York City.  Soon there was barely any light able to reach the garden in the backyard.  This densely urban setting conflicts with Willy's idea of the American dream being lived on the wild frontier.

Research from Epidaurus on how the audience could hear

Despite what many theories, Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently discovered the real reason for the great acoustics at the ancient Greek amphitheater, Epidaurus.  The reason that you can hear an actor's voice all the way in the back of the massive arena was not because of the slope or wind patterns as some suspected, but rather the rows of limestone seats.  The limestone created a highly efficient acoustics filter that deadened the lower frequency chatter of the crowd and reflected the higher frequency voices of the actors on stage all the way up the rigid structure to the top of the nosebleed section.  Their experiments revealed that frequencies below 500 Hz were hushed yet frequencies above 500 Hz were being echoed throughout the amphitheater.  Audience members were able to hear the lower frequency sounds of the actors' voices through a phenomenon called "virtual pitch", where our brains are capable of reconstructing frequencies and incomplete sounds in order to interpret noises that aren't really there.  This is just one interesting example of how the audience was able to hear.     

.Source: www.newswise.com

Music and Sound: Social Implications? (Gender)

In the last lines of Medea, Euripides uses the verbal interaction between Jason and Medea to show a reversal in the stereotypical gender roles of the time.  Although Medea is a goddess, she represents a strong, unyielding female role that has power over her male counterpart in their relationship.  Moments before the final grand spectacle, a distraught, weakened Jason is powerless to the will of Medea.  He raises his voice (indicative of his losing all authority and pathetically lashing out for some form control) and demands that he be allowed to have his children back.  Yet Madea is unwavering and persistent.  Unlike Jason, she "wastes" no words and provides a simple, rational-sounding message that reflects her supremacy.  This kind of social commentary is interesting because women, who were rarely awarded the liberties of men at the time, were allowed to attend the plays at the Dionysus festival.  It is possible that Euripides was sending a subtle message of hope and pride to all of the oppressed female members of his audience.

Music and Sound: Accents/Diologue

Euripides was celebrated for his simplistic use of language which reflects a more realistic dialogue in the character's expressions.  Although he did not win as many first place awards as Sophocles or Aeschylus at the Dionysus festivals, his work was popular to an audience which was able to recognize their own dialects and accents on stage.  Unlike other tragedies of his time, Euripides's work was not diluted by unrealistic, grandiose phraseology which often had a deleterious effect on the listener's comprehension and ability to interprate the plays.