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Samples of Good Writing:
The nineteenth century saw a new breed of poets of Great Britain and America pick up the pen and write about the ever-evolving human condition
I along with ~ and ~ guide you through these stories and more in ~
He introduced the idea of what is sometimes called being wordsworthian ,the process of writers discovering themselves,
their inner nature by writing while at the same time allowing the reader to engage in the same process by reading. Wordsworth used his poetry as a systematic way of extending the principles of the enlightenment into literature. Literature that in his own words tread on shadowy ground, must sink deep and ascend aloft.
Neo-Newtonian obsession to assemble the laws of man in a system of poems stands just as insightful and fresh today as in the time in which it was written.
From the past comes the voice of Alfred Lord Tennyson, the first English Writer to have his reading preserved through the medium of audio recording.
Indeed, he become known as the Poet of the People, and his Lyrical phrases have become commonplace in the English Language
Such vivid lines as:
Nature read in tooth and claw
It's better to love and lost than never to have loved at all
Their's is not to reason why, theirs but do and die
From his 1855 Charge of the Light Brigade
An immortal masterpiece memorializing the courage and sacrifice of the young men who gave up their lives in the ill-fated Cavalry Charge during Crimean War
While many American writers portray the failures of American society, the next two poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Walt Whitman extolled its greatness. Indeed, Whitman's fate was so great, that he wrote "the chief reason for the being of the United States of America is to bring about thecommon goodwill of all mankind,solidarity of the world.
Whitman grew up in an era of the common man, a resurging democracy, a new democracy he welcomed with open arms At the same time he embraced Emerson's transcendentalism and its reverence for nature and the spirtual life, but Whitman's joy for life and America took him one step farther. As a young man, Whitman underwent a spontaneous experience that transformed him so throughly he would be called a mystic. This experience enabled him to bring a unique perspective to life. As many other mystics, he expressed his insight throught writing, poetry in particular. Influencing America by the sheer force of his lyric commentary. Whitman injected his poetry with the vitality and variety of his own life embracing subjects that others kept at a distance. Indeed, towards the end of his life Whitman embraced death seeing it as another kind of transformation
e. browning
through her poetry she searched for the role of the modern woman and in doing so founded concerns about feminism and spirituality. Through her, woman's question became part of the the literary lexicon and she argued that the poet's duty was to represent our age not charlesmagne. She came into her own by pioneering the first person poetic arrator
no writer in the first half of the twentieth century spoke more for the American people, pointed out America's greatness
praised America's ideals, revealed America's boundless energy and rich traditions of life. No writer paid tribute to America more than her premier poet laureate robert frost
For the next forty years he would be america's poet;his poems showing what america had been and what it was becoming his greatest acclaimation as America poet came in 1960 when Congress voted Frost the gold medal in recognition of his poetry which has enriched the culture of the United States and the philosophy of the world.
However within three years Frost Camelot image of America would be shattered.
Frost, symbol of the old guard, the old america would die on ~
Ten months later, JFK, symbol of America's enduring spirit and forwardness would be dead at the hand of an assaissin in dallas texas
As Americans join their counterparts from across the sea.
turned a new generation of Americans onto a new way of living ,new way of thinking. And as they wrote their words spread through the country like wildfire thanks to the new mass medium:the paperback book
By the 1950's the mass media society had arrived, TV and paperback books made knowledge available to everyone. Mass media offered a freedom, that no American decade had offered before. A flood of information available to everyone. But at the same time a new group of writers saw this mass media society from a different perspective. A much sinister perspective. It was a society that beat people down. It was a system that tried to force all Americans' into the same mold. To think alike, and act alike. This new group of writers would take a name that reflected this beat down by the establishment. They call themselves the beat generation. No author reflects the purpose and style of the beat generation better than jack kerouac. The beat generation, was a generation of beatitude and pleasure in life and tenderness.
His novel, "On the Road" is itself a roadmap to understanding how the beat generation started and where it was going .Originally written in 1951, kerouac could not get his book published until 1957. A semi-autobiographical novel is an account of beat characters who criss-cross the United States in search of personal fufillment.
