Journal #12- Antigone

I think the most thought-provoking conflict Anouilh presents is the internal conflict of Creon, that being loyalty to family and loyalty to power. In a sense, Creon is caught in a situation in which by hurting his family, his power will be undermined and by helping his family his power will be undermined. This situation comes about because by killing Antigone, he ends up looking bad as a leader, but by allowing her to live (which is the option he prefers), he undermines his power because he is not standing up to opposition against his authority. This is why he formulates the plan to have Antigone be quiet and have her marry his son. Whereas, when Antigone chooses to die, she ends up having more power over Creon because he will end up looking like the dictator-type leader he is. However, there can be some level of sympathy for Creon. It is understandable that he wants to keep his power and stand up against any opposition, because he says that it is necessary for the people of Thebes's protection and security of self. In any case, both characters loose a lot of power, because either Antigone loses her life or her dignity and in any situation Creon loses his dignity. Anouilh seems to be doing this for a few reasons. The main reason is to show the power struggle in the truest sense of a tragedy. In order for a play to be categorized as such, there needs to be not only a downfall for the main character, but also an unavoidable downfall paired with both sides losing out on gaining the greatest possible outcome. The other main reason why I see Anouilh doing this is because of the political ties the play has. I think that he has a critical viewpoint of WWII and sees the reasoning for why the Axis Powers didn't want to end their occupation in France and that losing for them would also mean great sacrifices. And this would be especially hard for the Vichy government, because they have to kill people of their own kind (the French) in order to maintain power in the government.

Journal #11- Antigone

In the first part of the play, the chorus was there to give background to the story so that the audience could understand what Anouilh was going to do plot-wise. Now, this has shifted to the chorus being used for Anouilh's expression of his philosophy on plays. This can be shown in the style of the author's writing. In the intro, the chorus has more action-oriented sentences whereas on page 23, Anouilh highlights, "That is what is so convenient in tragedy. The least little turn of the wrist will do the job".  Anouilh's ideal of tragedy is shown in the second part because he talks not only about tragedy, but he speaks of it in this poetic, flowery way. The chorus helps highlight the more tragic aspects of the play because it tells of what tragedy is. The author pens that "he who kills is as innocent as he who gets killed: it's all a matter of what part you are playing" (24), which to me means that the most tragic thing about a tragedy isn't just that it's sad, but that those who kill still have merit and reason to do so. This I think foreshadows how we eventually will feel about Creon. Yes, he is cruel towards his nephew when he doesn't give Polynices a proper burial, but then again we must remember that he must try to main the power that he has fought for and can't be seen as being weak towards Polynices and his bringing in foreign armies to defeat Eteocles. Overall, the chorus is used for Anouilh's advantage to show his philosophical viewpoint in this scene.

Journal #10- Antigone

In the days before Antigone is caught sneaking out, the following occurs: Polynices and Eteocles have died at the hands of each other because the brothers fought over rule of Thebes. Since Eteocles did not live up to his word that he'd give the rule over to Polynices after one year, Polynices brought in foreign armies in order to get his power back. Now, Creon is king and he won't let Polynices have a proper burial because of his betrayal. Also, Antigone has been proposed to by Creon's son Haemon. Also, the very night before the scene with the nurse, Antigone has gone out an buried her brother. I think that this array Anouilh presents for the audience an interesting viewpoint of the play. First off, this is all told by the Chorus. I feel that Anouilh decides to do this because he wants to stay true to the Greek play writing tradition, but this also allows him to not have to retell the story in terms of having the players act out the previous events (which would take an enormous amount of time). Also, with complex stories such as this one, it is easier to just come out and tell what's happening to get to the meat of the story rather than dispersing it out.   One of the reasons why great authors of tragedy come out from the beginning about a character's death or downfall is that the audience isn't anticipating what is going to happen to a character and misread the plot line, but instead look at the details of the play to be able to understand its intricacies. In novels, it is usually ok to disperse back story throughout the book, but it is harder to do that in terms of plays.  It was only after reading the play a few times that I realized the chronology of events in a somewhat uniform matter. I think that Anouilh may also be showing how story telling is often hard to do in terms of sequences and actions because usually more than one event is going on. Finally, I believe that the play is trying to show confusion when showing the truth of the matter, because all too often how the truth comes out of a faulty human memory shows how the truth is blurred a bit from one perspective.

Topic Sentence

After discussing the deaths of her son and husband, Mother talks about females and objects associated with females in order to comfort herself with the peaceful conception she has of them.

