"Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw.

Hello readers I'm back with another play i.e "Pygmalion" by Bernard Shaw which deals with the background, plot summary, themes and Symbol. So let's begin to dive into the play.

George Bernard Shaw and Pygmalion Background

Born in Dublin in 1856 to a middle-class Protestant family bearing pretensions to nobility (Shaw's embarrassing alcoholic father claimed to be descended from Macduff, the slayer of Macbeth), George Bernard Shaw grew to become what some consider the second greatest English playwright, behind only Shakespeare. Others most certainly disagree with such an assessment, but few question Shaw's immense talent or the plays that talent produced. Shaw died at the age of 94, a hypochondriac, socialist, anti-vaccinationist, semi-feminist vegetarian who believed in the Life Force and only wore wool.

He left behind him a truly massive collection of work including about 60 plays, 5 novels, 3 volumes of music criticism, 4 volumes of dance and theatrical criticism, and heaps of social commentary, political theory, and voluminous correspondence. And this list does not include the opinions that Shaw could always be counted on to hold about any topic, and which this energetic public figure was always most willing to share. Shaw's most lasting contribution is no doubt his plays, and it has been said that "a day never passes without a performance of some Shaw play being given somewhere in the world." 

One of Shaw's greatest contributions as a modern dramatist is in establishing drama as serious literature, negotiating publication deals for his highly popular plays so as to convince the public that the play was no less important than the novel. In that way, he created the conditions for later playwrights to write seriously for the theater. Of all of Shaw's plays, Pygmalion is without the doubt the most beloved and popularly received, if not the most significant in literary terms. Several film versions have been made of the play, and it has even been adapted into a musical. 

In fact, writing the screenplay for the film version of 1938 helped Shaw to become the first and only man ever to win to desire Double: the Nobel Prize for literature and an Academy Award. Shaw wrote the part of Eliza in Pygmalion for the famous actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell, with whom Shaw was having a prominent affair at the time that had set all of London's buzzing noise. The aborted romance between Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle reflects Shaw's own love life, which was always peppered was in love with beautiful women, with whom he flirted disgracefully but with whom he almost never had any further relations. 

For example, he had a long marriage to Charlotte Payne-Townsend in which it is well known that he never touched her once. The fact that Shaw was quietly a member of the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology, an organization whose core members were young men provoke for homosexual liberation, might or might not inform the way that Higgins would rather focus his passions on literature or science than on women. That Higgins was a representation of Pygmalion, the character from the famous story of Ovid's Metamorphoses who is the very embodiment of male love for the female form, makes Higgins sexual disinterest all the more compelling. Shaw is too consummate a performer and too smooth in his self- presentation for us to analyze his sexual background; these lean biographical facts, however, do support the belief that Shaw would have an interest in exploding the typical structures of standard fairy tales.

Summery of the play 

On a summer evening in London's Covent ( a group of nuns who live together) Garden, a group of assorted people are gathered together under the portico of St. Paul's Church for protection from the rain. Among the group are Mrs. Eynsford-Hill and her daughter, Clara, who are waiting for the son, Freddy, to return with a cab. When he returns in failure, he is again sent in search of a cab. As he leaves, he collides with a young flower girl with a thick womanish accent, and he ruins many of her flowers. After he is gone, the mother is interested in how such a "low" creature could know her son's name; she discovers that the flower girl calls everyone either "Freddy" or "Charlie." When an elderly gentleman comes into the shelter, the flower girl notes his distinguished appearance and tries to coax him to buy some flowers. 

This gentleman, Colonel Pickering, refuses to buy the flowers, but he gives the girl some money. Members of the crowd warn the girl against taking the money because there is a man behind her taking notes of everything she says. When the flower girl (Eliza) loudly proclaims that "I am a good girl, I am," the bystanders begin to protest. The note taker, it turns out, is Professor Henry Higgins, an expert in phonetics. His hobby is identifying everyone's accent and place of birth. He even maintains that he could take this "ragamuffin" of a flower girl and teach her to talk like a duchess in three months. 

At this time, the elder gentleman identifies himself as Colonel Pickering, the author of a book on Sanskrit, who has come to meet the famous Henry Higgins, to whom he is now talking. The two go off to discuss their mutual interest in phonetics. The next morning at Professor Higgins house, the two men are discussing Higgins experiments when the flower girl is announced by Mrs. Pearce, Higgins housekeeper. The girl, Eliza Doolittle, remembers that Higgins bragged about being able to teach her to speak like a duchess, and she has come to take lessons so that she can get a position in a flower shop. Pickering makes a wager with Higgins, who, in the spirit of good sport, decides to take the bet: he orders Mrs. Pearce to take the girl away, scrub her, and burn her clothes. 

