Act of theatricality Flashcards
(6 cards)
“Atwood’s appropriation of the Tempest, Hagseed, continues the conversation about how life is a performance.”
Evaluate the significance of the act of theatricality in the textual conversation between the texts.
WHAT IS THE THESIS & MAIN BODY PARAS
The metatheatrical aspect of both the texts is highlighted by their conversation with the other. This Meta theatre impacts the way the audience percieves the motives, emotions and actions of the charectors and authour.
BP 1 - Theatricaliity’s impact on Prospero. While he uses his art form (magic) for illusion it reveals his truth (magic and alchemy = Jacobeans loved) -2
BP 2 - Metatheatre allows the audience to gain a deeper understanding of Felix’s life as it is inertwined with his experiences (complex format = post modern) - 3
BP 3 - Shakespeares Prospero is a mirror of himself and his own perspective of the arts. He has a conflicted feeling. (Last play he wrote - farewell to theatre) -3
BP 4 - Atoods perspective on theatre is more positive as it is portrayed as a tool that is able to improve life for both the authour and audience (neolibrelism - art is social commentary) -2
Body Paragraph 1 and Quotes
Evaluate the significance of the act of theatricality
Topic - Every event in Tempest is orchestrated by Prospero, paralleling a play. Ultimately through his illusions, his true intentions are revealed.
Context- Power through magic was Shakespeare’s way of portraying political concerns in an interesting and relatable way to all as magic and alchemy was popular during the Jacobean era.
Evidence 1 -[Miranda assists Prospero, his cloak is laid aside] [Enter Prospero in his magic robes] [arranging his attire]- Recurring motif of clothing - Prospero’s magical cloak is used to hide his true identity from others. Removal of the cloak symbolises honesy and signifies transformation of identity from powerful, manipulating magician into a vulnerable human. Jacob <3 magic
Evidence 2 - I’ll break my staff, bury it… - he will forgoe his theatricality and embrace honesty from now on.
Summary - Propseros magic reveals the truth about his identity. The illusions throughout the island mirror the societal and political context of his time and allows the audience to reflect on the events of their own lives.
Body Paragraph 2 and Quotes
Evaluate the significance of the act of theatricality
Topic - Meta theatre helps the audiences understanding of Felix’s character as his life and its events are very intertwined with theatre as it mirrors his experiences.
Coontext - This complex metatheatricality, reflects Atwoods postmodern context as the meaning of the text is interpreted by the reader through their understanding and perspective on the Tempest.
Evidence 1 - “Watch me suffer. He recognized his own act, an act with no audience but himself”- Dramatic irony & theatrical metaphors - Felix’s grief parallels theatricality as he is both the actor and audience in both theatre and in reality - deepens audience understanding of his psychological state. Postmodern - scrutiny of the performativeness of identity.
Evidence 2 -”It’s necessary to look like the version of himself that’s become familiar up at Fletcher” - Felix’s identity is a perfomative and tailored to social expectations. This mirrors his true identity - his inability to accept and identify his own identity. Also allows audience to understand his mental state - postmodernly.
Evidence 3 - “My island domain. My place of exile. My penance. My theatre.” - Intertextuality - Repetition mimics a dramatic, theatrical soliloquy and positions Felix and Prospero as parallels, allowing the audience to gain a deeper understanding of Felix.
Summary - Felix’s motives, characteristics and overall identity, while being highly enigmatic, are revealed through his interactions with theatricality, signifying its importance to his being. Atwoods exploration into illusion of personality and questioning of the meaning of identity - postmodernism skepticism towards grand narratives and objective truths.
Body Paragraph 3 and Quotes
Evaluate the significance of the act of theatricality
Topic - Shakespeare’s portrayal of Prospero is a mirror of himself as an artist and a his perspective of the arts. He has a pessimistic view as he never resolves theatrical conflicts he presents.
Elaborate - The last play he ever wrote by himself 7 years before his passing. Seen as his farewell to theatre
Evidence 1 - “Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits, and melted into thin air” - Imagery and symbolism - Prospero, is confronting the limits of his art as a tool to control/ preserve meaning. This is Shakespeare’s metatheatrical resigning - while the play may be profound, its impact dissolves when it’s done.
Evidence 2 - “These, mine enemies, are all knit up in their distractions. My high charms work” illusion - Aligns with Shakespeare’s experience as a bard who crafts moral and emotional situations to resonate with audience. Art was now seen as a means for philosophical exploration not just entertainment - renaissance humanism.
Evidence 3 -“Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have’s mine own… Let your indulgence set me free.” metaphor - for Shakespeare’s creative power. By relinquishing it, he symbolically resigns from his role. The plea to the audience for release from the play, connects with his career. Reflecting Renaissance context, where art was used for philosophical exploration.
Summary - Shakespeare uses metatheatre to show his opinion about theatricality as he concludes that illusion can reveal truth, but cannot guarantee transformation. By intertwining art and identity self-consciously, Shakespeare presents theatre as a profound, paradoxical tool.
Body Paragraph 4 and Quotes
Evaluate the significance of the act of theatricality
Topic - Atwood optimistically portrays theatre as a tool that is at least able to improve life.
Elaborate - Neoliberalism - arts ability to impact the creator and the viewer in its ability to reflect reality (social commentary)
Evidence 1- “It’s theatre…| It conjures up demons in order to exorcise them!” Figurative language and metafiction - reinforces that theatre is a space where pain and grief can be identified, confronted and reconciled with. It helps Felix and inmates to grow as people.
Evidence 2 - “He refused to call them inmates… not while they were in his theatre troupe” Metatheatricality - Theatre is a socially restorative art form, where people aren’t defined by their crimes, but by their true identity. This reflects Atwoods belief in the redemptive potential of art - postmodern
Summaty - Dissonances from Shakespeare as it reframes theater not as something to distrust, but as something that can heal, empower, and liberate. This is influenced by her anti-neoliberalist context - art as a form of self expression and social commentary, with valoue to both the creator and the consumer.
“Atwood’s appropriation of the Tempest, Hagseed, continues the conversation about how life is a performance.”
Evaluate the significance of the act of theatricality in the textual conversation between the texts.
WHAT IS THE CONCLUSION
Both texts offer nuanced and multifaceted explorations of the act of theatricality. Atwood and Shakespeare have their own unique opinions on the meaning of theatre which are impacted by their contextual influences which shine through their texts. While Atwood undertook the ideals thematic concerns of Shakespeares text, also reflecting the significance of theatricality for the authour and audience, she portrsaed her own unique perspective on this matter.
