Preview

Cosi - Louis Nowra Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
854 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cosi - Louis Nowra Essay Example
Cosi by Louis Nowra conveys significant ideas about human nature. Through the play Cosi, the audience witnesses the lives of mentally ill people unfold before them. Central characters Lewis, Doug and Julie each show and express a different view upon the world and work towards their own idea of reality. They each express their individual ideas of the norm and work together to escape reality. Many themes such as love and infidelity as well as change are conveyed throughout the play.

Cosi is a comic play written by Australian playwright, Louis Nowra. An interesting feature of the play is the use of the 'play within a play' device, which gives the play a distinctive quality. This allows the issues and concerns of the play to be reflected and commented upon in he other play as both plays are juxtaposed. The themes of "Cosi Fan Tutte" deal with love, sex and fidelity are illustrated and commented upon in the modern context as seen through Henry's emotive language "Free love, women are not to be trusted" His opinion is generated through various experiences and general knowledge. The theme of love and fidelity causes controversy as the characters have different opinions which differ from each other.

One of the main themes in Cosi, is the central idea of personal growth. All characters experience growth, however, Lewis' personal growth is the most significant as his simple dialogue states "no one can sing" exemplifying his negatively towards the patients. This is juxtaposed to his dialogue. "This comes first" when Lewis begins to see the play as his top prority. His transformation is outlined through Lucy's dialogue "Working with these people has changed you." showing Lucy's thoughts concering Lewis. Lewis' inner journey has provided him with a new understanding of not only himself but the world around him.

Lewis is the protagonist of the play. To begin with, Lewis lacks confidence; the stage directions describe him as “not knowing what to say,” and talking

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Julie Cosi

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Louis Nowra has used black comedy within Cosi to allow the audience to abandon their pre-conceptions of ‘mad’ people and to see the characters not for their illness but for their personality. Because of this the audience is able to relate to each character and their situation and realise the underlying sadness of the patients’ lives. Each character brings their own experiences and personalities into the play which creates the audience to perceive characters differently. One of the most obvious perceptions of some characters in the play is the sympathy and pity they invoke through their characters development. The character Roy, who suffers from manic depression, creates sympathy from the audience due to his tragic childhood and consent rejection from society and even the ‘insane’. Julie is also another character who’s also perceived as tragic. Julie is a patient in the asylum due to drug dependency which ultimately causes her death after the play has finished.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nowra wants to show his audience as a society that the characters as inmates are just ordinary people, as he shows through mirroring himself, as Lewis, showing his views and beliefs towards the mentally ill. Having had experience with mental illness plays a large role in his writing of “Cosi” as he understands the concept of mental illness and has his strong views towards the subject, as both of his grandmothers were placed in institutions as they displayed signs of “madness”. Even though his grandmothers went “mad”, at the end of the day they are still the same person just damaged inside and they are “still [his] grandmother[s]”. Nowra used his grandmother’s madness through Lewis as his “grandmother went mad” as well, and he “[pretended] to be his father.” Nowra had experience with mental institutions and the madness of his grandmothers gave him, “intense interest” on the subject. The story about Lewis going to help inmates at an institution and direct them in a theatre performance is based on Nowra’s life when he was asked to do theatre with mental patients and direct a play called ‘Trial by Jury’. His understanding, experience and knowledge of mental illness supports the play’s plot and characters and help suggest that maybe the characters are normal and the views and treatment should be…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These preconceived notions regarding the asylum force himself to ask, “Why can’t I ever say no?” as he realises the ‘madness’ he has gotten himself into. As the play progresses, the characterization of Lewis develops through continuous interaction with the patients which allows him to recognise them as ‘normal people who have done extraordinary things’, which is how Justin explained them at the beginning. The turning point for Lewis is when he chooses to continue work on the play instead of assisting his friend Nick with the Moratorium, showing that he has realised how much more important working in the asylum is than the trivial real world problems which Nick focuses on. The stronger the bond becomes between Lewis and the patients the easier it is for the audience and Lewis himself to realise how unjust the real world is by placing stereotypical prejudices on the…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nowra uses the play within a play, 'Cosi Fan Tutte', to convey his key values regarding the importance of love and fidelity in today's world, while questioning the necessity of war and condemning society's perceptions of madness itself. The playwright delivers these messages through a number of subtle implications and symbolic features which are evident in the story, ideas, characters, and actual dialogue which are presented in the play, and mirrored in Mozart’s opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’. His insights and opinions which are offered through Lewis, go largely against the views of Nick and Lucy who represent the general public, because in addition to the main themes of the play, Nowra intends to open the audience’s eyes to some of the less obvious ideas, such as the necessity of self-discovery and transformation, the significance of art and music in life, and the therapeutic nature of theatre.…

