Night, Mother by Marsha Norman

Fellysia:

In Marsha Norman’s Night Mother, I learn about the danger that a feeling of alienation, abandonment, and estrangement can bring to an individual. Jesse chooses to kill herself because of the aforementioned reasons as she feels the need to take control of her life after being in the shadow of her mom for so long. Her epileptic self constraints her from leading a normal life that she feels entrapped at a house with a nagging mother; a mother who wants her daughter to mirror her in order to salvage her. However, her notion of saving her daughter’s seemingly troubled life (she’s a widower with a criminal son) does not go hand in hand with Jesse’s perception that she becomes more burdened instead of liberated. Thus, Jesse turns inward for solace that solitude becomes her best friend. When running away for the real world is not enough anymore to give her peacefulness, she decides suicide is the best solution for the feeling of emptiness and hollowness that she constantly feels. In this regard, Jesse wants to exert her power by taking her own life at a time she considers best so that for once, she has a say over her life. Her mother, who has been pretending to be dependent on Jesse, by making Jesse do so many things on her behalf, thinks that keeping her daughter preoccupied will make her feel better that there is an inverse role of mother/daughter relationship being portrayed in the play. The conventional belief of mother as the nurturer is shattered by the fact that Jesse is the one who takes care of her mother and even before her suicide, she still tries to make sure her mother daily necessities are fully prepared or taken care of. The mother here becomes more like the child instead. Unfortunately, these efforts to make Jesse turn into more like her mother precipitates Jesse’s plunging into the pit of depression. From this, I see that sometimes what one deems best for another is not necessarily good for that person. We are sometimes too vain to think that our approach in life is superior than others that applying it or expecting it to be done by others is also reasonable. Oftentimes, we forget that each individual is unique in their ways of thinking and views of life that such generalisation will bring about a lot of damages, in this case, the escalating severity of Jesse’s depression which leads to her suicide.

Veronica:

I really enjoyed reading the script of Night, Mother because the language is quite easy to understand. Compare to many other scripts that had been discussed at class from the first meeting, this script is the most enjoyable for me.. Also, the story is interesting because it is so uncommon to have a relaxing feeling for people who had decided to do a suicide. From the very beginning of the story, the author really attracts the reader's attention to find out what actually happen to jessie as the one who decided to do a suicide.
From this story, i can learn some important points. First of all, what i learnt from Thelma's side is that we cannot push someone to become like what we want. Sometimes, our wish or wishes do not always be the best for the other people. So, we cannot push the person. Thelma did not have a certain bad purposes about what she did to Jessie. I believe that she did it for the goods of Jessie. She did not want Jessie to have the same condition as her. Unfortunately, Thelma did not realize it that actually what she did to Jessie affects Jessie's condition. I can say that Jessie is like being prisoned by her mother. She cannot express her own feelings. She became someone who just accept everything, for example when Thelma arranged the marriage of Jessie and Cecil. Thelma should stop doing everything that she does to Jessie before Jessie decided to end her own life. I think by stopping her attitudes, it can save Jessie's life. In this case, Thelma failed to realize the bad effects or the danger of her chosen path for Jessie's life.
what i learnt from Jessie's side is that we have to be optimistic about our life. I know that it is not easy to overcome the problems that Jessie's have. But what i can give my suggestion is that although she has a miserable life, she still need to fight for her life. As we know that we cannot just give up with our life because of the problems that happen in our life. It is because, in fact, problems always come into our life. Actually this is the interesting part in our life. Without problems, i believe that our life becomes so boring because nothing special happen. Therefore, we cannot end our life because of problems. We have to fight them and have the optimistic feeling that we will be the winner over the problems itself.

