Themes Flashcards
What makes a traditional tragedy?
- The rise and fall of a character/ reversal in fortunes- ‘peripeteia’.
- The choice that leads to the fall- ‘hamartia’, tragic flaw.
- loss.
- Power struggle.
- Connection and empathy with main character - ‘catharsis’ releasing emotions to provide relief.
- Pride- ‘Hubris’.
- Affairs of state.
- Acted out in public.
What is the role of minor characters in Enron and Dr Faustus?
Minor characters serve as a parody to the main plot:
-In Enron this is done by creating physical manifestations of certain concepts, e.g. three blind mice are used ironically: in the stage directions, they are shown to be part of the board that makes Enron’s decisions. The Lehman bros are presented satirically: ‘conjoined figures struggle…pulling in opposite directions’. ‘opposite’ emphasises a conflict in interest. In Dr F, the minor characters are more literal parodies to the main plot with Robin + Rafe mimicking the doings of F.
- The traders in Enron reveal a dark side to the trading floor. They use crude, brutish language ‘rape that motherfucker’, showing their lack of compassion and care. By contrast, Robin + Rafe are more comical in revealing the stupidity of F’s actions. Ultimately however, the traders do fall with the business and with the main characters but R +R don’t have to sell their souls although they do get turned into animals by M.
The role of Women in both plays:
-Both plays are very male dominated. Yet when women do appear, they are often an indicator of the downfall of the protagonist. Helen is the attractive face of evil- she is a devil, F resorts to kissing a devil- physical downfall. In Enron, the prostitute + Irene Grant show Skilling’s fall, even a prostitute won’t accept Skilling + he gets spat on by an employee for not apologising.
-The daughter + old man open up questions in the play. The daughter does this literally, ‘why?’ whilst the old man reminds F of his sins + to provide an alternative to F’s way of life ‘of thy most vile and loathsome filthiness’. The choice of both writers to use such characters is telling- they are both of extremes of age- perhaps this provides a contrast, innocence for the daughter compared to her father and wisdom of the old man compared to F’s lowering of his own intellect through his actions. They both therefore emphasise the immoral behaviour of the protagonists that they represent. Both these two characters lack motive- they simply provide alternative views.
-The daughter disappears leaving only ‘bubbles in her wake’. Skilling loses his daughter. The one substantial element of his life. By contrast, all F gains is illusory.
-Security Guard not taken in by Enron’s ways. Just wants to do his job.
How is the theme of tragedy represented in the play?
There are elements of tragedy but neither of the two plays are fully like a tragedy in the traditional sense.
-Peripeteia- In Enron: Skilling falls literally in social class- on streets, dismissed by prostitute, spat on by an employee.
Physically lower at times, in time of stupidity, on floor, paranoid with ticking sound, he is on the floor.
In Dr F, the ‘lower’ characters show F’s fall by mimicking his behaviour. Although he had planed to become become ‘a great emperor of the world’, he ended up doing things at the request of the emperor who Marlowe represents as not being the most superior of characters- he doesn’t talk in verse when the audience first meets him. He resorts to playing pranks and ‘robbing’ honest people- even M tries to dissuade him from acting so horribly.
-Affairs of State: No, F’s journey begins in his office. However, he does meet famous people + the story does become famous
