RadCap Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Hi, I am offering a pristine CD set of Dr. Peikoff's course entitled: Eight Great Plays as Literature and as Philosophy. This series is a great analysis of eight of history's greatest plays, and Dr. Peikoff does an amazing job of not only bringing them to life but of dissecting them with a brilliant philosophic and artistic eye. Definitely a series to treasure. And offered at a great discount to boot! Check it out here: EBAY OFFERING Here is a brief description of the series, taken from Dr. Peikoff's site: Eight Great Plays — As Literature and As Philosophy This course is designed to give you the ability to understand, judge and savor the values offered by great drama. Antigone by Sophocles - Introduction to the principles of analyzing drama. Esthetic enjoyment as the primary. Plot-theme as the essence of the action and the key to a play. Antigone as a great heroine — the only Greek protagonist with free will. Othello by William Shakespeare - Iago as the blackest villain in literature. The brilliance of the climax and resolution. Le Cid by Pierre Corneille - The "Corneilian hero." Understanding the ambiguous ending by grasping Corneille's unique concept of honor. Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller - The difficulty in naming the plot-theme and the protagonist. The Grand Inquisitor scene as the most dramatic and philosophic in all of theater. An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen - The play's hero as a rare character in literature: a this-worldly idealist. Why the happy ending is logical. How Ibsen's theme is undercut by his view of truth as non-absolute. Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw - The essential conflict between Joan and the nobility and Church. The ingenuity of the plot. The genius against society. Monna Vanna by Maurice Maeterlinck - The artistry of the plot-theme. How Guido's metaphysical view of man keeps him from seeing the truth about Vanna. Conclusions This session integrates the previous seven classes and answers such questions as: Which play has the most ingenious plot-theme? The most admirable hero? Which play is objectively the best? Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand - Rostand's brilliant portrayal of Cyrano's courage, intellect, poetic soul — and proper attitude toward his nose. Why the line "A man can have too much happiness" is the key to the play's deeper meaning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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