kharis :

the story presented by night mother is easy to comprehend, yet complex. the story of a girl and her mother, and how the girl wanted to die badly is an interesting story. in the end, the girl dies because she wanted to, even from the beginning of the story, her intention to die is stated clearly by strong claim about she will die by morning. from this point, perhaps we can say that, "it's not right, how can you kill yourself while your mother need you? or who gives you the right to kill yourself jessie? or you don't have to do this jessie, i don't like the tragic ending, bla bla bla. but, from the story, we can draw a conclusion that, jessie's decision to kill herself is a complex dilemma. the decision made by jessie to die and leave her miserable life is controversial. from this play, i learn to be more careful in giving my opinion about justifying a suicidal act. i always thought that people who kill themselves for any reasons can't be justified as a righteous act. for any reasons, whether you are lonely, your life is miserable, your family is dysfunctional, and it seems that you have the right to freed yourself from the pains you are having now by killing yourself, it's always a wrong thing to do. from this deep and complex story of a daughter and a mother, i learn that the decision to kill oneself is not as easy as that. from the sorrowful story, i shaken to think that sometimes, suicide can be considered as one out of many effective solutions. an example given by marsha norman about how suicide can be sometimes the right thing to do has giving a new insight to me. it's really a complex thing, although i strongly believe that still, killing yourself is a wrong thing to do. perhaps, i sound like contradict myself with my previous statments, what i'm trying to say is, suicide is not right, and in the case of jessie, it's always not right. but, the reasons that trigger someone to perform a suicidal act can be very complex and making it difficult to justify whether it's the BEST CHOICE (although it's wrong) or a blunder..

Essay - Oedipus and Tragic Flaw

Aswin:

The play Oedipus the King categorized as tragedy because Oedipus exiled from his own kingdom and he is exiled because of his own oath. Oedipus at first did not realize that he is the one that kill Laius, because Laius exiles him when he was a baby and became the stepson of king of Corinth, Polybus. Plaque struck Thebes when Oedipus rules the kingdom and he decided to look for the murderer who kills Laius. Oedipus has the idea after hear the suggestion of the Oracle of Delphi through Creon. When making decision Oedipus does not try to look at the problem carefully but in haste. He thinks that the faster the problem solved, the better the situation will be. Oedipus think when he ask his people about the murderer identity his people will name the murderer right at instant, but actually it is really difficult to name the murderer because there is only a few people knows about the murderer. This actions represent the recklessness of Oedipus which lead him to his own downfall because instead of look at the case carefully first, he ask his people directly in front of the public. The other action that Oedipus takes is insulting Tiresias when the prophets try to avoid his question, Tiresias avoid the question because Tiresias know who the killer of Laius is. Oedipus also accuses Creon when he asks Tiresias about the murderer, Oedipus think that there is a conspiracy between Tiresias and Creon. These actions shows how Oedipus do an error judgment about certain people and his accuse toward Creon has no prove at all, even he do not try to investigate about the identity of the murderer at first. The last action that Oedipus does, make him found the truth about the killer and his identity. Oedipus asks the shepherd and forces him to tell about the baby that exile from the kingdom. The shepherd does not want to tell Oedipus because the shepherd knows the baby is actually Oedipus. The truth, which was revealed by the shepherd, makes the mystery of the murderer revealed. It was Oedipus who kill his own father Laius. After the mystery revealed Oedipus decided to exile himself from Thebes, just as the oath that he says to his people. The mystery of the murderer leads Oedipus to seek out his past and the discovery of the truth which leads him to his own downfall.

kharis :

Oedipus, predestination and free will

The story is clear to us readers that the story of Oedipus is dealing with the issue of predestination. When Laius warned by the oracle at Delphi, this event shows the determined fate for both Laius and Oedipus. The warning becomes real when Oedipus journeys out of the kingdom of Corinth and meets Louis on his way and kills him, and fulfilling the prophecy. I wonder if Oedipus stays at Corinth, will the prophecy still be accurate. Perhaps if Oedipus never lefts Corinth, the story will be change, but, will Louis still be dead in the hand of Oedipus? If it’s predetermined that Oedipus will kill Louis, will different actions bring different results? My point is, what kind of a result would Oedipus have when he acts differently from the original story? Will he successfully defy his fate and thus the prophecy itself is failed to predict/reveal his future?

I believe that Oedipus has the free will to choose the path he is going to take just like us, a normal person. His free will is shown when he chooses to left Corinth to avoid the prophecy from becoming true. But, his free will brings him to the fulfillment of the predetermined fate for both Oedipus and Laius. So, free will brings fulfillment of the fate. This is sounds complex, but this is a fascinating topic to discuss. We know and we understand that what is determined by the Most High can’t be defied. God created us with a purpose, or in the context of Oedipus, He has a purpose determined by Fate. From this, we can draw a question, so if human’s life is predetermined, do we have a free will? Because it’s not free at all if we can’t fight for our own destiny, or some of the hero says in movies, our future.

