Act of Resistance

For my act of Resistance I decided that I would help out in the community during Thanksgiving. I helped my grandmother organize and serve food from her church, but the idea was to get younger people involved with the community. There were a lot of older people helping out and usually the older people always help out every year with no help from the young people in the community. Basically on Thanksgiving we had to eat earlier than usual to help out in the church and then go around the community looking for volunteers from young people, but mainly adolescents.
After setting up the church, I and some of my family members went into the neighborhood looking for some volunteers. It was difficult finding people because everyone is with their families on Thanksgiving and not to mention the work involve serving people food. However we did come across some young teens willing to help for a good amount of time. We did end up paying some of them for their service, but I think you shouldn’t have to pay people to help their community.
Overall I think it was good experience because we got young teens involved in the community even on a holiday so the turn out could have been even better if it was on a different day. If I had to do this again I probably would, but I would choose a different act of resistance because getting people to volunteer was difficult.

Lysistrata Conclusion (Final Thoughts)

Overall I think Lysistrata is a good play, but there is still a lot of things I'm confused about in the play. Despite that it was a good play and I thought it was better than Hedda Gabler. At the end of Lysistrata an agreement is made between Athens and Sparta which ends the war in Greece. The men basically couldn't go any longer without their women which means Lysistrata's plan was successful. I still don't feel that the women are equal to the men in the play because it seems like they only agreed because they wanted to have sex again and not because the women are equal to them. Anyways Lysistrata united Greece like she wanted to do and the war is over.

Lysistrata Vs. Hedda Gabler & Bernarda Alba

Out of all three plays I would still have to say that the House of Bernarda Alba was still my favorite. It seemed like the only play that keep me interested through the whole read. Lysistrata was still a good play to me and I liked it better than Hedda because Hedda didn't have enough action to it. Hedda had a lot of unnecessary talking and lots of boring scenes and I prefer Lysistrata over Hedda because it was comical and you could find more action in here than in Hedda. I would also add that Lysistrata is the only character out of the three plays who has the most success because she unites Greece while Hedda kills herself and Bernarda losses a daughter.

Would Another Plan Work?

If Lysistrata's plan didn't work or was never tried could another plan end the war? In my opinion I don't think so because from the play you can clearly see that most of Greece's culture revolves around sex. Besides sex the women really couldn't do anything else to persuade the men because most of them could barely agree to remain abstinent and thats a easier way to end the war rather than fighting. Lysistrata knew that the men were driven to sex and therefore the plan was a success.

Language in Lysistrata?

I noticed in the play that the Spartans have a different dialect than the Athenians. The Athenians have a more proper way of speaking while the Spartans talk as if they are country. I think they are potrayed to speak like this because it might symbolize that they are not intelligent. It could also symbolize the differences in culture between the Athenians and the Spartans through the language.

Why Lysistrata?

What makes Lysistrata different from the other women in Greece and why is she the one who organizes the revolts? It's clear to me in the beginning of the play that Lysistrata is sick and tired of war and the treatment of women in Athens. Lysistrata is the least feminine woman in the play and her masculinity helps her gain respect among the men. Lysistrata seems to be the only woman who is not controlled by sex like the other women. Basically Lysistrata is the woman who organizes everything because she stays focus on what she needs to do.

Why Does Lysistrata Gather Women From Everywhere?

If Lysistrata would not have gathered women from everwhere would her plan had worked? I believe that Lysistrata gathers women from all over because she wants all the women to reform and stop the war not just the women in her area. Lysistrata needs the women of both Athens and Sparta to help unite all of Greece and she needs her influence to spread. Her plan won't work if she has only one group of women from one city trying to unite the whole country.

Kinesias

I think it's somewhat clear that Kinesias is used as a prime example in the play for males. First Kinesias is used as the unhappy target of the women's sex strike and is tricked and fooled by his wife Myrrhine. Kinesias proves himself to be an idiot and a poor father and represents the stereotypical dumb male figure. Kinesias only seeks his wife for sex and he is unable to care for his own children and is outwitted by his playful wife. I believe that is what makes Kinesias an important character because of his representation of males.

Significance of the Akropolis

I know that the women were taking over Akropolis because Lysistrata wanted it to be seized by women later in the day to prevent the Athenians from using the money from the treasury for the war. I think that taking over the Akropolis had a bigger meaning to it. The simple fact that the women were taking over this huge monument structure shows the power the women gained from this. Taking over the Akropolis proved that the women can step out of their stereotypical roles of women and over power the men.

Roles of the Chorus of Old Men & Chorus of Old Women

Even though Lysistrata is the main character I believe that the chorus of men and women are just as important. The chorus of men and women are suppose to be old and fragile, have reaches their prime age, and little sexual tension between them. Even though the chorus of women are old they prove to be useful in the play because they are not tempted by the men and they take and defend the Akropolis. Also the chorus link between the men and women because when they fight the choruses also fight an dwhen peace is declared the choruses join together.

Lysistrata's Plan

Overall I think Lysistrata's plan was successful because the men were driven by sex and it eventually caused them to reach an agreement with the women. The hardest thing for Lysistrata was convincing the women to agree to remain abstinence. Lysistrata wants the women to step out of their stereotypical roles as women to help end the war in Greece. Lysistrata seems to be the only woman in the play who understands the big picture of her plan to end the war.

