Mac Flecknoe as a Satire - 2412 Words

Written about 1678 and published in 1682 Mac Flecknoe (full title: Mac Flecknoe; or, A satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S.[1]) is a verse mock-heroic satire written by John Dryden. It is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, another prominent poet of the time. As an English poet, John Dryden is classified as classic writer. When compared to romantic verses, Dryden’s poems, found lacking that love of nature. His verses are commonly simple. He loved to apply intellectual approach. Brower (1959) comments him that the whole account of poetic composition indicates clearly that Dryden sought for intellectual strength and rational precision in form. This indication is found as well in Mac Flecknoe. Dryden’s role as a poetic prophet to†¦show more content†¦He is the king of mediocrity. The poem is also a commentary the on Art and its’ relation to Nature. Dryden saw Art as â€Å"Nature’s handmaid†, that is, true Art should imitate nature a s closely as possible. The flaw of MacFlecknoe’s poetry is that it is unnatural – poetry doesn’t flow naturally from his pen – his creative process is compared to labouring – he threshes out forced metric lines: â€Å"thy Paper in thy Thrashing-Hand†. Even the music in his plays is antithetical to nature: â€Å"The Treble squeaks doe fear, the Bases Rore;† Thus, Shadwell’s work is not true art because it is not a mirror of nature.1 Part of this conception of a non-masculine and unnatural art emerges in images of pregnancy or fertility which do not result in creative output – what Dryden calls â€Å"Pangs without birth, and fruitless Industry†. 2) Historically speaking Flecknoe assumed the throne as King of Nonsense. .When the time comes for him to choose which of his sons is worthy to succeed him and â€Å"wage immortal war with wit† (line 12), Flecknoe decides that the son most like him should receive the honor. That son is Thomas Shadwell, who has been â€Å"mature in dullness from his tender years† (line 16) and is the only one of his offspring who stands â€Å"confirmd in full stupidity† (line 18). .......So Shadwell inherits the throne as Mac Flecknoe (son of Flecknoe). .......Shadwell is so witless (and,Show MoreRelatedMac Flecknoe1091 Words   |  5 PagesDryden’s ‘Mac Flecknoe’ as a satire. A. John Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe, as part of his corpus of satirical verse, is a short piece, and not as overtly political as, say, Absalom and Achitophel. It does aim to censure through indirect ridicule rather than direct condemnation, but, being a censorious poem directed specifically at an individual subject, Dryden’s literary rival Thomas Shadwell, it seems more a lampoon, as defined in Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, than a proper, high satire. The objectRead MoreImagery in Mac Flecknoe787 Words   |  4 PagesThe title of Dryden’s poem Mac Flecknoe initiates the theme of familiar succession thus presenting many father/son or successor pairs. The poem begins with a mock sentential in the ponderous, aphoristic manner of a heroic poetry, gradually unveils the pathetic monarch of â€Å"Nonsense Absolute†. The first four lines which open the poem are in the high style with a delicate Horatian irony controlling the mock heroic inversions of term s. In the opening twenty lines of the poem Dryden introduces the readersRead MoreThe Changing Face of Love in English Literature1528 Words   |  7 Pagestime seem to center themselves upon more academic subjects. While Swift is very concerned with politics and social class, other authors are analyzing and satirizing the works of other authors, as Dryden does in â€Å"Mac Flecknoe† and as Pope accomplishes in â€Å"The Rape of the Lock† in which he satires the epic poem. The writers of this era have begun to write about writing and many of their works are nonfiction pieces. Unlike their predecessors, who created characters and contrived situations for their stories

