Answers for the Drama Questions

Conflict


1) The leading character in Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, seemed to want to have the "American Dream" which entailed the perfect family, the perfect job and everything going right in his life, as well as he wanted to be successful just like his brother, who went to Africa and got rich. Simply put, Willy wanted to be like all the rest of his peers and have the luxuries that they had aquired, instead of trying to work for them. The King in King Lear seemed to want the best for his daughters and his kingdom, and just have someone love and take care of him as well as he wanted to be flattered most of all from his daughters just to seemingly build up his ego and self esteem.

2) The thing that stood in Willy's way would have to be his stubborn and delusional personality that seemed to make him believe that he did not have to work for what he wanted but instead, it would come to him since he was so well known and popular. In addition, his family and friends seemed to play a part in standing in his way since they never really tried to stray him away from this "crazy" dream or help him when they realised that he was a bit delusional. King Lear as well had his personality standing in his way since his arrogance and want for flattery caused him to be blinded to the real truths of life and as a result left him naive and without much in the end.

3)The high point of the tension/ crisis in Death of a Salesman was when Biff finally admitted to himself and his family that he was not the person they thought he was and that he was tired of living this life. Biff's "dime a dozen" speech was truly the highest point of tension in the drama.



Character Analysis


1) Willy Loman does not seem true to life since he believed in the "American Dream" and did not believe that he had to work for all the luxuries and the 'perfect life' that he desired. King Lear did not seem true to life either since he wanted to be flattered so much that he let his want for flattery blind him from seeing his daughters' true feelings for him.

2)The characters of both Willy Loman and King Lear seem to be revealed by their actions, the words they speak, and the way in which the other characters talk about them and treat them throughout the drama.

3)The driving force of Willy Loman seems to be the strong want of attaining wealth and becoming more like his brother and the salesman he knew years ago.King Lear's driving force seems to be his need and want for flattery which subsequently led to him giving up his kingdom to his two daughters that did not love him or care about him and led to his demise.

4) In both dramas, when the character changes the causes as convincing and true to life



Setting

1) The sets in both plays seem to be very appropriate since they represent the specific time period in which the play was based upon.

2)Yes they are attractive to some extent. In King Lear the set was slightly attractive since the setting was made to exhibit the time period in which such an event woud occur. This was done quite well, making the set quite attractive. On the other hand, it was not that attractive since it the colours and definition of the film were not of good quality since it was filmed so long ago. This made viewing slightly difficult and not that appealing to the audience.

The set for Death of a Salesman was slightly attractive as well since the atmosphere created by the diction in the book was well portrayed by the settings chosen to film the video. Even though the settings were well chosen to depict a true reflection of the scenes in the book, the quality of the video was not as up to standard as it could be and therefore lost the interest of the audience now and then due to viewing problems.

3)Some seem to be authentic and others do not seem to be authentic based on the quality of the video that is shown for both dramas.




Critical standards used for Drama, novel, motion pictures:


1) The chief emphasis of King Lear would have to be the greed found within majority of the characters and their motives behind getting what they want.

In Death of a Salesman, the chief emphasis would have to be on the "American Dream" that Willy Loman has,and the idea of it that he instills within his children from an early age.

2)The purpose of of the chief emphasis in King Lear seems to be to show the audience how greedy some of the characters were and that their greed, arrogance and clever minds led to their demise in the end. For example, Goneril and Regan's greed to obtain the entire kingdom led to them dying in the end. The purpose of this was also to provide humor for the audience so that the story line kept the audience interested.

In Death of a Salesman, the purpose of the chief emphasis seemed to be to explain the concept of the "American Dream" that Willy had in more detail and to show that this want of such a dream can be achieved with effort but not by simply by waiting. Thus showing the audience that one must work hard for what they want and not expect it to come to them because they are well known or have friends.

3)Both plays seem to be the farthest thing from romantic, but they are definitely realistic.
The emphasis in King Lear seems to be very realistic since the characteristic of greed is one that can be found in every day life situations in the real world. This is because there is always going to be something somebody else has that somebody else wants that causes persons to be greedy and want what others have instead of trying to be content with what they already have.

The emphasis in Death of a Salesman is also very realistic since it seems to show a dream that a lot of people want to have but some do not usually get.

4)Most definitely. Both aspects do show life as it really is.
In King Lear, various aspects such as greed, want of flattery, betrayal, jealousy and other themes are shown through out the drama, which are seen in every day life in many situations. As a result, the audience can seemingly relate to the situations and the different scenes within the drama which keeps them interested while learning a lesson in the end.

In Death of a Salesman, the concept of the "American Dream" which meant that you must be liked and have the perfect job and easy success without achieving it is something that some people want to have in real life. They figure that putting effort in something is just too hard and they rather wish and hope for it to come to them without the effort. Some people also feel that others get success easily and wish to be like them or have what they want but really and truly they did work hard for what they have. This concept is one that a lot of people can relate to and is seen in society today.

5) In King Lear, the emphasis on greed as well as other concepts do present problems of human relationship. This is because greed is a sin that is found within most of not all of us at some point in our lives that causes conflict between individuals. Greed causes persons to dislike others, to steal from others, hurt them for our own personal gain, as well as many other things. Therefore relationships are broken or destroyed. For example, in the drama, greed caused King Lear to damage his close relationship with his daughter Cordelia for a short period and to lose his relationship with his other daughters Goneril and Regan.

In Death of a Salesman, the emphasis of the "American Dream" does present problems of human relationship since it causes Individuals to want what other people have which also causes jealousy and puts pressure on people. The individual's relationships become weaker and they are no longer close. For example, in the drama, Willy grows apart from his sons because of his want of the "American Dream" and pushing Biff too much.

6) Neither drama glamorizes life or presents an artificial ending. Both drama's show a very realistic scenario that depicts real traits within the characters and even lessons that can be learned in the end.