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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which investigates Arnaud's Theatre of Cruelty and in particular the way that Arnaud's theories can be applied to Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLarnaud.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Arnauds Theatre of Cruelty was based on the concept of the essential pain and suffering without which life cannot exist: birth, death and human
appetites are all examples of cruelty. Arnaud perceived evil as being something which was continually present, whereas good could only be achieved through a deliberate act of will. From a
theatrical point of view, he saw the performance space as an arena within which the actors portrayed experiences engendered a catharsis in the audience, and in which not only did
art imitate, or double life, but life imitated art. He rejected both realism and the structure of earlier dramatic forms in order to present the spectator with productions which constantly
challenged morality and preconceived notions of ethical imperatives, and encouraged a critical perspective in the audience.
According to Garfield-Knight (2002), Arnaud perceived the theatre as the only medium through which myths, crimes, and
taboos could be expressed in an environment which allowed them to be played out in their entirety, but at the same time controlled. Sellin (1975) sees Arnauds theories as underpinning
the aims of all serious dramatists, especially with reference to the way in which the stage becomes not only the central focus for the catharsis of the spectator, but also
the way in which both connection and alienation are defined.
This can be seen as exemplified in Brechts work, and in particular in Mother Courage and her Children. The emphasis from the
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