Book III in Wang Shifu's The Story of the Western Wing
One of China’s most popular love comedies, The Story of the Western Wing (Xixiang Ji) by Wang Shifu (1250-1300) dramatizes a scholar-and-beauty romance. Zhang Sheng, a promising student, and Cui Yingying, a beautiful maiden, meet in a temple, fall in love at first sight and after a series of thwarted attempts, they end up happily marrying each other, after the student has passed the civil exam as the top one, of course. Among the five books of The Story of the Western Wing, Book III stands out in the very middle of the whole play with interesting characteristics in terms of both theatrical features and thematic complexity. First of all, while dan and sheng share most of the arias in the other four books, the “small dan” Hongniang takes all the singing parts in this book and by doing so emerges as the major character as the play goes on. Moreover, due to her liminal status as a housemaid, that is, her relative freedom of entering different private spaces as well as tabooed topics, Hongniang’s domination of the stage adds much more complexity to the scholar-beauty love story. Second, Book III is depleted of spectacular scenes, which are considered fundamental to the Chinese theater (so-called “total theater”) and do appear in the other books, such as the ceremony scene in Book I and the roaring bandits in Book II. Instead, what we have here is the three core characters, namely Hongniang, Zhang Sheng and Yingying getting on and off the stage, conjuring, insinuating and conspiring without fully accomplishing any goal yet significantly complicating their interrelationships and respective desires. Hence, instead of appealing to the audience with spectacular staging, Book...
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...ng wants her mistress to know his bachelor status while Hongniang indicates more interest than anger in her long criticism of his inappropriate inquiry about Yingying’s activities: “Why meddle in something that doesn’t concern you? If it were only me, well, I could forgive that” (133). Then, in Act iii, Book II, Hongniang expresses her admiration for Zhang in a more explicit way: “On account of his exterior appearance/ And because of his inner talents,/ I, who have always had a hard heart, / Am smitten as I see him” (169).
[5] Hongniang does seem more eager than Yingying to meet Zhang Sheng in some cases. In Act iii, that Zhang Sheng mistakes her for Yingying and hugs her is also implicative of Hongniang’s acting as the double of Yingying. Yet these cases may also serve to construct dramatic contrasts between the maid and the mistress and to amuse the audience.
While Solution-focused therapy is a combination of ideas from other theories, such as cognitive, communication, and crisis intervention. “It’s focus is of helping clients identify and amplify their strengths and resources toward the goal of finding solutions to presenting problems (Walsh, 2013).”
Chang portrays the complexity of Henry’s character by showing the conflict that he faces both in his personal and professional life. His confusion towards his own Cultural identity is noticed in his relationships with his co-workers as well as with his family. His personal relationship with his family, especially with his father and his wife exemplifies the clash between the two cultures which seems to tear Henry apart. Leila, Henry’s wife, seems to epitomize the traditional American Culture which Henry tries very hard to be a part of. Her forthright nature along with the independence and individuality contradicts the stereotypical qualities of an Asian wife. However, Henry’s desperation is seen in his forgiving attitude towards Leila’s action and behavior. His deter...
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Although we did not have time for the lecture on Chapter 15, I found myself intrigued with the information I read on solution-focused therapies. The term solution-focused therapy kept coming up in my classes, but I really did not have an understanding of exactly what it entailed. In reviewing this chapter, I not only learned a lot, but also found myself in agreement with much of what I read. While there is no such thing as a one size fits all therapy, Solution-focused therapy has a lot to offer clients.
It is well known that Shakespeare’s comedies contain many marriages, some arranged, some spontaneous. During Queen Elizabeth's time, it was considered foolish to marry for love. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, people often marry for love. With a closer look into two of his most famous plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night or What You Will, I found that while marriages are defined and approached differently in these two plays, Shakespeare’s attitudes toward love in both plays share similarities. The marriages in As You Like It’s conform to social expectation, while the marriages are more rebellious in Twelfth Night. Love, in both plays, was defined as
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The classic play Romeo and Juliet by the famous playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and has captured and inspired readers everywhere. Regardless of the fact that it was written in the 1500’s, it is still being performed and extolled today. There is a multitude of reasons for such continuance of the play. First of all, its everlasting themes of love and hate enable people to deeply relate to the story. Secondly, its memorable characters deeply imprint on the minds of readers. And lastly, above all, is its magnificent language which many writers today regard in awe. These three elements make the acclaimed play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the most timeless stories of our lives.
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Xin Ran meets with a college student who gives Xin Ran a definition of a “good woman”. The good Chinese woman is conditioned to behave in a “soft, meek manner” (42). She then goes on to say that the bad woman, or the mistress, is a woman a man despises and that is why he does not marry her. This idea of a good woman is a topic that is explored by a lot of literature. Looking at Shakespeare’s Hamlet,
...?NASA’s advancements in technology continues to generate billions of dollars, provide employment to numerous people and most importantly ,save lives. Today we see more and more young people taking up careers and jobs in the field of science.
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As it can be seen from the characteristics of the two servants, they have some differences. These differences not only affect their characteristics but also their relationships with others too. In the book we can see two servants with different relationships with the same person who is Prosp...