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Representation of women in musical theatre
Portrayal of women on broadway
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“Fear and hate can be vanquished with but one deadly weapon, the rarest and most beautiful double-edged sword of all, the sword of love. For while love may cause pain, it is still how we all begin and many end.
“In women, love runs deep and true, spanning the life cycle from maiden, to mother, to crone. Thus, it is a woman’s job to slay the dragon, despite what the chroniclers tell you.
“Women? The weaker sex?” The narrator tossed her head back and laughed, then strode off stage and walked down the center aisle separating the seats in the crowd. “I say nay, as women bear the secret to life in their very wombs, something a man can never know.”
She strode back up the aisle and stopped at the king’s seat. “What, jealous?” she asked, and Carlton
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The king, wanting to be fair, put the matter up to vote, and the people decided the dragon needed to be killed. Thus, the king and men rode out into the woods, bearing crossbows and lances, to slay the dragon.
As the queen predicted, such action did nothing but enrage the dragon, and the beast lay siege to the castle every day from sunset to sunup. The people were exhausted, but each morning, the king and his men-at-arms rode out, trying to find the dragon’s secret daytime hiding space.
The play carried on with more wonderful moments and hysterical veiled sexual references, until the penultimate moment, when the queen and Sir Dar are faced with the dragon attacking the castle, alone, during the daytime, as everyone else had fled, or was out seeking the dragon to destroy him.
The dragon breathed down fire and rocks came crashing down. Audra was concerned for a moment, worried the actors might get injured, then realized she’d become so swept up in the story that it wasn’t real rocks that fell, but gray cloth fashioned into
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“We’ve no choice now. I’ll not have my queen die!”
The queen laid down her sword at her feet and approached the beast. “No.” She stared into his eyes, reached out, and patted the dragon’s long snout. “The dragon does not want war and hate; in his eyes, I see what he desires. He wants a home and to be understood, the things all men and women want. He wants to belong and be loved.”
Like a satisfied puppy, the dragon dropped his head to the floor and grunted with approval.
The king and his men made their way back to the castle, and upon seeing the tame dragon, they all feel to their knees and praised the queen. She proclaimed they were to make a den for the dragon close to the castle, and she would visit the beast each day. Sir Dar was the first to say he would help build, then the other men chimed in.
Over time, other villagers and courtiers began to visit the dragon in his fine, new den in a clearing by the river. The dragon had friends now and was pleased.
The case of actors faded into the background as the narrator took the stage again.
“Yes, the dragon wanted nothing more than the deepest desire of all men and women – to be
The dragon is portrayed as the undefeatable evil. He is nearly invincible, breathes fire, and manages to fatally wound the ultimate hero of the poem. This makes him the ultimate evil Although Beowulf does defeat the dragon, the battle ends in a tie, since both sides perish, which shows the never ending balance between the two extremes: good and evil. The theme of loyalty is also explored here. When the battle between Beowulf and the dragon first begins, “[his] hand-picked troop/ broke ranks and ran for their lives” (1129). This is a common archetype that allows the hero to face the antagonist alone, all while having assistance during the journey leading up to the final battle. The author used this to emphasize the Anglo-Saxon belief of fate. Beowulf was supposed to face the dragon alone, thus his comrades had to disappear. The two ways to do this would have been to have Beowulf go alone, which would conflict with the belief of Warrior Culture, or portray his allies as cowards which would also help reinforce the Anglo Saxon values regarding courage. Thus by adding in the archetype of the cowardly allies, the author creates an emphasis on the important parts of Anglo-Saxon culture without relying on
Dr. Luther King Jr stated,“This is the most important and crucial period in your lives, for what you do now and what you decide not at this age may well determine which way your life shall go.” In the satirical fairy tale Dealing with dragons, written by Patricia Wrede Cimorene, the princess of Linderwall is a great example for this quote because she goes on crazy adventures. Cimorene was justified in showing apathy toward the expected social norms of her day because she helped save the dragons, escaped a life she did not enjoy, and she was able to avoid marrying someone she did not love.
