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Words versus music: analysis of Samuel Beckett's "Words and Music", "Cascando" and "Rockbaby"
Fořtová, Linda ; Pilný, Ondřej (advisor) ; Wallace, Clare (referee)
It was my endeavour to demonstrate the manifold capacities of music with (or emanating from) a text. Indeed, I have proved that music is able to express what words cannot, and that there are many links between the verbal language and that of music, and thus both can be used in an interplay as it can be perceived in Cascando where Voice merges with Music in harmony and their arrangement constitutes a fugue; or both elements can challenge each other in an effort to ascertain which of them should be taken as superior to the other, as in Words and Music; or, even, that language freed of the customary syntactic chains is able to produce rhytmical patterns in accordance to what the words describe, as it is in Rockaby.
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Wives and Whores: Female characters in the plays of Harold Pinter
Schormová, Františka ; Wallace, Clare (advisor) ; Pilný, Ondřej (referee)
This BA thesis discusses four female characters from three plays of the British dramatist Harold Pinter, placing them in context of depicting 'The Femine.' Pinter's female characters must not only be seen in the tradition of stereotypical depicting women, but also in context of the patriarchal concepts they have to face - the male dominance, male gaze and male bonding. The second chapter provides background for discussing female characters - reasons why to do so are provided and the idea of woman as 'the Other' is introduced. This concept led to the stereotyping of women and subsequently to their misrepresentation in fiction. The basic dichotomy of 'wife/whore' is investigated. The chapter also examines the specifics of representation on the stage with references to the development of drama. It concludes with placing Pinter within this context. The third chapter contains close reading of three Pinter's plays - The Homecoming, Old Times and Betrayal. The roles of female characters are examined in relationship to the power structures they are trying to dismantle. The chapter argues that even if they manage it, the victory does not challenge the patriarchal structure as such. The fourth chapter is focused on realisation of Pinter on Czech stages. It provides the history of the stagings, focusing...
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Another Way Out: Women in Kate O'Brien's Fiction
Homolková, Šárka ; Wallace, Clare (advisor) ; Pilný, Ondřej (referee)
Kate O'Brien was one of Ireland's best female writers; moreover, she was one of the first to centre on the Catholic Middle Class in her writing, as this class was long neglected. O'Brien was famous for her women-oriented books in which she portrayed the lives of women of the rising bourgeoisie of Ireland at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. We can trace a certain development in O'Brien's writing, throughout her career she becomes more radical and comes to voice feminist notions about women being equal to men as well women's seeking independence from the world dominated by men. Most of her novels are family-oriented and may be called Bildungsromans as the protagonists, which apart from two books are all female, develop and grow to maturity and learn to understand the world and their place in it. As this thesis examined how the women in O'Brien's novels reflect the situation of women in her home country, it is apparent that throughout her life the writer became more radical and sceptical towards the fate of women in Ireland. Therefore, in her first written pieces she portrays women in their traditional roles as dutiful wives, daughters, or mothers. It is only in her later writing that the women manage to emancipate themselves and lead their lives independently. In O'Brien's first two...
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Psychological aspects of the gothic in Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's fiction
Procházková, Ilona ; Wallace, Clare (advisor) ; Pilný, Ondřej (referee)
What is usually understood by the term "Gothic" is the distant and rather obscure period of Middle Ages connoting severe wars, fortified inhospitable castles and the burning of witches. Apart from that, the word is very often used specifically to describe the architecture of this time. However, especially in an English cultural context this word gained a secondary meaning which is not completely unrelated to the first one and which is to a large extent connected with literature. Under the influence of Romanticism, the second half of the eighteenth century bears witness to extended interest in uncanny Gothic castles or ruins, forlorn scenery and other melancholy places, with even greater stress put on its mysterious, obscure and frightening aspects that finally resulted in something which may be called the Gothic revival. Victor Sage writes that, "'Gothic' could connote any of a wide range of overlapping senses: horrid, barbarous, superstitious, Tudor, Druid, English, German, and even Oriental."1 One of the primary goals of Gothic literature was to create strong emotion of fear or even horror. Among the most popular settings of its fiction belong gloomy ancient chambers, buildings with rich pasts, abandoned decaying mansions, graveyards and similar places which help to establish the right atmosphere for...
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The theme of Hamlet in Joyce's Ulysses: The reflections of Stephen Dedalus's aesthetic theory in his later theory of Hamlet and the specific implications that arise from it
Brymová, Petra ; Pilný, Ondřej (advisor) ; Armand, Louis (referee)
The thesis deals with the theory of Hamlet created by Stephen Dedalus, the main protagonist of Ulysses, and with its counterpart in the form of Joyce's theory, which can be imagined as a twisted theory of Stephen reflected in the narrative of Ulysses. The first chapter concerns the origins of Stephen's Hamlet theory; it focuses on Stephen's aesthetic views with emphasis on the terms Stephen uses and shows how Stephen diverts from the models he is drawing on. It is revealed that the basic concept of Stephen's aesthetic theory is the indispensability of "real life" for an artistic creation. Most of the terms Stephen employs include this issue, except for his idea of a "detached artist", which is the very opposite of a contact with reality. However, this paradox is a link towards reconcilliation of two opposing tendencies, which seems to form the essence of an artistic creation. The chapter likewise comments on Joyce's ironical treatment of Stephen's views. Stephen detaches himself from Christianity, yet he uses religious parallels and thus, paradoxically, pays homage to it. Irony also surfaces concerning the relation between an artist and his work of art; Joyce's "new" theory of Hamlet is closer to Aquinas than Stephen's original. In a similar way Joyce regards Stephen's analogy between a literary...
