Top Classic Drama Speeches by Sophocles

Here is a collection of ancient yet profound dramatic speeches from The Oedipus Plays by Greek playwright Sophocles. Each dramatic monologue is ideal as a classical audition piece. Also, English students can use them as study resources for analyzing the characters. Highlights From Antigone Antigone’s Defiant Monologue: This scene is a favorite from Antigone and is an excellent exercise for a young female performer. Antigone delivers this commanding speech which defies the laws of the king in order to follow her conscience. Shes a stubborn young woman, intent on civil disobedience in order to fulfill her family obligations and what she believes is a higher law of the gods. She will risk punishment rather than settle for a noble life without honoring her dead brother.Creon From Antigone:  At the beginning of the  play,  Creon sets up the conflict that will lead to Antigones defiance. His two nephews, Antigones brothers, died in a duel over the throne. Creon inherits the throne by default and gives one a hero’s funeral while determining the other was a traitor whose body should rot unburied. Antigone rebels against this and buries her brother, resulting in her punishment. Besides this monologue, there is another at the end of the play  that is also w orthy. In the play’s finale, the antagonistic Creon realizes that his stubbornness has led to his family’s demise. That is an  intense, gut-wrenching monologue.Antigone’s End: Towards the end of her young life, Antigone contemplates her actions and her fate. She is sentenced to be walled up in a cave and die a slow death for her defiance of the kings edict. She maintains that she made the correct choice, yet she wonders why the gods have not yet intervened to bring justice in her situation.Ismene From Antigone: Antigone’s sister, Ismene, is often overlooked in student essays, which makes her a terrific topic to analyze. This dramatic monologue reveals the duplicitous nature of her character. She is the beautiful, dutiful, outwardly obedient and diplomatic counter to her stubborn and defiant sister. Yet, they have lost both of their parents and their two brothers to suicide and duels. She counsels a safer course of obedience to the law, to live another d ay. Highlights From Oedipus Jocasta From Oedipus the King: Here, the mother/wife of Oedipus Rex offers some psychiatric advice. She tries to allay his anxiety over the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, unaware that both have already occurred. (Freud must have loved this speech.)Oedipus the King: This monologue is a classic cathartic moment. Here, Oedipus realizes the wretched truth about himself, his parents, and the terrible power of fate. He has not escaped what fate foretold, he has killed his father and married his mother. Now, his wife/mother has committed suicide and has blinded himself, determined to become an outcast until he dies.The Chorus From Oedipus at Colonus: Greek Drama isn’t always dark and depressing. The Chorus monologue is a peaceful and poetic monologue describing the mythic beauty of Athens.

Plot Construction of a Midsummer Nights Dream Essay

Shakespeare was one of the greatest dramatists of English literature. His dramas are universally known and popular. He wrote comedies and tragedies with a great success. Particularly, his comedies like As You Like It, A Midsummer Night Dream are very popular. His comedies provoke mirth and laughter and present sunnier aspects of life. The laughter of his comedies comes from characters and their actions. He took more interest in characters than plots yet his plots are woven properly. His comedy A Midsummer Nights Dream was written in his youth days. Yet it has good plot construction. In it different stories of love are joined together artistically and skilfully. Shakespeare does not known for original plot and many a times†¦show more content†¦Lysander and Hermia plan to run away from Athens. They are followed by Demetrius, who is followed by Helena. Bottom, the fool and his friends also come to the same forest. Thus by the end of the first Act the lovers and the rustics are in the wood near Athens. While the Second Act opens with the wood and its romantic atmosphere. Here the wood is haunted by the king and the queen of the fairies. The fairy King Oberons order to puck of dropping love Juice in lovers eyes complicates the plot and its actions. The complication begins because Oberon has desire to make the human lovers happy and Puck is fond of mischief. This brings all the three stories together. The main story of Athenian lovers and the rustic comedy - Bottoms play and fairy - all influence one another. Thus the quarrel between the fairy king and the queen brings into action, the flower which complicates the plot of the comedy i.e. love in idleness. The Captain of fairy - Puck makes a mistake. He applies the juice to the eyes of both Lysander and Demetrius. When Lysander opens his eyes, he sees Helena before him. He at once falls in lover with her. Oberon wants to correct the mistake made by puck. The lovers go through dreamlike experiences. Puck controls their dreams. The lovers awake and feel that they had dream. Thus all the complications are happily resolved. At the end Helena is married toShow MoreRelatedLove, Friendship, Loyalty in William Shakespeares Midsummer Nights Dream and King Lear2661 Words   |  11 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) attempt to explore themes of love, friendship and loyalty in his plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1600) and King Lear (1603-1606), there is distinct and constant portrayal of these themes classified of inconsistencies. It is crucial to understand that the historical context of Shakespeare’s writing is important in grasping a true understanding of the inconsistencies that exists in love, friendship and loyalty. 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Main reasons for Drive towards Equality in Men and Women Free Essays

