Zusammenfassung der Ressource
The Presence of the Past: the past as
a matter of debate
- Death of a Salesman
- past is present in the memories of the characters
- Willy's past continually
invades his present ->
collision of past and
present
- past influences Willy's behavior the same way as his
current interactions with other characters
- he retreats to his memory to confront the truth that
lies there and in part to escape the consequences of
the past exposed by the linear present
- Long Day's Journey Into Night
- each character controlled by his
memories of the family's history
- example: Both sons and Mary hold
grudges towards Tyrone for refusing to
pay for a quality doctor for Mary
- Mary cannot let go of the
dream of being a professional
pianist or nun
- family is decaying
because it is trapped by
suspicions and problems
resulting from mistakes
made long ago which can
neither be forgiven nor
ignored
- "the past is the present" (Mary, Act II)
- Title: the day is not unique --> repetitive
- cyclic structure: each
confrontation leads to a
relevation about the past and to
another confrontation
- sole activity of characters:
dealing with the past and
its present repercussions
- all problems of past cannot be forgotten
- past as a burden:
fixed the present
and future, letting
go impossible
- past as a refuge
- Our Town
- Emily returns to Grover's Corners to
relive her 12th birthday: impossibility of
recovering the past -> Emily is a product
of her relationships and cannot go back
- importance of a moment in
developing the pattern of a
lifetime and the intrinsic worth
- future significance of the events
she relives -> dramatic irony
- bombarded
of details
that she
had
forgotten
- often: focus on present moment
- repetition of details and circularity
of daily activities: expose the past
while depicting the present
- memory as blessing and curse
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- several characters retell the past
-> several versions of the story
- memory as a
creative process ->
truth never
captured
- first 15 pages: Maggie's one-sided conversation exposes the path
and elicits our sympathy for Maggie -> Maggie recognizes: Brick
uses memory to preserve an unchanging past -> influence on
present is destructive
- end: lie about baby -> survival not
adhering to personal vision as it is
frozen in memory -> it should
interact with present and adjust to
its demands
- Painting churches
- Fanny and Gardener
(parents) in decline from
their artistically
productive years and
daughter is moving up -> self-centered
- Mags want to erase her past ->
hated her childhood (send away
from the table, because playing
with food & parents destroyed
her first "art work")
- end: re-acceptance