Blood Wedding Journal #3: Letters characters might have written

Dearest Leonardo,

I could not deny this burning, passionate love I felt when I was with you. Every minute of the day I longed to be with you. I left this other man's and my wedding, his family and his house for you, but I was afraid that you were the one they would punish. I kept asking you to escape, but you refused. I know you told me that you wanted to find a corner of darkness where you could escape the poison that others spread, and if that had happened, I would have always been there for you, carefully watching and guarding your dreams. These hands of mine, they longed to dig into your flesh and open your veins and listen to your murmuring blood. I was burning for your love. You told me that the only reason we would be apart would be because one of us had died. But now, my fears are a reality. We can never be together for, you lie under the fields of wheat.

Love always,

Bride

Blood Wedding Journal #2: The effect of the setting

The play Blood Wedding is set in Andalusia, which is an autonomous community of Spain. The stories that were set in Andalusia were often uncompromising in their exposure of terrible truths and powerful passions. This aspect and influence of the setting is seen when the bride is discussing her wedding with the maid.

MAID: Child, you're asking for trouble, throwing your crown on the floor! Lift up that head. Don't you want to get married? Say so. You can still change your mind.

(The BRIDE stands up)

BRIDE: They are dark clouds-an ill wind inside me. (41)

This shows how the culture that takes place in Andalusia can influence Lorca's play because the Bride is definitely having second thoughts in regards to her wedding. This idea of dark clouds being inside her gives off an ominous tone that what she is expected to do is interfering with what she actually wants. Another aspect of the setting that influences the story is the fact that the characters' celebrations include music and dance. This also helps to emphasize the BRIDE's hesitance to marry BRIDEGROOM because she says "I want to lie down awhile" (72) instead of joining the dancing going on. By not wanting to be a part of the culture's form of celebration, it again shows how the BRIDE is challenging what is expected of her because she is not only not participating in the festivities, she is also forced to reassess what she wants, even though it may contrast with the society's. There is also a sense of sacrifice that is influenced from the setting seen in the story. This sense of sacrifice is seen when the MOTHER says, "Can anyone bring me back your father? Or your brother? And then there is prison. What is a prison? People eat there, they smoke there, they play their music there. My dead ones, covered with weeds, silent, turned to dust. Two men who were like two geraniums! The killers, in prison, alive and well, gazing at the mountains" (7). The MOTHER is very passionate in expressing the sacrifice of losing her husband and son she had to make. The setting helps to influence the MOTHER's story because it highlights the hardships not only in the play, but also in life in general. She is very angry about the fact that even though the murderers may be in prison, they are still living and breathing and can still appreciate the beautiful parts of life, when her family members are dead, and are never coming back. By using this aspect of the setting, Lorca can reveal how this is something that could happen to anyone as well. It is evident how the setting of Andalusia has greatly influenced the plot of Blood Wedding, because it can also highlight how the emotions the characters feel are emotions that humans also often face.

Blood Wedding Journal #1: Stylistic techniques

There is a definite nature motif seen within the first act of Blood Wedding. The author uses this nature motif to reveal how nature is a representation of the pleasant aspects of life, like people coming together and not being separated. When the father says, "I'm only sorry that our lands-you understand?-are separated. I like everything to be together. There's one thorn in my heart, and it's that little orchard stuck right in the middle of my property. They won't sell it to me for all the gold in the world" (30), it shows the importance of not neglecting the things most important to a person in life. Gold is something that is extremely valuable and he refers to it in regards to the land, which shows that he not only takes pride in his orchards, but also in his family and the affection he has for them. This also explains why it is so important that his daughter get married and have children. He places emphasis on the positives of being together in a relationships through the motif of nature and connecting two people's lands together and he does not want that to be any different for his daughter. Although there are positives to life, such as relationships, that are highlighted through nature, there are also negatives brought up as well. When Leonardo's mother-in-law is rocking the child, she says, "Go to sleep, my rose- The horse begins to cry. His wounded hooves, His frozen mane, And in his eyes A silver dagger. They went to the river, Down to the river! The blood was flowing Stronger than the water" (17-18). This reveals the sometimes negative aspects of life that a person must face. Because water is such an essential part of life, and blood often can represent decay and hardships, what the mother says here really reveals how they both are incorporated in one's life. The horse in this quote is drawn away from the vital parts of life and has been physically and emotionally harmed. By expressing that the blood was stronger than the water, it reveals that the difficulties in life often overpower the precious aspects of life because something that is used as a symbol of pain has more force than the replenishing factors of one's existence. It is clear that the motif of nature can be used to represent both the positive and negative features in a person's life.