Abstract The 20th Century saw great advances in equality politics between men and women, particularly in the Western world. These reforms must have had political triggers, but what were the key drivers towards equal opportunitiesThis essay will argue that reform in Britain was the result of previous political action in the 19th Century, accompanied by the catalyst on extenuating circumstances during World War I and World War II. Precedents will be examined to determine what action preceded suffrage and prove that the war effort served to prove the capabilities and value of women in society. We will write a custom essay sample on Main reasons for Drive towards Equality in Men and Women or any similar topic only for you Order Now The 20th Century was a significant turning point in the battle for equality of the sexes across the globe. Every country and nation has moved at it’s own pace in delivering equal opportunities to its citizens, but the 20th Century saw many breakthroughs, particularly in the Western world. This essay shall examine the key drivers and motives behind this equality reform with particular focus on British politics. I will argue that the key drivers towards reform were the building political pressure set in place in the 19th Century and the impact of the First and Second World War on society. Although major reforms such as women’s suffrage took place in the early 1900’s these political amendments were not a brand new issue. The changes in the 20th Century were preceded by increasing political action throughout the latter half of the 19th Century. Women started to rebel against the double standard inherent in the â€Å"separate spheres† ideology which had been enforced for hundreds of years, excluding from public life and confining them to a more domestic existence.[1] However it is a fallacy that women remained completely absent from political life during these years, as middle class women often played supporting roles for their husbands.[2] Towards the end of the 19th Century women such as Josephine Butler, Lydia Becker and Elizabeth Wolstenholme paved the way for reform by breaking with traditional gender roles and becoming politically active in the public sphere.[3] Campaigns such as the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts 1860-1886 and for Marr ied Women’s Property Rights saw great victories for women’s political activism which encouraged women to fight for their civil rights and influenced the suffrage movement.[4] The women’s suffrage movement that took place in the first two decades of the 20th Century was arguably the most important step towards equality of the sexes. However the campaign launched by women such as Emmeline Pankhurst actually did very little to change the laws. Pankhurst held radical feminist views[5], describing herself in her autobiography as â€Å"militant† and her work as a â€Å"woman’s revolution.†[6] This militant behaviour did little to win over the favour of the government, but did succeed in keeping the issue of women’s equality in the public eye. It was the more endearing behaviour of women during the World Wars, especially the First World War 1914-1918, that proved the value of women and gained them additional rights and equality. The First World War disrupted the campaigns of women greatly as supporting the troops took precedent. However new campaigns soon surfaced as women demanded the right to aid in the war effort. A large demonstration was held in Londonin 1915 as women protested for their â€Å"right-to-serve† in non-combat industries such as munitions factories.[7] Also in 1915 a certificate was issued to the ‘Women’s Land Army’, stating that any woman who laboured in agriculture during the war is â€Å"as truly serving her country as the man who is fighting in the trenches.†[8] Between 1915 and 1918 over one million women became employed in industries helping the war effort.[9] Some women were even brave enough to enter the battlefields as doctors, nurses and surgeons, risking their own lives for their country.[10] Women’s activities during the war not only proved their level of courage and loyalty through national service, but also showed that their abilities g reatly outweighed that which had previously been attributed to them. An agriculture report from 1918 testified that women’s ‘shortcomings’ were â€Å"the result of want of training rather than that of zeal or capacity.†[11] In recognition of their toBritain women over 30 were given the right to vote in 1918. The law was extended to any woman over the age of 21 in 1928. By the Second World War women had achieved suffrage and were now in a position to fight for more mundane but significant civil rights, which would not have previously been an option to them. In 1941 women fought against the poor quality of accommodation awarded to them when they were once again employed heavily in the war effort.[12] This demonstrates how far the rights of women had progressed to become equal with that of men: their value and contributions to the nation had become recognised, allowing them the power and right to fight for equality and better standards of living. Women also became skilled labourers due to the training they received in war-time occupation, allowing them to carve a niche for themselves in industry in times of peace and cementing an economic role for women.