ROLUNA, PRINCESS JOY T. MRS. ISABELITA O.

URBIZTONDO
BSED – III EL 116 LITERARY CRITICISMS

I. MODULE NO. 5: A. ELEMENTS OF FICTION (CONTINUATION)

B. SYMBOLS: SYMBOLISM IN LITERATURE
6: HISTORY OF THEATER
- UNDERSTANDING DRAMA

VII. ASSIGNMENT / HOMEWORK:

1. Give examples of figures of speech. (at least three)

Metaphor - is a figure of speech that compares two different things without the use of the terms “like” or “as.”

Example:
 He is a fish out of water.
 She is a star in the sky.
 My grandchildren are the flowers of my garden.

Personification - is a figure of speech that attributes human characteristics to something that is not human.

Example:
 I heard the wind whistling.
 The water danced across my window.
 My dog is telling me to start dinner.

Hyperbole - is a figure of speech that utilizes extreme exaggeration to emphasize a certain quality or feature.

Example:
 This room is an ice-box.
 I’ll die if he doesn’t ask me on a date.
 I’m too poor to pay attention.

2. Give examples of symbolism in literature in novels and plays.

a. Wuthering heights by Emily Bronte

 The Moors
The moors serve very well as symbols of the wild threat posed by nature. As the setting for the
beginnings of Catherine and Heathcliff’s bond (the two plays on the moors during childhood), the
moorland transfers its symbolic associations onto the love affair.

 Ghosts
They symbolize the manifestation of the past within the present, and the way memory stays with people,
permeating their day-to-day lives.

 Weather, Wind, Trees

Typically, storms and rain symbolize angry, violent, or passionate emotions, and breezes and calm weather
reflect peace, hope, and goodness. The use of pathetic fallacy is so pervasive, the novel can be opened at
almost any point in the narrative and the weather will reflect perfectly the events and characters' emotions of
that particular chapter.
Wind and trees symbolize how the emotions of one character shape or disfigure the growth of another
character, as much as how the emotional and physical environment plays a role in shaping or contorting a
character's disposition. Heathcliff is used as the mouthpiece to deliver the meaning of the symbolism of wind
and trees in Chapter 17 when he says to Hareton: "Now my bonny lad, you are mine! And we'll see if one tree
won't grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it."

 Dogs
 Dogs represent instincts, often protective or violent ones, juxtaposed with training and obedience, such as with
Hareton, who is turned into a loyal watchdog first by Heathcliff and then by Catherine. Interactions with dogs
also mark vital transitions either of plot or of a character's perceptions—as when the unfriendly dog at the
book's opening shows Mr. Lockwood that he is in unfamiliar territory.

 Hair
Blond hair, or light hair, symbolizes Thrushcross Grange, the Linton family, indulged privilege, good and
angels, weakness, gentleness, education, and the matching dispositions of Edgar and Isabella, and then later,
Catherine and Linton. Black hair, or dark hair, symbolizes Wuthering Heights, the Earnshaw family, privilege
thwarted or taken down in status, evil and devils, strength, passion, rejection of education, and the matching
dispositions of Heathcliff and Cathy. The symbol is made complete at the end of the novel in Chapter 32 when
Mr. Lockwood, observing Catherine and Hareton, sees Catherine's blond hair dangling and mingling with
Hareton's dark hair, representing love overcoming good and evil and a restored peace and unity.

b. Two other examples in novels and plays.

1.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

In Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! the Grinch takes all the symbols associated with Christmas
from Whos of Who-ville in hopes of preventing Christmas from coming at all. In the end, he discovers those material
things symbolize something greater: the spirit of Christmas. The true symbolism here is the Whos’ singing, which
represents the spirit of Christmas that “doesn’t come from a store” but from the heart.

"Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,

Was singing! Without presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!"

2.
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W.B. Yeats

Here, William Butler Yeats uses “the heavens” to symbolize great wealth and plenty. Even if Yeats had all the
money in the world, he still could not have afforded to buy the treasures of heaven for the woman he loved. In this
poem, his poverty is taken as a symbol of his (self-perceived) lack of talent, status or imagination.

