Ideally, dramatherapy is a regular process of interacting with a group of supportive people in creative and symbolic ways. Drama is used to empower individuals and offer people a chance to have more control over their behavior and their relationships. One of Jennings' central claims is that dramatherapy can transform society. As women become less willing to play into misogynistic social roles, males will react and interact with females differently. Stereotypes about people of various ethnic or religious backgrounds can be released through dramatherapy and encounters with the "other." Similarly, we release outmoded prejudices and biased modes of thinking when we allow dramatherapy to change us.
Dramatherapy relies heavily on symbols, imagery, metaphors, and myths, according to Jennings. Drama is itself a symbol of human life: reminiscent of Shakespeare's celebration of the world as a stage in which all men and women are actors. Seeing the world as a giant theater allows us to detach from our problems enough to heal them. Through theater art we see the interconnectedness in all of life. Drama allows us to notice when, why, and how we are responsible for our own actions. We step out of ourselves to encounter our true self more readily.
In Chapter 5, Jennings notes how we can use dramatherapy to stop playing reruns. Whenever we find ourselves...
Instead of seeing that situation as an actor would view a new script, we rely on the reruns for what to say or do. Similarly, if we act compulsively or with addiction, we are acting unconsciously. Our life can become a series of reruns when it could be an exciting new stage production. Moreover, dramatherapy encourages us to cease projecting our prejudices onto the stage of our lives. With dramatherapy we become more in control of our body, our mind, and our relationships. Jennings demonstrates this powerful potential of dramatherapy with clear language, anecdotes, and even some examples of how the reader can immediately implement dramatherapy
Jennings' Introduction to Dramatherapy: Theatre and Healing: Ariadne's Ball of Thread allows us to react to situations and to people with a fresh mind and heart. Her book is therefore worth every penny of the 15-pound pricetag. Jennings' book will become a valuable tool for any reader wanting more from his or her life. Readers will find themselves revisiting the book for reinforcement because Jennings' positive attitude is infectious and inspiring.
Works Cited
Jennings, Sue. Introduction to Dramatherapy: Theatre and Healing: Ariadne's Ball of Thread. Jessica Kingsley, 1998.
Tell-Tale Heart: A Descent into Madness Edgar Allan Poe may be considered one of the founders of American Gothic Literature. His obsession with the macabre and his ability to explore the psychological repercussions of perceived danger inspired him to write various short stories including "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe explores the events that lead the unnamed narrator to devise a plan to
Even the narrator himself appears to be tensioned concerning his account on what happened in the murder room. Whereas his initial narrative is rather slow, he picks up the pace as the storyline progresses, showing that he is discomforted with the overall state of affairs. Although the narrator describes the chain of events leading to the murder and the crime itself as if he would transmit a confession, the fact
Tell-Tale Heart The narrator of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" intentionally mystifies the reader by demanding respect for his narratorial authority while constantly calling his own judgment and sensory perceptions into question. The effect is to create a sense of suspicion surrounding the narrator which is confirmed not when he murders the old man, but when he reveals the madness which causes him to hear the old man's
Tell-Tale Heart Philosophy of Composition in the "Tell-Tale Heart" The central elements of this philosophy used by Edgar Allan Poe are length, method, and unity of effect (Xroads 2013). In all of his works, he advises writers to follow a set of criteria for producing literature. These are to plan the written product from the beginning to the end of the literature before they embark into writing anything. The end should always
This short story, as well as Poe's other works, reveals his upbringing and focuses on sick mothers and guilty fathers. Gothic literature, the form of the short story, became known in Britain in the 18th century. It delves into the dark side of human experience and there finds death, alienation, nightmares, ghosts and haunted places. It was Poe who brought the literary form to America. American Gothic literature present a
It first appears when he shines the lantern's light on the old man's eye. It is the lantern shining on the eye that spurs him to kill, in contrast to the previous nights where the eye had remained closed. The beating heart is the narrator's response to the desire to kill -- a reminder that the old man is a human being. The narrator misinterprets the beating heart and kills