[13] The pattern of revolution displayed by Britainthroughout the 20th Century is mirrored in other Western cultures. Canadian women won the vote in 1918 also, and women in the US won the right to vote in 1920. These achievements were also following years of preceding activism on behalf of women, during which time they campaigned for birth control rights[14] and took part in philanthropic movements. Yet it was the contribution of women to the war efforts that lead to the reform of civil rights at the end of the 1910s. In conclusion the main drivers towards men and women’s equality in Britainin the 20th Century were the extenuating circumstances created by the First and Second World War. Women had begun to prove their worth in the public sphere during the 19th Century by implementing social reform, and they continued to display courage and ability when such qualities were desperately needed during the World Wars. Although other Western cultures were influenced by the war in similar circumstances there are still many countries worldwide in which women are treated as inferior to men. Bibliography Primary Certificate issued to members of the Women’s Land Army, 1915 (PRO ref: MAF 42/8), sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf’, access date10/09/2012 Extract from the Report of the Board of Agriculture, October 1918, (PRO ref: MAF 59/2) sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf’, access date10/09/2012. Extracts from the Report of the War Cabinet committee on Women In Industry, published in 1919, (PRO ref: MUN 5/88/342/18), ), sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf’, access date10/09/2012 Fawcett, Millicent G., What I Remember (London, 1925) Hart, R A. (2009). ‘Did British women achieve long?term economic benefits from working in essential WWII industries?’. Stirling Economics Discussion Paper # 4006, sourced from ‘https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/797/1/SEDP-2009-05-Hart.pdf.’, access date10/09/12. Pankhurst, Emmeline, My Own Story, (London, 1914) The Illustrated London News, July 24, 1915.- 109, sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf, access date 10/09/2012 Secondary Chalus, Elaine, ‘Elite Women, Social Politics, and the Political World of Late Eighteenth-Century England’, The Historical Journal, 43, 3 (2000) Dawson, Sandra Trudgen, ‘Busy and Bored: The Politics of Work and Leisure for Women Workers in the Second World War British Government Hostels’, Twentieth Century British History, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2010). Kennedy, David M., Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger, (Yale University, 1970). Purvis, June, Pankhurst: A Biography, (Routledge, 2002) Roberts, M. J. D., ‘Feminism and the State in Later Victorian England’, The Historical Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Mar., 1995) Smith, Angela K., Suffrage Discourse in Britain during the First World War, (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2005). Vickery, Amanda, ‘Historiographical Review: Golden Age to Separate SpheresA Review of the Categories and Chronology of English Women’s History’, The Historical Journal, 36, 2 (1993) [1] Amanda Vickery, ‘Historiographical Review: Golden Age to Separate SpheresA Review of the Categories and Chronology of English Women’s History’, The Historical Journal, 36, 2 (1993), p. 401 [2] Elaine Chalus, ‘Elite Women, Social Politics, and the Political World of Late Eighteenth-Century England’, The Historical Journal, 43, 3 (2000), p. 670 [3] M. J. D. Roberts, ‘Feminism and the State in Later Victorian England’, The Historical Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Mar., 1995), p. 89 [4] Millicent G. Fawcett, What I Remember (London, 1925), p. 118 [5] June Purvis, Pankhurst: A Biography, (Routledge, 2002), p. 7 [6] Emmeline Pankhurst, My Own Story, (London, 1914), introduction [7] The Illustrated London News, July 24, 1915.- 109, sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf, access date 10/09/2012 [8] Certificate issued to members of the Women’s Land Army, 1915 (PRO ref: MAF 42/8), sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf’, access date10/09/2012 [9] Extracts from the Report of the War Cabinet committee on Women In Industry, published in 1919, (PRO ref: MUN 5/88/342/18), ), sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf’, access date10/09/2012 [10] Angela K. Smith, Suffrage Discourse in Britain during the First World War, (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2005), p. 78 [11] Extract from the Report of the Board of Agriculture, October 1918, (PRO ref: MAF 59/2) sourced at ‘http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/pdf/complete_g4_cs4.pdf’, access date10/09/2012 [12] Sandra Trudgen Dawson, ‘Busy and Bored: The Politics of Work and Leisure for Women Workers in the Second World War British Government Hostels’, Twentieth Century British History, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2010), p. 33 [13] Hart, R A. (2009). ‘Did British women achieve long?term economic benefits from working in essential WWII industries?’. Stirling Economics Discussion Paper # 4006, sourced from ‘https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/797/1/SEDP-2009-05-Hart.pdf.’, access date10/09/12. [14] David M. Kennedy, Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger, (Yale University, 1970) How to cite Main reasons for Drive towards Equality in Men and Women, Essay examples