Plot

I realize how boring my titles are for my blogs, but that is very simple to explain, i am not very original, and i dont want to have to put in that much effort for a title that most people wont get any way, me included. Anyways, the plot development in this play is very smooth, we see the introduction, the rising action of the play, The climax, what a double ontondra for this play( i realize how poorly i spelled that, but i dont care, its the meaning behind the words, not their appearance), the falling action of the play, and the conclusion. It flows very similarly to a play spanning many acts, and the theatrical experience of the play is not deterred by the plot, but enhanced. My only criticism of this is that, like all greek plays, it is meant to span only 24 hours. This pisses me off the most, as it is unreal that lysistrata would have sent out a call to all the women in greece to convene, tell them, they agree, they take the akropolis, and the men hear of this, discuss, agree, and all is well in the end. Personally i beleive that this is total bull shit. its impossible for that to happen so quickly, and all to end well. This impossibility is only enhanced by the times that this play was written. I realize that this was proabably used to highlight the abusrdity of the notion of abstinence bringing peace, but then again, wasnt aristrophanes trying to prove a point. All of this play was very improbable, and while it didt bother me when i was reading it, discussing it made me realize how foolish this play was, and that it was ridiculous to think that all this could be done in one day.

Spectacle(pronounced Speck-tac-le)

In lysistrata, for my creative and required 12-18 minute presentation, i, partnered with joelle wood, was assigned spectacle. I at first thought that this would be the most interesting, and was anticipating working on this, but those feeling eventually subsided, as i learned that it was not going to be nearly as interesting as language. The most notable thing in spectacle is that constant use of the props to h show penises. this really disappointed me, as i was tired of talking about penises in realation to the play, as they lost their humor factor, they had been literally exhausted beyond belief. Of course, in spectacle penises play a very improtant role, a role of differenciation. The props of the penis is used to highlight the differences between the men and the women, of which there are many in this play, in fact this whole play and all of it's themes seem to be centered around the differences of women and men, and how there are manifested in brains vs. brawn, the underestimation of women, the war between the sexes, and make love not war, but i digress. this prop, as well as costume use, to show the differences between men and women are very easily distinguished as the play goes on, if only for the densisty of those fallice props and costumes. I will not go into how they distinguish them and to what extent, that you will have to wait until our presentation.

What does that mean?(it means a penis)

As lysistrata is a sexual play, there are many play on words that are apparent here. These come from the characters lines, actions, reactions, and finally from props, although this will be discussed later. First of all, most of the times that there is a play on words, and you cant really determine what it means, your probably safe in assuming that it means a penis, erect penis, vagina, innocence, or womanhood. These are your go to symbols and hidden meanings. Second, these symbols and meaning are so densly scattered throughout the play, that after some time, i personnally felt at least, that i needed a break from the almost childish nature of the writing. I felt that some of the humor was that of a 6 year old who wrote the plays along these lines... haha poo poo kaka pee pee, penis and vagina, hahahahahahahahaha. I also thought that most of these were funny in the beginning, atleast for about the first 30 of 40 pages, and what was especially funny was trying to discuss these in class without saying anything too vulgar, and thus by trying to expalin it more in depth to avoid embaressment, i ended up bluching beyond recognition. I felt as if this type of humor was forced, and thus lost some of its appeal, atleast to me. Thirdly these references are used to make some of the audience uncomfortable, atleast in our, by comparision, sheltered society. This play was a sexual one, and the fact that there are all these references is used to remind tha audience of this. Overall i though that the plays constant references to erect and flaccide fallices was eventually a little boring and irritatiing, but i appreciate the reasons for this.

Why do the Spartans Talk like that?

