Exploring the Lyric-Dramatic Interaction in the Work of T.S. Eliot

<p>T. S. Eliot's fascination with the interaction between the lyric and the dramatic is evident from the fact that his poetry was often dramatic even before he began to write verse drama. Part of the reason for this interaction in Eliot was a kind of radical modernism that ensured a return to a primitivism where there was little distinction between the lyric and the dramatic. In this thesis I argue that this interaction is central to the nature of Eliot's creative work. The need for an interaction between the lyric and dramatic meant that The Waste Land (1922) possessed several dramatic qualities making it a precursor to Eliot's entry into the realm of poetic drama with the play, Sweeney Agonistes (1932). As part of my thesis, I conducted theatre workshops of the first two parts of The Waste Land in order to discover what dramatic elements emerged from the text and how their presence affected the lyric-dramatic interaction in the work, something which can surface only through performance. I argue that The Waste Land and Sweeney Agonistes occupy critical spaces in the mapping of the lyric-dramatic interaction in Eliot's creative oeuvre. The intensity of the lyric-dramatic interaction in Eliot's poetry builds up to a moment where he comes extremely close to drama in The Waste Land moving him to ultimately write his first play, Sweeney Agonistes. While Eliot's works after these two texts continue to exhibit characteristics of this lyric-dramatic interaction, the nature of this interaction undergoes a transformation after Eliot's conversion, manifesting itself in his religious poetry and drama which turns out to be a cul-de-sac in his experimentations. The intensity of this interaction in his work then gradually reduces to a point where the lyric and the dramatic no longer overlap especially after Eliot's first commercially successful play, The Cocktail Party (1949). By examining the reasons for the slow disassociation of these two crucial elements in Eliot's later work, I aim to stress the centrality of The Waste Land and Sweeney Agonistes to the lyric-dramatic trajectory in his work.</p>

Exploring the Lyric-Dramatic Interaction in the Work of T.S. Eliot

<p>T. S. Eliot's fascination with the interaction between the lyric and the dramatic is evident from the fact that his poetry was often dramatic even before he began to write verse drama. Part of the reason for this interaction in Eliot was a kind of radical modernism that ensured a return to a primitivism where there was little distinction between the lyric and the dramatic. In this thesis I argue that this interaction is central to the nature of Eliot's creative work. The need for an interaction between the lyric and dramatic meant that The Waste Land (1922) possessed several dramatic qualities making it a precursor to Eliot's entry into the realm of poetic drama with the play, Sweeney Agonistes (1932). As part of my thesis, I conducted theatre workshops of the first two parts of The Waste Land in order to discover what dramatic elements emerged from the text and how their presence affected the lyric-dramatic interaction in the work, something which can surface only through performance. I argue that The Waste Land and Sweeney Agonistes occupy critical spaces in the mapping of the lyric-dramatic interaction in Eliot's creative oeuvre. The intensity of the lyric-dramatic interaction in Eliot's poetry builds up to a moment where he comes extremely close to drama in The Waste Land moving him to ultimately write his first play, Sweeney Agonistes. While Eliot's works after these two texts continue to exhibit characteristics of this lyric-dramatic interaction, the nature of this interaction undergoes a transformation after Eliot's conversion, manifesting itself in his religious poetry and drama which turns out to be a cul-de-sac in his experimentations. The intensity of this interaction in his work then gradually reduces to a point where the lyric and the dramatic no longer overlap especially after Eliot's first commercially successful play, The Cocktail Party (1949). By examining the reasons for the slow disassociation of these two crucial elements in Eliot's later work, I aim to stress the centrality of The Waste Land and Sweeney Agonistes to the lyric-dramatic trajectory in his work.</p>

Arabic Contemporary Poetic Drama: Ali Ahmed Ba-Kathir A Pioneer

Many central playwrights significantly contributed to the progress and advancement of Arabic drama. They were apt to achieve dramatic illustrations in several Arabic countries all the way through ages and places. Still, this study attempts to shed light on an innovator poet-dramatist who represents many cultures and experiences. It aims at displaying the most significant features of renovation associated with the development of the modern Arabic poetic drama that employs history and social problems to present a vision for Arabic literature in the contemporary age. The researcher adopts the critical-descriptive approach in analyzing the poet-dramatist, Ali Ahmad Ba-Kathir, and two of his poetic dramas. It is mapped with an introductory overview dealing with a concise notion of drama, concentrating predominantly on poetic drama. The foremost part copes with the developer and pioneer Ali Ahmad Ba-Kathir, focusing on his thoughts and experiences in the field. The paper, then, moves ahead to deal with two verse plays as a model of his craftsmanship and mastery. After that, the study finishes with a brief argument and/or recommendations and an end.