Predestination exists and the free will inside of human also does exist. God is all knowing. That means, He knows our future individually. He knows what we will do in the next ten years, and He knows what we are going to do in the next 5 minutes. God also gives us free will. We are not robots. We have our own consciousness to decide something, and God knows what we are going to decide and the results of our decision. Because He knows the future, that means, He is also taking control of our lives.

Essay-The role of Women in Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare)

Veronica: 

Julius Caesar was one of the greatest works by William Shakespeare. It was written in 1599. In this play, actually there are more males’ characters than females’ characters. Tough, in this play, the two women play important roles but it is showed in explicit way. The two females characters in this play are Calpurnia and Portia. The writer puts the attention more into the men, for example, about how the men fail to seize their passion. Actually, there are some points that show about the important roles of women in the play.

The first character is Calpurnia, whose husband is Caesar. Actually, without realizing it, she is very important to Caesar’s life. When Caesar prepares to go to the Senate, she begs him not go there because of her recent nightmares. She was dreaming about his statue that full of blood, which she thinks it represents the death of her husband (Act II, Scene ii) Also, in her nightmare, there was a man whose hands were bathed in the blood. Calpurnia has tried to convince her husband about her dreams but once again she fails. Caesar decides not to follow what his wife said in order to pursue his ambition. This decision leads him to face his death. If he has listened to his wife, he might not die. So, it means that actually Calpurnia has an important role in this play, but unfortunately her husband was rebuffing her intuition.

The second character is Portia, whose husband is Brutus. In Act II, Scene i, it is very obvious that Portia is a symbol of Brutus’ life. She represents the correct intuition that Brutus should follow. Actually, Portia has been represented the same as Calpurnia. Portia begs him to reveal his thoughts with the conspirators because she observes that Brutus appears preoccupied. In the end, his inability in telling the truth leads him to foolishness and resulted a huge mistake. For example, when Cascius conspires him to join his group in order to murder Caesar although he is Caesar closed buddy. If he is open to his wife, he might not have murdered Caesar and he also might not have died in his own sword.

Essay-The Role of Women in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Fellysia:

The significance of the roles of women in the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare can be prodded from the two female characters namely, Calpurnia and Portia, who are instrumental in the world of men they have to live in. Despite the seemingly minor parts that these women have, their presence in the play should be regarded as important as they both bring a trace of foreshadowing to intensify the calamities of the events which will occur subsequently as well as a more lucid view of the personas of their husbands in their private lives.

 

Firstly, the role of Calpurnia as Caesar’s loving wife is paramount in her belief in superstitions that she actually has forewarned Caesar from his tragic death. After her terrifying dream in which she saw Caesar’s statue pouring blood in a fountain while others washed their hands in it, she urges  her husband to cancel his outing resolutely to which it falls to deaf ears. Her dream in Act II, Scene II states that she "saw my statue which like a fountain with an hundred spouts did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans come smiling and did bathe their hands in it," and this poses as a foreshadowing to the death of Caesar by the Senate in the next act when conspirators of his murder bathe their hands in his blood. However, Caesar easily dismisses his wife’s concerns as trivialities and makes up his own interpretation of the dream that he fails to avoid his barbaric death. Thus, Calpurnia, as a wife, has shown her devotion by standing by her husband’s decision to venture through the night amidst her perturbed mind but her role as a woman puts her in a disadvantage that she has to lose her husband.

 

Next, there is Portia who is Brutus’s wife in the play. Her role as a woman bears a more influential effect on her husband. She does not want to merely become a wife but also the confidante of Brutus that she compels him to tell her all his deeds, for she believes she can be a good supporter and motivator to him. Upon witnessing the distraught mind of her husband, she wills him to share his troubles so that she can assist him as his wife. Here, Portia resembles a woman of poise and strong character who realises that she lives among men that she wants to have an active role in men’s businesses. The extent of her love to Brutus and thus, her wish to help him settle his problems is evident when she hurts herself in the thigh with a dagger to prove her readiness to sustain whatever pains which might come with the secret predicament.  This is her way of giving absolute and undeniable support to Brutus's ventures. Moreover, she also serves as a deliverer of foreshadowing in the play as seen in Act II, Scene IV where Portia attempts to see if Caesar is at the capitol. So, she sends Lucius, her servant, to the capitol to ensure that nothing has gone wrong by telling him, "I heard a bustling rumor, like a fray, And the wind brings from the capitol.” Indeed, what she heard as a raucous from the capital will eventually become the riot after the Romans learn about Caesar’s death. 