Lysistrata i have always wondered why the Spartans talk with such a southern drawl. I personally think that it is quite foolish, but there has to be some major cause or reason that the translator put that drawl in for the modern translation, i doubt that aristrophanes wrote that spartans line with an asterisk and then put, all of these lines will be spoken in a southern drawl, think georgia or alabama in the United States around the time of1990. The main reason that i think the translator who changed the Spartans lines from Greek to english made such a drastic change was to highlight the main differences between the Spartans and the rest of the characters. Their language change was probably used to highlight the spartans in a light that would characterize them the best. Typically people from the south are less educated, but are harder manual laborers. They are stubborn when it comes to challaneges, and have a work ethic and determination that no one can rival. They also, while being stupid, realize the extent of their abilities, and know when they are out of their leage, but as they are stubborn, they still try their best. Most of these things could be applied to the spartans, as they were historically speaking, very stubborn and had a glorious work ethic and a determination that wouldnt exist amongst normal human beings, them being not normal is a compliment here. However they werent stupid, but were infact smart, logical, and very very ahead of their times, but i digress. Finally the language was proably inserted in the Spartans lines to show the geographical barrier between the groups that convened at lysistratas conference. It showed the extent to which people came, and to show that people came from all around. Also it is jsut entertaining to read their lines, but eventually it gets exhausting trying to decipher what the hell they actually mean.

Make love not war

A very important theme in Lysistrata is that of make love not war. We see this played out in the very soul of the entire play, which is that of a abstinence from all sexual encounters put on by the women until the men suceed and decide to end the war. So the more common theme is that of dont make love while a war is on, and make love only once a peace is struck. This theme drives the very heart of the play, and is the reason that Lysistrata has such an interesting, albiet slightly out landish, plot. This theme is also the reason for much of the characters conflict, especially across the sexes. The women and men both want to make love, but the women refuse to do so until the men strick a peace in the athenian war, come home, and then and only then will they be able to ravish thier wives.
The theme of make love not war, i believe, is a novel theme, that if more coherently followed, we wouldnt be in some of the situations that we are currently in. I mean that the idea of a loving world, which would in turn make the world less violent is such a strong notion to adhere to. The idea that something as peaceful and beautiful as love can stop a bullet or make a soldier put down his weapon is a sign that we are not yet dead from the hate that we have learned and spread from living in an intolerent society.

Brains vs. Brawn

A very common theme in this play is that of Brains vs. Brawn. It is very commonyl played out in almost every scene, although this play doesnt have any disticnt scenes. The first one we see is in that of the plan of Lysistrata. She comes up with a plan to solve her war problems that involved her thought and her very critical brain. This is in direct contrast to what she is trying to solve, which is the brute force of the war, which had no thought, but is introduced in the play as a disply of ridiculous brute force, almost like men running at each other with stick and bashing themselves to see who can take the most beating. Also, brains verse brawns is played out in the sexes. The women seem to be smarter and more witty in their responses in contrast to the men, who seem especially simple minded. This is very easily seen in the exchange between the commissioner of saftey and the women, who are caught in an exhcange of verbal blows. The women have a more eloquent way of "ribbing" the comissoner, where as he only seems to be responding very simply to their blows. Finally the trade of between the men and the women are seen in the fight between the two choruses. The men run towards the women with torches and the women charge with water. this is a perfect demonstration of brains vs. Brawn. The men are foolish to think that they can win with fire against water, or they werent thinking at all. The women on the other hand think about what to fight with, and being logical and smart, choose fire to put out the mens weapons. In a contest between brains and brawn, brains will always win, although the best is a combination of the two.

Kloenike

Kloenike is the first character we see besides Lysistrata in the beginning of the book. She is introduced in way that she seems like Lysistrata' assistant or protege. She has a weak character that wants to do the right thing, but afraid of the sacrifices that she will ahve to make along the way. this is seen in that when she is first told/ when she first hears about what the plan is, a total abstinence from sex. When she hears this she immediately wants out of the plot, and is very afraid to join in, but she is eventually swayed into it when everyone agrees. This shows that she is very weak in her character, and follows the majority in order to feels security and safety, and to "fit"in. When she is put on the spot and is forced to take to oath for every one she is stubling over her words, and feels weak in the knees when she is halfway through. This once again shows how she is weak and she cannot handle the stresses that are put on her. She is overall has a character that means to do well, but she is afraid of the work that she will have to put into it. This shown in that while whe wants to help in anyway that she can, she cannot forsee giving up her carnal love. Also the fact that she would rather have a war continue on than give up her nookie shows her weak physical being. However she eventually turns herslef around and does what she needs to to get peace.