LITERARY CRITISM ASSIGNMENT
RITUAL ASPECT IN SHAKSPEARS DRAMA
IS RELATED TO EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION
C
O
M
P
I
L
E
D
BY:
ADE IRMA
WIDIYAWATI HARAHAP
116224003
FACULTY OF
LETTER
UNIVERSITY OF
MUSLIM NUSANTARA
AL - WASHLIYAH
MEDAN
2014
RITUAL ASPECT
“THE
RITUAL is part of the Law of the Fraternity. The Ritual has equal force and
validity in all respects with the Constitution of the Fraternity. The matter
contained in the Constitution, however, is not secret in character while that
contained in the Ritual is inviolably secret, except the special services as
therein specified. The further laws of the Fraternity applying to the Ritual
and Ritualistic Statutes, including their force and validity, their
safekeeping, their secrecy, and the methods of their amendment, are in the
Governing Laws of the Fraternity. Although the Ritual and Ritualistic Statutes
are closely related parts of our Governing Laws, each is a separate entity.
Each has its own procedure for amendment. Material from the two documents is
integrated throughout this book but is clearly identified as Ritual or
Ritualistic Statutes. Ritualistic Statutes material is in small type and
enclosed in borders. Ritual material is on the pages with larger type and is
not enclosed in borders.” (Ritualistic
Statutes, page 5 :pdf )
In recent years there has been a growing interest in
ritual theory, which has also become a focal point in the study of religion. As
long as texts and discourse are taken as the majorsource or primary model for
inquiring into religious traditions, the field of religious studies willbe
limited to such issues as representation and meaning. Consequently, scholars of
religiontend to overlook the potential that recent approaches in ritual theory,
and their relatedconcepts, have for their field of research. The theoretical
issues that these approaches havedeveloped are crucial for the study of
religion, so much so that one is justified in claiming that rituals have to be
theorized on their own terms if they are to be studied seriously. If one
accepts this claim, one will need to refine one's grasp of the relation between
ritual and religion and reconsider the role that the study of ritual plays in
the study of religion. Doing so would not only place in question the assumption
that meaning and representation can be taken as the major frames of reference
for studying religious traditions, but would also imply the need for a radical
shift of attention towards the analysis of the actual performance of ritual
actions. “To study rituals on their own terms would mean to study them first
and foremost independently of the meanings attached to them by religious texts
or discourse, uncovering how they work in and of themselves. This would
obviously mean that rituals cannot be related primarily or exclusively to
religion, insofar as religion is considered a system of symbols or a web (or
texture) of meaning critique that came to the fore in the mid-1970s, when
common concepts of ritual were scrutinized and when first attempts for some
currently prominent theoretical approaches to ritual were proposed.” (Page 103,
Pdf).“A point of departure for raising critical issues concerning ritual theory
is Clifford Geertz's programmatic article "Religion as a Cultural System."
This article established a new framework in the study of ritual and led to a
paradigm shift in religious studies by attempting to take the anthropological
approach in the study of ritual to be primary to the study of religious texts
and discourse. Geertz introduced his approach by defining religion as a system
of symbols and identifying ritual with religion.” (Page 27, Pdf) According to
him, the sense of the 'really real', which is the essence of religion,
originates in ritual because "the world as lived and the world as
imagined, [are] fused under the agency of a single set of symbolic forms".
For Geertz, ritual generates religion because it is capable of embodying the
system of symbols and combining the model of and the model for reality in such
a way that it "acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting
moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of
existence." “As fruitful as this approach to ritual may have been for the
study of religion, it is problematic in that it presupposes a concept of symbol
that misconceives the analysis of ritual performances—as long as it is grasped
as a category that can only determine the type of unit that "serves as a
vehicle for a conception." If one takes this approach seriously, one would
end up analyzing the conceptions or models of reality as embodied in, or
exemplified by, rituals without analyzing the rituals themselves.” (Page 14,
Pdf). This concept of symbol even leads Geertz to conceive of culture as a
text. This implies that any form of ritual action can be seen as a kind of
religious behavior, which is approached through the lens of a broad linguistic
model. Geertz introduces such notions as the emic and etic perspectives, or the
model of and model for reality, in order to refine the possibility of grasping
the actor's point of view. However, despite this, he is unable to analyze
rituals on their own terms, because he systematically relates the rituals back
to religious conceptions that he takes to be the representation or meaning of
ritual symbols. In doing so, Geertz understands ritual a mode of communicative
behavior that functions to ascertain religious moods and motivations, rather
than a form of human action that establishes and transforms social relations.
It is this focus on the meaning of religious symbols, and on the textual model
as its representational frame of reference, that made Geertz's approach to
ritual so attractive for scholars of religion. But recent approaches to ritual
theory have called into question precisely this emphasis and questioned the
equation of ritual with religion and language.