 

The depiction of these two women in the play serves dual purposes, as foils to their husbands, especially in personal matters and as bearers of foreshadowing  for it is a pivotal element in the story development of Julius Caesar. For these reasons, the female characters’ inclusion in the play should not be underestimated in the male-dominated world the story is set.

Realism Vs. Melodrama and Absurd Plays

Fellysia:

Among the three plays which we looked at in class, Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie struck me as the most interesting of all. As a notable example of Realism drama, a type of play which tries to bring in as many elements of real life as possible into the plays to allow an honest depiction of reality, The Glass Menagerie portrays a believable and poignant depiction of human relationships in a familial sphere. As many literary scholars stated, it is indeed believed to be autobiographical for William underwent similar plight in his childhood.

The story begins with the narrator Tom notifying the audience that this is a memory play, for the incidents which are about to take place happened 7 years prior to that. Tom is an ambitious guy who is not satisfied with his current life as he yearns for an adventurous life as a sailor. However, his dream is not feasible because after his father has abandoned the family, he becomes the breadwinner in the house. As the days gone by, the confinement of living in a house with a constantly nagging mother, Amanda, and crippled sister, Laura, becomes a bit too much for him that he decides to leave them and pursues his dreams. His mother agrees to let him off his responsibility as long as he can find a Gentleman’s Caller for his sister. Because Laura is a reserved and diffident girl, borne in upon her limping leg, she has difficulty to find a husband. Her physical defect strips her from any form of self esteem that she tends to seek refuge in the glass menageries she owns. She spends a lot of time taking care of these figurines, polishing them with minute care. In this through this means that she tries to escape the reality of her miserable life, especially from her overbearing mother. This fact troubles Amanda and thus, she wants Tom to find his sister a decent husband to take care of her. Jim, the bachelor who Tom thinks could be the perfect companion for his sister, turns out to be engaged to another woman already. Yet, Tom still leaves Laura behind to chase after his dreams. It is thus, in the light of overwhelming guilt that Tom retells his “memory” to us.

The problems arise amongst them illustrate a dysfunctional family which we stumble across everyday. All of the characters is burdened with life in his or her own ways that each of them tries to cope with it as how they see fit. As a result, one’s attempt to gain blissfulness might become another’s suffering for our lives are all connected in a bizarre way. Tom’s utmost regret for fleeing his home also tells us that the weight of responsibility can lead us to terrible decisions. It is not easy to choose which road to take, following his dream or devoting his life for the sake of his family, as each choice bears its own positive and negative consequences, which is why I develop a particular feeling of empathy towards his personal struggles. In this story, although Tom is seen to have gone for his personal dreams, he doesn’t find contentment because the shadow of having abandoned his sister haunts him ruthlessly that both guilt and regret envelop his soul.

- “Time is the longest distance between two places” -

Aswin:

Between the three plays that discussed in the class, the easiest play to understand for me is the The Glass Menagerie. The Glass Menagerie plot is easy to understand because there is a cause-effect and action-reaction plot in the story. One of the example that can be noticed in the play is Laura that deals with her nagging mother, Laura makes a strong reaction against her mother through looking at the glass menagerie. The action that she take give a strong sense to the reader about how Laura is.

Veronica:

Two weeks ago, our group had to discuss about a play by Tennessee Williams, titled The Glass Menagerie. What i like about the play is the symbolism of using glass menagerie to represent the fragility of the character, named Laura. It is very obvious to determine what does the intended meaning behind the title itself. One of the characteristics of Realism is if there is a cause then there will be an effect, if there is an action then there will be a reaction. We can find it clearly in the play. The first support is when Amanda asked Tom to find a man (gentleman caller) for Laura. If Tom can find a man for his sister, then Amanda will let him leave the family. Tom wants to leave the family because of the environment where he lives is not enjoyable for him. His mother is a nagging mother, meanwhile his sister is crippled. He cannot bear this kind of situation anymore.

