An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Opening of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice - Literature Essay Samples

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is in many ways a ‘la pià ©ce bien faite’ (translated as ‘well-made play’), which consists of a four point structure: an exposition; a complication and a climax followed by a denouement. Certainly, the exposition can be identified as the first scene, where the audience is introduced to the actors and the play’s main themes. Indeed, Little Voice’s inevitable tragic fall can be inferred from the title, but the exposition suggests that she does not possess Greek Hubris, since Mari mentions that she ‘hardly ever speak[s]’. Moreover, Cartwright uses Realism, through use of colloquial diction, such as ‘damn stinking’ to highlight the ordinarity of Little Voice’s life before her short-lived fame.The play opens in complete ’Darkness’ , which is generally used to symbolise the evasion of truth and reality. Perhaps Little Voice causes ‘blackout[s]’ , since they enable her to escape her reality, where Mari considers her records ‘bloody shit’ and live in a world where music is paramount. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘Darkness’ suggests the regularity of the blackouts, which is corroborated by Little Voice’s comment ‘not again’ when the loudness of her records cause the fuse to blow. However, the unstable fuse could simply represent the poor and ‘lower-class life’ setting of the play. Moreover, Cartwright belonged to the ‘new writing’ genre in British theatre, which experimented with dramatic structure in order to be confrontational and provocative about the social policies of Thatcherism. Therefore, opening in complete darkness would have kept his audience in suspense and contrasted to the standard opening of past British plays, where the curtain’s rising was met with light and action. In The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad determines that darkness represent s the evil within humans. Therefore, Cartwright opening the play in ‘darkness’ could suggest that the play is didactic and focuses on the idea of morality.In addition, the play is a melodrama, where morality is black and white, and so the ‘darkness’ could symbolise the immorality, and so irresponsibility of Mari’s drunkenness, which seems habitual, as Little Voice can instantly identify that she is ‘drunk’. Whilst Mari is drunk ‘she screams’ and commands Little Voice to do the same. Thus, the dominance she exerts proves her to be the mother, despite her immature demands. Furthermore, Cartwright uses violent verbs in reference to Mari’s actions, such as ‘smashing’ to describe her drunken state, creating pathos towards Little Voice. The ambivalence presented of Mari and Little Voice towards screaming emphasises their contrasting personas, as well as Mari’s habitual undermining of Little Voice†™s timid and repressed attitude. Mari’s domination is best presented through ‘Shut that up! Stop it! Get it off! Get it!’ to which Little Voice ‘runs upstairs fast’, demonstrating her obedience. Furthermore, the circular structure of the scene, which begins with ‘darkness’ and ends with a ‘blackout’ symbolises the repetitive nature of Little Voice’s life, and indeed its emptiness. Consequently, the intensive stage directions provided where Little Voice takes on the responsibility of caring for her mother, ‘She rolls her over on settee and tucks Mari’s coat around her, takes off Mari’s shoes, places them carefully. Covers Mari’s ears with pillows’ advocates a routine. Throughout The Rise and Fall of Little Voice music is a ‘leitmotiv’ and serves as Little Voice’s escapism. Little Voice ‘finds herself through the medium of song’ by listening to the records of powerful music divas of the 1940s to 60s: Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Edith Piaf and Gracie Fields. Certainly, Shirley Bassey and Judy Garland records are played during the exposition, which acts as a foreshadow to the other singers in the latter parts of the play. Ironically, the medium through which Little Voice choices to communicate, Mari despises, since the records make her ‘want to be sick all over the house’. Therefore, music is not only a motif and Little Voice’s device for escapism, but a symbol of their mother-daughter conflict. Perhaps Cartright’s specific choice of ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ by Judy Garland confirms that Little Voice will always care and look after her mother, whether they are ‘Happy together’ or ‘unhappy together’ . Indeed, in the stage directions Little Voice and Mari ‘stumble together’ and ‘fall together’, which emphasises their uni fication and verifies the reference. Furthermore, the moment when ‘Mari moans and mumbles. LV stops, turns back’ certainly holds the potential to be a ‘tableau vivant’, which would emphasise Little Voice’s love for her mother, despite their differences.In essence, Cartwright effectively establishes the volitile mother-daughter relationship between Little Voice and Mari, although the collective pronoun ‘they’ creates hope for a closer relationship in the future. Similarily, although Little Voice is presented as timid and reserved, she does have a rebellious nature, since when she ‘takes’ her Shirley Bassey record ‘off’, she ‘begins putting another one on’, which foreshadows her found confidence when performing on stage later in the play. Moreover, Cartwright introduces central themes, such as music and darkness in the exposition to emphasise their importance and foreshadow their constant appearance throughout the play.

