In drama masks can conceal characters’ true intentions, and
transform them. In Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen and Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar
Named Desire, set design, dialogue, and appearance are employed to create
masks for their female protagonists. Hedda masks her fiery nature with a cool
feminine exterior which allows her to manipulate others yet still be imprisoned
by social expectations. Blanche’s masks her past mistakes and resurrects her
past glory to deny reality, representing the southern gothic.
In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche keeps the
lighting in the apartment low to mask her age and to create a romanticized
version of herself, to deny her past.
In Hedda Gabler set design is also used to
demonstrate a facaade. Hedda keeps the house dark to present a cool exterior to
society, while contrastingly keeping a fire showing her the fiery self.
In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche wears glamorous
clothing in an attempt to recover her past glory and hide her past shame,
representing the southern gothic.
Hedda dresses in aristocratic clothing like Blanche, to
create a power over others, but wears loose clothing to mask the pregnancy that
represents a traditional lifestyle that she rejects.
In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche sings and talks
to herself in a manner that contrasts to her situation demonstrating her
ability to deny her current state.
Between Hedda and Tesman there is the dialogue motif of “think
of that”and “I’m thinking” to demonstrate to her husband that she is a sweet housewife,
but Hedda is actually much smarter than he sees.
Hey Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI think this introduction is concise, but could use more specifics/detail in order to tell the reader more about what you're trying to convey. For example, you state "dialogue and appearance are employed to create masks". However, what type of dialogue, is it combative? Also in my opinion, I feel the mask representing the southern gothic is a bit of a stretch, and I don't see any indication of the purpose of the masks. I feel that you would need to indicate the purpose of the masks as it's asked in the prompt.
Well, it's good that you get straight to the point- it's clear what you're going to be talking about. Your first sentence is good, although I would mention somewhere the word "metaphorical" so the reader knows that you're clearly answering the prompt. Other than that, I think you're okay. I do agree with Gautam that I'm not sure how you get the southern gothic bit, or even if that has anything to do with why masks are used,, so if you were to write the essay, just make sure you fully substantiate that bit. And although I see what you think the purposes of the masks are in each of the plays, perhaps a concluding sentence to connect the two plays in the end to just have a short summary on masks would be good, to end on a comparison. It does, however, look like a promising essay.
ReplyDeleteSo the topic sentences look good. There are just two things i would point out: one, I'm not sure you can straight out talk about Hedda's pregnancy, as it is only implied- you might want to say that. Also, when talking about the dialogue for Hedda, you might not want to start right away with the example of thinking, as it seems like that's all you're going to be talking about, and kind of gives away your entire punch line, also, I'd be interested in reading that paragraph, because I never thought that Hedda's reply was to show that she was a sweet housewife. In fact, I'm not sure Hedda ever was tempted to pretend that she was a sweet housewife with Tesman. The thinking words were always a direct contrast between the characters' personalities, and I thought her words were a mask so she wouldn't reveal herself.
So good job, it looks well organized with intriguing ideas.