SHAKESPEARE’S DRAMA
“William
Shakespeare's plays have the reputation of being among
the greatest in the English language and in Western literature. Traditionally, the
plays are divided into the genres of tragedy, history, and comedy; they have been translated into
every major living language,
in addition to being continually performed all around the world.”(Page 1, Pdf)
Many of his plays
appeared in print as a series of quartos,
but approximately half of them remained unpublished until 1623, when the
posthumous First Folio was published. The traditional
division of his plays into tragedies, comedies and histories follows the
categories used in the First Folio. However, modern criticism has labelled some
of these plays "problem plays" that elude easy
categorisation, or perhaps purposely break generic conventions, and has
introduced the term romances for what scholars
believe to be his later comedies.
“When Shakespeare first arrived in
London in the late 1580s or early 1590s, dramatists writing for London's new
commercial playhouses (such as The Curtain)
were combining two different strands of dramatic tradition into a new and distinctively
Elizabethan synthesis. Previously, the most common forms of popular English
theatre were the Tudor morality plays.
These plays, celebrating piety generally,
use personified moral attributes
to urge or instruct the protagonist to
choose the virtuous life over Evil. The characters and plot situations are
largely symbolic rather than realistic. As a child, Shakespeare would likely
have seen this type of play (along with, perhaps, mystery plays and miracle plays)”.
(Page 25, Pdf)
“The other strand of
dramatic tradition was classical aesthetic theory.
This theory was derived ultimately from Aristotle;
in Renaissance England, however, the theory was better known through its Roman
interpreters and practitioners. At the universities, plays were staged in a
more academic form as Roman closet
dramas.” (Page 26, Pdf) These plays, usually performed in Latin,
adhered to classical ideas of unity and decorum,
but they were also more static, valuing lengthy speeches over physical action.
Shakespeare would have learned this theory at grammar school, where Plautus and
especially Terence were
key parts of the curriculum and were taught in editions with lengthy
theoretical introductions. Shakespeare reached maturity as a dramatist at the
end of Elizabeth's reign, and in the first years of the reign of James. In these years, he responded to a
deep shift in popular tastes, both in subject matter and approach. At the turn
of the decade, he responded to the vogue for dramatic satire initiated by
the boy players at Blackfriars and St. Paul's. At the end of the decade,
he seems to have attempted to capitalise on the new fashion for tragicomedy, even
collaborating with John Fletcher, the writer who had
popularised the genre in England.
The influence of
younger dramatists such as John Marston and Ben Jonson is
seen not only in the problem plays, which dramatise intractable human problems
of greed and lust, but also in the darker tone of the Jacobean
tragedies. The Marlovian, heroic mode of the “Elizabethan tragedies is
gone, replaced by a darker vision of heroic natures caught in environments of
pervasive corruption. As a sharer in both the Globe and in the King's Men,
Shakespeare never wrote for the boys' companies; however, his early Jacobean
work is markedly influenced by the techniques of the new, satiric dramatists.
One play, Troilus and Cressida, may even have
been inspired by the War of the Theatres. “ (Page 34, Pdf)
Shakespeare's final
plays hearken back to his Elizabethan comedies in their use of romantic
situation and incident. In these plays, however, the sombre elements that
are largely glossed over in the earlier plays are brought to the fore and often
rendered dramatically vivid. This change is related to the success of
tragicomedies such as Philaster,
although the uncertainty of dates makes the nature and direction of the
influence unclear. From the evidence of the title-page to The Two Noble Kinsmen and
from textual analysis it is believed by
some editors that Shakespeare ended his career in collaboration with Fletcher,
who succeeded him as house playwright for the King's Men. These last plays
resemble Fletcher's tragicomedies in their attempt to find a comedic mode
capable of dramatising more serious events than had his earlier comedies.
Elizabethan Drama, Drama in England started with the Medieval Church. Priests,
wishing to make the Bible vivid to unlearned people, themselves performed very
simple dramatic versions of stories from the Bible in their churches. These
Miracle Plays, as they were called, became very elaborate and so popular that
they had to be moved out of the church itself and were performed in the church
porch and finally in the grounds surrounding the church. Eventually the plays
lost their religious meaning and they were abandoned by the Church. They were
taken over by the flourishing trade guilds, which came to regard good
productions as a matter of civic pride. They changed their name to Mystery
Plays and were performed on wagons in the streets of the towns. The Morality
Play was another medieval dramatic form which had been popular. In these plays
the characters were usually personified abstractions of vices and virtues
competing for the possession of man's soul. The most famous were called
"Everyman". They reflected the interest in symbolism and allegory of
that time. The Morality Play formed a direct link between Medieval and
Elizabethan Drama. Both in technical and literary aspects. They were designed
for more educated audiences, Morality Plays were performed at schools and
colleges and in the courtyards of inns, where the audience stood in front of
the cart or all around in galleries which were part of the design of the
inn-yard. (Page 1, Pdf)
CIVILIZATION
What
is a Civilization?
“Without
going through the variety of concepts and terminologies on the subject, civilization simply means: the comprehensive
development of the human potential in all its dimensions: physical,
intellectual, spiritual, moral and psychological. To achieve this potential,
civilizations strive to develop, utilize, and conserve the natural resources, the
benefits of which should fairly reach the whole society, and bring about
positive effects on the whole world. Given this definition, it is obvious that
a civilization has certain requirements to deserve its name. After all,
civilization is a collective effort by the whole society, and its benefits
cannot be restricted to few individuals or be limited to certain groups.
