The Significance of Music in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Essays

The Significance of Music in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman     Ã‚   Human emotions are something that we seldom find a way to express clearly: from simple hand gestures, to a disgusted face. To understand his novel more thoroughly, Arthur Miller uses the most understandable method of comprehension, music, to express the emotions of the characters in his play, "Death of a Salesman". The characters, Willy, Linda, Biff, Happy, and Ben, have a certain style of music and instruments portraying them to show the reader what type of emotional person they are. The beginning of the play starts with a soft, sweet, flute medley that announces Willy’s gradual trek home from Yonkers. This slow tune of confusion ends abruptly as Willy comes home and tells of his troubles in Yonkers. This sentimental sound is heard once more during Ben’s first visit to Willy’s house. His story of father and his flute-making business sets a warm tone only to be wrecked by Ben’s action of throwing Biff, a young, curious boy, to the ground, helplessly. The final performance of this tune is heard at Willy’s sad funeral, where Linda pays her respects to her well-liked husband. Ending on a sad note, the flute appears in time of odd emotions. In the beginning of the play, a state of confu... ...illy’s funeral. Starting out a bit cheerful, the tune fades from a major key to a minor key, hence going from a merry sound to one of sadness and desperation, yet a good sound for a well-deserved tribute. Willy was a mislead salesman. He wanted the best for his boys. Joyous songs always backed up these times. But when his craving for the best turned into the worst, an unpleasant song backed it up. When Willy was confused, a medley of the two was heard. Human emotions are something we all take for granted because they are not properly understood. Music is just one of the many ways that will make these emotions understandable. The Significance of Music in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Essays The Significance of Music in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman     Ã‚   Human emotions are something that we seldom find a way to express clearly: from simple hand gestures, to a disgusted face. To understand his novel more thoroughly, Arthur Miller uses the most understandable method of comprehension, music, to express the emotions of the characters in his play, "Death of a Salesman". The characters, Willy, Linda, Biff, Happy, and Ben, have a certain style of music and instruments portraying them to show the reader what type of emotional person they are. The beginning of the play starts with a soft, sweet, flute medley that announces Willy’s gradual trek home from Yonkers. This slow tune of confusion ends abruptly as Willy comes home and tells of his troubles in Yonkers. This sentimental sound is heard once more during Ben’s first visit to Willy’s house. His story of father and his flute-making business sets a warm tone only to be wrecked by Ben’s action of throwing Biff, a young, curious boy, to the ground, helplessly. The final performance of this tune is heard at Willy’s sad funeral, where Linda pays her respects to her well-liked husband. Ending on a sad note, the flute appears in time of odd emotions. In the beginning of the play, a state of confu... ...illy’s funeral. Starting out a bit cheerful, the tune fades from a major key to a minor key, hence going from a merry sound to one of sadness and desperation, yet a good sound for a well-deserved tribute. Willy was a mislead salesman. He wanted the best for his boys. Joyous songs always backed up these times. But when his craving for the best turned into the worst, an unpleasant song backed it up. When Willy was confused, a medley of the two was heard. Human emotions are something we all take for granted because they are not properly understood. Music is just one of the many ways that will make these emotions understandable.

Describe and Evaluate two theories of the formation of romantic relationships Essay