He overcomes all of Eliza's objections, and Eliza is taken away. At this time, Eliza's father appears with the intention of blackmailing Higgins, but he is so intimidated by Higgins that he ends up asking for five pounds because he is one of the "undeserving poor." Higgins is so pleased with the old fellow's audacity and his unique view of morality that he gives him the five pounds and is immediately rid of him. Sometime later, Higgins brings Eliza to his mother's house during her "receiving day."

Freddy Eynsford-Hill and his mother and sister Clara are also present. These turn out to be the same people whom we saw under the portico in the first act. Now, however, none of the guests recognize that Eliza is the "ragamuffin" flower girl of that night. Everyone is amused with the pedantic correctness of her speech and are even more impressed with Eliza's narration of her aunt's death, told in perfect English, but told with lurid and shocking details. After Eliza's departure, Mrs. Higgins points out that the girl is far from being ready to be presented in public.

Sometime later, Higgins, Pickering, and Eliza return late in the evening. The men are delighted with the great success they have had that day in passing off Eliza as a great duchess at an ambassador's garden party. They are so extremely proud that they totally ignore Eliza and her contribution to the success of the "experiment." Inflamed, Eliza finally throws a slipper at Higgins, only to be informed that she is being unreasonable. Eliza is concerned with what will happen to her now that the experiment is over: Is she to be tossed back into the gutter; what is her future place? Higgins cannot see that this is a problem, and after telling her that all of the clothes that she has been wearing belong to her, he retires for the evening.

The next day, Higgins arrives at his mother's house completely baffled that Eliza has disappeared. He has telephoned the police and is then surprised to know that Eliza is upstairs. While waiting for Eliza, Mr. Doolittle enters and he accuses Higgins of ruining him because Higgins told a wealthy man that Doolittle was England's most original moralist, and, as a result, the man left an enormous sum of money in trust for Doolittle to lecture on moral reforms. He has thus been forced into middle-class morality, and he and his common-law wife are miserable. He has come to invite Eliza to his wedding, another concession to dreadful middle-class morality.

Eliza enters and agrees to come to her father's wedding. As they all prepare to leave, Higgins restrains Eliza and tries to get her to return to his house. He maintains that he treats everyone with complete equality. To him, he makes no social distinction between the way he would treat a flower girl or a duchess. Eliza is determined to have respect and independence, and thus she refuses to return to Higgins' house. Higgins then admits that he misses her and also admires her newfound independence. He further maintains that she should return, and the three of them will live equally, as "three bachelors." Eliza, however, feels otherwise, and she leaves with Mrs. Higgins to attend her father's wedding.

Themes

Class

The social hierarchy is an unavoidable reality in Britain, and it is interesting to watch it play out in the work of a socialist playwright. Shaw includes members of all social classes from the lowest (Liza) to the servant class (Mrs. Pearce) to the middle class (Doolittle after his inheritance) to the genteel poor (the Eynsford Hills) to the upper class (Pickering and the Higginses). The general sense is that class structures are rigid and should not be tampered with, so the example of Liza's class mobility is most shocking. The issue of language is tied up in class quite closely; the fact that Higgins is able to identify where people were born by their accents is telling. British class and identity are very much tied up in their land and their birthplace, so it becomes hard to be socially mobile if your accent marks you as coming from a certain location.

Gentility and Manners

Good manners (or any manners at all) were mostly associated with the upper class at this time. Shaw's position on manners is somewhat unclear; as a socialist, one would think that he would have no time for them because they are a marker of class divisions. Yet, Higgins's pattern of treating everyone like dirt, while just as democratic as Pickering's of treating everyone like a duke or duchess, is less satisfactory than Pickering's. It is a poignant moment at the end of Pygmalion when Liza thanks Pickering for teaching her manners and pointedly comments that otherwise she would have had no way of learning them.

Marriage and Prostitution

These institutions are very much related in Shaw's plays, especially in Mrs. Warren's profession. From his unusual standpoint of being committed to a innocent marriage, Shaw apparently feels free to denounce marriage as an exchange of sexuality for money similar to prostitution (even though this was not happening in his own marriage). Ironically, while her father expresses no regrets when he is led to believe that Liza will take up this profession, it is she who denounces it. She declares that she was less degraded as a flower-seller than as a "genteel" lady trying to make an appropriate marriage--because as a flower-seller, at least, she wasn't selling her body.

Myths of Creation

Of all Shaw's plays, Pygmalion has the most references to Greek and Roman mythology. Higgins represents Pygmalion, a Greek sculptor who lived alone because he hated women. Pygmalion created a sculpture of a perfect woman and fell in love with it; after he prayed, Aphrodite ( the Greek Godess of love and beauty) brought it to life for him. This statue is named Galatea, and it is represented in Shaw's play by Liza. Unlike the myth, Shaw's play does not end in a marriage between the pair, and Liza is infuriated with Higgins's suggestion that her success is his success and that he has made her what she is. She has worked to recreate her identity as well.

