Artaud and Sleeples night interpertation
Artaud is a man who both crazy, innovative, creative and intelligent at the same time. His idealism of creating a theater of cruelty which involves series of overflowing emotional scenes, is meant to change both character and audience by exposing them to vivid phantasmagoric things. In addition, it also challenged the audience's view of religion and idealism.
Spurt of blood is one of Artaud's original script. Personally, i believe the play is ultimately confusing and camplicated. It took me one whole hour of thingking and re-thingking at 2.30 in the morning until 3.30. Some of the things that crossed my mind fully revolved around the character "Bawd" a.k.a the hooker, the bitch or the sex toy.
the first question i oppose to my consciousness is "what is the change that happens in the play ?". To begin with, all artaud plays are about changes. changes in beliefs, religion and idealisms. My so-called interpertation will begin from the fisrt character to go on stage:
1. The Young Man: He is incest with her sister. Considering his name, young man would probably be older than 15 (a boy will turn into a man after his wet dream and had sex).
2. The Young Girl: She's having a more-than-sibbling relationship with his brother. She's probably less than 13 years old (a girl will turn into a woman once she got menstruation and had sex).
[comment] The young man and the young girl is having sex at the beginning of the play. they "love each other" (script, line 9) and the man refer the young girl as his world; "ah, how beautifully the world was built" (line 10). The young man is refered as man because of his age and he having faced his puberty. While the Young Girl, she havent had her menstruation therefore she's called "young Girl". However, after she had sex she is still refered as young girl because she is till inncoent although her body had been 'tasted' by a guy. After the Young Man had sex with the girl, he said "i saw i knew i understood" which means he finally understood the feeling of having sex. "here on a public street, the priest, the cobbler... I cant stand it any longer !". Personally i think he began to think sexually. He began to see things in a different light. Things are not the same anymore, he could see the reality of the world he lived in.
3. Wet Nurse: heavy tits. they hurts. she's a personal maid of her husband (an outcasted knight). she's hurt both physically and emotionally.
4. Knight : outcasted. coz who in the world wanted a knight to marry a wetnurse ? a knight shall marry a damsel in distress or a princess or someone pretty and rich. he saw his wife as his failure in life. that makes him prone to hurt his wife.
5. Beadle : fat beadle. a helper of the community which portrayed as not being at the very least helpful. he eat and he eat and he only eat.
6. Priest : an old horny priest who advices the young man to think about vagina (earthquakes) and penis (volcanoes), not about god. No one think about god anymore. they all think that god is not there.
P : "To what part of your body do u refer most often ?"
YM: "to God"
P : (in swiss accent. which i think is his real tounge and it will only comes out when he is shocked by YM's reply) "but that isnt done anymore (as in believing in God). We no longer hear through that ear (we no longer hear and obey god). You have to ask of..."
YM: "Ah that's life! Then everything is hot to hell!" (in this part, the young man is being transformed. he no longer "hear through that ear". He followed the priest's advice to satisfy his sexual needs. and not of god's command.
7. Bawd: She has a connection with god. i think she believes in God. unlike the other people living in the world, she knows that god really exist. that's why she said "Leave me alone, god !". When the eartquake came and lightning strikes, it is god's presence coming into the area. However, the other people is unable to see god as the bawd see god. they cant feel god's presence as the bawd feel it ever so vividly.
the bawd has a hideous physical appearance. This is because of her knowledge of god. and she knows that she is not following god's command. she sell her body to satisfy men's need and as an act of her being ashamed of what she had done, she punished her self. she whipped herself (similar to Silas in the Davinci Code). when god said "Bitch, look at your body!". she looked at herself and she's ashamed of it. she feel unworthy of god's presence. she rejected god by saying "leave me alone God". since god did not let her go, she bites god's hand and accidentally saw young man. as soon as god left the place, the whole crowd dies except for her and YM.
[comment] Why did everyone dies ? according to the story of Moses in the Bible, everyone who saw God could die. it is because of his holy presence. it is too much for anyone. However, why did the Bawd survive her physical countrance?
When God touches her, the bawd's hair turned up into flames. it symbolises the Holy Spirit. and a person who has the Holy Spirit could communicate with god. they became the children of god. therefore the bawd, who has he holdy spirit, did not die.
after that, she is turned back to her old trying-not-to-be-religieous self... and had sex with the young man. She asked the YM "tell me how it happen to you". It here refers to the transformation.