"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
3. What are the types of drama? Describe and give their attributes. Give an example.

Comedy
Lighter in tone, comedies are intended to make the audience laugh and usually come to a happy ending.
Comedies place offbeat characters in unusual situations causing them to do and say funny things. Comedy can
also be sarcastic in nature, poking fun at serious topics. There are also several sub-genres of comedy, including
romantic comedy, sentimental comedy, a comedy of manners, and tragic comedy—plays in which the
characters take on tragedy with humor in bringing serious situations to happy endings.

Example: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In his romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare explores one of his favorite themes
—“love conquers all”—with a humorous twist. Due to a series of comical and unpredictable situations, young couples
keep falling in and out of love. As they struggle with the foibles of love, their equally amusing real-world problems are
magically resolved by a mischievous sprite named Puck. In the very Shakespearian happy ending, old enemies become
fast friends and the true lovers are united to live happily ever after.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is cited as an example of how playwrights utilize the ageless conflict between love and
social convention as a source of humor.

Tragedy
Based on darker themes, tragedies portray serious subjects like death, disaster, and human suffering in a
dignified and thought-provoking way. Rarely enjoying happy endings, characters in tragedies, like
Shakespeare's Hamlet, are often burdened by tragic character flaws that ultimately lead to their demise.

Example: Romeo and Juliet

Young lovers live anything but happily ever after in Shakespeare’s unforgettable tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In
what is still one of the most-performed plays in history, the love between Romeo and Juliet is doomed by the raging
feud between their families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The night before the star-crossed lovers are secretly
married, Romeo kills Juliet's cousin in a duel, and Juliet fakes her own death to avoid being forced by her parents to
marry a family friend. Unaware of Juliet’s plan, Romeo visits her grave and, believing she is dead, kills himself. When
she learns of Romeo’s death, Juliet truly does kill herself.
Through the technique of switching moods between hope and despair, Shakespeare creates heartbreaking dramatic
tension in Romeo and Juliet.

Farce
Featuring exaggerated or absurd forms of comedy, a farce is a nonsensical genre of drama in which characters
intentionally overact and engage in slapstick or physical humor.

Example: Airplane!

A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick.
Drowning his sorrows after that botched mission during WWII, the traumatised former fighter pilot with a fear of
flying, Ted Striker, still hasn't got over his old flame and flight attendant, Elaine Dickinson. Determined to win her
back, Ted boards a domestic flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, only to come face-to-face with a severe case of in-
flight food poisoning that is threatening everyone's lives. Now, with most of the passengers and the entire cockpit crew
down with the food-borne illness, Striker has no other choice but to confront his inner demons and take over the control
of the ungovernable aircraft with the help of a gruff air-traffic controller and his former commander.

Melodrama
An exaggerated form of drama, melodramas depict classic one-dimensional characters such as heroes,
heroines, and villains dealing with sensational, romantic, and often perilous situations. Sometimes called
“tearjerkers.”

Example: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

In the Wingfield apartment in St. Louis, the mother, Amanda, lives with her crippled daughter and her working son,
Tom. At dinner she tells her daughter, Laura, to stay nice and pretty for her gentlemen callers even though Laura has
never had any callers and expects none. Amanda remembers the time that she had seventeen gentlemen callers all on
one Sunday afternoon. Amanda then tells Laura to practice her shorthand and typing. A few days later Amanda comes
home from Laura's school after finding out that Laura had dropped out several months earlier. Amanda is shocked and
wonders what they will do with their lives since Laura refuses to try to help and spends all her time playing with her
glass menagerie and her old phonograph records. Amanda decides that they must have a gentleman caller for Laura,
and Laura tells her that she has liked only one boy in her whole life, a high school boy named Jim.

Opera
This versatile genre of drama combines theater, dialogue, music, and dance to tell grand stories of tragedy or
comedy. Since characters express their feelings and intentions through song rather than dialogue, performers
must be both skilled actors and singers.