Language

In this play and in British society at large, language is closely tied with class. From a person's accent, one can determine where the person comes from and usually what the person's socioeconomic background is. Because accents are not very malleable, poor people are marked as poor for life. Higgins's teachings are somewhat radical in that they disrupt this social marker, allowing for greater social mobility.

Professionalism

At the time that this play was written, the idea of female professionals was somewhat new. Aside from the profession of prostitution, women were generally housewives before this period, and there is some residual resistance to the idea of normally male professions being entered by females in the play.

Moreover, Pickering is initially horrified by the idea of Eliza opening a flower shop, since being involved in a trade was a mark of belonging to the lower class. Pickering is shaken similarly after his experience of watching Eliza fool everyone at a garden and dinner party, saying that she played her part almost too well. The idea of a professional female socialite is somehow threatening to him.

Gender Solidarity or Hostility 

Although British society is supposed to break down along class lines, Shaw makes a point of highlighting gender loyalties in this play. Although Mrs. Higgins initially is horrified by the idea that her son might bring a flower-girl into her home, she quickly grows sympathetic to Liza. 

As a woman, she is the first to express a concern for what will be done with the girl after the experiment, the idea that her training makes her highly unmarriageable by anyone anywhere on the social scale. When Liza runs away from Wimpole St., she instinctively knows that Mrs. Higgins will take good care of her. Higgins's mother sides with Liza before even her son, not revealing that Liza is in the house while Higgins is dialing the police.

In contrast, relations between people of opposite genders are generally portrayed by Shaw as antagonistic. Higgins and his mother have a troubled relationship, as do the professor and Mrs. Pearce. Freddy and Liza get along better perhaps only due to his more passive, feminine demeanor.

Symbols

Clothing 

In Pygmalion, clothing is an important part (perhaps the most important part) of characters' appearances and how they display their identity and social standing. In the opening scene, the different people under the church portico are able to discern each other's social class particularly by their clothes. Pickering is easily recognizable as a gentleman, whereas Eliza is easily identifiable as a poor flower-girl. 

Because of this, clothing is naturally an important part of Eliza's transformation. In Act Two, after she changes clothes, her own father doesn't even recognize her at first—and this is before she even begins to act or talk differently. Mr. Doolittle's own social transformation is also symbolized by clothing. He arrives at Mrs. Higgins' house in Act Five dressed like a gentleman, and Higgins assumes that this cannot be Eliza's father, whom he met earlier. The importance of clothes in the formation of one's social identity suggests that such identity is rather shallow.

Indeed, a central ambiguity in the play is whether one's identity can really be changed by learning to speak differently or putting on a different outfit, or whether this is merely a façade that covers up one's true, unchanging identity. Behind the question of whether she is or isn't the owner of the clothes, Eliza also wants to know whether her new, upper-class identity is really hers, or whether it is just a role she is playing, a costume she is wearing but will have to give up eventually. Clothes thus symbolize the importance of appearances in establishing one's identity and class, while also questioning how deep this kind of social identity goes.

Conclusion 

The background information provides a comprehensive understanding of George Bernard Shaw, his prolific contributions to literature, and the significance of "Pygmalion" within his masterpiece. Through Shaw's life and works, we can observe into his socialist beliefs, his innovative approach to drama, and his exploration of themes such as class, gentility, and gender dynamics.

The plot of the play delves into the twists  of "Pygmalion," highlighting the transformation of Eliza Doolittle under the guidance of Professor Henry Higgins. Themes such as class mobility, the power of language, and the complexities of gender relations are explored through the interactions of the characters, underscoring Shaw's keen observations of societal norms and prejudices.

Particularly in clothing, it underscores the delicate layers of identity and social perception woven throughout the play. By examining how characters appearances and attire shape their interactions and perceptions, Shaw prompts audiences to question the authenticity of social constructs and the fluidity of personal identity.

"Pygmalion" emerges as a timeless masterpiece that continues to captivate audiences with its wit, social commentary, and profound insights into human nature. Shaw's enduring legacy as a playwright and social critic is epitomized in this work, which challenges conventions and invites reflection on the complexities of society and the individual.

Here below I'm attaching one video which would be helpful in gaining more light upon the play.

I hope this would be helpful, 

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" Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

Hello readers I'm back with another play by Arthur Miller i.e "Death of a Salesman". So let's dive deep into the play.

About the Author 

Arthur Asher Miller who was bron on October 17, 1915 and died on February 10, 2005 was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are,

1) All My Sons (1947).

2) Death of a Salesman (1949).

3) The Crucible (1953).

4) A View from the Bridge (1955). 

He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century.

Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and married Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, he received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2001, the Prince of Asturias Award in 2002, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 1999.