Journal #9- Blood Wedding

The 3 major themes that I see in Blood Wedding are as follows:

1. Control/ Power
The number one character that I see portraying this theme is the mother. She lost control over her ability to keep her husband and son alive and henceforth she wants control over her son the groom. She also treats his marriage as a business transaction in order to gain what she wants. Also, the father seems to want control over his daughter and realizes that he does not have this power when she runs off with Leonardo and he believes that his daughter could not do so.

2.Where one's true allegiance lies
The bride admits at the end of the play that she felt the groom was the best man for her, however she  runs off with Leonardo because she is so entranced by him. Also, the mother is constantly questioning if the daughter is a good, loyal woman even from the first scene. Leonardo's wife also seems to show that she questions her husband's true faithfulness to her because of her awkward transitions in Act 1 Scene 2 where she seems to know that Leonardo is up to something but isn't questioning it.

3. Gender roles
It seems that Lorca is heavily criticizing stereotypical gender roles because of how these roles end up hurting the characters in the play. The mother tries to tell her son that he needs to be a true man with his wife and tries to encourage strict female conduct with the bride, however this constraint ultimately leads to the bride's escape with Leonardo. Also, the wife is trapped by her domestic domain and eventually loses her husband. The mother may be considered a good wife because she has this reverence for her husband and about how he was an amazing man, but this doesn't allow her to break free and move on with her life.

Journal #8- Blood Wedding

The set changes from a supposedly happy wedding scene with some drama, to that of an eerie and intense scene in the woods. I think that Lorca could be using this for two reasons. First off, in terms of plot this happens because it shows the contrast between the ideal wedding and the increasing intensity between that will lead up to the final scene where you find out the lovers have killed each other. But I also see the woods as a place for Lorca to show how natural elements- such as innate attraction and death- come to play in a real world unfettered by societal standards. This gives the atmospheric shift from the facade of happiness to a place where the Bride and Leonardo can show how they both truly feel naturally, while still building up the intensity of the play. Also, I see that what comes along with the woods (aka the woodcutters, moon and beggar woman) are better represented in the woods than at the scene of the wedding. Henceforth, these more dramatic characters give better light to what happens to people when put in their natural element. Overall, this atmosphere (especially at the end) gives way for the reader to understand how the author highlights the immensity of the killings at the end of the act.

Journal #7 Blood Wedding

The first character that I see being very miserable is the mother. She is miserable not only because of her husband and son's deaths, but because her new daughter in law has ran off with Leonardo, of the Felix family who killed her loved ones. Expresses this anger by violent break outs where she talks about how knives and men are bad, and instead look towards the future of having female grandchild has her coping mechanism for dealing with this stress. I think one of the biggest reasons why she is miserable is because she has no control over her life and the way she wants to live it because so many people have interfered with her pursuit of happiness. The father is also miserable because he wants grandsons to take care of his land and is very excited when his daughter gets married because he wants her to have many kids. However, he becomes miserable when she runs away with Leonardo because his dream will never come true now that this has occurred. He expresses this in a state of denial, because at first he cannot believe that his daughter could do such a thing as run away from her husband. The bride is also miserable because she is forced into a marriage she does not want to be in. She expresses this with her dislike of the wedding and her emotion-less feel towards her husband. The only way that she can escape this is through follow Leonardo's charm and being with him instead of her husband. Finally, the wife is also miserable because her husband has run off. It's obvious that she's frustrated because the bride is another woman, but I also think that there is a deeper context. Leonardo runs off with a rich woman who is the wife's cousin- I think that can hit her hard because she probably feels worthless because of her husband's infidelity because she is not this young, rich woman. And to add more fuel to the fire, she is also the mother of his child and is pregnant with another baby. All of this added up? I'd probably be frustrated as well! It is clear as to why all of these above characters are definitely miserable.

Journal #6- Blood Wedding

Youth plays a big role in this scene. With the Bride, her youth is slipping away as she is about to marry the groom. One of the guests made a comment "Today a maiden, tomorrow a woman" This helps us understand why the Bride is frustrated with her being forced into the institution of marriage, because she will lose her youth in the process. This can tie into the theme of time in the play, because it is running out at the same time that she is losing her youth. Also, I see youth in the guests and other characters in this play. They pretend to act as the bride and groom around the Bride, almost intensifying the loss of youth in this scene. Finally, the Maid shows youthful tones in her poems and songs. There are references to flowers especially, which also link into the theme of fertility because the Bride (who is suppose to have children soon) is still young, but no longer will be as youthful as she wishes because she'll be tied down in her marriage to her groom. It is almost as if Lorca is secretly saying that youth is wasted when one gets married because the Bride is no longer care-free, but instead must be tied down to duty and obligation.

