Blood Wedding 3

From the diary of the Bride:

Dear Diary,
I'm getting married tomorrow. So much good will come from this, I'm sure of it. But I can't help thinking about Leonardo. He's so much more of a man than my husband-to-be, and... No! What am I writing? I will not run off with Leonardo! I have a good life right now, and I am not going to shame myself and my family by leaving my husband, despite how dry he is. Leonardo just has so much life to him, like it's practically flowing out of him. He asked me to leave with him last night. It's so very tempting, just him and me, alone... No! I can't forsake my husband! What would his mother say? Oh, who am I fooling? I know I will run off with him. I shouldn't though. I must be mad for even considering it. But I can't help it. It's decided then. During the wedding, we will sneak out, undetected, and make for the river, which we will follow into the woods. This will probably be the last time I write in here. To anyone who reads this, this is goodbye.

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A writer usually attempts to create a bond of trust between writer and reader. How and to what extent have at least two writers you have studied been able to elicit your trust?
In Blood Wedding, the author attempts to create a bond between the reader and the bridegroom by showing him as a good, honest man. This contrasts with the image of the bride, who runs away with another man during her wedding, making her look very bad in the readers eyes. She is not nearly as trustworthy as the bridegroom. Same with the mother, who appears to be a little crazy and judgemental.
In Wild Duck, a bond is formed between the reader and Hedvig. She appears to be so innocent, and the reader sympathizes with her because she does not know she is going blind. The reader also trusts Gregers, because he talks of his good intentions throughout the book, so the reader knows he is a good man, even though they do not turn out like they should. Ibsen's methods work very well, because the circumstances he created in the story help portray the extremes of the situation.

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Stylistic techniques:
The author creates a motif of knives to show how he feels about death. He uses a knife because knives are usually very small, so even the smallest things can kill someone. He also uses a very dynamic speaking style. The characters' dialogue ranges from one word to multiple paragraphs, although they average at about one sentence. This makes the plot seem to go by very quickly, and it cuts away most of the detail in the dialogue. The author also has the characters speaking in poetry, although it does not make much sense in the plot. There is also a motif of nature in the story. The land where the bridegroom lives is barren, while the bride is from a place rich in plant life. Where the characters are from seems to reflect how they act. The bridegroom is very dry, while the bride seems to be very passionate, although not much so about the bridegroom.

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A dramatist often creates a gap between what the audience knows and what the characters know. With reference to at least two plays, discuss how and to what effect dramatists have used this technique.
Ibsen uses dramatic irony in his play Wild Duck to help create a feeling for characters. The daughter of Hjalmar and Gina, Hedvig, is said to be be going blind, but she does not know it. Having her go about as if she were a normal child creates a feeling of pity for her, and makes the reader think how the parents could go on without telling her. There is also the other way around, where the characters know something the reader does not. At the beginning of the story, the reader knows nothing, and it starts in the middle of everything. The characters also make reference to many things the reader has not heard of before. This makes the reader pay more attention to what does happen, as the events of the past are slowly revealed.
Sophocles, on the other hand, did not mean to make that form of information gap in his play Oedipus the King. At the time, everyone knew the story of Oedipus, so he could only exaggerate the gap between what the characters knew and what the audience knew. He does this by having the characters use lots of foreshadowing, while someone laughs at it. Such as Oedipus when Tiresias tells him he would be as blind as him. The audience knows it is true, and watches as Oedipus mocks him. The use of dramatic irony emphasizes Oedipus' human trait and downfall.

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Compare how writers in your study have explored the theme of love and friendship, and with what what effect.
In Ibsen's Wild Duck, he shows that love and friendship should be based on honesty, with no secrets. He shows the ideal couple, Mr. Werle and Mrs. Sorby, getting happily married. Mrs. Sorby talks about how happy they were once they had nothing between each other. They contrast with Hjalmar and Gina, who had a secret. He juxtaposes them to contrast the feelings of those in an honest relationship and those without.
In Sophocles' Oedipus, he shows Oedipus as being rude to almost everyone around him, making the people think lower of him. His relations with the characters in the play are good only because he is king, which is not the ideal ground for a good friendship. His marriage with Jocosta was also tainted with secrets, and the whole prophecy could've been avoided if they had been more open, which also shows what Sophocles thinks about love and friendship. His lack of openness with people gave him strained relationships with everyone, and he suffered for it.
They both have similar views about love and friendship. Openness is key with becoming friends with people.