Background of the play

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a social critique of the American Dream. The play follows Willy and Biff Loman as they come to realize that the American Dream isn't an attainable goal. Willy, Biff's father is an unsuccessful traveling salesman, and Biff is a simpleminded field worker. As the play progresses, the characters must try to redefine happiness and success for themselves without the pressure of the American Dream. The play relies on motifs such as mythic figures and the notion of being 'well liked' to support many of the themes that deal with the conflicts Willy and Biff face.

Literary Techniques in Death of a Salesman 

Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller in 1948 and produced in 1949. The play is a story about a salesman named Willy Loman, his family, and his desire for the American Dream. He lives with his wife Linda in New York, who tries to convince him to settle down in a job where he does not have to travel so far.

Willy sets unattainable expectations on himself and his two sons, Biff and Happy, who spend the entire play trying to please their father. The play follows Willy's mental twist as he becomes disillusioned with life and keeps reliving events from his past. Linda reveals to her sons that Willy has been trying to end his life and asks them both to try and help her cheer him up.

There are many different literary techniques or literary devices used within "Death of a Salesman". One of the examples of those would be:

Allusions: The characters use many allusions during the play. An allusion refers to a person, place, thing, event, or idea that the writer of a literary work uses that they assume their readers will know. These allusions give the work a lot of meaning within a word or a short phrase. 

Summary of Death of a Salesman

Death of a salesman summary explains the happenings that take place in the story. It is a story about a salesman. Thus, the play addresses essential issues like losing one’s identity, inability to accept change and more. The story is a mixture of remembrance, dreams, conflicts, arguments and more in Willy Loman’s life.

Thus, the death of a salesman summary follows the life of Willy, who is a salesman professionally. He lives with his wife and has two sons. The times are evolving fast and Willy is unable to keep up. He does not like living in his 25-year old home which is surrounded by the apartment building. Moreover, Willy is not doing good at his job and his sons are not as successful as he wishes them to be. Amidst all this stress and tension, he finally commits suicide to help his family lead a better life with the insurance money. The play follows the life of a salesman, Willy Loman, who lives in New York City in the late 1940s.

Willy has a wife, Linda, and two sons, Happy and Biff. Willy does not like to live in his 25-year old home which is now surrounded by apartment buildings. Moreover, Willy cannot focus on driving and violates traffic laws often.  His condition is worsening as he talks to himself more than before. Further, he also stresses about his sons not being successful enough. Although, Happy has a job and lives in his apartment. However, Biff is still struggling and not earning enough.

At work, things are not looking good for Willy either. He has been demoted and thus, earns lesser. To worsen things, he now hallucinates too. He believes he is living in an earlier time of his life. For instance, he talks to his dead brother, Ben. This disturbs his friend, Charley, as well. Further, in the play, we learn how this disturbs his sons as well. They learn about the increase in car accidents from their mother.

Thus, the sons decide to stay closer to their parents. Moreover, they think of starting a family business together. Biff decides to ask his former boss for a loan for this business. This plan makes the family hopeful for the future.
Similarly, Willy also talks to his boss to change his position from a travelling salesman to a floor salesman. However, they end up in an argument when his boss declines and eventually fires Willy.

On the other hand, Biff’s boss avoids him and he realizes he won’t get help from him. The boys were supposed to meet Willy at the restaurant to celebrate the expected success, but it turns out to be bad. The boys leave Willy alone and leave with some girls. This provokes Linda and she scolds them for doing that. 

After a heavy confrontation, they express their feelings for each other emotionally. Finally, Willy decides that the insurance money can be beneficial for his family so he kills himself. At the end of the death of a salesman summary, we see Linda having troubles dealing with her husband’s death. She does not accept his death and keep waiting for him to return from5⅚ his business trip. At last, she is living in a house paid for but no one to share it with. Thus, it shows us the harsh reality of capitalism and its impact.

Death of a Salesman gives a very relevant message in today’s time. It shows us the psychological chaos of the salesman, much similar to most people today, who give in to the capitalist society and let it overpower them.

Themes

The Dangers of Modernity

Death of a Salesman fisrt performed in 1949 on the edge of the 1950s, a decade of outstanding materialism technical advances in America. Many innovations applied specifically to the home: it was in the 50s that the TV and the washing machine became common household objects. Miller expresses an fluctuations toward modern objects and the modern mindset. Although Willy Loman is a deeply flawed character, there is something compelling about his nostalgia. Modernity accounts for the agedness of Willy Loman's career - traveling salesmen are rapidly becoming out-of-date. Significantly, Willy reaches for modern objects, the car and the gas heater, to assist him in his suicide attempts.

