David Garrick (1716-1779)
David Garrick’s contemporaries felt it would be vanity to describe his acting (Stone and Kahrl 27). Vanity has never stopped Shane Davis from doing anything !
David Garrick was considered to be the most influential and skilled actor of his time. Garrick is credited with revolutionizing the portrayal of character. His concept of ‘experiencing’ the feelings of the character, is a concept that helped lead 18th-century theatre into a new naturalistic era. It was an approach to acting that was directly at odds with the theatrical philosophy prior to Garrick’s inception (Stone and Kahrl 35). Garrick’s innovative style known as naturalism, led the extremely popular and successful actor James Quin to remark " If this [method of Garrick’s] is right, then we are all wrong" ( Cole and Chinoly 131). The style that was so admired and later copied by Garrick’s peers was a combination of naturalism, classical representation of the passions, and exaggerated physicality.
Garrick was not the originator of naturalism ,that distinction is Charles Mackilin’s, although he is credited with its success. Pure naturalism can be characterized by Macklin’s instruction of his players to ignore the cadence of tragedy, but simply speak the passage as you would in common life and with more emotional force (Cole and Chinoly 121). The term used to describe this new style of speech is called broken tones of utterance. It is a method of speech which concentrates more on the emotion in a verse rather than its meter. David Garrick was a opportunistic actor who borrowed from many different acting techniques (Stone and Kahrl 345). Garrick’s naturalism was concerned more with the feeling of true emotion , the uniqueness of character, combined with the physical representation of the passions.
Representation of the passions was an accepted artistic convention for expressing emotion. Le Brun, a late 17th-century century artist , wrote a "grammar" of the passions from Descartes earlier work. In doing so he gives a formal explanation of the 17th and eventually 18th-century representation of emotion. Le Brun’s manual explains that
Contempt is expressed by the eyebrows knit and lowering towards the nose, and at the other end very much elevate; the eye very open, and the pupil in the middle; the nostrils drawing upwards; the mouth shut, and the corners somewhat down, and the upper lip thrust out farther than the upper one. (Le Brun)
Le Brun’s descriptions along with many suggestions of mannerisms which should accompany them were reprinted in the acting manuals of the time.
Many times in literature the author may use artifice to help develop the character’s persona. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby utilizes artifice to help him elevate in his society. In the beginning of the novel Nick is deceived into thinking that Jay Gatsby was a respected, popular and always have been a wealthy man. Jay Gatsby pretended
...ne that when reading from an objective point of view the audience is able to place themselves in a similar position as the man. A story about man without a name and a face to visualize leaves only his personality for the readers to connect with. In “To Build a Fire” the man’s determination is the character of the story, through all the events that transpire he is still willing to meet his friends, “the boys”, by six o’clock. Although it took another writer’s opinion to help me comprehend the true intentions of London’s “To Build a Fire”, my appreciation for the piece has grown along with my understanding of what sets naturalism apart from other writing styles.
The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God-- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-- and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end (99).
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby many characters are not as they seem. The one character that intrigues me the most is James Gatsby. In the story Gatsby is always thought of as rich, confident, and very popular. However, when I paint a picture of him in my mind I see someone very different. In fact, I see the opposite of what everyone portrays him to be. I see someone who has very little confidence and who tries to fit in the best he can. There are several scenes in which this observation is very obvious to me. It is clear that Gatsby is not the man that everyone claims he is.
When looking at Jay Gatsby, one sees many different personalities and ideals. There is the gracious host, the ruthless bootlegger, the hopeless romantic, and beneath it all, there is James Gatz of North Dakota. The many faces of Gatsby make a reader question whether they truly know Gatsby as a person. Many people question what exactly made Jay Gatsby so “great.” These different personas, when viewed separately, are quite unremarkable in their own ways.
The enigmatic Jay Gatsby is an unconventional hero. Despite that, Jay does have characteristics that follow the archetype. In congruency with the Hero’s Journey archetype, Gatsby’s origin is mysterious. Even his closest friends don’t know about his questionable past. He definitely has imperfections, but he is not a fool. He experiences an internal call to adventure, ...
