Eight Great Plays — As Literature and As Philosophy By Leonard Peikoff


Home Search Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand The Ominous Parallels Essays and Articles Courses & Lectures on Tape Ford Hall Forum Lectures TV & Video Radio Show Biography Site Map Email Dr. Peikoff		Eight Great Plays — As Literature and As Philosophy This course is designed to give you the ability to understand, judge and savor the values offered by great drama. (The Cyrano lecture was not part of the original lecture series.) Recommended translations are included. Basic Principles Antigone by Sophocles Introduction to the principles of analyzing drama. Esthetic enjoyment as the primary. Plot-theme as the essence of the action and the key to a play. Antigone as a great heroine — the only Greek protagonist with free will. Othello by William Shakespeare Iago as the blackest villain in literature. The brilliance of the climax and resolution. Le Cid by Pierre Corneille The "Corneilian hero." Understanding the ambiguous ending by grasping Corneille's unique concept of honor. Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller The difficulty in naming the plot-theme and the protagonist. The Grand Inquisitor scene as the most dramatic and philosophic in all of theater. An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen The play's hero as a rare character in literature: a this-worldly idealist. Why the happy ending is logical. How Ibsen's theme is undercut by his view of truth as non-absolute. Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw The essential conflict between Joan and the nobility and Church. The ingenuity of the plot. The genius against society. Monna Vanna by Maurice Maeterlinck The artistry of the plot-theme. How Guido's metaphysical view of man keeps him from seeing the truth about Vanna. Conclusions This session integrates the previous seven classes and answers such questions as: Which play has the most ingenious plot-theme? The most admirable hero? Which play is objectively the best? Cyrano de Bergeracby Edmond Rostand Rostand's brilliant portrayal of Cyrano's courage, intellect, poetic soul — and proper attitude toward his nose. Why the line "A man can have too much happiness" is the key to the play's deeper meaning. Order information


		Copyright © 2001 Leonard Peikoff. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form or manner whatsoever without the express permission of Leonard Peikoff. http://www.peikoff.com