United States Enacted The Patient Protection And...

In 2010, through President Barrack Obama’s advocacy, the United States enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (â€Å"PPACA†) in an effort to ensure that all Americans have access to health coverage. As part of the PPACA Congress directed the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (â€Å"HHS†) to develop and implement a Medicare Self –Referral Disclosure Protocol. The SRDP is intended to foster the resolution of potential or actual violations of Stark. This Section will give an in depth look at disclosures prior to SRDP, its enactment and the important developments in its brief existence. 1. Disclosures Prior to the SRDP Prior to this enactment providers had the option to make unsolicited or voluntary refunds to Medicare administrative contractors who process claims and issue payments on behalf of CMS. Generally, these refunds are in the form of adjustment bills or checks. The Medicare contractors process the refunds and review the circumstances surrounding the overpayment and take appropriate steps to resolve the issue. Entities could also request an advisory opinion from CMS to resolve violations. For CMS to consider an advisory opinion the requester must be a party to the existing agreement and is the only individual or entity that may rely on that opinion. Also, entities could make disclosures through the Office of Inspector General (â€Å"OIG†) under its Self-Disclosure Protocol (â€Å"SDP†). Today a Stark violation may still beShow MoreRelatedPatient Protection, Affordable Care Act, and the Uninsured702 Words   |  3 PagesPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Uninsured: One of the major social problems in the United States is the increasing number of uninsured people who are among the vulnerable populations in the America. 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Being Proper at an Iranian Wedding - 1976 Words

Iranian Wedding Iran is a plateau located in Southwestern Asia between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Persian not only refers to the primary language spoken, but also the cultural sphere of civilization populations such as Iraq and central Asia (Countries and Their Cultures 1). The ritual that will be discussed in this paper is Iranian (Persian) wedding which is part of the Twelver Shi’ism, the official religion of the state which began in the 17th century by Safavid Dynasty (Countries and Their Cultures 1). The historical roots of the ritual will be discussed, who first practice it, what the goal of it is, how the ritual is conducted, who must be present, what actions are taken, and the duration, as well as how the ritual has†¦show more content†¦Men had to have good education, manners, and a house. Class was a requirement as well. Had an upper class man married to a lower social class women, he would be deprived his right to inheritance, but his family wouldn’t abando n him, but if he was poor he would have been sentenced to death (ZanjaniAsl 1). Iranian Muslims couldn’t marry in certain months like safar, mourning month for Iman, or 40th day of death. Different kinds of marriages were allowed such as mari-lateral cross-cousin marriages. This was in order to inherit wealth from grandparents, but the main principle was marrying once. Despite the allowance of polygyny marriages, they were rarely practiced (Countries and Their Cultures 1). The most common form of marriage was called padesha zan for woman marrying for the first time have to have their sibling at the wedding, and have equal rights to the husbands possessions (ZanjaniAsl 1). 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Blood Brothers free essay sample