    • 853 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pqefadjz

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages

    2. Despite the comedy in Cosi, there is an underlying sadness throughout the play”. Discuss.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    cosi speech

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Cosi is a semi-autobiographical play. The Lewis that audiences encounter at the end of Louis Nowra’s play Cosi is very different from the Lewis in Act One. Within the context of Australian society undergoing radical social and political changes in the 1970′s, Nowra also charts the radical changes in his protagonist, Lewis. Faced with the daunting job of directing mental patients in an opera, Lewis undergoes transformative personal repercussions. His world views are challenged and enriched by the experience, and he grows in emotional and intellectual ways. His girlfriend’s outburst at him that “Working with these people has changed you!” is quite valid.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the epic, Odyssey, Homer presents both Calypso and Circe as goddesses who employ not only their divine powers, but also the power of seduction used by mortal women, to hold captive the hero, Odysseus.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lewis in Cosi really shows that success does not come without some hard labour. Lewis`…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cosi

    • 4098 Words
    • 17 Pages

    An introduction to Cosi ouis Nowra was inspired to write Cosi after a visit to a performance of Hello Dolly with a group of mental patients in 1970. He worked with this group of patients to produce a version of Trial By Jury which helped many of the patients to “blossom” and also revealed the ignorance of a student leader who ridiculed the patients’ efforts. Nowra claims that the play is a combination of fact and fiction. In Cosi, a mature Nowra looks back and evaluates his youthful self and the political environment in which he grew up. Lewis is a naive young director who is faced with the daunting task of directing a group of mental patients in a play. Cosi Fan Tutte is chosen by the exuberant and forceful Roy who overwhelms the inexperienced Lewis. The rest of the cast is less enthusiastic particularly as the play seems to demand an ability to sing and speak Italian. Roy prevails and Lewis is required to work with a motley cast of characters in a run-down theatre so that Roy’s dream can become a reality. The time Lewis spends with Doug, the pyromaniac, Cherry, the nymphomaniac, Julie, a drug addict, Ruth, a dogged realist, the introverted and silent Henry, the Lithium-addicted pianist Zac, and Roy, the exuberant dreamer, proves to be a humanising experience for Lewis. This experience has repercussions for his personal life as he copes with the contempt and criticism of his girlfriend Lucy and his politically obsessed friend, Nick. Lucy’s betrayal, Lewis’ attraction to Julie and his growing sense of alienation from the political preoccupation of the 1970s all forms part of the fabric of the play as does the performance of Cosi Fan Tutte itself. Structurally, the play uses the device of the play-within-a-play to comment on the drama which is taking place in Lewis’s life outside the theatre and between the “outside” characters, Nick and Lucy, and the inmates. The themes of love and fidelity which are the concerns of Cosi Fan Tutte are played out in the real life…

    • 4098 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sor Juana Essay Example

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz was a woman far beyond her years. Living in a time when society was dominated by men, she disregarded the fact that women during this time were forced to be uncurious objects, whose highest achievement in life was to give birth. Her relentless pursuit to attain knowledge and defy her culture's standards for women is illustrated throughout her writings. In the readings, ("Response to the Most Illustrious Poetess Sor Filotes de la Cruz, the three "Romances" and the "Redondillas"), she spills out her beliefs, feelings and pain in forms of symbolic devices and irony in attempt to erase the differences between men and women as intellectual beings, as well as to argue for a woman's right to pursue intellectual activities.…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cosi

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The characters in Cosi by the end of the play change. Lewis, Henry and Zac are prime examples of how identities are inevitably shaped by the groups to which they belong. Lewis finally shows himself to be a man, Henry comes out of his shell and Zac starts his own band.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Gabriel Archangel mission was founded September 8, 1771.This mission takes place of the fourth in the series of the 21 California missions. This mission is located in San Gabriel and was founded by father president Junipero Sierra. The location of this mission was completely important because many people would not have to travel to missions in Mexico. This greatly increased the popularity of the mission and became the wealthiest and most prosperous of all missions. It became the superior point of association with Mexico.…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coriolanus Essay

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Coriolanus is a play about human fallacy- In this play it can be argued that the downfall of Rome, and Coriolanus was bought upon the people by their own mistakes and misguided, fickle judgement.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    • He has lots of great colour to his scenes and you have the ability to see every last inch of picture in the scenes as well.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice contains many examples that insult Jews because they were the minority in London in Shakespeare’s time. Although many parts of the play could be interpreted as offensive in modern times, Elizabethan audiences found them comical. The majority of London’s population at the time was anti-Semitic because there were very few Jews living there. Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice supports anti-Semitism actions and thoughts and therefore proves that Shakespeare was an anti-Semite.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays