Donaldson v Beckett

As the age of postmodernism dawned, the stigma and nature of literature changed and the idea of the ‘death of the author’ was born. Instead of reaching obvious conclusions in their stories, authors began to leave gaps and ironies in their work, allowing readers to form their own opinions. But, while some people are not satisfied with the idea of these ‘open systems,’ perhaps the most significant pieces of work were born during this era of postmodernism. For example, Thomas Pynchon’s short story…

There are a variety of reasons as to why productions of plays specifically add to the meaning and understanding of the context surrounding the content. In this essay, all of these will be examined meticulously with the aid of examples, namely ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘Lady Windermere 's Fan’. These two dramatic texts lend themselves both to being read and being performed and it is through this that there is a need to assess which is better; in terms of understanding the texts and their underlying…

One’s desire to be recognised and moreover acknowledge the truth within relationships, circumstances and furthermore life, is of central concern in both William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting For Godot”. The drive and motivation one illustrates whilst craving recognition or validation from those surrounding them is a recurring theme in both plays, as is, the recognition of one another’s identity and the “self” in them. It is the eventual recognition of power and it’s…

King Lear and Waiting for Godot are plays that are very similar in a way that they have the same central concern of recognition within the plays. There are many different ways that the issue of recognition is shown; there is self-recognition, recognition by others and recognition of actions. Whilst these plays differ from each other in almost every other way, they do share this central concern. Recognition means the acknowledgement of the existence, validity or legality of something. The many…

2. Compare the cultures and concerns of young women (and men) as depicted in the American film Ghost World and the Japanese anime The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. What social pressures are put on them? How do they react to this pressures? What does each film seem to prescribe as acceptable behaviors and outcomes for the girls? Both cultures are really different. Japanese people have a more defined culture than North Americans. The mixed of many other cultures and different…

After strict moral standards established many years ago appeared to have failed, and science had proven that it could not prove the origin of the universe, a new philosophical and artistic expression moved in to fill the void of the Modernist Movement. The Postmodern Movement was born out of a lack of faith in society and the established way of life as a whole, and embraced the philosophy of meaninglessness and a rejection of the transcendental meta-narrative. This move has been fully expressed…

interactions with each other. It is possible to go beyond the simple viewing of the play to try to see the message that Becket is trying to communicate through his play and whether it is a play about being constrained or about how to end constraintment. Beckett made decisions about the writing of the play that signifies his ability to work…

Disgrace is a word in which everyone is familiar with, whether we see it through our own merits or the merits of others. Throughout J.M. Coetzee 's novel Disgrace we see the fall of a prestigious man, Dave Lurie, and how he copes with his own disgrace. The novel also gives us incite on his character and his perspective in which David sees everything around him involving the disgraces he was put through throughout the story as part of his own personal story. This statement could be elaborated…

Having adopted Sartre’s existentialism as the philosophical basis for his approach while creating his masterpieces, Beckett has become the founder of the Absurd Drama in British Literature. When his plays were first performed, people who were accustomed to the traditional theatre were hostile to his drama. However, particularly after World War II, their losses and fears…

The twentieth century can be considered a highway in which the writers produced or reproduced various ideas not only in science but also in humanities. Some writers gave a birth to new ideas while the others reproduced the old ideas or themes and decorated them in a new mold. The significant theme in the twentieth century, particularly after colonization, which is widespread in literature, history, and politics, is the theme of exile. Nevertheless, the theme of exile is never born in the…