Puppet on a String

We all know the story of Pinocchio: the wooden puppet who becomes a boy. However, what parts of Pinocchio make him “human” and which parts held him back? Similarly, we find Offred in the beginning of the book as a puppet of the state and carved into their ideal version of a woman. Offred’s story in the book The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margret Atwood, is a story of survival in a harsh world where women are subjugated to the rules and standards of the government in Gilead. With no real identity to…

Gidayu-bushi is also used in Bunraku puppet theatre. In Bunraku, the singer and the shamisen player provide the background music. In most Bunraku performances, the musician and the chanter perform the music for an act. The chanter is called the tayu, and this person is meant to portray and express the personalities and emotions of the puppets through exaggerated facial expressions and voices. The tayu narrates as well as creates the voice for the puppets. The shamisen player accompanies the…

We have chosen to set our production of Macbeth in southern Africa during the 12th century. The similarities between the culture of tribal Africa and the original text written by Shakespeare are easily found. Although the power systems of the tribes in these cultures differs slightly from those found in the text, we can see a clear likeness between the two. Africa tribal culture was typically governed through a system of fear and power. The most powerful person in the land became the ruler and…

finally popular, pretty, and happy. The girl they were talking about would try to join our group and they would move away. I followed. I was a puppet on strings and they were the puppeteer. They told me what to do and I did it. Even if that meant destroying a certain person, a human being who has feelings. Little did I know that I could cut the strings and be free, not fit in. Later that day, when I felt so put together, one little action tore me down and left me almost, but not quite…

traditional Japanese wood, string and percussion instruments.…

man to guide her no wonder she drifted astray, condemned to hell for the abomination of her death. Hamlet without a doubt would have set he on this damned path. His fruitless courtship of Ophelia, using his silver tongue to the pluck at her heart strings. She gave her heart away as if it was a toy, without significance or a second thought. To whom, not but the Prince whom she could never have a future with. A love expressed in haste that has consequently informed the fate. A father slaughtered…

however incomparable to the past. Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare explicitly revealed the treatment of females during his time through his play. In the play, Polonius’s daughter, Ophelia, evidently presents herself as a puppet that adheres to her master’s will until the strings that control her loosens. In her conversation with her father, Polonius, he attempts to fashion her relation with Hamlet. As she “do not understand [herself] so clear/as it behooves my daughter and your honor”,…

Will Power What comes to your mind when you think of success? People have came to the conclusion that in order to be successful one must be patient for whatever awaits them. To come to the conclusion of determining one's will power there was an experiment conducted in the 60’s of the 1900s. They called it the marshmallow experiment with over 600 different subject all being young children. The marshmallow experiment was first conducted in 1968 at Stanford University in California. This…

Puppetry is the skill or activity of using puppets in performances. Not many peoples first thoughts when they hear of plays in the area think of puppetry, but it happens to be one of the oldest forms of art and is also still practiced around the world. In my opinion I would not want to sit in a theatre and watch a bunch of puppets because my first though of puppets are people holding things over there hands or people hidden behind a curtain with only the puppet showing, but as I have watched…

She symbolizes purity at first, then gets into her madness. Ophelia is an example of how being obedient is not always a great thing. She was unseeingly submissive to her family, she was a puppet that followed commands. After the death of her father Polonius she became was still a puppet but a puppet without strings attached. Due to her father’s death, she was unable to survive without the commands of her father, she decided to go mad. However, Ophelia is torn between her duty to her father and…