The Revolutionary Content in Literature: A Case of Selected Plays and Sonnets - Essay Example

The Revolutionary Content in Literature: A Case of Selected Plays and Sonnets Literature has a capacity to be revolutionary, and in this essay, the revolutionary content in literature will be explored. This will involve evaluating revolutionary content in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest and The Sonnets. Samuel Beckett’s Endgame (2006) is a play that is highly revolutionary in its experimentation with form and its treatment of human experience. Written in the Absurdist Tradition, the play dramatizes the precariousness of human life and its fundamental meaninglessness and arbitrariness. It is also respond to the disappearance of the old religious perspective and ushering in of contemporary life. The play’s format does not lend itself to the classical analysis of drama. As such, the play defies the reader’s conventional assumptions regarding drama. Endgame eschews a defined plot in that it lacks definitive action. Even when the characters seem to take definitive action, they undercut that action. Hamm, for instance, insists on being returned to the centre of the room and Clov never makes up his mind to leave Hamm. The play’s lack of definitive action is accentuated by its lack of driving conflicts. In addition, the play does not have a clear resolution. Even the one conflict that seems to dominate Clov’s life; his leaving Hamm is not definitively resolved. Beckett’s play is revolutionary in its uncanny treatment of time. In the beginning of the play, Clov enigmatically declares “Finished, it’s finished ...” (Backett 1). The end is placed at the start of the play and, therefore, the reader gets the impression that the end has already happened. The play treats beginning and ending as if they are intertwined. This style implies that the characters are stuck in a repetitive existence that does not come to a closure. Significantly, the play’s dialogue does not serve to illuminate on meaning, but inadvertently obscures meaning and prolongs an epiphanic ending that Clov and Hamm hope will be found in their death. This embracing of death is also significant because it underlines Absurdist Drama’s tendency to subvert logic and relish a world that is illogical and unrealistic. Therefore, Hamm and Clov view living as the only obstacle standing between them and the much desired death. The play’s treatment of time as if it does not matter also imposes a kind of stasis on the plot. This stasis is enhanced by repeated actions like Clov’s constant threats that he will leave and Hamm’s insistence that he be taken back to the centre of the room. When Hamm asks Clov what time it is, for instance, Clov enigmatically replies that it is “same as usual” (Backett 1). This answer effaces the contours of time and emphasizes the fact that the characters’ lives are static with no hope of definitive action. William Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest (2006) is another play whose revolutionary content is found in its portrayal of the triumph of justice, forgiveness and reconciliation over betrayal, greed, hatred, and revenge. At the end of the play, the goodness of humanity triumphs over evil. Prospero forgives his brother Antonio for forcefully removing him as the Duke of Milan even when Antonio does not repent of his deeds. Although Prospero holds immense supernatural power against his enemies, he does not use it vindictively, but he relinquishes it after he restores a sense of justice in the play. However, Prospero’s idea of justice is ambivalent considering that he enslaves Caliban and Ariel. But Prospero’s sense of justice; “Lie at my mercy all thine enemies:”…seems, if not perfect, at least sympathetic (Shakespeare 118). The various machinations that Prospero uses to bring the play to a happy ending point towards a celebration of humanity and art. Prospero’s morality is affirmed by his eventual forgiveness of his enemies, the release of Caliban and Ariel, and the relinquishing of his magical powers and declares “I am in a forgiving mood” (Cecaire 63). The use of Ariel as a supernatural being by Shakespeare obscures the limits of the human world and imagination. In so doing, Shakespeare suggests the transcendence of man over his limitations and circumstances. Shakespeare’s play also supports the embracing of all races as Claribel, the daughter of Alonso, marries the prince of Tunis who is an African. But an ambiguity and ambivalence of racial distinctions arises in its treatment of Caliban. Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, says that Caliban “with words that made them known” belongs to a “…vile race” (Shakespeare 29). In addition, The Tempest also seems to indict Prospero’s occupation of the island that Caliban claims to own. By extension, Shakespeare is offering an early critique of European’s imperialism. Elizabethan England (1558-1603), the time when Shakespeare was writing, witnessed an increasing emancipation of women although it was still a patriarchal society. However, Shakespeare’s involvement of women in his works demonstrates defiance to societal expectations. The women in his works transcend the limitations imposed upon them in Elizabethan society and suggest new and radical ways in which the role and place of women should be conceived. The range and depth that Shakespeare gives to his female characters although it is limited in today’s standards, was not only radical but also revolutionary. His exploration of the motives of their actions and portrayal of women as capable of making profound statements about life in a society that denied them such agency is exigent. The revolutionary nature of Shakespeare is extended in his Sonnets. Sonnet 20 is significant in the way it tackles homosexuality in a society that was highly conservative and moralistic. Shakespeare depicts an intimate love relationship between two men that is, however, never consummated. The poet describes the “youth” as the “master-mistress of my passion,” and as possessing a “woman’s gentle heart, but not acquainted” (Shakespeare 22). Although Shakespeare offers a disclaimer that suggests that he will not pursue a consummation of this homosexual love and surrenders the youth for “women’s pleasure,” the same theme is extended in sonnet 57 and 58 where the poet takes up the tone of a scorned lover. Sonnet 57’s endearing and tender tone turns to resentment over the youth’s “affairs” while sonnet 58 portrays the youth’s consistent resentment towards the speaker (Shakespeare 59-60). In sonnet 143 and 144, Shakespeare approaches the theme of adultery with a nonchalance that is not characteristic of the Elizabethan era that upheld chastity. The sonnet’s casual treatment of a sexual relationship with a married woman in an era of continence is interesting. Shakespeare’s sonnets are saliently passionate and overtly sexual. In sonnet 144, the “Dark Lady” is charged with robbing wives of their right of sexual attention from their husbands (Shakespeare 146). The speaker’s mistress is also portrayed as amoral and flirtatious despite the fact that she is married. In sonnet 143, the speaker ingeniously depicts himself as a child of his mistress and bids her to “play the mother’s part: kiss me” (Shakespeare 145). The speaker makes implicit sexual overtones when he tells the lady that she will have her “will” when she returns to him. In addition, the sonnets circumvent the familiar image of women as victims, docile objects who are acted upon by male agents. Sonnet 144 portrays the woman as holding immense sway over the poet as he describes a female evil that can lure a saint to be a devil. Reading the sonnets, it is clear that the treatment of such themes as homosexuality and adultery captures the revolutionary spirit of the age that saw the arts breaking away from religion, and the assumption of a protestant zeal that was marked by the reformation of the church. In conclusion, it can be seen that literature has played a significant role in defining revolution depending on the time it is written. Shakespeare and Beckett have illustrated this revolutionary function of literature in the society as can be seen in their literary works. Works Cited Backett, Samuel. Endgame and Act Without Words. 2006.15 Nov. 2012 . Cecaire Aime. A tempest: Based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. New York: Abu Repertory Theatre Publication. Shakespeare, William. Sonnets, 1609. Djvu editions E-books: Global Language Resources inc., 2001.Print. Shakespeare William. The Tempest. Bloom, Harold: Yale University Press, 2006. Print. Read More