Towards the end of the story, Beowulf travels to fight a dragon who is protecting a large treasure. He wants to prove to his kingdom that he is still the brave and strong man he used to be, but his main motivation is the treasure he will get after his victory. "And Beowulf uttered his final boast: 'I've never known fear, as a youth I fought In endless battles. I am old, now, But I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares To face me'" (606-610). On the other side, the dragon has the same motivation. He is willing protect the treasure if it takes his life. This makes the fight one to the death. "When he comes to me I mean to stand, not to run from his shooting Flames, stand still till fate decides Which of us wins" (619-622). Beowulf feels that if he cannot have this victory, that this is the proper way to
Which is to slay the dragon that continues to attack the villages and farms of Geatland.“ Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time:” I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.” (lines 2510-2515), being his final words to his people before he sets out to slay the dragon. While battling the dragon Beowulf gets burned and injured badly. All his men are frightened by this and run off besides Wiglaf. “ The nobel son of Weohstan saw the king in danger at his side and displayed his inborn bravery and strength(lines 2694-2626).... Once again the king gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife he carried on his belt, sharpened in battle , He stuck it deep into the dragon’s flank. Beowulf dealt it a deadly wound. They had killed the enemy, courage quelled his life; that pair of kinsmen, partners in nobility, had destroyed the foe. So every man should act, be at hand when needed;”( lines 2702-2710). Even though beowulf and wiglaf slay the dragon king Beowulf dies from his injuries. “ The dragon from underearth, his nightmarish destroyed as well.” (lines 2824-2826). After this tragic loss Wiglaf orders seven men to collect the dragon 's treasure. What remained after was placed in the barrow as a memorial
When the dragon awakes after three hundred years of sleep, he discovers that his cup has been stolen. The dragon, also known as the worm, fills with anger and rage. Even though he is so angry, he does like the idea of battle: “Yet he took joy in the thought of war, in the work of fighting” (Donaldson 40). The dragon cannot wait to ravage the land of the people where one man has stolen from him: “The hoard-guard waited restless until evening came; then the barrow-keeper was in rage: he would requite that precious drinking cup with vengeful fire” (Donaldson 40). The dragon destroys the land and kills everyone around. The dragon even destroys Beowulf’s home.
has been awoken by a thoughtless peasant’s theft of a golden cup. The dragon is then enraged with greed
The dragons that we come across in our lives can be just as menacing and terrifying as one would imagine a dragon to be. They rear their beastly heads, breathe the scalding fire that threatens to burn everything in it’s path, and menace our lives with an unparalleled sense of fury. We are not all born princes, the ones who defeat the dragons with a sweep of their magical swords, filled with a bravery and courage that only a prince can possess. Nor are we all damsels in distress, needing the prince to come and save us from the monster that some evil force has enforced to keep us trapped in a castle forever. I am certainly no prince or princess, at least in the metaphorical sense. I am certainly not about to go out and slice off the heads of whatever stand in between myself and my desires. Because what good would that do? We cannot merely overcome one obstacle in our lives, save the princess, and live happily ever after. Life does not work the way a fairytale does. We are supposed to learn from the obstacles, grow, overcome other obstacles, grow some more, and continue with this cycle throughout our lives. Because regardless of how many of them we slay, these dragons are not going to disappear from our lives. They are going to keep coming back in all sorts of shapes and sizes, bringing along as much hurt as they can possess, and throw enough hardships in our lives that we may want to give up, let them win for once. We might feel the need to succumb to their fiery breath, to drop our swords and give up the fight. Dragons in our lives are always going to be a presence that looms around us, waits for us to slip up and make a mistake that opens the door for them to swoop in and roar with ferocity. In Letters To a Young Poet, Rilke is as...