8. Huge Voice: the voice of god. no explanation is needed. i guess.
-So what's the whole Story ?-
i know that my comments up there is not as clear as you wanted it to be. but try to solve what i meant. maybe you'll need to think and rethink as much as i do. but hey, i helped you this far to know deeper about each character. now it's your turn to interpert the whole story according to the character works that i've got here.
another question for you to ponder: if everyone died except for the bawd and YM... then why YM did not die. he do not have holy spirit, unlike the bawd who has it... right ?? hmmm... it'll take another hour to find out the answer.
good luck, my boy! tough luck.
xox,
joe
Spurt of blood is one of Artaud's original script. Personally, i believe the play is ultimately confusing and camplicated. It took me one whole hour of thingking and re-thingking at 2.30 in the morning until 3.30. Some of the things that crossed my mind fully revolved around the character "Bawd" a.k.a the hooker, the bitch or the sex toy.
the first question i oppose to my consciousness is "what is the change that happens in the play ?". To begin with, all artaud plays are about changes. changes in beliefs, religion and idealisms. My so-called interpertation will begin from the fisrt character to go on stage:
1. The Young Man: He is incest with her sister. Considering his name, young man would probably be older than 15 (a boy will turn into a man after his wet dream and had sex).
2. The Young Girl: She's having a more-than-sibbling relationship with his brother. She's probably less than 13 years old (a girl will turn into a woman once she got menstruation and had sex).
[comment] The young man and the young girl is having sex at the beginning of the play. they "love each other" (script, line 9) and the man refer the young girl as his world; "ah, how beautifully the world was built" (line 10). The young man is refered as man because of his age and he having faced his puberty. While the Young Girl, she havent had her menstruation therefore she's called "young Girl". However, after she had sex she is still refered as young girl because she is till inncoent although her body had been 'tasted' by a guy. After the Young Man had sex with the girl, he said "i saw i knew i understood" which means he finally understood the feeling of having sex. "here on a public street, the priest, the cobbler... I cant stand it any longer !". Personally i think he began to think sexually. He began to see things in a different light. Things are not the same anymore, he could see the reality of the world he lived in.
3. Wet Nurse: heavy tits. they hurts. she's a personal maid of her husband (an outcasted knight). she's hurt both physically and emotionally.
4. Knight : outcasted. coz who in the world wanted a knight to marry a wetnurse ? a knight shall marry a damsel in distress or a princess or someone pretty and rich. he saw his wife as his failure in life. that makes him prone to hurt his wife.
5. Beadle : fat beadle. a helper of the community which portrayed as not being at the very least helpful. he eat and he eat and he only eat.
6. Priest : an old horny priest who advices the young man to think about vagina (earthquakes) and penis (volcanoes), not about god. No one think about god anymore. they all think that god is not there.
P : "To what part of your body do u refer most often ?"
YM: "to God"
P : (in swiss accent. which i think is his real tounge and it will only comes out when he is shocked by YM's reply) "but that isnt done anymore (as in believing in God). We no longer hear through that ear (we no longer hear and obey god). You have to ask of..."
YM: "Ah that's life! Then everything is hot to hell!" (in this part, the young man is being transformed. he no longer "hear through that ear". He followed the priest's advice to satisfy his sexual needs. and not of god's command.
7. Bawd: She has a connection with god. i think she believes in God. unlike the other people living in the world, she knows that god really exist. that's why she said "Leave me alone, god !". When the eartquake came and lightning strikes, it is god's presence coming into the area. However, the other people is unable to see god as the bawd see god. they cant feel god's presence as the bawd feel it ever so vividly.
the bawd has a hideous physical appearance. This is because of her knowledge of god. and she knows that she is not following god's command. she sell her body to satisfy men's need and as an act of her being ashamed of what she had done, she punished her self. she whipped herself (similar to Silas in the Davinci Code). when god said "Bitch, look at your body!". she looked at herself and she's ashamed of it. she feel unworthy of god's presence. she rejected god by saying "leave me alone God". since god did not let her go, she bites god's hand and accidentally saw young man. as soon as god left the place, the whole crowd dies except for her and YM.
[comment] Why did everyone dies ? according to the story of Moses in the Bible, everyone who saw God could die. it is because of his holy presence. it is too much for anyone. However, why did the Bawd survive her physical countrance?
When God touches her, the bawd's hair turned up into flames. it symbolises the Holy Spirit. and a person who has the Holy Spirit could communicate with god. they became the children of god. therefore the bawd, who has he holdy spirit, did not die.
after that, she is turned back to her old trying-not-to-be-religieous self... and had sex with the young man. She asked the YM "tell me how it happen to you". It here refers to the transformation.
8. Huge Voice: the voice of god. no explanation is needed. i guess.
-So what's the whole Story ?-
i know that my comments up there is not as clear as you wanted it to be. but try to solve what i meant. maybe you'll need to think and rethink as much as i do. but hey, i helped you this far to know deeper about each character. now it's your turn to interpert the whole story according to the character works that i've got here.
another question for you to ponder: if everyone died except for the bawd and YM... then why YM did not die. he do not have holy spirit, unlike the bawd who has it... right ?? hmmm... it'll take another hour to find out the answer.
good luck, my boy! tough luck.
xox,
joe
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