I really enjoyed attending this play with my friend Abhinav. We were able to talk about our emotions, thoughts, and opinions about the play during the intermission. It was interesting watching his facial expressions as the play was occurring. Sometimes they were funny when the actors made a joke. I am positive that if I went alone I would have had a much less enjoyable time. I looked over the play study guide before watching and wore a nice outfit to the play to show my appreciation towards the actors and producers. Sharing an experience with someone really impacts you life and perspectives. It truly impacts the Good Life because team work and friendship is extremely important to growing in maturity. It is more efficient and helpful to achieve something with another person or group rather than going about it alone. Being collaborative with another is crucial to achieving the Good Life. This will boost the good memories and experiences, as well as open you up to another world of perspectives.
Cultural and Intellectual Experience
This show helped me see life in a totally different perspective. It helped me understand life's problems on a different level. I grew a deeper insight on the topic of poverty the most. This play was written during the 20th century, which is a time where poverty was extremely prevalent globally. Religion was the driving factor of life and economy. It dominated all the rules and daily activities of people. Because of the severity of religion in society back then, poverty may have been exemplified because many denominations were looked down upon by different countries. The Talbot family, in the play, seem to be seeking the Good Life. Their difficulties and burdens along with the mother's encouraging reinforcement on her children made this apparent. The amount of poverty they faced gave me a new perspective. I felt like I was so ignorant of poverty before. Most contemporary families in America have great financial and health support from the government no matter what economic status, but back then such help was difficult to attain. Furthermore, they are a hard working family but are still unfortuanatly facing financial obstacles. Many low income families were oppressed and inclined to victimization, as shown in the play. Numerous children were forced to work at low maintenance factories, which often caused injuries. I felt a great deal of emotion learning the suffering they went through in comparison the the privileged life I was given going to college. This thought made me feel more appreciative for the middle class life I have been given.
Emotional Experience
The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt did a well job in exemplifying the idea of katharsis, "coming clean" and gave me all kinds of emotional awakenings. After understanding the extent of poverty individuals face, I felt myself grow into a more mature person like how Siddhartha became enlightened after realizing the sufferings of this world. I was exposed to struggles and perspectives that I have never taken into account before. This play exposed the audience to the life numerous low class families have to suffer, like the Talbots. The rich and high income encomomy class are oblivious to these kind of situations and only make rules to make their own lives better, disregarding the lives of those under them. The Talbot family was definitely not part of the wealthy class and seeing life from their perspective was truly heart clenching. I felt extremely teary and sad watching them go about their lives. The definition of katharsis comes into role in this situation by allowing the audience to become one body and sharing the emotion of pity and determination to help individuals facing poverty, even in the 21st century. This intention is one that will give happiness and the Good Life to the people of this world. It will help the people attempting to save others "come clean" and erase their slate of mistakes. This play helped change the perspective of many from ignorant to determined and appreciative. That right there is the definition of "coming clean" because it is a positive change in someone's heart.
All pictures taken by Mary Ananditha Kommareddy, Abhinav, and another audience member.