The Egyptian Pyramids Essay - 861 Words

The Egyptian Pyramids When most people think of Ancient Egypt they think of Pyramids. To construct such great monuments required a mastery of architecture, social organization, and art that few cultures of that period could achieve. The oldest pyramid, the Step-Pyramids, grow out of the abilities of two men, King Djoser and Imhotep. Djoser, the second king of 3rd dynasty, was the first king to have hired an architect, Imhotep, to design a tomb (Time-Life Books, 74). Imhotep was known as the father of mathematics, medicine, architecture, and as the inventor of the calendar (White, 40). He had a great idea of stacking mastabas until they reached six tiers, a total of 60 meters high and its base 180 meters by 108 meters (Casson,†¦show more content†¦Just to move one block took the work of forty men. The daily life of the workers constructing the pyramids was one of immense toil spanning over a long period of time. The quarrymen toiled away with soft copper chisels that hardly made a dent in the limestone. Another team dug a network of canals to transport the stones and food for the workers. Finally, another team of workers would haul the massive blocks on wooden sleds and put them into position (Cas son, 130-137). This great social organization became the force that knit the country together. Another important group was the artisans. They were the people who decorated the inside of the pyramids. The artisans, also, brought a sense of social organization by the many processes it took to produce a work of art. For instance, the actual sculpting of a statue was not considered a single process, but as on process among many. The quarrymen had to quarry the stone with soft copper chisels, and it was transported to a sculptor. After the sculptor was finished with it, the sculpture was sent to another artisan. This artist would cut hieroglyphs in the statue. The hieroglyphs were about the life of the person that the statue represented. Then, they would send it to a metal worker who inserted the eyes and other details. Finally, the statue wasShow MoreRelatedEgyptian Pyramids And The Pyramids1633 Words   |  7 PagesThe Egyptian pyramids were an important aspect of the Egyptian life and culture constructed around 2500 BCE with their geographical location being at the West bank of the River Nile. The three pyramids on the Giza plateau were built in a span of three generations by three Pharaohs namely Khafre, Menkaure and Khufu. These monuments are unsurpassed in terms of height and mass with the architects of the pyramids building them in a way that they could face the setting sun as they served as a restingRead MoreEgyptian Pyramids And The Pyramids960 Words   |  4 PagesEGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS For centuries, people have thought that pyramid have been constructed by the extraterrestrials while many others believed that the Egyptians might have owned or possessed a technology that’s been lost through the ages. Here, in this research paper, let us see what the findings are of researchers, scholars, archaeologists, physicists and professors around the world. The three pyramids of Giza are one of the mysterious ancient architecture in today’s world where people from all aroundRead MoreExtraterrestrials and Ancient Egyptian Pyramids1929 Words   |  8 PagesThe great pyramids of Giza-the last of the 7 wonders of the world still standing to this day. How these marvels of construction came to be has been a mystery for many. It has boggled the minds of even scholars, so much so that they have amassed numerous theories as to how these behemoths of ancient structures were built. Many have come to the conclusion that the challenge of building the great pyramids was far too much for the humans of that time to accomplish. The conclusion many have come to isRead More Egyptian Pyramids Essay1628 Words   |  7 PagesWorld that time has passed down to us. These are, of course, the great pyramids of ancient Egypt. But these imposing structures were not built to impress civilization millennia down the road. The pyramids in fact had a purpose to the ancient Egyptians. While they seem very simple in nature, as they are simply four-sided pyramids with square bases, they had a meaning for those that had them built. Even by today’s standards, the pyramids of ancient Egypt were an impressive feat of engineering, due to theirRead MoreThe Cryptic Secrets Of Egyptian Pyramids1719 Words   |  7 PagesSecrets of Egyptian Pyramids The pyramid-shaped masonry architectures are called Pyramids, and there are eighty of them known as ancient Egyptian Pyramids. The Egyptian Pyramids are the products of a slavery country, but they are also the great accomplishments of ancient people. Since the first discovery of the Egyptian Pyramids, many scientists have been dedicated in ancient Egypt study. After years of researching on the earliest Egyptian Pyramid, Pyramid of Djoser, and the most famous Egyptian PyramidRead MoreEssay on The Pyramids of the Ancient Egyptians2908 Words   |  12 PagesThe Pyramids of the Ancient Egyptians Pyramids, large structures with four triangular sides that meet in a point at the top, directly over the center of the pyramid’s square base. Ancient peoples in several parts of the world built pyramids, but the Egyptians constructed the biggest and most famous pyramids, with which this essay deals. The ancient Egyptians built more than 90 royal pyramids, from about 2630 BC until about 1530 BC. During this time, the pyramid form evolved from a seriesRead MoreAncient Egyptian Pyramids Architecture1566 Words   |  7 PagesThe Ancient Egyptian pyramids are engineering marvels that continue to astonish both past and modern day historians and scholars with its incredible architectural feats. Behind the magnificent creations was a group that employed their knowledge of advanced mathematics and building techniques to create such an impressive subject of wonder. The mystery involving the work needed physically to produce this structural behemoth remains a popular topic of discussion between historians and engineers whoRead MoreEssay about Egyptian Pyramids Architecture1270 Words   |  6 Pages CONTENTS: - INTRODUCTION - BACKGROUND OF ANCIENT EGYPT PYRAMIDS - THE STEP PYRAMID of Pharaoh Djoser - THE GREAT PYRAMID of Pharaoh Khufu - CONCLUSION - BIBLIOGRAPHY FOOTNOTES This essay focuses on two different types of pyramids; the Step pyramid which was the first pyramid and the Great pyramid, which was the largest pyramid built in Egypt. The essay investigates the meaning of the selected forms for the Egyptian culture and explains their dialog with the cosmos. The architectureRead MoreAncient Egyptian Pyramid Building Essay1280 Words   |  6 PagesAncient Egyptian Pyramid Building The Egyptian pyramids have been the subject of many outlandish claims and construction theories for centuries. The Great Pyramid for example has been associated with pyramid power, curses, Atlantis, Mexican pyramids, Stonehenge, Nazca, the Bermuda Triangle, Biblical prophecy, Martian faces, advanced civilizations, space aliens, cavity resonators, and even levitation. It is not surprising that some who have proposed such theories have been dubbed pyramidiotsRead MoreComparison between the Great Wall and Egyptian Pyramids1749 Words   |  7 Pagesremained intact-the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, which is also the oldest of the ancient wonders. On the west bank of the Nile River, there are three pyramid erected on a rocky plateau in Giza in the northern part of Egypt. These pyramids were named after these kings-Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure-agree with the kings names, and one of the most famous pyramids is the pyramid of Khufu, also known as the Great Pyramid, because it is the la rgest of the three. The Great Pyramid was built for Khufu, the

