Drama therapy

In his essay, Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Fred Ribkoff describes how the play, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, “dramatizes the way in which feelings of shame shape an individual’s sense of identity” (Ribkoff 121). The play’s protagonist, Willy Loman, has a distorted sense of himself. His true sense of identity is buried under many layers of denial and fanciful lies. Willy is aware of his shortcomings, yet due to the shame that…

“Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller details the last two days of William ‘Willy” Loman, a sixty-three year old salesman’s life. The plays shows Willy’s private conversations about his past and present, which all lead up to him eventually committing suicide. Willy Loman’s life philosophy would be best summed in a quote by Calvin Coolidge, a former president of the United States, “The chief business of the American people is business.” Willy took pride in being a salesman and earning a name…

The text of Hamlet by William Shakespeare incorporates several aspects occurring at once. Prince Hamlet struggles internally with the stress of his family. Many factors cause the reader to pause and reflect on Hamlet’s emotions to view their validity. Hamlet expresses his disgust in his mother’s relationship with his uncle and portrays his perspective. The audience can feel empathetic toward Hamlet and gain trust in his actions because of the steps he takes to defend his father’s honor. The rich…

In Shakespeare plays, the tragic hero is what makes the entire story. A tragic hero is described as protagonist with a high standard, someone who undergoes meaningful suffering, learns from his/her mistake somehow, creates some kind of pity or fear for the audience, and has a flaw in their personality that leads to their downfall (otherwise known as a tragic flaw). In the play Macbeth, our central character, Macbeth, becomes our tragic hero. Throughout the play Macbeth, traits in Macbeth’s…

A Tragic Hero would be a superior term for John Proctor, the protagonist of the play The Crucible. Arthur Miller states, that a tragic hero is a normal man with blame, one that prompts his own particular sad destruction. In The Crucible, John Proctor is a typical man and his plummet (or destruction) mixes a feeling of pity and distress; it is appalling, which is the reason he fits the parameters of a tragic hero put forward by Arthur Miller. The way that John Proctor was not some high power or…

Types of Adam Sandler Movies Adam Sandler makes three different types of movies. They fall into three different categories: paydays, pineapples, and movies where he’s trying. Paydays are movies where he did it for the money. Pineapple are paydays that didn’t make any money. The movies where he is trying means Adam did it for the audience and not to make money. All these types of movie will be discussed in the following. The Payday movies have Sandler’s name on it so that it will sell more…

As Thomas C. Foster once stated in his book How To Read Literature Like A Professor, “Every language has a grammar, a set of rules that govern usage and meaning, and literary language is no different” (Foster XXV). Julius Caesar, a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, contrasts the difference between power and ambition in a leadership role that Caesar has. The play utilizes literary elements, as described in Foster’s book, to explain the polarity of the two distinctive themes and between…

On Farting by Hiraga Gennai gives the reader a perspective into the world of various arts in the Edo Period. Not only are we told what is meant to be a proper practicing of the arts through his satirical character, Crankshaw Stonington Esquire, but Gennai counters with a claim that the arts were lacking in vivacity, passion, and ingenuity. They had become lackluster and outdated without any creativity being brought forth. To prove this point, he sings his praises for a fart artist, and engages…

Dramatic comedy originated in ancient Greece, and was deemed Old Comedy. It was a way for playwrights to provide their commentary on politics, society, and wars. During the Hellenistic period, comedy was more romantic in tone, and decidedly less satirical and critical. Centuries later, the Catholic church rose to power and took over most dramatic performances, however, they allowed one festival to be run by the lower clergy, the Festival of Fools, that reveled in opposition to authority. In 16th…

empathize with the characters through connections to the them and their actions and emotions. Every tragedy must end with a tragic ending. In order to be tragic, the audience must have enough empathy built up for a character before the death, exiles, or drama the character faces in the end. Otherwise, the audience may see the end as justice instead of tragedy. Throughout a story, this empathy builds up through the connections that the audience makes with a character. The most successful…