Long Live Hedda Gabler (R.I.P.)

Hedda Gabler is finally done with and I'm glad because it was boring to me. There were good parts in the play that interest me like when Hedda is encouraging Eilert to kill himself or when Hedda is playing with her pistols in front of Brack. The play just took too long to get to another interesting part in the play. There is too much explaining and unnecessary talking in the play. I liked The House of Bernarda Alba better because it seemed like it was always something going to happen. Hedda was a good play but its not my type of play. Hopefully Lysistrata is better.

Jugde Brack ?

Judge Brack's purpose in this play is somewhat pointless to me. Brack is a judge of realatively inferior ranking. He is both friends with Hedda and Tesman but gets a little more closer than friends with Hedda. Brack is one of Hedda's best friends, but she seems to reject the extent to which he tries to control her. Brack does help Tesman get information about alterations in the possibility of his professorship. Overall Brack seems to enjoy intefering in other people's affairs and he is very distrustful.

Hedda Vs. Bernarda !!! (Round1...Fight!)

Hedda and Bernarda are the two main characters in their play and they are the most dominate characters in their play. They both have a lot of control, power, and are very manipulative women. Bernarda controls everyone in her household and starts losing some control and than gains it back after Adela kills herself. Adela ends up killing herself because of Bernarda's strict household and to get away from her disappointing life. Hedda is in control when she encourages Eilert to kill himself to die a beautiful death. Bernarda would probably have more control or power than Hedda. We soon find out that Hedda doesn't have as much control as she thought when she kills herself to get away from her disappointing life and demonstrate what a beautiful death is. Who do you think has more control or power....Hedda or Bernarda?

Hedda's Got A Baby (Is she pregnant?)

I don't know for sure if Hedda is pregnant but Ibsen hints at it multiple times in the play but Hedda's pregnancy could just be a symbolic meaning rather than actual pregnancy. In the first act Tesman makes a reference to the fact that Hedda has been gaining weight which indicates she is pregnant. I think Hedda's refusal to admit that she has begun to gain weight hints at her problematic relationship with being pregnant and also with Tesman, the assumed father of the child. Tesman remains unaware of the pregnancy, another indication that their relationship suffers from a lack of openness and awareness. For the symbolic meaning of this is Hedda's way of being trapped in being a woman instead of the masculine role she always takes on.

Hedda's Packin Heat (Significance of pistols?)

The significance of Hedda's pistols is the power and control she gets from them. When she offers Eilert her father's pistol to kill himself shows that Hedda has the manipulative power to influence decisions of others. The pistols could also be a way of relieving Hedda's stress because at the end of act 1 she starts shooting her pistols out of boredom. The pistols could be showing how insane Hedda is because no one regularly goes off and play with pistols for fun. Hedda is playing with her pistols in front of Brack which is dangerous and pretends to fire at him. I think Hedda's pistols have multiple significances to them.

George Tesman's "Imagine That....Uh?

George says "just imagine" or "imagine that" and "uh" numerous times throughout the play. I believe George constantly says "just imagine" and "uh" because it shows that he is thinking and wondering of the possibilities that can occur. This shows that George is always in a dream state or dreaming of what he wants instead of going out and getting it. It seems like George doesn't want to face his reality and lives his life in his studies and research instead of reality. Just imagine if George could stop imagining and get into reality...uh?

(Act IV) Hedda's suicide... Why?

There is three main reasons in the play why I think Hedda kills herself. Hedda first rejects George's joy over the fact that she burned the manuscripts and George figures Hedda must love him because she burned the manuscipts. The second reason is Hedda learns the ugliness of Eilert's death when she wanted him to die beautifully. The last reason I think Hedda commits suicide is because the belief that there is no escaping from a disappointing life.

(Act III) Eilert's suicide... Hedda's fault?

I believe that it was both Hedda's and Eilert's fault for his death. Eilert wanted to die he didn't have to go through with it, he was in a state of depression. Its Hedda' s fault mainly because she seeks comfort to Eilert in understanding his desire to kill himself. Hedda does not even seek to prevent his death by returning the manuscript, instead she burns it. Her willingness to give Eilert one of her father's pistols shows that she takes Eilert seriously and sees him more as an object than a person. Hedda wants Eilert to die beautifully.

(Act II) Hedda & Brack's relationship

A lot of the act 2 has to do with Hedda's relationship with Brack. I think Hedda's high level of comfort with Brack shows from willingness to talk or complain about her marraige to him. It seems to me that everytime Hedda is talking to Tesman or Mrs.Elvsted alone she seems to be manipulating them. When speaking to Brack she seem to be truly revealing her grievances. Although their relationship doesn't seem sexual it does seem to me that Hedda and Brack are flirting with each other.

(Act I) Hedda's treatment of others

I found that when Hedda first enters the scene she begins treating everyone as if they are lower than her. Hedda immediately complains that Berta has oppened a window when she comes downstairs and starts treating Aunt Juliana bad. Tesman tries to tell Hedda to be nicer to Aunt Juliana, I think this shows that he recognizes Hedda's rudeness, but refuses to acknowledge that Hedda is spoiled and treats him just as bad as Berta and Aunt Juliana.