Prompt:
Masks can be used literally or metaphorically in drama. Discuss to what extent, and for what purpose, masks have been used in A Streetcar Named Desire and Hedda Gabler.
Introduction:
Masks are often used as metaphors by characters to conceal an aspect of themselves they are trying to forget about or not let others know. In Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois uses metaphorical masks to forget about her deceased husband and the society which judged her for her actions. The masks in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler that Hedda Gabler creates is to isolate herself away from society and the traditional values they instill upon her. The two female protagonists Blanche and Hedda use darkness, clothes, and dialogue as masks, using these motifs and the atmosphere produced from their speech in combination with the set to build their own reality where they are able to avoid the limiting lives they are given in the real world.
Topic Sentences # 1
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche uses lampshades as a mask to hide her age in an attempt to avoid the past which haunts her.
In Hedda Gabler, Hedda also avoids the light by closing the curtains in order to ignore the society she cannot fit in with.
Topic Sentences # 2
The clothes and dresses Blanche dresses up in act as a mask to allow herself to become who she wants to be and evade a reality in which she is alone in.
Hedda also wears loose dresses as a mask to hide the child that is allegedly growing inside of her, hiding from herself and others a symbol of the traditional life that she detests.
Topic Sentences # 3
Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire talks frequently about trivial things and lies often, trying to use her words and change of the set as a mask to create a wall around her to detach herself from her past and others' penetrating and judging words.
Hedda Gabler also uses words as a mask to conceal her thoughts and changes the set as Blanche does to create her own reality, but instead says very little to isolates herself from a society that limits her independence.
Really good!I would say your weakest point is the last section. Your wording is vague, particularly with Hedda. What type of words does she use to mask her self? are you trying to force an argument? Your intro was concise and well organized. In topic sentence section one, you might want to refer to the specific dramatic technique, its kind of a confusing idea that Blanche uses a lamp to mask her self, but you could say that her manipulation of the set demonstrates her desire to create fantasy and deny reality. However the strength of your topic sentances is your ability to convey all the necesary points concisely.
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth
Hey Adrienne!
ReplyDeletePlaywrights, texts, metaphorical masks: check. You followed the guidelines really well. You alternated between talking about Blanche and then Hedda, which is good, because the block method is supposedly more amateur. Nice. I thought it was nice to let your reader know not only that you would be talking about motifs, but also what those specific motifs were. If you could be more clear about what kind of "atmosphere" their speech produced, I think that would help. You didn't delve much into context, which is good because then you have lots to say and develop in your body paragraphs- like how Hedda and Blanche lead limiting lives (note the alliteration). You had a thesis, but combining it with your preview made the whole sentence about three lines long, which is a bit too lengthy. If you could dedicate one sentence to your devices and then let your thesis be more incisive like, "The protagonists Blanche and Hedda use masks to contrive a reality in which their lives are not limiting." I left out the words "two" and "female" because I felt those were fairly obvious when you followed it up with "Blanche and Hedda." But ultimately, it's your call; I might've left out something you thought was really important. On the whole, I thought all your statements were congruent and I applaud your organization skills.