The other play that we have discussed on our last meeting was The Great Divide by William Vaughn. This is a type of melodrama play. Usually in melodrama play, there is a strong climax for the ending in each scene. It is obvious in this play to find that kind of characteristic, for example in act 1, Ghent and Ruth run away from Ruth's home although she does not love him. She leaves a note indicating that she has chosen her own future by going with the man of her choice. In act 2, suddenly Ruth leaves Ghent. Indeed, this ending also a strong climax for the story.. Meanwhile in act 3, Ruth becomes in love with him through her society's judgment, such as her mother and her sister in law.

Between those two plays, i like The Great Divide because in each scene, there will always be a strong climax which seems to be unresolved problems. This will make the readers curiosity rises...

kharis :

I like realism. From the glass menagerie play, I learn about something that might happen in our life. It’s real, and might happen. The story of a dysfunctional family consists of a nagging mother, crippled daughter and an unsettled son is a story worth learning and reflecting. Because I’m a boy, I’m trying to position myself in the position of Tom. What am I going to do, if I wanted to become a sailor, but my shameful family is standing between me and my dream? I think I will give up my dream and help my family to survive in this harsh situation we are having. It’s pitiful to be unable to achieve your dream, but I think, as a son, I have to be aware of the situation that, my sister is crippled, and as a brother in blood, the only person she can depend on is me, I don’t want to left her. More or less, the story of Glass Menagerie is the same with the story of my life, but different in some way. My father is a good person, my mother is quite the nagging lady, but she is a good person, and my sister is suffering from psychomotor cerebral palsy. That’s the similarity I am having with Tom, a crippled sister. But I don’t want to leave her.

Rome and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Veronica:

Rome and Juliet is one of the most popular play by William Shakespeare. The first thing that come out from the readers' mind about this play is about the romantic story between Romeo and Juliet. In fact it is a tragic story.

First of all, i would like to give my comments about group one's performance. It was a great great performance. It seemed that all of them have the talent of acting. They could bring out their emotion into a great play. I also like the way they used music during the play because it helps the audiences to understand what situation the act is. It is also a great idea to wear two different colors of clothes in order to differentiate the Capulet's family from Montague's family.

Secondly, mei gave us a "homework" to write down about the theme of this play :p..

if i'm not mistaken, i think the theme is about someone's fate cannot be prevented. As an illustration, although both of the family (Capulet and Montague) disagree about their relationship, at the end of the story Rome and Juliet are together (neither in heaven nor hell)

Aswin:
what I learned from Romeo and Juliet story is about the effects of love. The effects of love in this play is not only between Romeo and Juliet but also after they commit suicide their family make a peace. It i s such an unexpected effect after what Romeo and Juliet did, because perhaps in reality their family will not make a peace but war.

Reflection of Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Fellysia:

Upon having to make a modern adaptation of Macbeth, I learnt the intricacy of human nature, especially one which deals with ambition. The attempts to reach success can sometimes lead to perilous twists and turns as well as degrade the morality of one. In this play, Macbeth is blinded by his ambition to be on the throne that he is capable of conducting such vile method to attain it. However, the influence of his wife, Lady Macbeth, should not be dismissed so easily, for she plays a major part in Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan. Here, what I can perceive is the fact that one’s conducts are normally also the reflection of one’s surroundings, and despite the seemingly submissive nature of his wife, she is actually the voice behind his moves. Lady Macbeth’s influences over her husband shows that women are more guile and manipulative than men to achieve what they want and in this case, power and success through any means. Besides that, it seems like the matter of masculinity is something which can touch the nerves of any men, as such happens to Macbeth. When his wife starts to question his manhood accusing him of lacking ambition when he doesn’t want to kill Duncan, Macbeth becomes troubled by this thought that he changes his stand towards this issue completely. He wants to prove to her that he’s still worth the respect he deserves as a man and a husband. This ambition involving the attainment of power is also prevalent in today’s society with so many people becoming more corrupted in their ways to achieve a higher rank that any means will be done. Despite the fact that Shakespeare has tried to warn us upon the vanity and danger of having unchecked ambition through this play, people are still not heeding this advisory message.