People today have many different personalities based on who they are interacting with. Often times people's personas change due to their influences and their ideals. Many high school students experience a change in personality while trying to fit in or mimic a person they look up to. Some people are unaware of their own change in personality however, in the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald Jay decides to invent this false persona of who he wishes to be. Starting in Jay’s teenage years he began to create his new identity. Jay wanted to be successful a one percenter who wanted nothing to do with his childhood. He was embarrassed by where he came from so he choose to create a false persona Jay Gatsby. The author uses character to convey
He does not act the way the top tier is presumed to act. “Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (48). His mannerisms and even his words seem forced to fit in. Towards the end the reader learns that this is because Jay Gatsby is really just Jimmy Gatz and that he has drastically changed himself to become the man many people spoke of. Many things about Gatsby changed but some of his personality traits remained the same. “He was only a young man, but he had a lot of brain power here” (168). His will and intellect remained the same throughout the book. Gatsby’s story is similar to the saying “you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” Gatsby rose up to the likes of a millionaire but still kept his working class personality traits with him. Both Gatsby’s personality changes and constants say a lot about the new money class. Their personalities are shaped by both their wealth and the experiences they had to get to that
In life, we ask ourselves the question what we are? In addition, we also ask ourselves how our perspectives allow us to see this world? These questions are an opening idea’s, which requires the person answering it, to be fully aware of his or her life, and then have the ability to judge it without any personal bias. This is why, in the book that was and is in a sense is still talked about in class, The Great Gatsby, which is a book that follows a plethora of charters all being narrated by, Nick Caraway, a character of the book The Great Gatsby. Nick Caraway is the character in the book which judges and describes his and other character’s actions and virtues. Now we speak of a character whose name is Jay Gatsby or other whys known as James Gatz, which is one of the characters that Mr. Caraway, seems to be infatuated with from the start of the book. This character Jay Gatsby develops a perspective, which in his view seems to justify his actions by the way that he saw the world that he was living in. In this essay, I will explain why the ambitions of a person, can lead them to do things that are beyond there normal character.
The theme of reason versus emotion can be found by analyzing individual character’s actions in William Shakespeare’s Othello. However, the line between to the two decision-making mindsets is not always very apparent. Three characters – Iago, Desdemona, and Othello – will be analyzed to show that Shakespeare wanted to blur the line between reason and emotion and demonstrate that individuals do not necessarily operate with only one or the other.
ABSTRACT: There has yet to be a culture discovered which lacks music. Music is a part of our existence, but we do not fully understand it. In this paper, working in the tradition of Aristotle, Wittgenstein and Langer, I elucidate some of the connections between music and the emotions. Using contemporary philosophy of mind theories of emotion, I explain how we can have a better understanding of our emotive responses to music. I follow the pattern through representational painting and abstract painting to music, and show how each functions as an intentional object for the object of our emotions in response to each art form.
The dawning of the nineteen century brought with it a change in the political and social climate, the world was ready to usher in a new era of artistic thought. This new awareness was called “Romanticism” and saw its height during the Industrial Revolution. At this time, the Romantic era centered on the ideas of emotion, fantasy and hope. The end of the French Revolution became an important force in propelling a new train of thought. For the first time people were now regarded as individuals, oppression was sympathized and the banner of equality was flying high.
‘A personality invested with distinctive attributes and qualities, by a novelist or dramatist; also, the personality or ‘part’ assumed by an actor on the ...
dynamic of naturalism contributes to the Renaissance movement with regards to the real. The Fortune
The name most associated with excellence in theatre is William Shakespeare. His plays, more than any other playwright, resonate through the ages. It may be safe to say that he has influenced more actors, directors, and playwrights than any thespian in the history of the stage. But what were his influences? During the Middle Ages theatre was dominated by morality, miracle, and mystery plays that were often staged by the church as a means to teach the illiterate masses about Christianity. It wasn’t until the early sixteenth century that Greek tragedy experienced a revival, in turn, inspiring a generation of renaissance playwrights.