Comparative Drama Essay on The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun

Introduction

Anagnorisis is a literary device that is mostly used in plays and novels. It is the moment in the story where tragedy ensues as the story proceeds to its climax. The very important part of the plot of the story is when tragedy occurs to the protagonist. It usually occurs at the climax leading to the eventual downfall of the hero. After the downfall, the main character realizes given facts, their situation or the truth concerning themselves. It is the time when the major complexities in the story unravel. The paper provides a detailed examination of anagnorisis, peripeteia, and hubris literary styles in The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun text plays.

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Examination of Anagnorisis, Peripeteiea, and hubris in The Glass Menagerie

In the text The Glass Menagerie, the story centers on the protagonist Tom Wingfield, the mother Amanda and his sister Laura. They live in the same room, and Tom acts as the breadwinner after their father abandons the family. Tom works in a shoe warehouse. He feels that he is now old enough and needed to live a free life. The idea of living a free life yields disagreements between Tom and the mother as the mother did fail to buy the idea. Tom also hates his job and is planning to leave it and experience the world, which c raises conflict between him and the mother, Amanda. This is evident in their argument "Tom- listen do you think I am crazy about the warehouse?" He starts disengaging by going to the movies at night an action which is not also welcomed by the overprotective Amanda to her child. With the several conflicts and advice, he is given by his mother to stay put and continue with his job; he leaves home at long last.

The decision made by Tom earns him a tragic hero trait, a hamartia, one who is so preservative. He does what is best for him, neither for his mother Amanda nor the sister Laura. His departure from home not only negatively affects him but the mother and the sister. He gets the adventure as he wanted but possesses the tragedy of being haunted. He is haunted for the better part of his life about his sister Laura as he left her defenseless with his abusive mother. He shows his guilt before the play ends "oh Laura, Laura I tried to leave you behind but, I am more faithful than I intended to be!" (Williams 79). The statement marks the falling incident of Tom after the tragedy he faced. It marks the anagnorisis of the play as he discovers he cannot escape from Laura. Tom may have left home physically, but he remains mentally disturbed and still has the mental connection with the sister. It is at this point of tragedy when he realizes the fact that he cannot live without his sister Laura. Tom exhibited extreme arrogance and pride experienced from his behaviors towards the mother despite the earnest advice and directions. He also mirrored pride when he lied to Jim O'Connor that he is the one who settled the electricity bill on behalf of the father while he never did so. Due to his pride and arrogance, things do not go as well as he expected in the free world, this clearly brings out the styles of hubris and peripetia in the play.

Examination of Anagnorisis, Peripeteiea, and hubris in the play A Raisin in the Sun

The play A Raisin in the Sun presents a family of three including, Lena who is a widowed mother, the daughter Beneatha, a medical student and the son Walter, a chauffeur. The family lives in frustration but has dreams to help them succeed. They live in one airless apartment, with Walter and the wife. Walter who is the protagonist in this play has big dreams and yearns to live a bourgeoisie lifestyle. He also resents of living in his mother's thumb; he wanted freedom and independence as her sister. He longs for the riches but is not as hardworking as her sister who struggles in school to find her future destiny. A crisis developed in the family when Lena received 10,000 dollars, the first real money that the family has ever been in possession of, the husband's insurance pay out.

The unrealistic dreaming son had his big plans with the money, the mother and the sister alike. Walter bothers her mother to give him his potion to start a liquor store which his mum opposes. Due to the pressure, Lena made a down payment for a good apartment and entrusted Walter with the remaining amount. He was to save a big chunk for her sister in school and start another business apart from the liquor store. In contrary he invested the whole amount of money he was given, merged with two business men in starting a liquor store. One of the two willy men of questionable characters unfortunately disappeared with the whole amount of money he invested on the liquor store (Hansberry, Lorraine, 3). This marks the anagnorisis of the main character Walter. He felt a victim of the tragedy, and this is the situation when he realized his situation and the fact of not taking advice. The tragedy automatically led to his downfall and the whole family's downfall. We see the styles of peripetiea and hubris from the tragedy he got into due to the excessive confidence he had in investing the whole amount of money in a liquor store.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the style of anagnorisis, peripeteia, and hubris were used in the plot of the two texts to bring out the storyline messages clearly. The authors have employed Tom and Walter as the main characters in bringing out the styles. Both the protagonists became victims of circumstances leading them to tragedies, which resulted in their downfalls and fact-finding.

Works Cited

Hansberry, Lorraine. A raisin in the sun. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, 2007.Williams, Tennessee. The glass menagerie. New Directions Publishing, 2011.