Example: Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi

Act 1
During the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413), in the middle of England, Windsor, a fat elderly knight, Sir John Falstaff,
drinks alcohol at the Garter Inn. But he does not have any money, so he wrote love letters to two rich married women,
Alice and Meg. Alice and Meg know that both of them were given the same letter from Falstaff, and they both get very
angry. In addition, Alice’s husband, Ford, also knows about Falstaff’s letter, and he gets angry, too.

Act 2
When Ford is away from home, Alice invites Falstaff to her home. According to her plan, Meg suddenly appears to
surprise him. But, Meg informs Alice that Ford is coming home soon.
Falstaff is surprised! Alice advises him that he should hide himself in the large laundry basket. When Falstaff hides
himself in it, Alice orders her servants to throw the laundry basket out the window into the river. The women and Ford
are satisfied when they see Falstaff soaking wet.

Act 3
There is another problem. Ford wants his daughter, Nannetta, to marry a doctor, Caius. But, Nannetta has a lover,
Fenton.
Alice and Meg invite Falstaff to Windsor Great Park at midnight. Falstaff is pleased and goes there. But, he is
surrounded by villagers disguised as fairies. Falstaff believes that any person who sees fairies is dead. When he lies
himself down on the ground, all the people poke him to punish him.
And then, according to Ford’s plan, he attempts to announce to the villagers about the marriage of Nannetta to Dr.
Caius. But, Alice, that is Nannetta’s mother, interrupts his plan, and Nannetta can announce to everyone that she will
marry her lover, Fenton. Ford also reluctantly accepts this.
Falstaff says, “Tutto nel mondo e burla (Everything in the world is a joke)” and everyone starts laughing.

Project:

Describe Roman drama. Discuss the following:

Roman Drama:
Romans favored entertainment and performance over tragedy and drama, displaying a more
modern form of theatre that is still used in contemporary times. 'Spectacle' became an essential part
of an everyday Romans expectations when it came to Theatre.
The early drama that emerged was very similar to Greek drama. Rome had been involved in a
number of wars, some of which had occurred in areas of Italy where Greek culture had had a
significant influence. One example is the First Punic War (264-241 BC) in Sicily. Relations between
Greece and Rome developed as a result of this, beginning with the emergence of a Hellenistic world
in which Hellenistic culture was more widely spread and continuing through political developments
resulting from Roman conquests of Mediterranean colonies.

a. Origin of Roman drama

Roman theatre is thought to have originated in the first two centuries of the Roman Republic,
following the expansion of Roman power across a major portion of the Italian Peninsula around 364
BC. Following the immense devastation of the plague in 364 BC, Roman citizens began introducing
theatrical games as a complement to the Lectisternium ceremonies that were already being
performed, in an effort to placate the gods more effectively. Actors began converting these dances
and games into performances in the years after they were established, by acting out texts set to music
and synchronous movement.

Citizens began to include professionally performed drama in the eclectic offerings of the ludi
(celebrations of public holidays) held throughout the year as the era of the Roman Republic
progressed, the largest of these festivals being the Ludi Romani, held each September in honor of the
Roman god Jupiter. Author and playwright Livius Adronicus became the first to publish translations
of Greek plays for performance on the Roman theatre as part of the Ludi Romani around 240 BC.

b. Difference between the Roman drama and Greek drama.

Athens was the epicenter of Greek theater development. It was part of a larger theatrical and
performance culture in classical Greece, which included festivals, religious rituals, politics, law,
athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, weddings, funerals, and symposia. The Greek theater
featured three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. The Western theatre, on the other
hand, developed and expanded significantly under the Romans. The ancient Roman theater was a
thriving and diverse art form, ranging from festival performances of street theater, nude dancing, and
acrobatics to the staging of Plautus' broadly appealing situation comedies and Seneca's high-style,
verbally elaborate tragedies.

c. Name Roman writers of drama (with pictures) and their works.

Livius Andronicus

Works:
 Achilles
 Aegisthus,
 Aiax Mastigophorus
 Andromeda,
 Antiopa, Danae
 Equus Troianus
 Hermiona
 Tereus

Gnaeus Naevius

Works:
 Fabula Praetexta
 Clastidium
 Romulus
 The Punic War
 Titus Maccius Plautus

Works:
 Bacchides
 Persa
 Amphitruo
 Epidicus
 Rudens
 The Brothers Menaechmi.

