Humans in the past and present have always strived to blend into their societies and uphold the appearance of normalcy. However, in Act I of his play Equus, Peter Shaffer explores normalcy both the upsides and downsides of normalcy. While Doctor Dysart examines the disturbed child of Alan Strang, Dysart reflects on the detrimental side effects of being normal and his own duties as a doctor. In Dysart’s monologue (Shaffer 62), Shaffer utilizes contrasting diction and antithesis between the good and bad sides of normalcy to emphasize Dysart’s conflict between maintaining mediocrity and maintaining individuality in his patients. Through the antithesis of normalcy’s simultaneous properties of assistance and destruction, Shaffer shows that a truly normal life eliminates human passion and originality. Dysart addresses the contradicting aspects of uniformity that imply its inevitable coexistence with dullness: while “the Normal is the good smile in a child’s eyes […] it is also the dead stare in a million adults. […] It is the Ordinary made beautiful; it is also the Average made lethal” ...
What is the deciding factor in determining what is sane: what is natural, or what is socially acceptable? In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and later the movie the novel inspired, this conflict is ever present in its Oregon setting of a psychiatric hospital. Throughout the novel, characters with minor quirks and disabilities are shamed and manipulated by the tyrannical Nurse Ratched in an attempt to make them “normal”—that is, conforming to her rigid standards. In fact, the only time these characters overcome their personal challenges is when they are emboldened by the confidence of an outsider, McMurphy, who encourages embracing natural instincts and rejecting conformity. In one particularly apt scene, McMurphy’s recounting
The dominant discourse of conformity is characterised predominantly by influencing to obey rules described by Kesey’ novel ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. At the start of the novel, all the acute and the silence chronic conform to Nurse Ratched’s rules before the arrival of McMurphy. Since, she was in complete control over the ward until McMurphy arrived. After he arrived, he begins to take control of the patients. He begins to take the role of leader, a leader that was unexpected. Kesey has foregrounded the character, McMurphy to be different thus creating a binary opposite that is represented in the novel. Kesey shows the binary opposites as being good versus evil. The former represents the con man McMurphy, and the latter represents the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. An example of this would be, “She’s carrying her wicker bag…a bag shape of a tool box with a hemp handle…” (pg.4), showing that Nurse Ratched is a mechanic. McMurphy is portrayed as being a good character by revitalising the hope of the patients by strangling Nurse Ratched. This revitalise the hope for the pa...
Jamison describes another medical figure in her life that she referred to as Dr. M. Dr. M was Jamison’s primary cardiologist, a figure who is involved in some of the most intimate details of Jamison’s life. However, Jamison describes Dr. M by saying she, “…wasn’t personal at all” (14). Dr. M would actually record personal information about Jamison on a tape recorder, however, Jamison would hear Dr. M referring to her as “patient” instead of by her name. This example demonstrates that Dr. M was indeed putting in the minimal effort needed to keep her clients, however, no additional effort was put into the process of learning about her patients. Jamison says that, “…the methods of her mechanics [were] palpable between us…” (18). Dr. M would not even put any effort into disguising her lack of interest of getting to know Jamison. This atmosphere of apathy that is exuded by Dr. M naturally causes Jamison to retract from Dr. M, which creates an environment that is not good for cultivating
In recent years many novels have been published to highlight the hardships and harsh reality of those suffering from mental disorders. While our knowledge on this issue has increased vastly, strong connections can be draw between classic and modern literature in regards to characters who suffer from these disorders. The novel “Compulsion” by Heidi Ayarbe, tells the story of a teenage boy with severe OCD. This novel authenticates the many sickening facets of OCD, and sheds a realistic and much needed light on what it is actually like to suffer from a mental illness. In a similar vein, the tragic play, “Hamlet”, shows how illness can be bred from traumatic events, and how it can lead to pain and loss for not only those suffering from an illness,
Once you are born, you become a part of a larger group. You will grow up starting at a point in your parent's life and then over time they or even you will change the direction of your families subculture in whatever country you all live in. In America, People strive for the best. Not all get it, but somehow or someone will push that family into a situation where they can move up in the world. Over the years America has came to a point where most jobs pay well and mostly anyone can be considered a middle class resident. In America this is considered normal to the general public. Being normal and striving to be normal is the focus most people try to reach within their lifetimes. Normality is a subculture in itself.
...s interesting, then, that by removing one puzzle piece, a person could unveil a new picture formed by the pieces, one that is disturbingly similar to the pictures formed in so many other lives. In one foul swoop, a man held in such majesty, with enough hopefulness to inspire readers for a hundred years, is brought to his knees and is forced to reveal himself as an average man with dreams far taller than the any redwood and failures as biting as the coldest wind. The final result of a Gatsby claimed victim by normality is simple what you would call a normal man. The contrast between the real Gatsby and our Gatsby is shocking. From his beliefs to his actions, there is no doubt that a Gatsby stricken by the hard, cold fist of real life acts more subdued than a battered spouse. It is pitiful to imagine and begs the question, does being normal really just mean giving up?
