How does bailey look at thoreau

Bailey says he has never heard someone make it so easy, and remarks that Henry must be a teacher. Henry did, we discover, become somewhat like Waldo, for he also is a teacher. Bailey sinks back into the shadows, and the light comes up on Henry , who is teaching a classroom full of students who are not actually present as actors, but only imaginary.

He is explaining how even the seemingly empty air around them is full of particles moving and flying around. Deacon Ball enters, and Henry is irritated at the interruption. Ball wonders why the students have no books. Henry clearly abhors conformity, and refuses to teach from books because they represent institutional control of learning. Huckleberrying is a kind of safeguard against conformity. Ball is appalled, calling the question blasphemy.

Henry explains that the sunrise is no accident—it cannot be. Henry approaches religion from an anti-authoritarian perspective. Ball says he does not understand. Henry begins to ridicule Ball and his proscribed textbook, sarcastically insisting to his students that they must not listen to a cricket or smell a flower unless it has been approved by the school board.

There is a real world within which the activist must act and sometimes compromises must be made in order to actually effect change. Henry apologizes, but Ball is not satisfied. He orders Henry to flog his students. Henry obliges, flogging each imaginary student with his belt and becoming increasingly repulsed by the violence. After the deed is done, Henry flings the belt offstage. He announces that he is resigning.

Ball recedes into the shadows and the lights come up on Waldo , who announces that he is resigning as pastor of the Unitarian Church in Boston. The compromises Henry is asked to make prove to be too much for him.

He decides to resign, and the parallel action of Waldo resigning from the Unitarian Church suggests that Henry is still on his way to becoming like Waldo his professed desire. Though Henry is walking away from conforming to a cruel and institutionalized school system, he is still imitating his mentor, and the play reminds us of that.

John and his mother stand on the edge of the stage. He approaches Henry and the two plan to open a new kind of school, one where class takes place in the countryside. Henry is re-energized, and turns to speak to a group of imaginary students, presumably gathered all around him. He talks about the varied flora of the meadow. Henry decides he can continue to effect change—to teach and nurture young minds in his community—by working outside of the system. A strikingly beautiful young woman appears on the side of the stage, listening to Henry.

Henry tells her that she seems too old to take this class. The woman, Ellen Sewell , says she just wants to listen. He tells the students to listen to the sounds, touch the grass, smell the air, and to pursue their own way. When she says she just wants to listen, Henry emphasizes that his class is not a place for listening, but for acting. Henry, dejected, tells him not to learn to write, or else he might write a book and get himself into trouble—the way Henry has.

Henry feels guilty about the prospect of putting others in the same danger he has put himself in. Perhaps this is why he becomes such a loner. John enters and helps Henry pull an imaginary boat from an imaginary pond they are back in the meadow.

Henry is planning to take the children out in the boat for class, but John tells Henry that they have lost all but one student. Their distancing themselves from the school board has ultimately deprived them of students to teach.

This is the risk, the play informs its audience, of retreating from the society you want to change. Henry , since he has no class to teach, asks Ellen if she would like to go out on the boat. She agrees, and out on the water, Henry tries to explain Transcendentalism to her. He explains to Ellen that she loves her father, and always will, even if he is not beautiful or talented, and cannot fly like a bird or swim like a fish.

She loves something about him that transcends what he actually is. This does not make sense to Ellen. Henry cannot speak in a way that Ellen understands, and so he struggles to reach her. Henry starts getting intense, and demands that Ellen stand up to her father and be more open-minded about her ideas. She says she is not one of his fish or his birds and must simply wait for him to bring her back to dry land. Henry realizes that he has missed his chance and is frustrated.

He agrees to take her back to shore on the condition that she attend church with his brother John , whom he believes is in love with her. She agrees. When they arrive back to shore, she asks Henry what will happen to his school. He answers by launching into a short rant about how men do too much talking anyway. His intensity frightens her and she runs away. Henry, incapable of reasoning with her in terms she understands, resorts to demanding of her that she become less amenable to authority.

Henry, seeming to accept his own loneliness and isolation, suggests that Ellen try to have a relationship with John instead. The lights come up on the cell again.

Henry asks a sleeping Bailey what he thinks of marriage, and Bailey only snores in response. Henry then looks out the window and reflects aloud that behind these bars, alone with his thoughts, he can see the world for what it really is. Jail has made him freer than anyone else in Concord. Removal from the world offers a certain clarity of perspective. Ellen sits beside John. It seems neither one has lived up to the dreams he has for them.

I enjoyed that screens were used to create the background for each scene allowing for the smooth transitions. The screens gave the appearance of being three-dimensional making the scenes seem much more real.

I also enjoyed the lighting being used as spotlights during some of the scenes and being used as a transition between scenes, or day and evening. I have no negative comments about the play. I really enjoyed this production of Guys and Dolls and believe that the director's vision was clearly dispayed on the stage by the actors, the musical ensemble and the production team. All of the actors did an extraordinary job in mastering the accents. Moreover, the over-the-top stereotypical characters were well portrayed and brought enough comic relief into the play but did not overwhelm the relatively solemn storyline.

One thing that the play lacked was depth and further development of Ruth as a character. Lala, Sunny and Peachy are just a few of the characters that were cast in the play. Be assured, however, that all the others were also suitably cast for their roles in the production. When it came to the dialogue of the production and the understanding of it the performers again did an excellent job. The physicality and gestures were both done well by everyone to portray their character with Adrienne and Rachel doing a particularly good job expressing the emotions present in each line.

However, in terms of voice, Tiana and Ryan could have projected more as it was pretty difficult to hear what they were saying compared to the other characters. Memorization was also done perfectly by everyone, and I could not tell a noticeable skipping or forgetting of lines. Their set, props, and costumes were all done tremendously well and I felt that this was probably their strongest aspect. Oedipus the King Oedipus being shown in an updated version is a very effective and understandable way to present it to audiences.

The play that was viewed in class was a good adaptation of the original play. The reason I think that the play works so well in an updated version is the fact that most people know the story before viewing it. The play uses tragic irony to keep the audience interested. I felt very sympathetic for his character at that moment. Overall, all the actors were well articulated, and projected nicely.

The characters were real and the stage just seemed to come to life. Home Page Thorough Look at Thoreau. Thorough Look at Thoreau Satisfactory Essays. Symbols All Symbols. Theme Wheel. Everything you need for every book you read.

The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. Henry is… read analysis of Henry David Thoreau. Though he is intellectually deft and very insightful with respect to abstract concepts, Henry argues that… read analysis of Ralph Waldo Emerson. John, like Henry, is thoughtful and passionate, and the only person Henry seems to love with unbridled affection. John dies from an infection caused by a rusty razor blade, a death… read analysis of John Thoreau.

Henry eventually persuades Sam , the constable, to give Bailey a speedy trial. She fears shame more than she fears wrongdoing. Lydian and Henry have a deep mutual affection for one another that approaches attraction, but they are both too loyal to Waldo to ever act on it.

Edward is an inquisitive boy who wishes Henry were his real father, since Waldo is so often absent as he travels and lectures. The authoritarian and highly traditional head of the school board where Henry once taught. Ellen is a beautiful young woman whom both Henry and John are attracted to.