Drama Blog- The Glass Menagerie

Amanda can be dramatic, selfish, manipulative, and controlling. We addressed this in class, and at first I totally agreed. She was so hard on Tom and tried to control and almost live through Linda. Although I thought this at first, I am beginning to see that she really does care about her kids. In class, someone said that she loves her kids, but her approach is the problem. After reading the first six scenes, I completely agree with this statement. I mean all moms can nag and make us angry, but Amanda just seems to do it all the time. She is so obsessed and worried about her children that she does not realize how she truly treats them. It seems as if she is just being hard towards Tom concering his job. However, she says "How do you think we'd manage if you were-" (page 1247). This implies that she is worried for making their lives a good as they can be. She loves her son, but she relies on him so much. I do not think that she was trying to be hard on him like saying he is terrible and not good at working. Rather, she is just taking her worries and stress out on him. She may do this, but she also shows little parts where she is caring about her kids and wants the best for them. For example, on page 1251, she says to Tom "Promise, son, you'll-never be a drunkard". This is one scene that shows that she is concerned and worried her son could potentially ruin himself. I think that her way of showing love is warning and trying to make them perfect so that there is no way their life can be bad or screwed up in any way. When I think of Amanda, I think of one of the women in the show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. My sister and I watched this together, and one of the women said she dedicated her life to her kids and that all she cared about were them. Just like Amanda, she showed her love in ways that made the kids mad or annoyed with her. She was trying to keep her daughter from going away for the summer, but this only made the daughter annoyed rather than make he stay. She lived through her kids and didn't have a life outside of that, which is what I think Amanda does.

Drama Blog- The Glass Menagerie

#6
The physical effects play an important role in this play. Unlike Shakespeare, Williams has every single detail of what is physically going to happen in the stage directions. I think that this is the case because he wants to emphasize the non verbal communication in the play. An example of the sets and stage movements would be on at the beginning of each scene. In the opening of Scene Two (page 1240), the stage directions explictly reveal the nervousness of Laura and intensifies the fear she has in the scene of her mother learning she has not been going to school. The actions and physical descriptions of Laura make this scene so clear that you can see the fear she has without her saying it out loud. I think that this also reinforces Amanda's effects on her children. Linda is obviously petrified of her mother, and the stage directions and movements make this point even stronger. Also, the Tennessee Williams uses the play's physical effects frequently in the play, which shows he wants to relay the enviornement to the audience. His play is more then just words. This physical part of the play makes it more realistic as well.

Drama Blog- The Glass Menagerie

#1
This play employs both realistic and nonrealistic qualities. The realistic part would be that these characters are more modern compared to other plays we have read. They speak in a more modern way, unlike the Shakespeare. Also, some of the qualitites of them can be related to others in our life or seen in today's world. An example would be Amanda's anger towards her husband leaving them, or Tom's annoyance towards his mother. All of this can be relateable. I would say the play has some more nonrealistic qualities though. In the play, the fact that Tom is "the narrator of the play and also an character in it" (p 1236) is very unrealistic. I mean he is telling a story as if it is in the past, but at some parts he is acting like it is happening right then. It is kind of confusing, and very nonrealistic. Also, Tom finding a man so quickly to bring home is nonrealistic (page 1253). This is something that seems to be a very difficult task, so I am not sure how he does this so quickly.

Othello--CRAZY!

I knew characters would die at the end of the play because it was a tragedy, but I did not expect the people to die like this. I was sure that Cassio would die after Iago told Roderigo to kill him (IV.ii.221). He was the one who ending up living! I liked that he would get his revenge on Iago by deciding how he would be tortured (V.ii.366-369). I found it like poetic justice because all along it was Iago. Everyone thought Cassio was a terrible person when in reality he wasn't. I was also surprised that Iago actually hurt Cassio because he had done nothing really. I mean he had told people things and put thoughts in their mind, but he had never taken action like that. Emilia was surprising in standing up for herself by telling Iago she would not "charm her tongue"(V.ii..183). Instead, she calls him out and pretty much tells him he is a worthless liar who should die. Lastly, it was sad that Othello killed himself and Desdemona. He knew that she had done nothing against him, and what they had (according to the story) was true love. If it weren't for Iago, they would have lived happily ever after.