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Diary entry of Hedvig:
Dear Diary,
Mommy and Daddy have been arguing more lately, mainly about that Gregers man renting the room. I don't see why Mommy doesn't like him. He seems nice enough. Apparently Daddy and him were friends before I was born. Any friend of Daddy's is a friend of mine. I love my Daddy. He's always working for us, no matter how hard it is. I try to help him as much as I can, but he doesn't seem to want my help. He's always talking about my eyes. I don't really understand what he means, my eyes feel fine. But Daddy knows best. Someday I wish I can be just like him, and know all the answers to everything like him.

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Point of view/characters: There is no point of view. The story is just a glimpse into a scene, with no activity with the audience, which was the way theater was during that time period. The reader gets to know the characters fairly well, but Ibsen never really outright describes a character. They are described over time, usually behind the character's back, although the reader gets an idea about their personality by how they talk and to who they talk. The characters' credibility differs from character to character, although most of the information the reader knows is not very reliable. Most of the characterization is from gossip, so the reader's opinion is manipulated. Most of the gossiping is negative, which puts the characters in a bad light, all except Hedvig, who is shown to be innocent and carefree. She is going blind, but does not know it, and her parents are keeping it from her. Ibsen makes it this way to bring up the question whether or not it is good to know the truth, even if it is bad.

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"Defiance becomes our duty in the face of injustice." Referring to at least two works you have studied, explore the ways in which writers have attempted to persuade us to accept a certain view.
In the play The Wild Duck, the son Gregers is shown as being a man with high moral standards, who cares about other people, and tries to make his way in life the old-fashioned way. He contrasts directly with his father, who is shown as a lonely old man who only cares about himself, and will betray others to save his reputation. The father is meant to be the injustice that the son becomes defiant of. When he asks his son to join his company, he says no, because he doesn't want to be a part of his corrupt business. This shows that the author agrees with the statement defiance is our duty in the face of injustice.
In the play Oedipus, he portrays the god's prophecies as injustice, and Oedipus and Jocosta are very defiant of them. In the end, however, the actions they took to keep them from coming true actually help the prophecy come to pass. This shows that the author thinks defiance in the face of injustice is not always a good thing.

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Readers are attracted to moments of intensity in a writer's work. By what means and with what effect have writers in your study offered heightened emotional moments designed to arrest the readers attention?
In the tragedy Oedipus emotional moments are established in the form of violent acts accompanied by shouting and ranting. Oedipus gouges his eyes out when he figures out Jocosta is his mother, after he sees that she hanged herself. These acts of extreme violence are used to exaggerate their feelings, while drawing the reader in. There is also a lot of shouting. Oedipus keeps shouting how he is the lowest thing in the world, and how he should be banished and killed. The use of these vivid images and despairing tone help create a feeling of pity for Oedipus, which contrasts with how he was portrayed earlier in the book. The loud dialogue also makes the reader pay closer attention to the words.
In the book The Crucible, the author creates moments of emotion through the use of dramatic irony. The reader knows that Abigail is a fraud, but none of the people with power think so. As the reader reads about all the innocent people getting convicted of witchcraft, he/she becomes angry at her. This involement of the reader emotionally really makes the book more interesting to read.

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Themes and ideas:
Using the example of Oedipus, the author shows that going out of your way to avoid something often makes it happen. Oedipus leaves his family because he was told he would kill his parents. However, they were not his real parents, and he ended up finding his real parents and killing them. They also went aout of their way to avoid something. When Oedipus was born, they were told he would kill them, so they sent him away, which made him think they were not his parents. If he had known, he would not have killed them.

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"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?" To what extent do you find this statement applicable in at least two plays you have studied?
This statement is true in many plays that I have read. In the tragedy Othello, the story starts with two men going off to a house to tell someone their daughter has been stolen. There are no boring parts where the characters are just doing nothing. They cut right to all the action and drama. The same applies to Oedipus the King. The play starts with a plague, and only a few pages into it, Oedipus gets into a fight with a blind prophet, and he is told that he murdered the former king. Oedipus says the seer was told to say that by next to the throne Creon, who he then curses and threatens to exile him. Nothing boring at all so far. Inside Oedipus recalls that he may have killed the king in a rage when his cart hit him. Nothing boring is present in either of these two plays. Something does happen in between events in the plays, but they are not mentioned. So yes, drama is life with the dull bits cut out.