Gender Relations

In Death of a Salesman, woman are sharply divided into two categories: Linda and other. The men display a distinct Madonna/whore( holy mother/ prostitute) complex, as they are only able to classify their nurturing and virtuous mother against the other, easier women available (the woman with whom Willy has an affair and Miss Forsythe being two examples). The men curse themselves for being attracted to the whore-like women but is still drawn to them  and, in a complex moment, Happy crying that he cannot find a woman like his mother. Women themselves are two-dimensional characters in this play. They remain firmly outside the male sphere of business, and seem to have no thoughts or desires other than those pertaining to men. Even Linda, the strongest female character, is only obsessed between her husband and her sons, selflessly subordinating herself to serve to assist them in their problems.

Madness

Madness is a dangerous theme for many artists, whose creativity can put them on the edge of what is socially acceptable. Miller, however, treats the quite ordinary subject of the nuclear family, so his interposition of the theme of madness is surprising. Madness reflects the greatest technical innovation of Death of a Salesman, its seamless hops back and forth in time. The audience or reader quickly realizes, however, that this is based on Willy's confused perspective. Willy's madness and reliability as a narrator become more and more of an issue as his hallucinations gain strength. The reader must decide for themselves how concrete of a character Ben is, for example, or even how reliable the plot and narrative structure are, when told from the perspective of someone as on the edge as Willy Loman.

Cult of Personality

One of Miller's techniques throughout the play is to familiarize certain characters by having them repeat the same key line over and over. Willy's most common line is that businessmen must be well-liked, rather than merely liked, and his business strategy is based entirely on the idea of a cult of personality. He believes that it is not what a person is able to accomplish, but who he knows and how he treats them that will get a man ahead in the world. This viewpoint is tragically undermined not only by Willy's failure, but also by that of his sons, who assumed that they could make their way in life using only their charms and good looks, rather than any more solid talents.

Nostalgia or regret

The dominant emotion throughout this play is nostalgia, flushed with regret. All of the Lomans feel that they have made mistakes or wrong choices. The technical aspects of the play feed this emotion by making seamless transitions back and forth from happier, earlier times in the play. Youth is more suited to the American dream, and Willy's business ideas do not seem as sad or as bankrupt when he has an entire lifetime ahead of him to prove their merit. Biff looks back nostalgic for a time that he was a high school athletic hero, and, more importantly, for a time when he did not know that his father was a fake and a cheat, and still idolized him.

Opportunity

Tied up intimately with the idea of the American dream is the concept of opportunity. America claims to be the land of opportunity, of social mobility. Even the poorest man should be able to move upward in life through his own hard work. Miller complicates this idea of opportunity by linking it to time, and illustrating that new opportunity does not occur over and over again. Bernard has made the most of his opportunities; by studying hard in school, he has risen through the ranks of his profession and is now preparing to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. Biff, on the other hand, while technically given the same opportunities as Bernard, has ruined his prospects by a decision that he made at the age of eighteen. There seems to be no going back for Biff, after he made the fatal decision not to finish high school.

Nature versus Man-Made Environment

Although Willy Loman feels driven to be a success as a salesman, he has another conflicting longing that appears throughout the play. He loves nature and the country life. In fact, traveling allows Willy to feel a sense of freedom and participation in the natural world, although he is just driving through it. When Willy is feeling at his worst, he wishes for fresh air, a garden, and the outdoor life. Yet his sense that real success comes from working in a man-made environment keeps him chained to his life in New York City and a job in which he cannot achieve personal or financial success.

Biff also loves nature and faces the same inner conflict as his father. He loves working on a farm in the West, but he has been so reconditioned by his father's ideas about the American Dream and business success that he cannot embrace what he clearly enjoys. Unable to settle into a satisfying career, Biff moves back and forth between the freedom of the country and the confinement of the city, for a time subscribing to a dream of owning a sporting goods store with Happy.

Symbols

Stocking

During his affair with The Woman, Willy gives her the intimate gift of stockings. Biff's outburst at discovering Willy with The Woman, "You gave her Mama's stockings!", fixes the stockings in Willy's mind as a symbol of his betrayal. He has let his wife down emotionally, and he is draining the family's already strained financial resources toward his ego-stroking affair.

Seeds

"I don't have a thing in the ground!" Willy complaints after both his sons leaves him in Act 2. The sons he has cultivated with his own values have grown to disappoint him, none of his financial hopes have borne fruit, and he is desperate to have some tangible result of a lifetime of work. By planting vegetable seeds, he is attempting to begin anew. But as Linda gently reminds him, the surrounding buildings don't provide enough light for a garden. Willy's attempt to plant the vegetable seeds at night further reinforces the futility of his efforts.

Flute

The flute music that drifts through the play represents the single faint link Willy has with his father and with the natural world. The elder Loman made flutes, and was apparently able to make a good living by simply traveling around the country and selling them. This anticipates Willy's career as a salesman, but also his underused talent for building things with his hands, which might have been a more fulfilling job. The flute music is the sound of the road Willy didn't take.