The novel is narrated by ~ who represents ~
The other main beat character ~ who represents ~ and the novel's protaganist ~ based on ~
Moriarty is the quintessential beat hero who rejects society's conformity and materialism, and embraces the wild rthyms of jazz, the unpredictibilty of the drug culture, and the freedom of fast cars as he searchs for the mystical religous experience that will give him the personal fufilment he desperately seeks.
an anthem for the youth generation's struggle againsts a dehumanized and repressive society.
manifest in his most famous novel ~
pokes fun at life's conventionalities and made the plea that people release conformity and timidity and embrace the greater life that is out there.
Echo beat generation themes of individualism against repressive conformity.
Establishment crtiics stated that the beat generation authors promoted anarchy and obscenity. In reality, this group of authors tied into the baby boomers generation dissatisfaction with what it saw as America's false values,of a square society. As a result, the beat generation lead by jack k. set the stage for the free speech and civil rights movement of the 50's and 60's, and later for the peace movement to end the Vietnam War. As for K, he died from alcoholism on Oct 21 1969.
Old themes from American Literature such as alienation, social injustice and what it means to be an American find new voices in authors...
following the emotional realism of JD salinger wrote of his alienation disenfranchisment and invisibility as a black man in very frank terms. Telling the story through the perspective of an anonymous black man, Ellison explores northeren and southern forms of racism and their chilling effects. Ellison's protaganist, cut-off and marginalized, is invisible in a literal and figuarative sense. Not only do people refuse to see him, but also his worth as a man is invisble. The book's candor about the plight of blacks in American society,helped foster the civil rights movement, lead by mlk and thurgood marshall.
spoke openly about racial conflict and injustice,. But whereas ellisons's Characters tended to be educated and disspasionate Balwin's were emotionally charged. He was best noted for the way his characters personally explored interracial conflicts as well as complex social issues such as being homosexaul and interracial relationships.
set against the background of 135th st and lenox ave in harlem, with flashbacks of black history in the south after the civil war, it explores the dillemma of a northern black family. that made him the literary interpreter of the struggles of black americans.
Americans have long seen their souls, their failures and their triumphs through their writers, No other country has produced such a body of literature as the united states. This generation of writers has witnessed and participated in WWII korea cold war the civil rights movement and vietnam. These experiences shaped them intellectualy spiritually and emotially in ways that were translated into their writings.
Sense of community and ethnicity based on jim crow laws dissolved
What the play so profitically showed was the need for as black author j. baldwin put it a profound articulation of the black tradition by new black leaders
When Lorraine Hansbery wrote Raisin in the sun, the basic question before african americans was integration. Now 50 years later, the african american community was divided along political and generational lines, the LH could not have imagined.
perhaps even contriburing more to that articulation baldwin callled for.
leader of the black humor movement of post wwII literature: Black Humor writers satirized serious subjects with a dark comic style and voice. In Catch 22, Heller pointed out the absurdities of military bureaucracy vs the terrifying confusuion of war. he did this throught his antihero ~ and his squadron of mad and eccentric characters who outrageous antics and actions had never been seen before in Amer. lit. incoherent military regulation. the exp Catch 22 has entered the english language as a term for an absurd and contridictory situation or bureaucratic rule
placed eccentric characters in unusal situations. make an experiment in journalistic writing
I have already done a great deal of narrative journalistic writing in this experimental vein for the ... I was looking for something very special that would give me lot of scope.
His quasi scholar style would lead to imitators in many media genres including endless movies of the week based on real life happenings.
A worldview that deeply echoed European existential tradition. A worldview that essentialy saw all of human activity as inescapably destructive
using satire to point out the flaws in life.
reveals his glooming view of humanity. meeting head on with what he sees as humanity's appetite to destroy itself. Vonnegut moralizes that humanity's only hope for survival lies in a comic awareness of human folly. seem writtten to not only expose the destructive potential of the cold war, but also as a aniti-vietnam war exclaimation. As a result, it became a rallying cry for the baby boom generation.
revealed the innerworkings of asian society undergoing generational change. for the first time on a large scale asians were percieved as true americans. At the same time tam remarkable literary achievements also open the doors to young asian american woman to forgo traditional roles and pursue careeers.
new ways of looking at black history redefing the black experience 20th century
pitts cycle, 10 plays each set in a different decade givng a unique snapshot of the comedy and adversity of black life in 20th century america.
Are a new generation of black authors building a bridge to a new century. And like other ethnic authors they are helping america to integrate itself in the new century.
Theatre can model a kind of public discouse that lies at the heart of democratic life
Greek Plays:wore masks defining their roles
chrous:men, dozens strong who would sing to puctuate points to create mood
Aeschylus:wrote plays w/ simple characters and employed forces beyond human control as the cause of human tradgedy.
Sophocles: characters became more complex, and his plays psych- motivated, exploring the choices people made as the cause of suffering and tradegy.
Euripedes:pushed the limits of play-writing with many dramatic reversals and esoteric themes. Medea , tells of a mother gaining revenge vs the father by murdering her 2 sons
Tragedy are about what it means to try to be a just person, in a world in which there is lots of injustice, some of it caused by the gods most of it caused by human beings failing (accidently, or failing because of human nature).
Comedies Aristophanes fantasy fly go to space,underworld, talk to the gods make fun of politicians; what does it mean to be a just person in a world of lots of injustice and what should you do about it. stories of fantastic occurances comedies are dealing with how should we be really be organizing our lives and how should we be deciding right/wrong(woman run govt, men no say)
For the Romans, bringing citizens together in a public place for creative expression such as theatre lay at the heart of there culture.
theatre pompey 55 bc Roman General and statesmen naius pomeius magnus Pompey the Great.
44 bc ceasar. inspired by Ancient Theater of Mytilini
amphitheatre pompeii
william shakespeare 10% owner theatrical comp -> globe theatre
financed and run by prinicple actors
purchased prop in & around stratford in london years
money not from plays but his investments
inheritence sussana (sibling hamnet & judith?)
Most profound and wide reaching legacy resides in his comedies
comedies which involve young people choosing their own spouses in spite of the prevailing custom of prearranged marriage
universal themes :self-understanding resolution of conflict based on forgiveness moving from grief to life affirming love and interactions of people from differnet social strata
achieved an unsurpassed style, a light and sure hand with themes of romance and intrigue all punctuated by sophisticated complexity
problem comedies irredemible character incapable of self understanding
4 romance comedies changes course dramatically and writes in a whole new way of presenting extreme behavior and circumstances sudden changes of character terrible suffering and miraculous restoration
final comedy tempest appears to be a summation of the many themes used over the past 20 yrs.
vivid complex character with rich mental lives
stuggle to find justice and cause in the unhappy events
halting ambitions of generals and great leaders
misfortune of star crossed lovers
questions the value and purpose of life and invites his audience to do the same
primary concern of the play is the exposure of each man's folly,
The comedic satire of the play exposes each of the character's foibles for what they are: particular obsession misunderstanding or deception that makes up the folly of being human
medical sci of the time considered these char flaws or humours improper balance of humours or bodily fluids
less medical than it is social & psy
Every Man in His Humour, Ben Jonson
expanded on his his deep psych insights into human behavior,
john dryden the learned and judious writer which any theatre ever had
building on ben jonson's comedic form of plays moliere etsablished the principles of all future comedies
hotel du petit bourbon, louvre three important theatres in paris
king louis XIV, the sun king,
bound up with the intrigues of louis the xiv
enjoyed great triumphs followed by dark failures
fought with as well as friends
defended himself vs inc fanatic religous authorities
m~ left behind a body of work wich not only changed the face of french classical comedy, but has gone to influence the work of other dramatists the world over
major theme is the arbitrary and jealous lover, filled w/ biting irony and scathing sacarsm
following its first performance, the comedy was fiercely attacked by critics from all sides, as being wanted in good taste, sound morality rules of grammer and what was most dangerous of underming the principles of good religion
that scene from the movie adaptation of henrik ibsen brillant 1867 play peer gynt illustrates why he is considered to be the most important playwright since shakespeare and the most performed playwright after shakespeare
with Peer gynt, ibsen inaugerates a sea change in the modern theatre. a sea change all dramatist will follow
the drama of the modern mind
the first playwright to write about the tradgedies of everyday people. To give voice to ordinary people. A voice that came forth in two burst of prodigious creative energy. Ibsen first creative burst produced Brand
Has theme repeated in many of ibsen following work. A theme which introduced modernistic realism on the stage.
he makes the viewer experience the individual in opposition to society oppresive authority and convention
An opposition stated brillantly by the play's lead nora helmer to her husband torvald
august strindberg build and expanded upon ibsen
naturalism in drama first emerged as a significant force in the theatre in the late 1880's
and S~ played an important role in its development
Indeed in 1888, he created the first naturalist drama with miss julie
Bold and daring, it shocked his contemporaries
in the preface he set forth the critieria for a naturalist play, the drama should be unvarnished and close to reality , there should be no fabricated plot no division into acts no painted scenery and the characters should be multidimensional.
