90 likes | 257 Views
Realist Era Theater. Background. In general, the Realism period was a reaction to (against) the Romantic period. Realists sought the truth Beauty was not found in the extraordinary, but in the ordinary, commonplace things and people.
E N D
Background • In general, the Realism period was a reaction to (against) the Romantic period. • Realists sought the truth • Beauty was not found in the extraordinary, but in the ordinary, commonplace things and people. • The individual worker in a factory was, therefore, a reasonable theme for a Realist painter or author.• Seeks the truth• Beauty in the commonplace • Focus on Industrial Revolution• Focus on conditions of working class
Realism Defined • Depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. • Also, works of art which, in revealing atruth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid.
Theater in the Realism Era • Continued to be popular • Realistic portrayal of characters and problems found within society • Happy endings no longer • “Serious drama” • Focused on social problems, specifically: • Women’s rights • The role of class in society
Henrik Ibsen • “Father of Modern Drama” • Examined the realities that lay behind many social facades, most often gender inequality • Hedda Gabler • The Doll’s House
A Doll’s House • Ibsen’s most famous play • First truly feminist play • Nora leaves husband, Torvald, after he accuses her of bringing shame to his family name.
Quote from play, A Doll’s House • NORA: "I was simply your little songbird, your doll, and from now on you would handle it more gently than ever because it was so delicate and fragile… I realized that for eight years I'd been living with a strange man and that I'd borne him three children. Oh, I can't bear to think of it - I could tear myself to little pieces!" Act III
George Benard Shaw • Nobel Prize winner (1925) • Playwright of Pygmalion • Shaw’s work • Before WW I, light and clever • After WW I, dark and clever
Pygmalion • Protagonists—Eliza Doolittle and Dr. Henry Higgins • "I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle class morality." • "I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me I'm not fit to sell anything else." • " . . . the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated."