Midterm

#2) Discuss the relationship between nihilism and changing attitudes on sexuality. In what ways did traditional values place prohibitions on sexuality? Why did these prohibitions lose their power after the first World War? Using The Blue Angel and Dream Story as a reference discuss the new attitudes towards sexuality that developed during the 1920s and early 1930s
      

       The relationship between nihilism and changing attitudes on sexuality was a direct relationship. People stopped caring about their morals and decided to do what would gratify them. If it meant having sex outside of their relationships or for their own self pleasure, then they would do so. 

     It came to a point where people stepped aside from the "norm" and from what they had valued, and decided to just do things that would satisfy themselves. Prohibitions lost power after the first World War because back in the 1920's and 1930, sex was considered something to be shared between two people who had taken hand in marriage, but after the war, people decided to change things. They seen that things were changing and they had to do something that would benefit themselves.

     In the film "Blue Angel" the attitudes towards sexuality increased tremendously. At first, it was a crime for the students in Professor Rath's class to have been passing around pictures of the lovely Lola Lola, and the students had got into trouble. But once Rath had met her he fell in love and Lola Lola, didn't see it that way. She had been with Professor Rath, but she then moved on to the next guy, which showed everyone that what we call "cheating" nowadays was alright. It was for Lola's gratification that she had been interested in someone else even though she was still with Rath, because it seemed like it was an okay thing to do. 

     In Dream Story, Dr. Fridolin and Albertina were in a relationship, yet they were having fantasies about being with other people. Fridolin was the only one who would act on his desires, but they had both had an attraction to other partners. The whole novel consists of sex and an orgy involving all types of people. The outlook that this story gives on people regarding sexuality and the attitudes towards it was "go ahead". It encouraged people to have sex and to be sexual, because in a world without any values, pleasure is one of the few things that people will strive for.

3) Explain the various stages of development that Siddhartha goes through. How effective is Siddhartha's philosophy of detachment as a response to nihilism?

     In the beginning of the story, Siddhartha is introduced as the son of a Brahmin and automatically has all types of intellect on the way in which he should live his life and the destinies in which he is to fulfill. He grows tired of the same old thing and feels that he needs more in his life and that he should set out on a quest to find more meaning to his life.  He goes through many transitions trying to find a spiritual (as a samana)  or sensual (samsara world) connection to the world and is discouraged when he can not do so.

     He then decides to live with Vasudeva, a ferryman, and there he discovers Nirvana, where everything can co-exist. He is shocked by this discovery as he is becoming more nihilistic as he rejects almost all of his moral values that have any effect on how he views life.

     Once he becomes an old man he returns to the river to find that just like the river is constantly flowing and always in motion, so is life. Life is always continuous and always moving. Based on this Siddhartha finally finds peace. There is no concept of time, there is no past, present or future, it will always be everywhere at the same time. It relates to Siddhartha's own life. There was no past, because the past is still occurring. He is who he was when he was young and middle aged, and old because there is no end and he had to experience all that he did to learn this.

On Pain

Assignment: Please choose a passage from the essay on one of the following themes: pain, technology, photography, detachment, sexuality

Write out the passage. Interpret the passage and explain how it relates to one of the other works we have looked at. Explain why you chose this passage.

 

 

Passage: 

       In such a situation, pain remains the only measure promising a certainty of insights. Wherever values can no longer hold their ground, the movement toward pain endures as an astonishing sign of  the times; it betrays the negative mark of a metaphysical structure. (p. 47)

 

 Theme: Pain

 

Interpretation: 

      Once someone feels pain, everything becomes more vivid and one can see things in many different ways, trying to understand it all. Once we no longer can see the good or "valuable" part of a certain person or situation, we automatically feel pain and move towards the pain as it has some type of comfort knowing that we can confide in it.

      I feel that this passage relates to the "Blue Angels" because Rath was in love with Lola Lola and once he started to see how she was changing he right away felt pain and turned to pain. He used to pain as an insight to see how she was "flirty" with every man, because it was part of her job and this pain had enraged him. 

I chose this passage because it justifies how once someone feels pain, their vision becomes more clear as to how they view things in the future and the way that their perceptions are now skewed because of feeling pain.

 

Dream Story

Assignment:

Please choose a quote from Dream Story write out the quote. Then interpret the quote and explain why you chose this passage.

I would suggest watching the film "Eyes Wide Shut" which is a film version of this novel and the final film by director Stanley Kubrick. The film is almost an exact recreation of the novel, and aside from different locations and different names, the film follows the book almost exactly.

Quote: "Innocent yet ominous questions and vague ambiguous answers passed to and fro between them; and, as neither of them doubted the other's absolute candour, both felt the need for mild revenge. They exaggerated the extent to which their masked partners had attracted them, made fun of the jealous stirrings the other revealed, and lied dismissively about their own."

      Both of them had felt some type of revenge to seek on each other. So, in order to seek revenge on each other they tried to make each other jealous by exaggerating what they had endured that night and speak highly of the ones who had caught their attention. They would shoot each other down and call each others bluff when they knew that one was lying or trying to hard to make the other jealous. They both completely lied but it was for the sake of making the other jealous.

      I chose this passage because too often in time, revenge is what makes us feel better as humans. We are all hurt in one way or another and the idea that we can seek revenge on someone else to make them feel pain is  a thrill to us. We intentionally want to hurt those who hurt us and it gives us gratification when we are successful at doing so.

Expressionism

Assignment: Using the two films identify three major themes that you can find through both films. Explain how the films develop these themes and what do they mean. How do these themes relate to the theme of nihilism we have been discussing? Examples of themes could be ‘love’ or ‘madness’. So for example you would explain what are the themes of love you find in both films how do they relate, how are these themes developed and how does it relate to nihilism?

       
        Three themes that I found to be similar in both films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Blue Angel, were: love, madness, and power. 
        The first theme love, is strongly portrayed in both films. It is noticed in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari when Francis and Alan who are friends, both have a secret love for Jane. Alan ends up dieing and Francis and Jane are together. Cesare is demanded to "kill" Jane, but he ends up falling in love with her also. In Blue Angel love is portrayed throughout the entire film. It is first noticed when Dr. Rath goes to catch his students at the club where Lola Lola performs and he lays eyes on this beautiful woman. He ends up spending the night with her and even resigning from teaching at the University. The theme of Love in both films can relate by having an important character fall in love and make sacrifices to be with that loved one.
        The second theme, madness, is portrayed in "The Cabinet of Caligari" where Dr. Caligari who is the somnambulist, hypnotizes Cesare and convinces him to murder people. He is actually committing the murders but through a "dummy". Although this was all a "fla shback" he was still the director of and Insane Asylum, looking for his next patients. In "Blue Angel", Rath is consumed by jealousy as he sees Lola to be a "sex appeal" and when he sees how many guys are actually interested in her. He becomes enraged when he sees her kiss another man and attempts to strangle her, but instead is beaten down. The theme of madness relates in both films as both of the main characters are insane. They start off as an "alright" individual but towards the end that normality digresses and it becomes pure insanity.
        The third theme, power, is portrayed in "The Cabinet of Caligari" where Dr. Caligari had the power of Cesare and could convince Cesare to commit the murders. As for the "reality" of the whole film, Dr. Caligari was also the head of the Insane Asylum, ultimately giving him power over all of his patients. In "Blue Angel" power is portrayed by a female this time. Lola has the power over Immanuel Rath, as he resigns from his teaching job just so that he could be with her and he spends all of his savings to pay the bills. Lola ultimately had power over professor Rath subconsciously as he knew he wanted to be with her and he would do whatever it would take. The theme of power in both films can be related by the fact that the person with the power in a way "manipulated" the other into getting what they want. Whether intentional, as in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, or unintentional as we have seen in Blue Angel.
          All of these themes are related to Nihilism because they show the destruction of an individual. What one once had was now gone. The feeling of despondency, where all hope is lost. Francis felt that way when he realized his best friend was murdered, and Immanuel Rath felt that way when he seen the love of his life kiss another man. The pure state of giving up the norms of society and not obeying rules anymore tends to take over.