Publius
Terentius Afer

Works:
 Andria (The Girl from Andros) (166 BC)
 Hecyra (The Mother-in-Law) (165 BC)
 Heauton Timorumenos (163 BC)
 Phormio (161 BC)
 Eunuchus (161 BC)
 Adelphoe (The Brothers) (160 BC)

Quintus Ennius

Works:
 Iphigenia at Aulis
 Medea
 Telephus
 Thyestes
 Marcus Pacuvius

Works:
 Antiope,
 Armorum Judicium
 Atalanta, Chryses
 Dulorestes
 Hermione
 Iliona
 Medus
 Niptra
 Pentheus
 Periboea
 Teucer

VIII. TEST

I. Identify / define the following:

1. symbol - a symbol is anything that hints at something else, usually something abstract, such as an idea or belief. A
literary symbol is an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or
represents other meanings.
2. symbolism - Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract
ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning. It is the idea that things represent other things.
3. imagery - a literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to a
readers' senses to create an image or idea in their head. Through language, imagery does not only paint a picture, but
aims to portray the sensational and emotional experience within text.
4. drama - is the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of written dialog (either prose
or poetry). Dramas can be performed on stage, on film, or the radio. Dramas are typically called plays, and their
creators are known as “playwrights” or “dramatists.”
5. protagonist
6. personification - a literary device that uses the non-literal use of language to convey concepts in a relatable way.
Writers use personification to give human characteristics, such as emotions and behaviors, to non-human things,
animals, and ideas.
7. simile - is a figure of speech in which two essentially dissimilar objects or concepts are expressly compared with one
another through the use of “like” or “as.” Simile is used as a literary device to assert similarity with the help of like or
as, which are language constructs that establish equivalency.
8. hyperbole - is generally such an extreme exaggeration that the literal meaning would be impossible.

II. Answer briefly.

1. What is symbolism in literature? Explain the definition. What is the function of symbolism?

Symbolism is a literary device in which symbols, such as words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas, are
used to represent something other than their literal meaning. It is the concept that certain things represent other things.
In literature, symbolism is used to create an impact by adding additional meaning to an action, object, or name.
Symbolism takes something concrete and associates or affixes it to something else to give it a new and more significant
meaning.

2. What differentiate dramatic works from other prose works?

Prose is generally written in sentences that form paragraphs. In drama, on the other hand, the words are
conveyed through dialogues between characters.

3. Describe briefly the history of theatre.

The history of theater traces the evolution of the art form over a period of 2,500 years. The origins and
subsequent development of theatre as an autonomous activity are the focus of theatre history. Since the 6th century BC
in classical Athens, vibrant theatre traditions have evolved in cultures all over the world.
4. The Greek theatre.

a. What does a Greek theater performance include?

The Greek theater performance include festivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics, and gymnastics,
music, poetry, weddings, funerals, and symposia.

b. Types of drama of Ancient Greece.

The types of drama of Ancient Greece consisted of three types such as tragedy, comedy and the satire play.

5. Athenian theater

a. Who are the writers of Athenian tragedy?

 Aeschylus
 Sophocles
 Euripides
 Aristophanes
 Athenaeus of Naucratis
 Menander

b. Give examples of Athenian tragedies.

 The Persians
 Battle of Salamis
 The Iliad (760 – 710 BC)
 Antigone
 Prometheus Bound
 The Odyssey
 The Oresteia (458 BC)
 Medea (431 BC)
 Oedipus Rex
 The Bacchae (405 BC)

III. Literary Appreciation

Describe briefly the following:

a. Formalism

Formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text. These
features include not only grammar and syntax but also literary devices such as meter and tropes.

b. Structuralist Literary Criticism

Structuralist critics analyzed material by examining underlying structures, such as characterization or plot, and
attempted to show how these patterns were universal and could thus be used to develop general conclusions about both
individual works and the systems from which they emerged.