Miss julie is about a count's beautiful aggressive daughter who sets about to seduce the counts footservant
but what begins as a manipulative flirtation soon turns into a dangerous game of passion power and betrayal
thrill has dissapated they both realize that they have little to nothing in common
Miss Julie a decaying aristocrat whose era has passed
Opportunist social climber to whom the future has beckoned
in stark contrast to his realistic dramas he crafted a series of fairy tales and dream plays, allegorical dramas with elements of fantasy.
his legacy cemented by the influence he had over later generations of writers and directors e albee, t wiilliams f kafka e o neill ingmar bergman
It is archetypical, Rooted in a tragic belief that because of some flaw throught no fault of one's own, an indidual is not good enough to expiernce true love, or metaphorically the best life has to offer..
tells the story of a soulful poet phisospher and swordsman cyrano who fall in love with the faire roxanne
theatre could be a marketplace of ideas, a vehicle for social change
achieved greatness through her convictions
thomas mann wrote " he did his best in redressing the fateful imbalance between truth and reality, in lifting mankind to a higher rung of social maturity, he was mankind's friend, and it is this role he will live in the hearts and memories of men
As western civilization, entered the 20th century its countries pass through a world war, saw the dark side of industrialization and headed into the great depression. Once again playwrights responded, britain's john galsworthy grappled with the injustices of its own class system. And American Eugene O Neill laying bare his struggles with his personal demons reflected on the dispaire of the great depression
...could capture the respect and appreciation of the theatre's genteel audience.
Plays in the theatre go back to the very begining of western civilization.They have been part of the human experience,telling us who we are. They have helped us make sense of the world, made us laugh, & cry. Plays are a collaborative artform. There are actors, a stage, & off course words, words written by a playwright. ... In a history of great playwrights, I will guide you through a history, a history of those wordsmiths, who have given us more than 2000 years of great plays. In this fourth program, the angst brought about by modernism finds its way on to the stage in America, and musicals find their play as a mainstay of the theatre.
No one brought to the stage better, the angst brought about by excessive capitalism than Germany's Bertoldt Brecht.
As Germany entered the 20th century, it too felt the angst of modernism, felt the alienation of the individual in the modern world, felt the plight of the working class and especially it felt the tragedy of the world at war. In response, Germany created its own artistice expression and movement.
An approach to plays and playwriting that inc. a mode of acting that utilizes what Brecht calls gestus
gestus- a combination of phys gesture and attitude
masterpiece is essentially a socialist critique of capitalism.
in oppostion to the naturalistic approach of many of his playwright contemporaries, one of the goals of brechts epic theatre is for the audience always to be aware that is watching a play, and not to be sucked into the play's make-believe aspect. Indeed for brecht it was supremely important that one of the main features of the ordinary theatre should be excluded from epic theatre.
He studied philosophy & med at the U. of Munich, before becoming a medical orderly at a military hopsital during the first world war. This experience developed his hatred of war and fostered his alliance with socialist revolutions . After the war, Brecht returned to uni,and eventually he became more interested in literature, writing a series of plays that included the 1919 drums in the night, a play about a soldier returning from the war. Of this play influential Berlin critic, Herbert Ihering wrote "At 24, the writer Bert Brecht has changed Germany's literary complexion overnight." Following this success in 1927 Brecht collaborated with composer kurt wiehl to produce the musical play "the little mahogany" & a year later "the threepenny opera". Throughout the thirties, Brecht continued to write plays and stories with socialist and Marxist themes. However with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, brecht left Germany and became a vagabond roaming throughout Europe & eventually settling briefly in Hollywood, where after the war he was blacklisted for his association with the Communist Party. Finally returning to Germany, he died in 1956.