In 1970 Byrne and Clore introduced the reward/ need satisfaction theory for the formation of relationships. They suggested that we are attracted to individuals whose presence is rewarding for us, and that naturally we find stimuli rewarding if it meets an unmet need; the more rewards someone provides for us, the more we should be attracted to them. They believed that the formation if relationships was linked with the idea of classical and operant conditioning, with operant conditioning we are likely to repeat behaviours that leads to a desirable outcome and avoid behaviours that lead to undesirable ones, so we enter the relationships because the presence of some individuals is directly associated with reinforcement, making us have positive feelings, which makes them more attractive to us. For classical conditioning, we tend to prefer people who we associate with pleasant event, so for example if we meet someone somewhere where we are having a good time, then we will associate this person with this good time and find them more attractive in the long run. Byrne and Clore believed that the balance between positive and negative feelings in a relationship was crucial as relationships where the positive outweigh negative feelings were more likely to develop and succeed. Griffitt and Guay (1969), participants were evaluated on a creative task by an experimenter and then asked to rate how much they liked the experimenter. The rating was highest when the experimenter had positively evaluated the participant’s performance on the task. This study supports the claim that we like people who are associated with pleasant events. This provides strong support that similarity is important in attraction, but also highlights reciprocal liking also is factor in the formation of relationships; however this may not be the only factor influencing this. The experiment was only of an imaginary description, the participant is unlikely to truly demonstrate how they feel towards the stranger. The experiment doesn’t demonstrate interaction of people, but rather just presents a statement about them, which reduces how far conclusions can be drawn. Although similarity may be a factor, how people socially interact is also important to how a person perceives another. In a laboratory experiment, Lehr and Gehr (2006) studied participants of both sexes to test the importance of reciprocal liking. Knowing that someone likes you is particularly rewarding and so is more likely to end up in mutual liking. Participants were given a description of a stranger, with varying degrees of similarity of the strangers attitude to the participants. In each description was a statement that the stranger either liked or did not like the participant. Researchers found significant effects for attitude similarity and liking. However this study doesn’t have ecological validity from where it was done in a lab setting and didn’t reflect real life situation or conditions However Cate et al (1982) asked 337 individuals to assess their current relationships in terms of reward level and satisfaction. Results showed that reward level was superior to all other factors in determining relationship satisfaction, however this theory only explores the receiving of rewards, the results may not be completely accurate though as some people may have picked the socially desirable answers. These studies all ignore natures influence on attraction and that it is to some extent an evolutionary need to have a partner that meets physical requirements. This model may be very culturally bound as all the studies done were in the western world’s individualistic cultures. In other cultures one partner may not expect rewards and may be entirely giving, or arranges marriages will also go against this theory as the long term is made to happen. For example, Lott (1994) suggests that in many cultures women are more focused on the needs of others rather than receiving reinforcement. This suggests that this theory is not a universal explanation of relationship formation and therefore culturally biased. However, this theory is supported by another theory on how relationships are formed Byrne, Clore and Smeatons Similarity Theory (1986) states that it is important that people are similar in order to be able to form a relationship. They theorise that there are two stages to deciding who to seek relations with first we sort out the people most dissimilar to us and secondly then seek out those who are most similar. Caspi and Herbener found that in married couples, those who were the happiest were those with the most similar personality traits.