Macbeth Monologue Free Essays

Monologue The witches were telling the truth. I was shocked when they said I was the thane of Cawdor I thought it was just lies. But now Angus and Ross told me officially that I am the thane of Cawdor. We will write a custom essay sample on Macbeth Monologue or any similar topic only for you Order Now Wow this is a huge honor, a new title the thane of Glamis and Cowder. But what did he do? That’s right he is a traitor. But why have I taken his position? What have I done to disserve this title? Indeed I fought in the battle but so did countless others. What sets me apart from those courageous souls fighting alongside me? Witches actually exist? Magic is around us? If they are truly all powerful, perhaps they deserve this title more than I do. But they are ugly I have to say honestly. Is it weird that they knew who I am? That’s right they are witches after all. One of them did say something which I think I heard wrong, she said al â€Å"all hail Macbeth-that shalt be king hereafter† but what will the king do wrong, he is the king after all, a noble king. I’m sure they are mistaken; he is a wonderful ruler and a great role model. Aha! They must not be witches, I am not of royal descent, so I am not able to claim the Kings thrown. Here’s my guess, they were lucky, or perhaps they are not supernatural but supernaturally smart. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. I refuse to believe what they say because they are just imperfect speakers. By sinels death I know I am thane of Glamous and know thane of Cowdor How to cite Macbeth Monologue, Essay examples