Also, I find it intriguing that at the start of the play, it is Lady Macbeth who seems to be the “evil” one, for she is the one who puts the idea of assassinating Duncan without any feeling of remorse, becomes so consumed with guilt that she finally commits suicide. Yet, the allure of power has made Macbeth turn into a more immoral man, when he is willing to do anything, even more killings, to cover up his murder on Duncan. Thus, ambition and power are two extremely dangerous objects of pursuit if they go unchecked. My most memorable lines from the play are from Scene 5 Act 5 lines 22-27:

“ Out, out brief candle,

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury

Signifying nothing.”

These lines are said by Macbeth upon learning the death of his wife and I can really sense his despondency that he suddenly sees life as insignificant and fleeting. There is also a hint of regret in his words that all of the efforts that he has spent upon achieving his ultimate goal; becoming king, are after all meaningless because he can never enjoy it with his beloved wife as they have been tormented by the committed crime in the past. From this, I gather that it is never easy to reach one’s goal and there should also be boundaries upon which one can achieve it because breaking the moral codes does not necessary brings joyful ending as seen from Macbeth’s life story.

Veronica:

By having the chance to create and perform a short play of Macbeth’s version last week, I could understand Macbeth much better than the real version because our group made the modern version of it. It is easier to be understood. From the play, I learnt that human beings often being so greedy about wealth, power, and success. Sometimes, man does not think the appropriate ways to achieve success or so-called they often have blind-ambition. According to the play, this can be seen when Macbeth is affected by Macbeth’s wife, whose name is Lady Macbeth. In my opinion, she has given bad effects to Macbeth because she is the one who persuaded Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to take over the throne. Here, we can really see that women’s roles are playing an important role in this play. Thus, ones cannot underestimate women. In the end, Lady Macbeth was successful in persuading Macbeth to assassinate Duncan, though; at first Macbeth did not the plan to kill Duncan. His surrounding, which is his own wife, was influencing Macbeth. It is very easy for someone to fall into other people’s idea, though; it is not a positive idea. At last, I learnt that every act that you take would give you rewards. When human acts in positive attitudes, then they will get good rewards. On the other hand, when they act in negative attitudes, then what they will get is bad rewards. As an illustration, Lady Macbeth died because she felt guilty.

Kharis :

Macbeth sure is a very good example of a tragedy, the tragedy of a tragic man who met a tragic ending. Macbeth and his wife are doing something too far in their struggle to attain power and position which is killing the rightful king and his kins. Their actions are driven by ambition and lust for power rather than their awareness that macbeth is capable to make the country better by becoming a king. Actually, macbeth is an unambitious person rather than a power hungry. His wife is the one who pulling all the string from behind. She orchestrated the murder of duncan and thus, making her husband the king. It's like she is the one with the brain and macbeth is the thug with the brawn. The girl power that we see here, demonstrates how women can be more dominant than man. In the end, they both meet tragic ending which is death. Of course, it;s not by natural cause, but by sword. The lady commits suicide, and macbeth beheaded by malcolm who seeks for revenge. Just like the saying in the bible, "you reap what you sow". Truly, both macbeth and his wife have harvested their field.

Aswin:

I think Macbeth tragedy is a good example of how people can change because of blind ambition. It is all started when Lady Macbeth want her husband to take the throne, but later on Macbeth is the one that become cruel and cold hearted, this play also shows that women can actually be as ambitious as men. This paly is wonderful because at that time women was a second class in the society but in this play, Lady Macbeth also proved that women can control her husband.

Juanta:

Transforming a drama script into a performance makes us easier to understand the characteristic of each character, since we have to read the script at first and then play it on stage. we have to know and try to make the characterization successful. The character, lady Macbeth, in the story is the person who meets with change in personality for her ambition of power and wealth. Her ambition soon makes her husband turn into a different person, someone who will do anything to gain his will. The interesting part is Lady Macbeth, the culprit of all evilness, regrets all what she has done, goes crazy and then commits suicide, while her husband, who is at first a good person, never regrets and enjoys being a king.