Diamonds

To Willy, diamonds represent noticeable wealth and, hence, both validation of one’s labor (and life) and the ability to pass material goods on to one’s offspring, two things that Willy desperately craves. Correlatively, diamonds, the discovery of which made Ben a fortune, symbolize Willy’s failure as a salesman. Despite Willy’s belief in the American Dream, a belief unwavering to the extent that he passed up the opportunity to go with Ben to Alaska, the Dream’s promise of financial security has slip away from Willy. At the end of the play, Ben encourages Willy to enter the “jungle” finally and retrieve this elusive diamond—that is, to kill himself for insurance money in order to make his life meaningful.

Conclusion

Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" remains a timeless and poignant critique of the American Dream, exploring the devastating effects of societal expectations and personal delusions. Through the tragic life of Willy Loman, Miller delves into themes of modernity, gender relations, madness, and the cult of personality, all while highlighting the stark contrast between nature and the man-made environment. The play’s rich use of literary techniques, such as allusions and symbolism, deepens the emotional impact and underscores the characters' struggles. Ultimately, "Death of a Salesman" serves as a powerful reminder of the human cost of unattainable dreams and the relentless pressures of a capitalist society. Its exploration of identity, success, and failure continues to resonate with audiences, making it a seminal work in American theater.

Below I'm sharing some videos which would be helpful in grasping the play's sense.

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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare

Here I'm not sharing about the William Shakespeare and his autobiography, as I have also mentioned about him in previous blogs as well. So let's dive into the play.

Setting of the play

Where It All Goes Down

Rome, around 45 B.C.

The play takes place in ancient Rome, just after Julius Caesar has defeated Pompey and his sons and returned to Rome in triumph. Though it's not spelled out in the play, Caesar's power is growing. He's been elected diplomat (the highest office of the Roman Republic) for life, giving him unrivalled power. Though a lot of the actual events are consumed together for Shakespeare's literary purposes, the general feeling is that it's a time when Romans are happy to be recovering from civil war.

They were so happy that they don't worry that the Republic is in danger of becoming an empire led by one king instead of elected representatives. For little context, Caesar was actually assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C., and Antony's alliance with Octavius in the second triumvirate came to an end eleven years later, in 33 B.C., when a disagreement turned into a war. Power politics were beginning to become the norm in Rome, and Rome's honor and tradition as a republic swing in the balance.

Summary 

The tribunes of Rome, Marullus and Flavius, break up a gathering of citizens who want to celebrate Julius Caesar's victorious return from war. The victory is marked by public games in which Caesar's followers, Mark Antony, takes part. On his way to the realm, Caesar is stopped by a stranger who warns him that he should 'Beware the Ides [15th] of March.'

Fellow legislator, Caius Cassius and Marcus Brutus, are suspicious of Caesar's reactions to the power he holds in the Republic. They fear he will accept offers to become Emperor. He has been gaining a lot of power recently and people treat him like a god. Cassius, a successful general himself, is jealous of Caesar. Brutus has a more balanced view of the political position. The conspirator Casca enters and tells Brutus of a ceremony held by the public. They offered Caesar a crown three times, and he refused it every time. But the cabalist are still cautious of his urge.

Cassius, Casca, and their allies plant false documents to manipulate Brutus to join their cause to remove Caesar. After doing so, they visit Brutus at night in his home to persuade him of their views. There they plan Caesar's death. Brutus is troubled but refuses to uncover in his devoted wife, Portia. On 15 March, Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, urges him not to go to the Senate. She has had visionary dreams and fears the threats of the overnight storms. 

Caesar is nevertheless persuaded by flattery to go to the Capitol. At the Capitol, he is stabbed by each conspirator in turn. As Brutus gives the final blow, Caesar utters the famous phrase:
Et tu, Brute? ( is a Latin phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?".)

Against Cassius's advice, Brutus allows Mark Antony to speak a funeral oration for Caesar in the market place. He is allowed under the condition that first Brutus must address the people to explain the cabalist reasons and their fears for Caesar's ambition. After Brutus speaks, the crowd becomes calm and supports his cause. However, Antony, in his speech, questions the motives of the cabalist and reminds the crowd of Caesar's benevolent actions and of his refusal to accept the crown. He also reads them Caesar's will, in which Caesar leaves public land and money to each Roman citizen. Antony's speech mixes the crowd into a murderous riot, and the cabalist are forced to flee from the city.

Brutus and Cassius gather an army in Northern Greece and prepare to fight the forces led by Mark Antony. Antony has joined with Caesar's great-nephew, Octavius, and with a man called Lepidus. Away from Rome, Brutus and Cassius are filled with doubts about the future and quarrel over funds for their soldiers' pay. After making amends, they prepare to engage Antony's army at Philippi, despite Cassius' misgivings about the site. Brutus stoically receives news of his wife's suicide in Rome. He then sees Caesar's ghost as he tries to rest and is unable to sleep on the eve of the conflict.

