What Is Realism Essay Example For Students

What Is Realism Essay Realism is the movement toward representing reality as it is, in art. Realistic drama is an attempt to portray life on stage, a movement away from the conventional melodramas and sentimental comedies of the 1700s. It is expressed in theatre through the use of symbolism, character development, stage setting and storyline and is exemplified in plays such as Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. The arrival of realism was indeed good for theatre as it promoted greater audience involvement and raised awareness of contemporary social and moral issues. It also provided and continues to provide a medium through which playwrights can express their views about societal values, attitudes and morals. A Doll’s House is the tragedy of a Norwegian housewife who is compelled to challenge law, society and her husband’s value system. It can be clearly recognized as a realistic problem drama, for it is a case where the individual is in opposition to a hostile society. Ibsen’s sympathy with the feminine cause has been praised and criticized; as he requires the audience to judge the words and actions of the characters in order to reassess the values of society. We will write a custom essay on What Is Realism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The characters in A Doll’s House are quite complex and contradictory, no longer stereotypes. In Act II, Nora expresses her repulsion about a fancy dress worn to please Torvald (her husband): â€Å"I wish I’d torn it to pieces†; she attempts to restore it and resign herself to her situation right after: â€Å"I’ll ask Mrs Linde to help†. In Act III, Torvald ignores his wife’s plea for forgiveness in order to make a moral judgement: â€Å"You’ve killed my happiness. You’ve destroyed my future†. â€Å"I can never trust you again. † Later on in the same act, he contradicts himself: â€Å"I’ll change. I can change-†; much after Nora confronts him: â€Å"Sit here, Torvald. We have to come to terms†. â€Å"? There’s a lot to say†. Here, Ibsen shows us he has worked in depth with the psychology of the characters, giving them a sense of complexity and realism. Playgoers therefore recognize the revelation of characters through memory. Thus drama became an experience closely impinging on the conscience of the audience. Ibsen was also unique for his use of symbolism to assist realism on stage. Symbolic significance is presented through the detail of design, props and actions of the characters. For example, in Act III, Nora goes offstage to get changed; â€Å"I’m changing. No more fancy dress†. It is a symbolic representation of her personal change, one where she has come to the realization that she has been living the life of a doll, confined to the roles of a â€Å"featherbrain†, â€Å"plaything†, â€Å"dove†, â€Å"skylark† and â€Å"songbird†. Thus, symbolism enhanced realism, and its effect can be seen as positive in the sense that it stirred conscious awareness of values. The stage settings of A Doll’s House are an integral part of the theatrical design, and not mere dcor to be overlooked. The setting in Act II; â€Å" he Christmas tree stands stripped of its decorations and with its candles burnt to stumps† is symbolic of the lack of happiness in Nora’s life at that moment. Also the change of setting in Act III; â€Å"The tables and chairs have been moved centre† foreshadows a character change that will take place in Nora. The many references to doors also have significance beyond the stage directions. The play begins with the opening of the door and finishes with the â€Å"slamming† of the door. Nora enters the doll’s house with the values of society and departs from it, symbolizing her rejection of them. All these intricacies of play settings and characters depict realism on stage. Ultimately, it has been good for theatre because it presents the playwright’s ideas in interesting and original ways. Realism, as expressed through symbolism, also draws the attention of the audience, thus stimulating moral thought, and stirring reaction. Realism is also defined as art-imitating life (source). This is a fitting account of Anton Chekhov’s plays, for they tend to show the stagnant, helpless quality of Russian society in the late C19th. .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 , .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .postImageUrl , .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 , .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:hover , .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:visited , .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:active { border:0!important; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:active , .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9 .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud37262b8f3e3c96ed28316fc135b65a9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Wassup EssayQuite evident in The Three Sisters, when Tuzenbakh illustrates realism; â€Å"The suffering we see around us these days – and there’s plenty of it – is at least a sign that society has reached a certain moral level. † Hence, while the portrayal of life here seemed ‘gloomy and pessimestic’, it was still good for theatre in that it presented issues which audiences could identify with. It was also more intellectual theatre when the playwright could express their views, compared with the conventional dramas that merely played out fiction. Chekhov tends to portray people who are perpetually unsatisfied, such as Olga; â€Å"I felt my youth and energy draining away, drop by drop each day. Only one thing grows stronger and stronger, a certain longing. † (Act 1). This is reflective of Chekhov’s realistic character work, where people dream to improve their lives, but most fail. Realism here effectively presents harsh realities onstage, and not having to promote idealistic ways of life. Reality is difficult as Olga expresses; â€Å"What is all this for? Why all this suffering? The answer will be known one day, and then there will be no mysteries left, but till then, life must go on, we must work and work and think of nothing else. † (Act IV). Chekhov also exposes human foibles and anti-social tendencies, such as with the character Natasha; â€Å"you have so many people here. I feel awfully nervous? I am just not used to meeting new people. † Thus, audiences can sympathize and identify with characters, as these traits are reflective of certain aspects of the human condition. So realism in theatre has been good in the respect that it has greater impact when there are elements of truth in the play. In the final analysis, the arrival of realism has been good for theatre primarily because it promoted greater audience involvement. While the portrayal of realistic issues may have been contentious in some cases, such as in A Doll’s House, it nevertheless stirred reaction, which encouraged moral thought. However, one could argue that its arrival has lead to less use of the imagination. In either case, realism has raised awareness of social and moral issues and the playwright’s views serve to challenge the audience ultimately making theatre more interactive and interesting.