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Movement and stagnation in Samuel Beckett's work
Kudrnová, Anna ; Pilný, Ondřej (advisor) ; Wallace, Clare (referee)
Upon encountering the dramas and shorter prosaic works of Samuel Beckett, the reader or spectator will probably soon notice, apart from other characteristic features, the exceptional number of characters that limp, have various foot defects and pains, have problems with locomotion and balance, or who are even legless. In other cases, external causes impede the protagonists from moving, as for example in the play Happy Days, where Winnie is stuck in a mound of earth. Incapability of movement and stagnation, whether voluntary or forced, does not appear merely on the physical level; hesitation, inability to decide or act despite an urge to do so are themes frequently occurring in Beckett's texts; when we think of these manifestations of impotence in abstract terms, we realise that they represent stagnation as well: the inability to progress from one situation to another, further from one attitude or mental state etc. The characters often experience the ancient dilemma of activity versus passivity in human life; in many cases, Beckett illustrates it on motion. Another level on which a certain form of immobility emerges is often the structure of a text; that is to say, the plot does not reach any conclusion; the situation presented therein, although usually close to unbearable, does not change, or becomes...
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Monologue Plays in Contemporary British and Irish Theatre
Pavelková, Hana ; Pilný, Ondřej (advisor) ; Wallace, Clare (referee) ; Monks, Aoife (referee)
This dissertation examines a very popular and widespread trend in contemporary British and Irish theatre - monologue plays. One of the reasons of the recent boom of monologue-based theatre performances might be the fact that the condensed theatrical form presents a challenge for everyone involved - the playwrights, actors, and crucially also for the audience. The diversity and quantity of such plays present an obstacle that has deterred most theatre scholars from systematic analysis as it is difficult to decide on what ground such widespread phenomenon might be critically approached. Given the essential role the audience have as the only communication partner of the lonely monologists on stage, this work attempts to analyse the contemporary boom of monologue plays in the U.K. and Ireland by using a systematic framework, based on the various incorporations of the monologue, which enables examination of how specific strategies of the realisation of the monologue elicit audience engagement. First it explores monologue plays in which one actor/actress performs one character, then it deals with plays in which the performer re-enacts other characters, subsequently this work focuses on very rare experiments in the monologue form, where the performer re-enacts conflicting versions of their split selves and...
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McDonaghland as a global village
Konárková, Michaela ; Pilný, Ondřej (advisor) ; Armand, Louis (referee)
The objective of this e-ssay is to explore various possible perspectives -of looking at Martin McDonagh's work. The author of so far six extremely successful plays premiered between the years 1996-2003 has engaged much critical attention as belonging both to the British and Irish theatrical context. However, another important circumstance of his work is that of the globalized, supranational context. I would like to prove that it is in this context where the parodic strategy of his plays is most powerful. The theoretical background of this thesis is represented by Marshall McLuhan's book War and Peace in the Global Village, Zygmun-d- Bauman's book Globalizatio~d Linda Hutcheon's/oetics of Postmodernism.
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Civic amenities building
Svoboda, David ; Pilný, Ondřej (referee) ; Berková, Petra (advisor)
The aim of the master’s thesis is the design of a new music club building in Valtice. The first part of the thesis is the architectural and structural design. The building of irregular rectangular shape with one underground floor and two above-ground floors is divided into two main operational units – a dance hall and a rock club. The chosen structural system is reinforced concrete columns with locally supported floors. The walls are made of sand-lime blocks. The main insulation material is hemp. The building is covered by a flat roof with extensive greenery. The second part deals with the building services. Ventilation, heating and cooling are provided by HVAC units. The heat source is condensing gas boilers, the cooling source is an outdoor VRV cooling unit. The third part of the master‘s thesis is the acoustic assessment of the building. As a noise source, it mainly addresses the acoustic impact on the surrounding buildings in the vicinity. Furthermore, it optimizes the reverberation time in the rock club. The project was produced in accordance with the legal regulations and technical standards and created in AutoCAD software.
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Civic amenities building
Plášková, Věra ; Pilný, Ondřej (referee) ; Berková, Petra (advisor)
The thesis deals with the design of a two-storey L-shaped smart building for amenities with a low energy consumption concept in mind. The ground floor will be used as a café and technical facilities. The second floor is designed for a small design office. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the architectural and structural design. The selected load-bearing system is a wall system made of Silka sand-lime blocks. The floor and roof are designed of prestressed reinforced concrete panels Spiroll. Stone wool is used as the main thermal insulation. The flat roof is designed green extensive. The second part of the thesis deals with the building environment technology, which will use energy from photovoltaic panels and will be supplied with heat from a local central heat source. Air exchange is provided by two HVAC units. Cooling is designed as a VRF system with refrigerant. The third part of the thesis deals with the acoustic assessment. The main topic is optimizing the reverberation time in the open space office. For the preparation of the thesis, the Archicad and Autocad software, MS Excel and Word or Deksoft were used.
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