In the battle, the Republicans (led by Brutus) appear to be winning at first. But when Cassius' messenger's horse seems to be overtaken by the enemy, Cassius fears the worst and gets his servant to help him to a quick death. After finding Cassius's body, Brutus commits suicide. He believes this to be the only honourable option left to him. Antony, winning on the battlefield, praises Brutus as 'the noblest Roman of them all' and orders a formal funeral before he and Octavius return to rule in Rome.

Themes 

Uncertainty and Unrest

Julius Caesar takes place at a point in Rome's history when, despite the far-reaching borders of the Roman empire, civil unrest plagued many of the cities. This lack of unity among the social classes, as well as among the political actors in the play, increases the tension leading up to the eventual murder of Caesar. Additionally, many see Shakespeare's focus on this uncertainty for Rome's future as a timely reflection on the state of England in the sixteenth century. At the time Julius Caesar was being performed, Queen Elizabeth I was nearing the end of her life (she would die in 1603, four years after the play was written), and because she had no children, the question of who would succeed her sparked ongoing controversy related to gender, religion, and the future of the English empire.

Heroes vs. Villains

Both Ceasar and Brutus are perceived to be heroes and villains in Julius Caesar. At the opening of the play, Caesar is hailed for his conquests and is admired for his apparent humility upon refusing the crown. However, once murdered, Caesar is painted (by Brutus et al) as a power hungry leader with the intentions of enslaving all of Rome. Brutus's speech, which follows Caesar's death, successfully manipulates the plebeian perspective. By the end of his speech, the crowd is hailing Brutus for killing Caesar, whom they now perceive as a great villain. But, the crowd is easily swayed once again when Antony speaks. Following Brutus' remarks, Antony gives tribute to Caesar's , manipulating the crowd with stories of Caesar's kindness, and sharing the details of Caesar's will, which leaves money to every Roman. At the end of Antony's speech, the crowd is once again supports Caesar, mourns his death, and seeks to kill Brutus, Cassius, and the other murderers. The swaying opinions of the plebeians, and the great differences in opinion that the play presents leave the audience to determine who, if anyone, is the hero of the play, and who, if anyone, is the villain.

Idealism

Brutus wishes for an ideal world. He is happily married, lives in a beautiful home, and is successful according to all measures of Roman living. However, Brutus wishes for perfection in his life, and although he loves Caesar, Brutus fears Caesar is too power hungry, and might possibly destroy the Republic. Cassius understands Brutus's idealism and takes advantage of it in order to manipulate Brutus into joining the conspiracy against Caesar. At heart, it is Brutus's idealism that causes his ultimate downfall. Antony recognizes this fact when addressing Brutus's dead body at the conclusion of the play, saying "This was the noblest Roman of them all".

Private and Public Identity

In Julius Caesar, the audience is able to see both the private and public sides of Caesar and Brutus. Caesar is a powerful confident man who leads great armies and effectively rules the Roman empire, yet he is not without weakness. He is highly superstitious, suffers from epilepsy, and ultimately proves to be human when murdered by his closest friends. Similarly, Brutus is strong and refuses to show weakness when in public, whether it be speaking to the plebeians or leading an army into battle. However, we see through his intimate conversations with his wife Portia and with Cassius that Brutus is often plagued by uncertainty and pain. Specifically, after fleeing Rome, Brutus learns that his wife has committed suicide, and is heartbroken when discussing it with Cassius. 

Ambition and Conflict

Caesar is a great man, and an ambitious man. His ambition is what worries Brutus, and ultimately leads to Brutus joining the conspiracy to murder Caesar. Cassius is also a very ambitious man, and because he is so jealous of Caesar's power, wishes to kill him to gain more power for himself. Ultimately, the ambition of these two men leads to their downfalls and to virtual anarchy in the streets of Rome. The play suggests that great ambition leads to great conflict.

Power of Speech

Speech plays an integral role in the plot developments of Julius Caesar. The plebeians are easily swayed into greatly opposing viewpoints through Brutus's and Antony's speeches. Antony's great manipulation of the crowd causes anarchy in the streets of Rome and creates the support for a mission to take revenge for Caesar's death. In addition, Brutus is hesitant at first to join the conspiracy against Caesar, but after speaking with the highly manipulative Cassius, Brutus is more convinced. Then, after receiving an anonymous letter (actually written by Cassius) that criticizes the rule of Caesar, Brutus is convinced he must take action and agrees to join Cassius's murderous plot.

Uncertainty and Unrest

Julius Caesar takes place at a point in Rome's history when, despite the far-reaching borders of the Roman empire, civil unrest plagued many of the cities. This lack of unity among the social classes, as well as among the political actors in the play, increases the tension leading up to the eventual murder of Caesar. Additionally, many see Shakespeare's focus on this uncertainty for Rome's future as a timely reflection on the state of England in the sixteenth century. At the time Julius Caesar was being performed, Queen Elizabeth I was nearing the end of her life (she would die in 1603, four years after the play was written), and because she had no children, the question of who would succeed her sparked ongoing controversy related to gender, religion, and the future of the English empire.