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buy custom Militancy essay As long as the law reinforced the status quo, feminists fighting against suffrage had to take a radical approach in order to get legal recourse. They had to present a real threat to the established system. The issue of the institution of law as it related to politics presented very subtle complications. For one, the Suffrage Association had later, on during the course, turned conservative, with the main promise advanced being that even if women were given power at the ballot box, they would not use it. This did not convince the lawmakers and the male-dominated institution of law. Too much stalling led to despair among womens rights activists to the extent that they started invoking militant threats in order to give impetus to campaigns in a frantic bid to catalyze the progress reform. Half a century was a very long time for a marginalized social group to wait for law reforms. This is something that the new leadership of the Womens Rights Movement understood very well and therefore became the main source of motivation for militant measures to be adopted. The impetus with which the suffragist agenda had been introduced during the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, Duncan contends, was reignited with the takeover by young, energetic and more enlightened young leaders (619). Additionally, a sharp contrast can be derived between those suffragists who were wangling over the implications of enfranchising the black population, championing for institutional changes and fighting for state legislation in order to get the power of the ballot. Such wrangles, apart from leading splitting of existing organizations formation of new ones, drew attention to the weaknesses of the course that women were fighting for. Although the opposing sides reunited later, it is the militant force that had characterized the movement since its inception that kept the mission of liberating women, thereby taking most of the credit for the birth of 19th amendment. It is through association to militancy that new, young leaders felt obliged to carry on with the fight for suffrage rights to the very end. When Alice Paul, a prominent suffragist, called for hunger strikes and militant actions, a clear message had been sent to every sympathizer of the Womens Rights movement that perseverance was needed, mass marches were going to characterize all campaigns and that no compromise would come in the way of the noble course that the women were fighting for. This explains the critical role that such hard-line positions played in spreading a firm message of discontent and awareness with the established system that failed to recognize women as citizens, thereby denying such basic civil rights as voting. The 15th amendment came with new promises by allowing African Americans the right to voote. Yet it ignited a fire of fury among suffragists who argued this way: if slavery was abolished on both male and female black Americans, why can the same thing not happen to the issue of the right to vote? As DuBois puts it, the fact that such a question triggered ridicule among pro-establishment forces meant that something beyond mere campaigns was required if these rights were to be achieved (856). History has proven that the decision by Womens Rights Movement to use the militancy strategy is that one the one that contributed most to the proclamation of the 19th amendment, which gave voting rights to women. Historians like to toy with the proposition that although the 19th amendment was proclaimed, that is as far as women went with regard to their rights. That aside, the suffrage struggle clearly outlined the dangers of compromising the most basic principles of civil rights in order to achieve political expediency. It is no wonder, then, that politicians had to encounter a militant movement that was very determined to have their share of their revolutionary pie. The militant approach was needed in order to fill in the advocacy vacuum that would have been created by divergent views of conservatives and radicals within the Womens Rights Movement. Of these two groups, it is the militants force that was more convincing to federal authorities, so forceful it was that the 19th amendment was finally proclaimed on August 26, 1920. Buy custom Militancy essay

State Government vs Federal Government (Similarities and differences, Essay

State Government vs Federal Government (Similarities and differences, reporting standards etc.) - Essay Example It is appropriate to highlight the differences between the federal and the state government in regard to public resources, and how the same utilized effectively. The budgeting process involves careful planning of how money will be received and spent over a specific period of time (Kieso et al., 2012). Therefore, the major components of a public budget include revenues and expenditures. In the United States, the federal government differs with state governments in as far as the budgeting process is concerned. For instance, the federal management has the authority to control the economy through interest rates while state governments do not have such control over interest rates. The federal government is often at liberty to engage in deficit spending, implying that the federal administration has the ability to increase spending even if the revenue is lower than it should (Kieso et al., 2012). As a result, the public debt in the US has continued to soar over the years. On the contrary, state governments are not at liberty to engage in deficit spending on a large scale, and are bound by the parameters of a balanced budget. The federal government differs with the state governments in a number of ways in as far as the taxation process is concerned. As for the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the agency charged with tax collection (Kieso et al., 2012). The government uses progressive tax to determine the tax rates in that the more money a person earns, the more the taxes. The most common federal taxes are the withholding tax and the federal tax return. The withholding tax is subtracted from wages that individuals receive, while the federal tax return requires citizens and residents to report their income each year to determine if they owe any income tax to the federal government (Weygandt, Kimmel & Kieso, 2010). Taxes imposed by state governments differ from one state to another, as there is no one system that works for all states.