The Wizards of Quiz Essay Example For Students

The Wizards of Quiz Essay They were a perfect pair of antagonists for the television public: Columbia University English professor Charles Van Doren, the tall, handsome scion of Americas WASP cultural elite, and Herb Stempel, the short, schlumpy little Jew from Queens, working his way through the City College of New York. The two young men, different in so many ways, met on a battleground where they could fight as equals: the NBC quiz show Twenty-One. There on the studio set, where each man stood in a soundproof glass booth to respond to questions from emcee Jack Barry in front of millions of viewers, disparities in class, culture and looks became irrelevant. Only the contestants minds mattered. We will write a custom essay on The Wizards of Quiz specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Or so it seemed until a couple of years after Stempel, Twenty-Ones first champion, was bested by Van Doren in 1956. Following revelations that another game show called Dotto had been rigged, Stempel came forward to claim that Twenty-One was also a hoax that Van Doren had only won because Stempel had taken a dive. Stempel had set out to expose the sham earlier, but Twenty-Ones producer, Daniel Enright, made it appear that Stempel was a mentally unstable blackmailer, overreacting to his on-screen defeat. Not until Nov. 2, 1959, did Van Doren whose stint on Twenty-One had made him a national celebrity confess in a congressional hearing that he had participated in quiz-show rigging. Van Doren was exposed as a liar, and Stempel was vindicated. Yet somehow Van Doren emerged the heroa quintessential prodigal son whose soul-searching confession served as both personal cleansing and public catharsis. (God bless you, pronounced Congressman Oren Harris as he congratulated the penitent Van Doren.) Stempel, meanwhile, was sneered at as a sore loser and quickly became a forgotten man. In the public eye, Van Doren was a sacrificial scapegoat on a grand scale; Stempel was a schmuck. In The Wizards of Quiz, playwright Steve Feffer airs his own ideas on the scandal. Having sought to put forth an objective account of the affair in a 1988 docudrama that he wrote as part of his masters-degree studies at the University of Iowas Playwrights Workshop, Feffer turned his focus to more personal questions in this play, presented in December and January at the National Jewish Theater in the Chicago suburb of Skokie. (The production, directed by NJTs co-artistic director Jeff Ginsberg, reflected significant revisions from its 1991 world premiere at the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays.) A fool-hero brought low The most sweeping question the play asks is: Why? Why did Stempel take part in the fraud, and why did he try to expose it? In attempting to arrive at some answers, Feffers bitterly witty play paints Stempel as a hero-fool brought low by personal flawspride, greed, gullibility, arrogance born out of insecurity as well as by a cruel, gigantic force that shapes our lives as much as the Olympian gods did the Greeks: the television industry. Using a TV studio as its principal location, and employing a pair of glass booths as both quiz-show settings and congressional witness stands, The Wizards of Quiz recalls an era in which people trusted television. The astounding popularity of the big-money quiz shows, beginning with The $64,000 Question, reflected the publics belief in TVs integrity: If a schlemiel like Herb Stempel could win $49,500, people thought, at least he did it honestly. In reality, the games were scripted for entertainment value (the air conditioning in the glass booth was even turned off so Stempel would sweat more dramatically). Packaged as the penniless ex-G.I. working his way through college, Stempelplayed with a compelling blend of cockiness, grubbiness, sarcasm and pathos by Edward Jemison in the NJT productionquickly won the audiences sympathy with his astounding photographic memory. But when Stempels novelty faded and audience interest reached a plateau, the script had to change and Stempel had to lo se. .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 , .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .postImageUrl , .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 , .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:hover , .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:visited , .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:active { border:0!important; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 { 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; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:active , .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .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; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5 .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u67e3d2e423479b14a5c829e7ea5307f5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Jane Greenwood: the making of a mentor EssayThus, when Stempel is told the public is tired of him and that its time for him to lose which means he must cheat, since his vast knowledge guarantees him almost certain victory in an honest game hes sure anti-Semitism is a key factor. The viewers dont like to see Jews keep winning or the marketing specialists who chart popularity ratings think they dont. (Institutionalized anti-Semitism in the TV industry, though real enough, has always been tacit: In a TV Guide interview published during Wizards NJT run, Carl Reiner revealed that he originally intended to star in the situation comedy that became The Dick Van Dyke Show until he was deemed too Jewish for public consumption, though no one ever told him that to his face. In those days, there were just a lot of important network and agency people who thought that way, Reiner told TV Guide.) A visit from Marty Whether hes a victim of prejudice or just paranoia, Stempels fixation on being a Jewish icon is twisted into overwhelming guilt when he agrees to throw the game; he becomes possessed by a sense of cultural as well as personal dishonor. Ill be banished to the wilderness, he cries to his wife. Herb, youre in Forest Hills, she responds, but her practicality is no use. Unable to tolerate losing to the echt-goy Van Doren, he pursues a self-destructive vendetta that drives him to a breakdown. Set in various locations during the period 1956-59, Feffers script shifts fluidly between past and presentand reality and fantasyas it charts the unraveling of Stempels illusions and the temporary unhinging of his mind. (The NJT production employed a unit set that represented various locations; a Geritol sign promoting the sponsor of Twenty-One dominated the set throughout the show, an ironic reminder of the corporate commercialism behind the scandal.) At one point, Stempel receives an other-worldly visit from the title character of the film Marty the Bronx butcher played by Ernest Borgnine. Like Stempels appearance on Twenty-One, Borgnines character was a tribute to the nobility of the common man. (It was a question about whether Marty won the 1955 best-film Oscar that Stempel was ordered to forfeit to Van Doren.) Near the plays climax, Stempel dreams of tracking down Van Doren who has gone into hiding to avoid questions about the scandaland enjoying a brotherly reconciliation with him. Why would you want everyone to know you cheated? Van Doren asks Stempel. I wanted everyone to know you cheated, Stempel sheepishly responds. In the dream, Stempel convinces Van Doren to confess but in the next scene, when Van Doren appears before Congress, he gives credit for his change of heart to an unknown fan who wrote him a letter, ignoring Stempel completely. Weakest in its efforts at domestic dramathe character of Stempels wife Toby is functional at bestWizards is most interesting when it focuses on the weird triangular relationship between Stempel, Van Doren and the medium that brought them together. For both men, TV represented not only fame and fortune but an avenue to the American mainstream, a channel to transmit ideals of honor and intellectual aspiration. Instead they were sucked in by a medium whose unparalleled power has expanded many times over in the years since the Twenty-One scandala medium concerned almost entirely with selling the most products to the most viewers for the most profit possible. In a day when crucial activities of public life are increasingly shaped by, slanted for, and conducted on this medium, The Wizards of Quiz is a cautionary history lesson worth heeding.