Wild Duck Journal #5: Ending in relation to the whole

In both Oedipus and Wild Duck, Sophocles and Ibsen create characters that cannot handle what has happened to them throughout the play and then take drastic measures in the end to escape from their troubles. Specifically, in Oedipus, Oedipus can not cope with the fact that he has murdered his father and married his mother and he also has a difficult time when Jocasta dies. In response to all this, Oedipus jabs his eyes out because he feels that it is better to live being blind than have to confront his parents when he dies. "I, with my eyes, how could I look my father in the eyes when I go down to death? Or mother, so abused..." (1500-1502). This reveals the difficulty that Oedipus has in coping with the hardships that occur throughout the play because he feels that it is necessary to inflict pain and suffering on himself and he allows his extreme, upset emotions to take over and his actions are a direct result of that. With the build up of these upsetting occurrences, Oedipus can no longer stand himself and feels that if he stays in Thebes any longer, his daughters especially will be affected because he feels he would have left a bad image and prevented them from ever having an auspicious future and someday getting married. "Such disgrace, and you must bear it all! Who will marry you then? Not a man on earth" (1642-1643). Sophocles decided to create a character whose primary way of coping with things is escaping what is painful to show how the story can build up throughout it and a character's emotions can eventually get the best of them in the end and force them to make drastic decisions in response. In Wild Duck, Hedvig takes similar action in order to escape the pain that has been forced upon her. When Hjalmar finds out that Hedvig is most likely Werle's child instead of his, he becomes extremely angered and storms out of the house. Seeing Hedvig and her poor eyesight just reminds him of Werle, the man the fathered the child he thought was his and he prefers not to be around Hedvig at all. Hedvig had always referred to Hjalmar as "Daddy," which shows her childlike attachment to her father and reveals how much he really meant to her. However, he is reminded of Gina's affair every time he sees Hedvig and does not want anything to do with her.

HEDVIG: Mother, should I - (Seeing Hjalmar, giving a squeal of delight, and running toward him.) Oh, Daddy, Daddy!

HJALMAR: (turning from her and waving her off). Get away! Get away! (To Gina) Make her get away from me, will you!

In response to Hjalmar's reaction to Hedvig, Hedvig grabs the pistol, goes up to the attic, and kills herself. This severe response to her Dad's lack of compassion reveals how much damage one could do if there are extremely heightened emotions that take over when one is faced with a challenging situation. Isben is also able to create a character that has a build up of emotions throughout the story because Hedvig has so much love for her dad, but is then forced to give that up. When this father-daughter relationship comes across an obstacle like the one that Hedvig and Hjalmar do in the end, Hedvig's emotions take over and she must escape her troubles through death.

Wild Duck Journal #4: Letters that characters might have written

Dear Gina,

Why must you be so selfish? Don't you realize what you've been doing to not only me, but also this family? You've tied us up in this web of deception and I don't really know how you can stand yourself. It's very difficult for me to grasp how you aren't completely torn up with feelings of remorse. You claim you know and have done what's best for me, but really I see this as a bitter situation that I wish you had told me about earlier. Bringing my invention dreams to reality, that all seems so unrealistic now. I wanted you to be the inventor's prosperous widow, but it doesn't matter now because it's all over. I'd like to say I'm sorry for leaving you and Hedvig, but I just can't be around the family I thought I knew. I just can't stay around the house when Hedvig could not really be my child. I don't want to stay around with a child who reminds me of the man you had an affair with. Both with their increasing blindness- it just angers me so! I know you think I'll come back to you and Hedvig, but I can't guarantee anything. If you can't respect me enough to tell me the truth up front and reveal the truth about "our" child, how can I show you any respect in return?

-Hjalmar

Wild Duck Journal #3: Exploring themes of judgment and punishment

In both Oedipus and Wild Duck, characters experience some form of judgment and punishment at some point in the story. In Wild Duck, this idea of judging someone and then suffering because of it is shown. When Gregers is speaking to his father, Werle, he says, "You've spoiled my entire life. I'm not thinking of all that with Mother. But you're the one I can thank for my going around, whipped and driven by this guilt-ridden conscience" (175). Gregers is placing this judgment and blame on his father and is holding his father responsible for his guilty conscience when he did not have the courage to speak up against the trap that was laid for Lieutenant Ekdal. We can see how according to Gregers, Werle is the one who is responsible for Gregers' internal harm, but Gregers is the one who must suffer the punishment because of his father's actions. Gregers made it come across as Werle completely destroying his life when he says that Werle "spoiled" it, and the effect of this shifting of judgment and blame shows how the characters do not necessarily accept the responsibility for the punishments, like a guilty conscience, they receive- it is given to someone else. However, in Oedipus, when he says, "What love, what call of heart can touch my ears with joy? Nothing, friends. Take me away, far, far from Thebes, quickly, cast me away, my friends- this great murderous ruin, this man cursed to heaven, the man the deathless gods hate most of all!" (1475-1480), Oedipus places more of a judgment on himself. He reveals that he does not deserve joy ever again and feels that he does not even deserve to stay in Thebes because he has just realized he murdered his own father and married his mother. The punishment he faces because of this realization and judgment of himself is definitely an internal one. He loses any pride he had initially and therefore the punishment he faces is just the fact that it is unlikely that he will regain any sense of dignity because of the unknown actions he has taken. This contrasts with Wild Duck and has the effect of revealing how in Oedipus the characters' judgment and punishment are more internal and they are completely stripped of what was initially high self-regard. They do not pass the blame onto someone else for their suffering, they suffer the consequences as if they should be held responsible.