The angst of modernism took on a uniquely American face in Thornton Wilder's psychological drama "our town". In 1939, America was in the nineth year of a deep unrelenting economic depression. War Clouds loomed on the horizion over Europe and Asia. Then in the midst of this unstable time,Thorton Wilder wrote a Pulitzer-Prize winning play that would become the anthem of the era. The play was his greatest work "our town". It was his play "our town" that cemented his reputation as a leading playwright & intellectual in the 20th century. The play staged in three acts tells the story of an avg town's citizen in the early 20th century as depicted through their everyday lives. Wilder wrote "our town" because he was dissatisfied with the theatre of his time. He wrote "I felt that something had gone wrong... I began to feel that the theatre was not only inadequate... but evasive." As a result "our town" was written with a meta theatrical style, no props so the actors mimed their actions. The character of the stage manager crosses the four wall of the theatre, and speaks directly with the audience, inviting them to laugh and cry with the characters. And finally he used minimal on-stage scenery, viewing the world as an extension of the human consciousness Wilder wrote of his masterpiece "Our claim ,our hope , our despair in the mind - not in things, not in scenery". Wilder died in 1975.
While Eugene O' Neill, and Thorton Wilder put American playwriting on a sound footing, the next two chapters show how post-war playwrights, led by T. Willliams and Arthur Miller elevated American plays out of the theatre toward a level equal to Shakespeare. and worthy of being great timeless literature.
...lacked the literary genius which would characterize his later plays.
A tragedy in 1943 awaken his genius, and unleased his deeply symbolic writing about dysfunctional characters.
When different types of treatments failed, her parents allowed a prefrontal lobotomy to be performed. A bungled operation left her incapacited for the rest of her life. Willaims never forgave his parents for the treatment of his sister. From this point on, his writings became more powerful and haunting. All his tragic family experience would find expression in his work. In 1953, Williams would write in the foreward of Camino Real, it is amazing and frightening how completely one's being becomes absorbed in the making of the play. It is almost as if you were frantically constructing another world while the one you are live in dissolves beneath your feet and that your survival depends on completing the construction atleast one second before the old habitation collapses.
Williams would return to the autobiographical themes of dysfunctional familiy life again and again in his most successful plays: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Summer Last Summer , and his masterpiece A Streetcar named Desire for which he won a Pulizter in 1948. The play is about Blache Dubois, an aging Southern Belle whose pretensions of virtue and culture mask her nymphomania and alcoholism. Seeking shelter from her troubled past,Blache goes to live with her meek and fearful sister. Stella and Stella's cruel and cynical husband, Stanley Kowalski. The sexual tension between Blanche and Stanley results in Stanley raping Blanche and Blanche's ensueing nervous breakdown. The play's title not only refer's to the Streetcar called desire, that Blache must take to reach her sister's apartment but is symbolic of the character's distorted views of life. Blanche & Stanley together with Arthur Miller's WIlly Loman are perhaps the most recognizable characters in American drama. In 1983, T.Williams , died at the age of 71, after he choked on a bottle cap in his room at the Hotel Elysee in nyc, however some including his bro Daikin believe he was murdered.
Recognized for his refusal to name names to the House of Unamerican Activities during the communist witch hunts of the 1950's.
After graduating in 1938, Miller worked at a number of jobs while honing his playwriting skill. In 1949, he wrote his masterpiece "death of a salesman".
Miller drew on his own jewish background for the character of loman. But Miller like his character hid himself under beneath the cloak of universality to make his character more accessible. In the play, Willy Loman is in some sense a fraud pretending to his family and friends to be a greater success than he is. After WWII, loman's life begins to spiral downwards despite of the post-war boom.Willy loses his job and can not face the reality of his failure. Deciding he is worth more dead than alive, Willy commits suicide, hoping the insurance money will support his familiy and give his son Biff a new start in life.
Death of a salesman embodies Miller's strongest themes, how false values like material success and popularity can destroy families. Mirroring his own experiences, the crucible in 1953 was an allegorical play in which Miller compares the investigations of the HUAC to the 1692 Puritan witch hunts in Salem Mass.
he did the unexpected
Though outwardly happy, the relationship was not an easy one, and they were divorced by 1961. For the next 40 years Miller continued to crtique the struggles of American life until his death on feb 10 2005.