Mrs Johnstone is portrayed as a stereotypical working class mother. In the introductory song, Russell uses Mrs Johnstone to create this stereotype. We got married at the Registry an then we had a do† Mentioning the Registry, Russell is trying to show that working class people are unable to fund a wedding in a church. Also, using the term do Russell is exemplifying the language that people of a working class background use, unlike somebody of upper class who would probably use the term wedding reception. However, Mrs Johnstone proves she is aspiring to be Upper Class when Russell uses her opinions of an upper class lifestyle. We all had curly salmon sandwiches. † Mrs Johnstone, like all stereotypical working class people thinks that salmon sandwiches make them look as if they were upper class. Also, the reference to the â€Å"curl† of the sandwiches implies that they have been made and were prepared much earlier, which once again conveys their social class. We will write a custom essay sample on Blood Brothers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Also, on the wedding theme, â€Å"An’ how the ale did flow†, this shows how poorly these people’s expectations are. At a stereotypical wedding, people drink wine, or Champagne, but because of lack of money, and the rush to get married due to the pregnancy of Mrs Johnstone, the guests drink ale. Also, this suggests that all the friends at the wedding reception, or â€Å"do† are working class people. Another theme that emphasises how desperately poor the Johnstones are, is the theme of friendship and love, linked between Eddie, Mickey and Linda and how they are all friends, but it gradually brakes apart, Mickey and Lindas friendship develops into love, and Mickey and Eddies friendship firstly breaks up when Eddie is forced to move away by his parents, then again later in the play when Mickey becomes depressed he begins to become jealous of Eddie, again leading up to the tragic consequences. This jealousy is brought upon by class difference. Mickey has no money, therefore he is unable to care for his wife and child, therefore must turn to other ways of getting money, like turning to crime for example. Mickey participates in a crime with his elder brother Sammy, which leads to him being put in prison. During his sentence, he suffers from severe depression and turn to medication. When he returns home after years of imprisonment, he is faced with Linda trying to persuade him to stop taking the drugs. He becomes frustrated and angry with her pleading, which shows how weak and vulnerable people living in poverty are in such desperate conditions. He was imprisoned for helping his brother in a heist that would award him with ? 50. This is an excellent example of an effective contrast between the upper and working classes. ?50 is a very small sum of money, it just conveys how poor and desperate Mickey is, and also links with the friendship and love theme, but mainly, this is social class differences. Mickey’s determination to provide for his family is incredible; he will do ANYTHING to care for his family, and shows the reader just how similar different social classes are: they both want to care for their families. The audience clearly recognises how wealthy Edward’s family is, and that he does not have to worry about his needs, like the Johnstones. However, the Lyons’ might be well-off, but the question that arises with this family is; whether it is a family at all. At the beginning of the play, Mrs Johnstone gives one of her twins in order to keep her other children. Mrs Lyons uses her dominant role as an employer, and as an upper class citizen to exploit Mrs Johnstone’s situation as a desperate single mother of many children. Also, due to her lack of education (presumably) Mrs Johnstone is very religious, and extremely superstitious. This is probably due to her lack of money; therefore she must turn to superstition and religion for support. The reader is assured of these ideas when the audience is informed that her husband has left her, this is also a reason for her to turn to religion. It all comes down to her social class in the hierarchy of society. This is made clear in the song â€Å"Marilyn Monroe†. She sings of how she met a man that told her she looks like Marilyn Monroe, and then gets her pregnant. They have several more children, and then marry. He leaves her after saying that she looks â€Å"a bit like Marilyn Monroe†. This wraps the idea of social class into a neat bow, for the stereotype of working class men is for them to aspire to marry a nice looking woman, long legs etc. Therefore Mrs Johnstone fell into a false sense of love due to her class status, and ended up alone and vulnerable. Her children seem to be re-living history when Linda and Mickey break up after Eddie’s return from university. Overall, I believe that social class is the main theme in the play, and that Willy Russell has presented the theme very effectively. The two different families living in such a close distance from each other allows the audience to see the extremely varied lifestyles of higher and lower class living.