Analysis Of Snow s Midsummer By Guan Hanqing

Michel de Polignac ANALYSIS PAPER 1: Retributive justice is a very common element found not only in literature but in almost all text that tries to evoke moral values. A nemetic ending is often used to provide the reader or spectator the satisfaction of seeing the hero be rewarded for his or her virtuous actions. Alternatively, the evil or malicious characters are usually punished thanks to the hero s actions and thus brings a somewhat â€Å"happy ending† to the conflict. Many authors and playwrights would mostly hesitate to bring an unpleasant end to their stories so that the audience may leave their seats with a more positive outlook on the play. Nevertheless, it might be debatable if a standardized nemetic ending would transmit a more poignant message to the spectators, numerous plays that do not follow this norm are well known to have a very similar, if not equal, impact. To illustrate this tactic, we will mostly focus on the ending of â€Å"Snow in Midsummer† by Guan Hanqing that ma y end in a slightly ambiguous note rather than directly rewarding our hero Dou Er. Henceforth, we will also look over the case of Oedipus the King by Sophocles, that challenges the ideal retributive justice at the end of the play. We, as spectators, have a desire to connect with the characters and the issues they try to get through, as long as the heroes remain praiseworthy and villains fall and get defeated. In the case of â€Å"Snow in Midsummer† we may notice a somewhat paradoxical view on