It is one of the most remarkable stories of the theatre, the story of how quickly musicals move from light entertainment to tackling tough social issues of the times
A play where sing and dancing are an essential part of the show. Indeed, musicals have become staples of the theatre. Singing and dancing for the entertainment of audience has been around for a long time, but when a plot was added to the performance the musical was born. However, the modern musical that we know today did not take shape till the late 1800's with the light humorous operas written by the noted English duo SIr William Gilbert & Auther Sullivan.Best known for their operettas HMS pinafore, the pirates of penzance, and the Mikado. Gilbert & Sullivan songs and spoken dialog with a loosely strung together humouros story. Then in the early 1900's Americans began to turn out for musical revues like flo ziegfeld famous ziegfield's follies from 1907-1931
Then in 1933 two talented American men composer richard rogers and lyricist playwright Oscar Hammerstein II produced the first modern musical play, Oklahoma.
R.Rodgers was born into a prosperous Queens family in 1902. He attended Julliard and later teamed up with lyriscist Lorenz Hart writing musical revues for Broadway.
O. Hammerstein II was born in NY in 1895. The son of Jewish impresario O.Hammerstein I. His father wanted him to study law but Hammerstein dropped out of law school to pursue a career in theatre. he teamed with many composers included Jerome Kern, but it was his collaboration with R.Rodgers that gave the theatrical world his most successful work starting with Oklahoma. Rodgers & hammerstein would bring the musical stage production to a new level with their groundbreaking adaption of James Michner puliitzer prize winning novel tales of the South Pacific. For the first time, the musical looked at social issues confronting Americans as Rodgers and Hammerstein used their 1949 South Pacific to explore the issue of racism in America. The plot centers on Nelly Forge an American Nurse stationed on a south pacific island during WWII who falls in love with Emil du Bec a plantation owner. There is a secondary romance between USMC Lt Joe Cable and young Tonkinese woman Liat. Both relationship explore racial prejudice and its consequences. Especially poignant, is Joe Cable's controversial song "you got to be carefully taught" With the resounding success of South Pacific, more American lyricist and composers began exploring social & psychological issues through musicals.
In 1966, caberet by John Kander & Fred Ebb focused on the seedy nightlife of Berlin in 1931 Germany as the Nazis rose to power.
In 1975 composer Marvin Hamlisch Lyricist Ed Kleban & writers james Kirkwood Jr & Nick Dante explores the internal struggles of individuals in A Chorus Lines.
But the American who really set the standard working as both composer and lyricist was Steven Sondheim. Born in NYC in 1930 Steven Sonheim grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. By age 10, he had an interest in musical theatre. Mentored by Hammerstein
In his Broadway debut in 1957 Sonheim collaborated with composer l . bernstein and Playwright Arthur Laurents to revitalize with the muscial West Side Story. Bringing Romeo and Juliet to the musical stage and showcasing the dramatic theme of ethnic conflict. But it was with director Harold Prince, who would stage many of Sondheim shows including 1962 A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, a little night music 1973, And the strange but fascinating 1979 Sweeney Todd which explored murderous revenge and cannibalism.
In the 1970's the musical was once again revitalized by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Born into a well-known musical family in 1948, as a Britisih composer and impressario, Webber has achieved unparalleled acclaim in theatre for his stirring musical hits. He was writing his own music by age 10 and wrote his first muscial The likes of us in collaboration with Tim Rice in 1965. Webber has had a string of hits some written with Rice including Jesus Crist Superstar, Evita
And with other Lyricist Sunset blvd, Cats, phantom of the opera.
Now a fully established mainstay of the stage, the musical of the 21st century will find new expression by playwrights and lyricist, lighting up theatre districts across the globe.
By the 1950's Western civilization was embracing change at every level at breakneck speed.
In the final episode of a History of Great Playwrights, our attention will turn to how the theatre responded to this change
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in response, the US and Europe tighten sanctions on russia
were freezing assets of several russia defense companies, were blocking financing on some of Russia's most important Banking and energy companies.
sanctions are not an effective response to this type of challenge
they entrench differences not bridge them
distort markets
create a people with an interest in continuation
create vested interests in adversarial relationships
Some observers say Putin's aggression is an attempt to shore up support at home.
So russia has for a long time dealt as in centuries, dealt with its domestic problems by finding a foreign enemy, Russia has huge domestic troubles at the moment.