Arabic Contemporary Poetic Drama: Ali Ahmed Ba-Kathir A Pioneer

Many central playwrights significantly contributed to the progress and advancement of Arabic drama. They were apt to achieve dramatic illustrations in several Arabic countries all the way through ages and places. Still, this study attempts to shed light on an innovator poet-dramatist who represents many cultures and experiences. It aims at displaying the most significant features of renovation associated with the development of the modern Arabic poetic drama that employs history and social problems to present a vision for Arabic literature in the contemporary age. The researcher adopts the critical-descriptive approach in analyzing the poet-dramatist, Ali Ahmad Ba-Kathir, and two of his poetic dramas. It is mapped with an introductory overview dealing with a concise notion of drama, concentrating predominantly on poetic drama. The foremost part copes with the developer and pioneer Ali Ahmad Ba-Kathir, focusing on his thoughts and experiences in the field. The paper, then, moves ahead to deal with two verse plays as a model of his craftsmanship and mastery. After that, the study finishes with a brief argument and/or recommendations and an end.

‘Unlike the God of human Error’

This chapter sets off from the nature of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron as so-called atheist poets. What occurs to the historical and aesthetic affinity between poetry and prayer when prayer is abandoned as a viable language? For Shelley, the crucial thing is to position prayer as a political act. This chapter’s readings trace how he tries to move beyond a bleak connection between prayer and a theology implying a despotic and monarchical deity towards rehabilitating prayer as an act of love. For Byron, his own torn and troubled relation to religion finds expression in the prayerful prayerlessness of his anti-heroes, figures who reject prayer, but also cannot help but mimic or parody prayerful states. The analysis ends with an alternative devotional piety embodied in the figure of Adah, the heroine of Byron’s poetic drama of exile and rebellion, Cain.

Theme of love in poetic drama Sakuntala of Kalidasa

In Indian literature, Kalidasa always occupies the "monopoly position of the Lord of poetry" and the Sakuntala dramatic poem is an exemplary work of the court stage norm. In Sakuntala, poet Kalidasa focuses on praising pure and faithful love. He praises the pure soul and the aspirations of love, happiness of people in life and uses love to criticize the rigid and paranoid teachings of religion, as well as the strict laws of the caste system that stifle people's hearts. Kalidasa pushes the issue of caste down to secondary position, lets love become the main theme and makes the characters act and show their personality in relationships and highlight the victory of love.

The image of Solveig in the ballet “Peer Gynt” on H. Ibsen’s dramatic poem (staged by the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre)