The Necklace Short Story - 897 Words

â€Å"The Necklace† by Guy de Maupassant resonates the theme of humility and serves the meaning of being happy with who you are, and to be grateful for the things you have in your life. Throughout the short story, we are shown how unhappy the main protagonist Mathilde is constantly in her daily life. Even though she has everything that allows her to be comfortable, such as having a house servant and a husband who supports her, she is dissatisfied with her status and wealth. Mathilde is unappreciative to her husband, and with what she has in her life because she is blinded by her aspiration to live above the middle class and into a higher rank. The conflict began after she lost the necklace that she borrowed from her friend to attend a ball†¦show more content†¦Her desire for a life above her means shows how dissatisfied she is with what she has. The author shows how greed influences our desire to be happy, it is the driving force in us to chase after wealth. The autho r also makes a statement of how appearance disguises our reality in life, as Mathilde constantly tries to create a faà §ade of her wealth and her social class. She insisted on wearing jewelry to the ball because she wanted to create an appearance to look rich, so she insisted on borrowing the necklace from her friend. Even though Mathilde has a comfortable life as a middle class, she wants to present herself as belonging to the higher-class society. This happens with many of us today as we try to keep a fake persona of ourselves disguising ourselves with clothes, shoes, cars, and other materialistic things instead of being content with what we have. Guy de Maupassant also depicts pride regarding the nature of life, by showing how we are responsible for the tragedies in our lives by having too much pride. Having pride can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. In the story, when Mathilde lost her necklace she was too prideful to admit the truth to Madame Forrestier. Mathil de was too proud to admit that she lost the necklace, instead, she and her husband searched all over the town to replace a necklace they could not afford. This sent her into a life of hardship and poverty because pride was holding her back from telling the truth. This can translate intoShow MoreRelatedThe Necklace Short Story889 Words   |  4 Pageshandling truth is right or wrong and everyone will react differently to a situation. Nevertheless, there are better and worse ways of handling it. A example of someone poorly handing the truth can be found within the short story â€Å"The Necklace† by Guy de Maupassant. In the story, Mme. Loisel, a main character, refuses to accept that she is not a wealthy and extravagant woman, this causes her to be depressed about her life and consistently, causes her to live within a reality she has fabricated forRead MoreThe Necklace Short Story1468 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The necklace† was written in French and published in a French newspaper in 1884. Maupassant wrote the short story about a young married women, who is a fantasist, certain that she should be living a complete different lifestyle. Regardless of the period it was written, portrays Matilde as being a jealous egotist who lives her life through self-delusion and self-pity which are all timeless and universal themes. The presentation of women is very particular, if you weren’t a rich women you wouldn’tRead MoreThe Necklace Short Story1142 Words   |  5 PagesLiving in a dream The short story The Necklace was written by a French writer named Guy de Maupassant. This story takes place in the late 1880s in France. In this time, there wasn’t any such thing as middle class, only the rich and the poor. The women married young and mated with whomever that appeared to be in their social class and stayed at home while the men worked and provide. The necklace was a symbolism of something that was considered priceless and caused this family to sacrifice theirRead MoreThe Necklace Short Story762 Words   |  4 PagesA Brief Summary of â€Å"The Necklace† In the story â€Å"The Necklace† by Guy de Maupassant, lives a young lady named Madame Loisel who lives an unhappy existence. Her husband tries to lift her depressed spirits by obtaining an invitation to the most luxurious of balls. She remains discouraged about going because she feels she does not have the right dress and believes her wardrobe is not fancy enough, so she insists that she cannot go. Her husband gives her enough money to buy a beautiful dress. Still unhappyRead MoreThe Necklace And The Bet Short Story867 Words   |  4 Pages Have you ever read an intense short story? Well both â€Å"The Necklace† and â€Å"The Bet† are the most intense short stories ever. Both authors from both passages explain the dialogue by discovering new aspects of the passages. In â€Å"The Necklace† written by Guy de Maupassant (1884), is about how a character called Mathilde that loses one of her friends necklace, that was a fake, and spends the next 10 years paying it off. On the other hand â€Å"The Bet† written by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1889) is about aRead MoreThe Necklace Short Story Essay713 Words   |  3 Pagescharacters through their similarities and their differences. In the short stories â€Å"The Necklace,† written by Guy de Maupassant, and â€Å"The Gift of the Magi,† written by O’Henry, readers can find many differences and similarities between their main characters. Della is the protagonist of the short story, â€Å"The Gift of the Magi.† Madame Loisel, also known as Mathilde, is the protagonist of the short story â€Å"The Necklace.† Both of these stories take place in past times and occur to poverty-stricken familiesRead MoreMadame Forestier And The Necklace Short Story978 Words   |  4 PagesMadame Liosel was furious at this statement. â€Å"Me and my husband have lived in poverty and work so hard to replace your necklace and you are saying yours was a fake?† Madame Forestier with her deepest sorrow said â€Å"yes†. Madame Liosel got so mad she graded the vase next to her and whacked Madame Forestier in the head. Madame Forestier was out cold, Madame Liosel not sure what to do stole a new set of clothes and all the jewelry she possibly carry. Madame Liosel took a cab to the jeweler where sheRead MoreGuy De Maupassant The Necklace. In The Short Story By Guy1113 Words   |  5 Pages Guy De Maupassant The Necklace In the short story by   Guy de Maupassant The Necklace A young beautiful maiden longing for the finer things in life becomes her greatest downfall. Whereas losing everything can make you bitter., greediness can sometimes lead forced humbleness.    The author of the story introduces us to Mathilde. She is the focus of the story. Noted for her beauty, she often dreamt as many do of being born in the wrong family. The setting of the story tells us that this fair maidenRead MoreAn Ironic, Witty Short Story by Guy de Maupassant, The Necklace1023 Words   |  5 PagesGuy de Maupassant is considered to be one of the fathers of short stories, he is a French author who lived in the 19th century. Born in 1850 at the Chateau de Miromesnil in France, to a lone literary mother who passed on her passion for books to Guy. The author’s writing style is characterized by economy of style, brilliant irony and elegant denouement. Maupassant wrote over 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and a volume of verse. Maupassant incorporated genres such as realism andRead MoreTwo Great Short Stories Read by Many are A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and The Necklace by Guy De Maupassan583 Words   |  3 PagesTwo of the great est short stories written back in late 19th and early 20th centuries are still read by many people. The two stories are â€Å"A Rose for Emily† written by William Faulkner and Guy De Maupassant’s â€Å"The Necklace†. Faulkner’s book is about a woman named Emily Grierson’s life and her horrible secret she hides. The other book is about a materialistic woman named Mathilde Loisel loses a fake necklace and find out to be a fake one after ten years later. Although these stories are written about