Russia has been in decline and they have lost a lot of influence and they dont have man useful
allies
Pres. Putin has a big master plan to re-establish a throne of Russian influence in the near abroad, covering the old soviet space. Russia is interested in open or frozen conflict in this near neighborhood. This is the reason why my assessment is that this conflict scenario will last for decades.
much of what we are seeing now on the part of mr putin is to take advantage of the penchant among russian for stability and strong national feeling as a way of continuing to maintain himself in power.
economy is not doing well, massive capital flight.
veto or danger of veto has safeguarding the united nations against doubtful undertakings
that russians has a constant fear that the US wants to implement regime change in russia too.
fed into the sense of resentment that russian security concerns were not being taken into consideration that the west was still engaged in a process to weaken, contain, rollback russian power
No man is an island entire of itself, each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Each man's death diminishes me for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee -john donne
National stability of England began to collapse after the death of Queen Elizabeth, great political and religious turmoil ensued. It was against this backdrop that John Milton wrote one of the greatest masterpiece of English writing, Paradise Lost.
In many ways, Paradise Lost, reflects Milton's personal despair over the troubled times which England had just experienced.
After cromwell's death in 1658, the country clamored for the return of the monarchy.
He became, what we today would call an activist.
While abroad in Italy, he vigorisly defended England's attempt to establish a republic.
he grappled with the paradoxical nature of knowledge in the world that has lost its innocence.
Humanity must see and know evil, so that one can learn to abstain from it. Christianity, requires confrontation with evil to define good.
The poem begins with a traditional invocation to a muse, for help to inspire his tale, to justify the ways of god to men.
angels that plot to get revenge vs god by war or trickery
Atlast, they decide to sabotage the new world and the mortal men has created
In book 3 satan goes to earth to witness the beauty of god's creation and despises it
Archangel Rapheal warns adam about satan and leaves with a final warning about knowledge
solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid, leave them to god above.
Disguised as a snake preys on eves vanity and tricks her into eating from tree of knowledge
When adam discovers eve has sinned he knowingly does the same declaring they are bound together having been made of the same flesh
god dispatches archangel micheal to send them out of eden
the timelessness of paradise lost is that it speaks directly to the soul of reader and as a result has many interpretation.
for many it is a story of satan and at the same time it mirrors miltons own life of rebellion
His committment to the true nature of self-hood political rights intellectual freedom and social reform.
Others make the arguement that miltons life mirrors adam born into innocence he knowingly chooses rebellion over obedience and suffers the consequences blindness and poverty
Paradise lost is followed by Paradise regained in which the son of god regains paradise, vanquishing temptation just as the Arch Angel Micheal has promised Adam. Paradise within thee happier far.
More commentary has been written on his works than any other except Shakespeare.
fully setting the stage for the conflicts that were about to rise during the age of enlightenment where sci. knowledge challenged divine authority.
This treaty, can you be precise of its nature
Broad Outline, It defined the position of England toward the triple alliance in the event of the French fleet gaining complete ascendancy over Italy in the Mediterranean
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Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Anthony visits St. John and Princess Victoria …
My apologies Massa Epstein, I did not mean to inflame your temper tantum.
If you cared enough to pay attention, the only reason why this conversation was extended was due to MysticalArchAngel.
You said:
...TRIVIA TRIVIAL TRIVIA. IF YOU WANT TO ADD UNCONNECTED TRIVIA YOU WILL BE DOING A DISSERVICE. DON'T WASTE MY TIME IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TAKE MY INPUT SERIOUSLY.
My question is why did you not send the same invective to him.
Because
a) You have the good sense not to
b) YOUR WEAK
That's all I have to say YOU BIG BABY (who by definiton are selfish; which also explains your Avatar photo; Also Ithose who claim to be selfless, who are the most SELFISH of them all; Reaction Formation much?).
PS: According to the Epstein doctrine, "I should not expect empathy when I do not show empathy myself. My corollary to the doctrine is "One good turn deserves another".
Your abusive behavior has been escalating for sometime now, if you continue to insist I will return the favor. We can be collegial or adversarial, but that depends entirely up to you
(Please feel free to erase) C1-1-1421399491 IVAN C1-1-1421533250 Reitman