Free Will versus Fate

Can humans employ free will to control the dates or manners of their deaths? The play revolves around a major death, that of Caesar, and questions whether it was inevitable or justified. Caesar himself believes firmly in fate. The strength of this belief may be what kills him—if he'd note the interference of omens, he may not have gone to the Capitol. Cassius, by contrast, believes he can change his destiny. And this belief starts a chain of events that leads to his death.

Cassius, Brutus, Titinius, and Portia all commit suicide. They take death into their own hands, on their own terms, a demonstration of free will, but perhaps in the face of a death that fate has carved out for them. Shakespeare's characters repeatedly try to seize control of events beyond their control, with mixed results. 

Despite the frequent failures of their bold actions, the main characters often endorse free will as imperative, the only way out of a powerless, miserable life. Brutus, for instance, grows bolder throughout the play. In the first act, he's unhappy with Caesar's coronation but unconvinced that he can change anything. By the fourth act, he's confidently giving commands in war.

Symbols 

Storms

When the battle begins, Cassius says, "blow wind, swell billow ... the storm is up, and all is on the hazard [and everything is at risk]." Bad weather is a metaphor for devastation, a time when humans must take initiative and act. The cabalist also discuss the weather in Act 1, Scene 3, when they meet to discuss Caesar's presumed coronation planned for the following day. Speaking of the recent storm, Casca states that the gods must be angry: "When the most mighty gods by tokens send/Such dreadful heralds to astonish us."

Animals and Insects

A lion is used several times in the play to signify various omens, in Act 1, Scene 3, Cassius describes Caesar as a destructive storm and as a roaring "lion in the Capitol." Both symbols represent a dangerous ruler.

Caesar correlates himself to a lion in Act 2, Scene 2, "Caesar is more dangerous than he./We were two lions littered in one day,/And I the elder and more terrible." The serpent Brutus speaks of in Act 2, Scene 1 symbolizes Caesar and his possible evolution into a tyrant. Here the serpent represents not only Caesar, but also evil and power. 

The eagles Cassius speaks of in Act 5, Scene 1 represent strength and victory. The fact that the birds desert the soldiers at Philippi is seen as a bad omen.

Cassius also speaks of ravens and crows in Act 5, Scene 1. These are scavengers that feed on dead animals—and fallen soldiers. Several crows and ravens arrive at Philippi and circle above Cassius's and Octavius's troops. Cassius views these birds as omens of defeat and death.

Supernatural Elements

The ghost of Caesar materializes once (Act 4, Scene 3) and is mentioned by Brutus once again (Act 5, Scene 5). Its brief appearance, when Brutus is exhausted and everyone else is asleep, almost seems like a hallucination of Brutus's imagination. A symbol of Brutus's guilt and of revenge for Caesar's murder, the ghost also foreshadows the military blunders that will lead to Brutus's downfall the following day.

Poets

Poets, teachers, and other learned people are a recurring motif in the play, largely in terms of how fervently they are ignored by other characters. The clearest example of this motif is Cinna, who is literally killed by an angry crowd for "bad verses." At the beginning of the play, Caesar is warned by the rhetoric teacher who predicts about the impending danger to his life, but Caesar completely disregards his words. Poets and teachers therefore appear as wise, worthy, and valuable voices within the realm of politics, and the play suggests that these voices should be heeded by heads of state.

The Crown

At the beginning of the play, it is reported by Casca that Antony offered Caesar a crown three times, but Caesar refused. Despite his rejections of the crown, Casca notes that Caesar seemed to want to accept it anyway, suggesting that he (Casca) does not see Caesar's refusal as genuine. The crown therefore comes to symbolize Caesar's ambition and desire for absolute power, even if he makes a show of rejecting the notion in order to stir the energy of the crowd.

Conclusion 

"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare is set in ancient Rome during a period of civil unrest and political intrigue, around 45 B.C. The play revolves around the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, whose ambition and growing power provoke a conspiracy led by Brutus and Cassius to assassinate him. Shakespeare weaves themes of uncertainty, ambition, power, and public versus private identity throughout the narrative, capturing the complexity of human motives and political dynamics. The play's portrayal of heroes and villains is nuanced, leaving the audience to ponder the moral ambiguity of the characters' actions. Through powerful speeches and the manipulation of public opinion, the play highlights the potency of rhetoric and the volatile nature of political allegiance. Symbolism, including storms, animals, and supernatural elements, underscores the themes of fate, power, and moral conflict. Ultimately, "Julius Caesar" is a timeless exploration of the interplay between personal ambition, public duty, and the fragile balance of power in a society on the brink of transformation.

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