Oftentimes, in the public, people have to be “normal” to be successful and accepted. Author William Saroyan believes that society steers people to be conform and fit in, but he disagrees. In the short story “Gaston,” Saroyan shows that carving a unique path can turn out to be erroneous. Through symbolism and contrast, Saroyan conveys the theme that society does not always accept people’s differences.
Peter Shaffer’s play “Equus” reads like a true tragedy blending religion and adolescence while questioning society’s “civilized norms”. Although Alan Strang seemingly suffers the most throughout the story, the true tragic figure in the play is Dysart, Alan’s psychiatrist. Dysart is forced to question everything that he previously accepted and his whole life is thrown out the window upon meeting Alan. Both Arthur Miller’s definition of a tragic figure and the traditional definition provided by Aristotle apply to Dysart.
When pondering about what an individual thinks of you, people have varying views. Some people are not concerned; to others it is the most critical matter on their mind. The feeling of being judged is a very potent emotion. Likewise, conformity is one of the largest controversies in today’s society; the behavior of someone in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. So if someone personally made his or her expectations on what you should be like evident, would you change? In Matthew Quick’s The Silver Linings Playbook, he illustrates that judgment and expectations conform a person into someone they are not due to their personal identity. This can be seen through a character’s loyalty to another, dominance and the vulnerability it includes, and a character’s love and devotion. Conformity and the reasons for its appearance will be analyzed through samples from Matthew Quick’s bestselling novel.
...ly progressed from a way to tell stories about kings and gods to a way to tell stories about ordinary human beings. By moving our focus off of nobility, the language of plays became the language of every individual, and eventually, due to America’s “melting pot” culture, the language itself became individual. The unique language of American dramatic characters represents not only the diversity of the American people, but also the diversity of all human beings. These dramatically dissimilar differences were not typical of older plays when they were written, but now, they are what make American drama so valuable. Our acceptance and love for characters with different values than ours is representative of the love we can develop for those who are different from us. It represents the worldview that our current culture idealizes and strives to achieve: acceptance for all.
The pair are close friends but have quite contrasting opinions when it comes to Alan’s case. Hesther believes that Alan needs to be fixed in order to be a fully functioning member of society. Hesther often speaks of how Alan is in pain, and that Martin has the power to take it away and thus make him normal. In contrast, Martin believes this will destroy the passion that by creating just another person. “The Normal is the good smile in a child’s eyes—all right. It is also the dead stare in a million adults. It both sustains and kills—like a God.” This is one example of Martin’s beliefs of the normal. Martin speaks of how if he returns Alan to normality, Alan will become a shell of the man he once was, “He’ll be delivered from madness. My desire might be to make this boy an ardent husband – a caring husband – a worshipper of abstract and unifying god. My achievement however, is more likely to make a ghost.” Martin’s beliefs are represented in this contrast by Shaffer to demonstrate how taking away ones’ worship is just as damaging as having something to
The play by Murray Shisgal, The Typists, is about two people who work during their lifetime at a firm, typing the addresses of prospective customers. Through their speeches we see that the play talks about hopelessness, routine and fear of change. Most of the character’s motives are explained through the Freudian concept of superego, or, in other words, the part of people’s psique which is related to discipline, judgment of the society, guilt, pride, self-discipline and self- punishment. In this paper, I’ll make an attempt to illustrate these themes in the play.
In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, Charlotte Gilman 's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Ken Kesey 's One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, the poor treatment of primary characters labeled insane by secondary characters results in the deterioration of the primary characters mental state. All three of these works take place in a time where mental instability is frowned upon. The way in which society views those with mental instabilities influences the view and treatment of the mentally unstable by the people around them.
One of the most obvious things that we are noticing in our everyday lives is that people are distinctly different. There are 7 billion people sharing the earth. But how many are considered “normal”? When are people considered abnormal? To be normal is to adhere to a standard or norm, but unfortunately, normality is an impossible and unlikely dream that we will continue to strive for all our lives. We strive for it because it gives us that sense of self that we need to reassure us that we fit in. While undefined, depending on your upbringing, generation and culture, what you consider normal may not be normal for someone else because other countries and cultures have different traditions and practices that they view to be routine; and what in the past has been viewed as normal has evolved throughout the course of time.
In 1962, writer Mark Esslin took pleasure in composing the novel Theatre of the Absurd and quickly became a major influence on the works of many inspired writers. Esslin subsequently made ensuing plays and stories which focused on nonspecific existentialist concepts and which did not remain consistent with his ideas, rejecting the “narrative continuity and the rigidity of logic.” As a result, the protagonist of these stories is often not capable of containing himself within his or her disorderly society (“Theatre”). Writer Albert Camus made such an interpretation of the “Absurd” by altering the idea into his view of believing it is the rudimentary absence of “reasonableness” and consistency in the human personality. Not only does Camus attempt to display the absurd through studied deformities and established arrangements; he also “undermines the ordinary expectations of continuity and rationality” (“The Theatre”). Camus envisions life in his works, The Stranger and “The Myth of Sisyphus,” as having no time frame or significance, and the toiling endeavor to find such significance where it does not exist is what Camus believes to be the absurd (“Albert”).