Wild Duck Journal #2: Gap between audience and characters

In the play Oedipus, the chorus acts as the connection between the audience and what is going on on the stage. There is dramatic irony created because the audience knows Oedipus' story, but the characters have no idea of what to expect in the future. The chorus permits the audience to be more connected and included in the play because there is more of an interaction between the chorus and Oedipus and the chorus and the audience. When the chorus says, "I pity you but I can't bear to look. I've much to ask, so much to learn, so much fascinates my eyes, but you...I shudder at the sight" (239), it shows how they sympathize with Oedipus when he is in such agony and the audience does the same thing because they can see how this once-mighty character has torn himself down and is now so miserable. In Wild Duck, there is no 'chorus' that the audience can connect to. Instead, it is as if the detailed stage directions make up for it and the setting and backdrops help inform the audience instead of the chorus doing so. However, because the audience is supposedly viewing into this private setting through a "fourth wall," the audience is more disconnected and there is no chorus to add input throughout the play. There is a wider gap between the characters and the audience in Wild Duck than there is in Oedipus because of this lack of dramatic irony.

Wild Duck Journal #1: "Visual action can be as important on the stage as speech."

In plays such as Wild Duck and Oedipus, visual action is just as, if not more important than speech. Without the visual action of the characters, there is much less of an effect of the lines given. The reader can analyze the text of the play to a certain extent, but without witnessing the mannerisms of the characters, the emotions that the writer initially wanted portrayed are not as strong. In Wild Duck, when Werle is accused by Gregers of being interested in a former housemaid, he says, "And you dare--! You have the insolence--! How could he, that ungrateful dog, that--photographer; how could he have the gall to make such insinuations?" (132). The reader can get the sense that Werle is angry through his harsh use of words, but by seeing the actions that would go along with how he is feeling at this point would make his emotions more convincing. By possibly hearing his raised voice or seeing the defensive look on his face would show that it is not just what he says, it is also what he does while he is saying it that would allow the audience to completely understand the meaning of his words. Similarly, in Oedipus, he says, "You, you'll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused! Too long you looked on the ones you never should have seen, blind to the ones you longed to see, to know! Blind from this hour on! Blind in the darkness-blind" and it is clear how much pain Oedipus is in because of how much pain is mentioned. However, by actually hearing the desperation in his voice and seeing his pain displayed on his face would make the audience believe the words that come out of his mouth. Overall, speech is important because it is what allows the plot and the story to get across to the audience. However, the visual actions are what make those words and emotions believable.

Oedipus Journal 4: Oedipus' Diary Entry

Dear Diary,

I am in a very difficult situation. I've murdered my father and married my mother, all of this initially without my knowledge. I wish that I hadn't been permitted this much life! I wish I had died earlier! That way my family and I could have been saved from all this grief. I wish it had never come to this extreme, because now I'm afraid I'm loathed by the Gods. I think my decision of jabbing my eyes was justified, though, since this way I can avoid having to look my father in the eye once I die. I don't even want to end there! I wish I could block out all the sound of life as well, because then I would rid myself of a world full of pain. I want to escape Thebes- I want to go so far away that I'll never hear another human voice! I know if I leave, my boys will be able to fend for themselves, because they're strong young men. But, I wish to see my daughters. I'm afraid that if I stay here, they will be burdened with this misery as long as they live. I want to let them know that they deserve and should pray for a better life than I had. So, for now I offer a farewell to my children, all the citizens of Thebes, and (I pray) the pain I feel.

Oedipus Journal 3: Stylistic Techniques

Throughout Oedipus, it has been apparent that there is a constant occurrence of this idea of light. This motif of light helps highlight how the characters don't have complete control over themselves. This is especially highlighted when the Chorus says, "But now for all your power Time, all seeing Time has dragged you to the light, judged your marriage monstrous from the start" (1340-1342). This quote reveals how once something is brought into the light, it's as if it is out of the person's control because judging is something that is always existent. When one judges another person or thing, the initial owner loses the ability to completely determine his/her own opinions or decisions regarding that and this fact is especially illuminated when it is brought into the light. Another example of this is shown when the messenger says, "what a heavy weight of sorrow you will shoulder...[...] I tell you neither the waters of the Danube nor the Nile can wash this palace clean. Such things it hides, it soon will bring to light-terrible things, and none done blindly now, all done with a will" (1353-1360). This idea of the hidden things coming into the light and being terrible shows how certain aspects of characters and their lives are uncontrollable. The reader connects the image of rivers, which are extremely powerful, with the light and it convinces him/her how much more forceful something can be over a human.