Othello--Protagonist and Antagonist

Othello is the protagonist of this play, or the hero. He is respected by lots of people, including the Duke (I.ii), and he has Desdemona. Desdemona is what Roderigo wants, so it can be said that Othello is who people want to be. His major flaw,or hubris, is how gullible and jealous he gets. By falling into the traps of Iago, he sets himself up for disaster. In Act IV, he slaps Desdemona as a result of the jealous ensued by Iago (IV.i.224). It shows that this is his flaw when Lodovico says "is this the noble Moor whom our full Senate call all-in-all sufficient?"(IV.i.249-250). This statement shows that Othello is not who he truly is after he gets jealous. He is not the person that the others know. The antagonist in the play is Iago. He is the evil one, and the character initiating all of the problems. He wants to bring down Othello because he thinks that he has slept with his wife, even though Emilia says that she did not(IV.ii.147). Also, he wants to bring down every other character until he gets what he wants. A set of foil characters would be Desdemona and Emilia. Emilia does not speak out against Iago's view of women while Desdemona does. Another would be Iago and Cassio because Cassio is seen as poliet since he treats women with respect while Iago does not. Lastly, I think that minor characters play an important role. They reveal things to the audience. I said above how Lodovico brings to attention that Othello really is respected, so it enhances the fact that he changed. Lastly, Roderigo plays an important role in the plan of Iago (V.i.23).

Othello--Themes

In Othello, there are a few themes that stood out to me. One of these themes is jealousy. Jealousy is the driving force in many of the actions the characters make. The worst part is that some of the jealousy is based off a notion or feeling, not even facts. Othello is a character who displays jealousy in Act V when he murders Desdemona. He says that "she must die, else she'll betray more men."(V.ii.6). This shows that his jealousy of Desdemona is great enough for him to find it reasonable to kill her. Also, his jealousy is based off what Iago makes him believe, which is based on no proof or facts. Iago always says "I think" or "I have heard". He never definitively says whether he knows for a fact Desdemona had an affair. Another person who has jealousy is Iago. He is the most jealous one in the play by far. Not only does he lie to every person in the play, but he even wounds Cassio in the leg (V.i.). He does everything because of his jealousy towards other people. He even says that he must have Cassio dead because if not Cassio's "daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly"(V.i.19-20). This shows how Iago is so jealous that he must try to get rid of anyone who makes him feel lacking.

Drama Blog- Othello 3

I do not like Iago at all. He is so sneaky towards every character in the story. In III.iii.322-323, He puts the handkerchief in Cassio's home. He lies and does anything in his power to get his way. I find him rude, especially when he talks down to Desdemona and Emilia in II.i.130-142. He is even decieving and rude to his wife, the one person you would expect him to treat right! Also, I find it very ironic when he talks about jealousy to Othello in Act III.iii.167-169. Earlier in the story he tells about his own jealousy for Cassio and his hate for Othello (I.ii.349-355). He is trying to warn someone about jealousy, yet jealousy is what is driving him to do all of the bad deeds he does. Also, he is very two faced. He tells about how he hates Othello(I.ii.349-355), and then he tells Othello "My lord, you know I love you" (III.iii.117). I just overall do not like Iago, and he is obviously the evil one in this play. I can't believe he is decieving so many people!

Drama Blog- Othello 2

The suspense in this play is created through Iago. I think that suspense is created by the many asides by Iago about his plan. In Act II.iii.39-54, Iago has an aside about his plan concerning Cassio. He plans on having him drink, which will lead to the next 'phase'. The suspense is created by the audience knowing what the plan is while all the characters besides Iago do not. The audience is filled in, so they have suspense by wanting the character to not fall into the plan set out by Iago. Also, I think that the suspense is caused by the audience knowing that the play is a trajedy, yet they are not sure of how things will happen. Instead, they are told the plan right before it happens. This leaves them wondering what is next. In the scene shared above, Iago and Cassio talk about how Cassio will not drink, then Iago says he will get him to drink. After drinking, Cassio leaves before fighting with Montano(II.iii.135). The time between the aside of Iago until the point of the plan being fulfilled causes suspense.

Drama Blog- Othello 1

The play Othello is a tragedy. I am not exactly sure how I would have known this besides being toldbefore we read it. By knowing what type of play this is, I think that the audience definitely reads and understands it in way different than that of a comedy. The issues and encounters of certain characters is not seen as humourous. Rather, the scenes relay a more serious and almost dark tone. Even if the scene seems to be a little funny, there is always that thought of the overalll trajedy and questions of what role it plays in that trajedy. I feel that this thought in the back of the minds of the audience causes them to read and take certain scenes in a different way. One example would be the talk between Iago, Emilia, and Desdemona in Act II. He says that "would she giver you so much of her lips as her tongue she oft bestows me, you'll have enoug"(II.i.109-111). In a comedy, this could be taken as a teasing thing to say. In the trajedy, it is taken seriously, and it reveals more about the character of Iago, which is very decietful, untrustworthy, and harsh. Also, the knowledge of the type of play allows for the sudience to pick up on people who have a dark vibe or personality because they are lookingout for those who are 'bad' and those who are'good'. For example, Iago is quickly established as one with jealousy for Moor in I.ii.349-355 and in the opening scene in Act I Scene I. The audience recognizes this aspect of his character and can infer that he will most likely have some kind of a role in the trajedy. Since jealousy is associated with sin or things that are bad, he will most likely be a almost villian like person.