Civilization has to bear fruits to all members of society. Besides although
civilization development may not affect all sides of society at the same level,
it nonetheless, remains inclusive and comprehensive.” Civilization therefore
has to maintain continuation and duration, and it cannot be considered as such
if it just emerged to disappear. Another merit of civilization is that it has the
potential of spreading to other societies, and that it can be adapted when it
influences others. This civilization merit is being felt enormously in our
times of amazingly speedy transportation of persons and goods, and
communication of information everywhere in the world.
Civilization
for the whole Humanity:
Muslim
civilization was given the name “Muslim” only in later times by historians. In
its time, it was appreciated by the contemporary world that knew it only as
universal civilization, benefiting all mankind, though it flourished first
among Muslim peoples. Civilization, whatever its origins, stages and
classifications, is a whole phenomenon, a continuation of human development
whatever its different places and times may be. As it has been previously
emphasized, Muslim civilization in the past was developed and enjoyed by
Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and non-Arabs, and by people of Muslim lands and
people of non-Muslim lands. Muslims had benefited from the contributions of
previous as well as contemporary civilizations such as the
Graeco-Roman-Byzantines, Persian and Indian civilizations. However, Muslims
developed those heritages and left their fingerprints in their outcomes.
Muslims followed an empirical attitude in science, leaving a Greek theoretical
speculative one, and showed interest in all aspects of applied sciences (e.g.
observatories, surgical instruments, pharmaceutics, hospital and library
services, cartography, etc), while an attitude towards abstraction was obvious
in their aesthetics. More important, they developed a system of care for
neighbors and neighborhood and local community welfare. These and other traits
characterized the universal civilization that developed in Muslim lands in past
centuries. The civilizational effects of Islam and Muslims are true evidence of
the significance and value of the message of Islam. Not all the people are
interested in going through the faith of Islam and reading its teachings in
order to understand the religion, although this may be essential on the part of
anyone who feels that his/her intellectual and moral responsibility of
knowledge and judgment require doing so. But all people can easily appreciate
the common good and human perspective of Islam and come to think about the
factors behind them. In other words, the civilizational achievements of Islam
andMuslims have been a permanent evidence of the value of the message of Islam.
Muslim civilization in medieval times was not only known for its libraries,
laboratories, observatories and hospitals, but also for its gardens and
fountains, refined textiles and beautifully designed clothes and rugs,
perfumes, fragrant incense, decorated glass and pottery and metal products
manufactured by Muslims and non-Muslims in Muslim lands. Hard work and perfection
are taught by Islam to make the individual achieve the acceptance and reward of
God in this life and in the eternal life to come. It is also required for good
business to earn one’s living in this present life, and it may be supported
morally and spiritually by believers other than Muslims as well. Besides,
Muslims, as all human beings, in addition to being inspired by the guidance of
their book.
EUROPEAN
Economists and statesmen in other European nations
were also suggesting the possibility that an integrated Europe could have both
economic and political advantages. For example, Jean Monnet of France believed
that a union of European nations could better compete against countries with a
larger pool of resources, such as the United States. Likewise, French foreign
minister Robert Schuman believed that the European producers of coal, such as
France and West Germany, could integrate their coal and steel industries. On
the one hand, as Monnet had suggested, this integration could give those
countries more economic clout in the world markets. On the other hand, it would
enable France and other European nations to keep a watchful eye on West
Germany’s quickly reviving economy. As West Germany was beginning its “economic
wonder”, and recovering admirably from the devastation of World War II, the
other European countries wanted to monitor it closely to be sure they weren’t
using their coal and steel industries to rebuild a powerful military. As a
result, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was formed in 1951 and
became effective the next year. The ECSC integrated the production and trade of
the iron, coal and steel in Belgium, Luxemburg, the
Netherlands, France, West Germany and Italy. Thus, in 1952, six European
countries began the path toward a unified Europe.In the 1990’s, negotiations
and legislation continued to create the framework for the new European Union
(EU). In 1990, the Schengen Agreement was signed, making it possible for people
to easily travel throughout the member countries without having to show
passports at border crossings. Most significantly, in 1993, the Maastricht
European Council adopted the Treaty on European Union, which defined the EU as
it is known today. This treaty, also known as the Maastricht Treaty, called for
the EU nations to use a single currency by 1999. The new currency is called the
euro (€), and there are strict qualifications regarding economic stability that
must be fulfilled by the EU nations that use it. The Maastricht Treaty also
gave the EU more authority over such issues as security, the environment,
education, health, and consumer protection. The decade of the 1990’s also
brought three more nations into the EU: Austria, Finland and Swedenjoined in
1995. Finally, in 1999, the Amsterdam Treaty was signed and put into force,
giving the EU even more power and responsibility regarding its citizens. By the
end ofthe 20th century, the EU had become a powerful political and economic
body consisting of 15 European nations.
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