Journal #5- Blood Wedding

I feel that Lorca does use many archetypes in seemingly conventional ways. First off, let's look at metals. With reference to Leonardo and his family, there is mention of copper and other common, industrial metals. This is in contrast to the Bridegroom's home where he wears a gold chain. Lorca contrasts these two to show the difference in wealth of the 2 families- which is also clearly shown in the way Leonardo's Mother-In-Law talks about how the Bridegroom has lots to spend. Also, Lorca conventionally uses flowers in these scenes as well. The rose is often used as a a symbol of beauty in both scenes. But what's more interesting is the use of this flower in the song versus when the mother talks about the child. She sings to him as 'my rose', but then she tells her husband he's been a bit more of a dahlia that day. Dahlia flowers were introduced to Spain because of the conquistadors who discovered them in the new world. I am guessing that Lorca is using this reference that the child seems foreign or distant- because he is also sick. Also, flowers are used in a somewhat non-traditional way in differentiating class. The Bridegroom's house has 'large pink flowers', whereas Leonardo has 'everyday flowers'. I think that this key difference shows how the two contrast financially. Finally, there is this idea of presents in Scene 3. Usually, getting a present is a good thing. However, for the Bride the presents of her coming marriage bother her. Here, Lorca uses the twist of an archetype in a conventional way. The presents act as a Trojan Horse in her case, because they seem to bring good pleasure, but on this inside they bring nothing but trouble for her because they do not give her what truly makes her happy. (Which would be Leonardo's touch in this case.) Overall, the symbols are generally used in a conventional matter, just in different ways in this section.

EDIT: So I didn't understand exactly what Mrs. Wecker meant by 'archetype' specifically for this journal. So, now that I understand this is, let's look at the characters' archetypes.

As far as the archetypes in Act 1 Scene 2, the Wife and Mother-In-Law closely follow what is usually described as being a caring mom or grandmother. Also, Leonardo seems to be a regular man taking care of his family. I feel that Lorca uses this simplicity to make the Wife and Mother-In-Law feel comfortable with their position in the family. It is so then they do not expect Leonardo to run off with the Bride at the wedding, so they suspect nothing of going to the wedding. In Scene 3, The Bride definitely does not follow the archetype of a bride- being blushing, beautiful and ready for marriage. Instead, she seems timid then tied-down by this institution. This definitely hints towards her escape with Leonardo and the rationale behind her runaway bride attitude. The way the Mother and Father act is also very stereotypical of parents who treat marriage like a business transaction. For this reason, it is understandable as to why they get frustrated when the bride runs away. Also, the Father seems to be one of those dads who always believes the best in his daughter. However, this archetype shows how he is blinded by his delusion of his daughter's loyalty.

Journal #4- Blood Wedding

Two symbols that I saw emerge in Act 1 Scene 1were flowers and knives and how they represent life and death. I saw Lorca using this almost exclusively with the Bridegroom's Mother. The first reference to flowers comes as she is ranting on about knives, and says that her husband was a beautiful man, with life like a flower in his mouth (pg 6). I thought this was an interesting phrasing of words, so I looked up the phrase 'like a flower in his mouth'. Turns out this comes from a play from an Italian writer called The Man with a Flower in His Mouth, and in this play, a man is reminiscing about his life as he is about to die. This can extend easily back to Blood Wedding because of the Mother's belief that her husband lived this great life worth of reminiscing about and then it was ended by a knife, aka relating to death. I also found Lorca's use of having flowers describe males fascinating. Mother is constantly describing her late husband and son as various kinds of flowers, but then again she wishes that the Bridegroom was female. Females are more generally linked to flowers because of fertility. So by this, I see that the Mother is struggling with female identity in a sense that she wants her world to become more feminine even though she longs for the lost men in her life. As far as knives go, I find this to be interesting as well. The knife represents death obviously, but I also find that after this conversation about the knife in the first lines of the play, Mother resorts to talking about how she wishes that her son was female and she gets excited when talking about lace stockings for her soon to be daughter in law. I find this to suit well with this previous observation about how the mother deals with gender. She seeks talking about the comforts of femininity and overall wishing things in her life to be more female. I even see this relating to the end of the novel when she makes up an argument for letting the Bride not have to die. It is as if Lorca is suggesting something about the female connection to life and death that makes women seek out other women even in lamenting men.