Inspirations Or Aspirations?
Based on the articles by Friedrich Nietzsche(Birth of Tragedy), Sigmund Freud( On Oedipus Rex and Hamlet) and Robert B. Hailman (Melodrama) Where do artists, or in this case playwrights, get their ideas? The simplest answer may be that there is a source of inspiration. A triggering factor that demands to be written and that plagues the writer with ideas. In Sigmund Freud's article however, inspirations from everyday scenes and events are not the only sources of ideas. Perhaps some of them come from primal urges that have long been suppressed because tradition tells us that such an idea, or desire, are unacceptable. And it is only through art that these secret hopes and fears are realized. Perhaps this is why Oedipus Rex had such an impact on ancient Greeks and the generations that have read Sophocles' masterpiece. Friedrich Nietzsche once said that "artistic creativity, like all creativity, is an expression of power; it is the overcoming of passion. Without passion, w...