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Power and Authority - in the Name of the Father and the Removalists Essay Example

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Power and Authority - in the Name of the Father and the Removalists Essay Example
How have the two texts (Removalists and In the Name of the Father) enhanced your understanding of power and authority.
How have the two texts (Removalists and In the Name of the Father) enhanced your understanding of power and authority.
Through the study of the play The Removalists by David Williamson, and the film In the Name of the Father directed by “some guy”, my understanding of power and authority has been enhanced. Power and authority are two closely linked concepts. These two concepts have many different aspects and exist on a number of different levels. Power and authority are also naturally shifting concepts; power that is held at one moment can be lost in another. David Williamson uses various dramatic techniques such as stage movement and dialogue, and Jim Sheridan employs music, different camera angles and lighting to show these aspects of power and authority.

In both texts the dynamic and shifting nature of power and authority is shown. This can be seen in Kenny from The Removalists. When he is first introduced, he is in a position of psychological power and authority over Fiona. This is shown evidently through the use of stage instructions, “FIONA: (nervously)… (edgy)” and the fact that during the two’s conversation, Kenny is moving about the stage, watching the television, inspecting Fiona, walking to the fridge, while Fiona is motionless, and this shows his complete dominance over the household and his authority over Fiona which oppresses her (through both his psychological authority and physical power).

He loses this power very quickly later on in the scene, however. Simmonds, employing his authority as a policeman, handcuffs Kenny to the door, and he loses the dominance over the stage he once had; Simmonds now has it, and his abuse of his authority as a policeman allows him to exert physical power, “(kicking Kenny in the thigh)” over Kenny. The very fact that Kenny’s own furniture is being moved out of his apartment bit by bit

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