Introduction. The given article is devoted to study of the Ukrainian ballet continuing to produce new ways of implementation of the ideas and artistic images in the beginning of the XXI century. The production of the ballet “Peer Gynt” on the music by E. Grieg, done by People’s artist of Ukraine V. Pisarev for the troupe of Donetsk ‘A. Solovianenko’ Academic State Theatre of Opera and Ballet is a remarkable example of this process. The production’s premiere was on, 1997, May 17, in the framework of the international theatre project “Ukraine – Norway”. Twenty years later, in 2017, the new variant of the ballet has been created for Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theatre named after M. V. Lysenko. This “Kharkiv variant” was staged regarding specifics of Kharkiv theatre’s troupe, while retaining the choreographic text of the original; it is marked by scenography and decorations being more spectacular and modern. The work by H. Ibsen received harsh critique from literary scholars who gave plenty of negative reviews of it, and it was E.Grieg’s music that led this poetic drama to wide recognition and popularity it has today. H. Ibsen’s piece became a base for more than the ten of films, directed from 1915 until 2006. As well as E Grieg’s music, which mostly accompanies the theatrical and cinematic interpretations of the drama poem, there are homonymous opera by Werner Egk (1938) and the ballet by John Neumeier, created in a collaboration with A. Schnittke (1987). As a ballet, the “Peer Gynt” is being staged since 1922 up to present day. The object of this research is musically-plastique image of Solveig. The aim of the study is to reveal specifics of musically-plastique, choreographic means, which are used to portray Solveig’s image in V. Pisarev’s production of ballet “Peer Gynt” regarding literary source. The article uses such methods as: 1) historical, allowing to place selected work into the perspective of development of ballet theatre in XXI century; 2) genre approach conditioned by specifics of means of expression used in choreographic art; 3) stylistic, used to regard given ballet in the context of choreographic art. The research results. H. Ibsen elevated the story to the level of philosophical parable about man’s freedom to choose his own path and about the price this freedom comes with. A psychological portrait of the protagonist, wanderer Peer Gynt, combines traits of both humanist and insane. The playwright creates opposition between him and Solveig, majestic in her spiritual martyrdom. According to H. Ibsen’s conception, it is Solveig, being an incarnation of the very best feminine traits, such as chastity, fidelity and kindness, who saves the prodigal soul of the protagonist. In the end of his earthly path, Peer Gynt finally finds what he has been looking for his entire life – self-sacrificial Love, saving him from the eternal suffering near his death. The libretto is written by Yu. Stanishevsky, historian of ballet. The author significantly abridges the text of the dramatic poem, reducing the number of acts from five to two. The First act consists of 4 tableaus, the Second has only two; Yu. Stanishevsky omits several situations in order to make the spectacle more dynamic. The libretto features the image of Solveig only six times: thrice in the First act and thrice in the Second. But despite sporadicity and brevity of Solveig’s presence on the stage, this image plays a leading role in the dramaturgy of the ballet, no less significant than Peer Gynt. Today the poem “Peer Gynt” by H. Ibsen is hardly imaginable without E. Grieg’s music. Its score (op. 23) consisted of 28 numbers , and it included dance intermedia and introduction to every Act; dance fragments, genre scenes, portraits, fantastic episodes and landscape sceneries. Later, the composer compiled the most interesting and self-sufficient numbers into two Suites. Conspicuous Romantic style of the score might be compared to the image of blonde-haired maiden Solveig, who betokens pure femininity. The ballet of V. Pisarev consists of 8 tableaus and 3 numbers. In order to create this ballet spectacle, its author used several types of choreographic art to reveal its idea more profoundly. V. Pisarev embodied the plot of H. Ibsen’s poem using a fusion of classical and neo-classical dance as well as a reconstruction of the folklore-scenic Norwegian dance. Ballet master draws attention to the inner world of a protagonist, who is facing a dilemma: either to remain for fix the situation, or to run away once again. Significance of Solveig’s image is emphasized by the choreographic text of the ballet, as her role becomes a plastique leit-motiv of the whole work. Choreographic lexicon of Solveig is founded upon traditional Classical dance and occasional movements of contemporary dance. Conclusions. The image of Solveig is a demanding one, both technically and psychologically as the ballerina must demonstrate advanced technique and high artistry. Solveig’s dance is plastique, sculpture-like, filled with profound psychologism and elaborated expressiveness. Solveig is one of the most powerful and iconic examples of femininity and self-sacrificial love in romantic art keeping its actuality until today.

THE IMAGE OF IMAM BUKHARI IN MODERN UZBEK LITERATURE

LITERATURE AN NOTATION If you look at the pages of new Uzbek literature, you will see that most of the poetic dramas are written on historical themes. This process, it can be said, began with Oybek's Mahmud Torobi and H. Olimjon's Muqanna. Thisliterary tradition continued during the years of independence. In particular, the high artistic samples of the poetic drama "Sahibkiron" (A.Oripov), "Imam Bukhari" (U.Kochkor), "Samarkand saykali" (Ikbol Mirzo) saw the world. In the work of Imam Bukhari by Usman Kochkar, the image of the great mystic Imam al-Bukhari was created.