After settling down as king in the Land of the Geats, a thief disturbs a dragon's cave, infuriating the dragon, Beowulf sees no other option but to kill it. As the dragon is about to die it bites Beowulf in the neck and the two of them die together, but his men still avenge him. The author writes, “They pitched the dragon over the cliff top, let tide’s flow and backwash take the treasure-minder” (p. 211). By the end of the poem, with Beowulf realising that his life is coming to an end, he dies at ease knowing that he has faced all the challenges he was confronted with. This is symbolized by his men throwing the dragon, his last challenge, into the ocean and having it taken away by the waves. This illustration of what happens after the dragon dies highlights that because the water is finally being used to help him conquer his enemies, he has accomplished all that was meant for him to do. The ocean that once terrified him so much so at the beginning is now what is helping to get rid of the animal terrorizing his people. Conclusively, by the end of the poem Beowulf successfully overcomes all hardships that he has faced throughout his
The dragon guarded the gold within his barrow, and the gold was his. However, a robber had stolen a gold-plated cup. When the dragon woke up, all that could be felt was fury. The dragon was scorching the ground as he was trying to find the thief who stole from him, but he found no one. Thinking he was imagining things, he went back into his barrow and began searching for the cup, only to find that someone had stumbled upon the golden treasures. He could no longer sit in his lair, but he had to seek out revenge. The dragon began to belch out flames and burn homesteads. Before daybreak, he went back into his den. Beowulf was given the bad news that Hygelac--king of the Geats--had been killed and his homeland had been destroyed. Like the dragon, Beowulf had to seek
Tolkien, dragons were nothing close to their true potential. So to find dragons that had the power he needed he looked back in time a century, back to the dark ages, when stories of dragons ran rampant. There he found the two dragons that would help build his dragon, Smaug, the first being the unnamed dragon from Beowulf. Beowulf was written between the 8th and 11th century, but it existed a great deal longer in oral from. The Beowulf dragon is more of a dangerous beast, there is no talking to it, there is no negotiating with it, it is just a pure force of nature. What wakes it up is a thief as it sleeps on a pile of gold. A golden cup is taken and that's what arouses it to anger. When it is awakened it fights with jets of flame and burns the world around the down to the ground, everything burned, towns, villages and even
"We found the dragon asleep on his back making an awful sound. He was snoring." "And yes," Titus said, he does shoot flames out of both sides of his nose, “And he makes enough noise when he growls
It all starts when one’s young, learning about things called fairy tales that speak of a wonderful, handsome knight entering a forsaken castle to save some beautiful and useless princess (mostly because all princesses seem to fall under the stereotype that they cannot do one single thing to protect themselves) only to come face to face with a snarling, growling beast called a dragon. That tale is one of the most famous with those of European background because in their culture (and religion, Christianity) dragons are seen as evil, devilish beasts that want nothing more but a virgin sacrifice. In the medieval ages, the kings and queens hired dragon slayers to destroy a beast that “stole” their family away to some mountain cave to feast. Mutilated and ended while the dragon gave its victory roar; but is it really the dragon’s fault for stealing the princess, or rather, any virgin who they come across? Their land was cut short just like every other animal’s an...
...agon goes on a rampage across Beowulf's kingdom. Beowulf ends up dying defeating this dragon, and the treasure that he and so many others died for is buried with the him "and a trove of such things as trespassing men had once dared to drag from the hoard" (Beowulf 3164-3165).
Alfred stood with the king, contemplating different solutions. Until one attracted his attention. “Axton, I’ve got it! Did you hear about the man who attained victory against a ferocious monster, with his own bare hands?” The king glanced towards Alfred with a confused look appearing on his face. “His name is Beowulf. He defeated a monster called Grendel, who was consuming people during the night. This man is so brilliant. He used his knowledge that no weapon could harm or kill Grendel. So Beowulf removed all his armor and put down his sword. He laid down, to appear as if he were sleeping, and when Grendel went to snag him, Beowulf grasped the creature’s arm and ripped it clear off! The creature was in gruesome pain and then ran off to die.” Processing the knowledge he had just heard, the King began to
“Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing on their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting- torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks.” (p286)