Conflicting Perspectives Speech free essay sample

Conflicting perspectives require students to explore various representations of events, personalities or situations†¦ Medium of production, textual form, perspective and choice of language influence meaning† How would you feel if the man of your dreams, cheated on you, and left you for another woman? Then again, imagine what your life would be like living with someone who was mentally unstable. How would your friends, family, and possibly the general public perceive that situation? Of course they would all have opinions of their own. It is conflicting perspectives similar to these, which resonate from Ted Hughes’s ‘The Shot’ and ‘The Minotaur’ and the film ‘Sylvia’ Directed by Christine Jeffs (2003). The different representations of personalities across the two textual forms shape understanding in regards to the relationship between Plath and Ted Hughes d The film Sylvia was created for three reasons. Firstly to entertain an audience comprising of the general public, it would have been dramatized and exaggerated to appeal to large numbers of people. Secondly it was created to make money. The dramatization of the story would have increased general appeal, leading to more viewers, increasing the profit. Thirdly, it was designed to show visually, through the use of cinematic techniques the conflicted story of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath’s relationship Hughes’s poetry on the other hand is subjective, and is an expression of his thoughts and feelings about Plath and their relationship. He uses Poetic techniques and language devices to communicate his side of the story. Through the use of personal pronouns, and the repetition of â€Å"you† we get the feeling that his poems are speaking directly to Plath, almost conversationally. Throughout the film ‘Sylvia’, Plath is portrayed as a helpless, innocent young girl, who is corrupted by Hughes, the leading cause of her eventual demise. Jeff’s has depicted her in this way to allow the audience to emotionally connect and sympathise with her throughout the film. In the opening scenes, a tracking shot of Plath riding a bicycle, down the streets of London, with cheerful, non-diegetic music playing in the background, nfluences the audience to feel approval towards Plath, forging a positive bond between the two. Would anyone here say that guns and bullets are cheerful? No? I didn’t think so. Well In the shot Hughes shapes a destructive, powerful and out of control Plath, by metaphorically comparing her to a bullet. â€Å"You ricocheted the length of your alpha career with the fury of a high velocity bullet† the Dangerous imagery, and the personification of the bullet juxtapose with the portrayal of Plath in ‘Sylvia’ as a sweet harmless young girl. Throughout the shot, Hughes goes on, extending the metaphor to describe her as nearly indestructible, â€Å"you were gold jacketed, solid silver, nickel tipped,† The use of the high quality metals give Plath an air of importance, emphasised by the assonance in â€Å"Nickel Tipped†. However he juxtaposes these claims, weakening the strong image he has built up for the length of the poem by lines like â€Å"inside your sob-sodden Kleenex and your Saturday night panics†. This quote alludes to the changing Highs and the Lows of her emotions. The use of alliteration highlights the change in description, emphasising her fragile mental state. Plath’s mentality is a common topic used in The Shot, The Minotaur and the film ‘Sylvia’. Hughes uses American slang contrasted with biblical allusions to emphasise paths obsessive nature â€Å"Ordinary jocks became gods Deified by your infatuation†. During the film ‘Sylvia’, her obsessive nature and the highs and lows of her emotions are symbolised through quick editing of a white ball being thrown up and down, a close up of Plath’s eyes as she Throws the ball and a mid shot from behind of Plath and the ball hitting the ceiling repeatedly. These images are accompanied with Plath chanting â€Å"Ted Hughes, Ted Hughes, Edward Hughes, Edward Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Mrs Sylvia Hughes† The chant shows the depth of her infatuation, while the white ball moving up and down visually symbolises the highs and lows of her emotions in regards to their relationship. If opposites attract then of course the supportive ‘considered and calm’ Hughes described in ‘the Minotaur’ would be drawn to Sylvia and her unpredictable emotions. Throughout ‘the Minotaur’ Hughes makes it obvious hat he supported Plath and her poetry in its entirety, also taking credit for her success. â€Å"That’s the stuff you’re keeping out of your poems! Get that under your stanzas and well be away† Hughes use of dialogue to show his mentoring of Plath, give the poem a sense of realism, and that the scene of events are occurring as you read. From the words ‘and we’ll be away’ Hughes is implying that he is responsible for some of her best poetry. Hughes’s portrayal of himself in ‘the Minotaur’ conflicts with the image in ‘The Shot’ of the victim of Plath the bullet. Vague as mist I did not even know I had been hit, or that you had gone clean through me† the dramatic simile, comparing his awareness to mist and the descriptive imagery emphasises Hughes innocence in the relationship. This ‘innocence’ portrayed conflicts significantly with the film Sylvia, where Hughes is portrayed as an unfaithful husband, and the eventual cause of Sylvia’s suicide, the colours Plath wears when in the presence of Hughes are light blues and greys, compared to the bright red and pinks she wears when she is living without him. This colour difference represents visually the change and negative effect Hughes had on Plath’s life. From ‘the shot’, ‘the Minotaur’ and the film ‘Sylvia’, different interpretations and opinions influence the portrayal of personalities. Through these different perspectives we are able to build a larger picture of the relationship between ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. The difference in representation across medium help us to better understand the meaning of Ted Hughes’s poetry and the meaning behind his words.