Literary Genre

LITERARY GENRE
Literary genre is the way in which the story is told. It enriches our appreciation of a text by raising our awareness to the different techniques that are used. Three texts I have studied as part of my comparative studies are ‘King Lear’ by William Shakespeare, ‘Sive’ by John B. Keane and ‘The Truman Show’ directed by Peter Weir. Literary genre unfolds and reveals the storyline of these texts with the help of memorable characters, imagery and events at the climax of the texts.

Memorable characters are significant to the texts as they engage the readers’ interest and empathy, all the while revealing the plot to the audience. From the texts I have studied, characters in which I feel aid the delivery of the story line include Mena from ‘Sive’, Goneril from ‘King Lear’, and Christof in ‘The Truman Show’. These characters are similar in the sense that they control other main character in the plays and maintain authority as best they can and through whatever means they can. All presented as villains in the texts, they are vital in determining the way in which the story is told and ultimately highlight the vulnerability of other characters.

In ‘Sive’, Mena is depicted as a spiteful and twisted person as she conspires at every turn to use her power over Sive and forces her to do as she demands. Sive is undoubtedly the heroine of the play, as she is a passive victim of the self-interest and selfishness of Mena. “You will change! You will change when you think by yourself of the misery you are leaving, when you think of the way you were born!” Mena ruthlessly uses Sive in a bid of greed to gain money and power and tries to marry the young girl off to an old farmer, “There is a gift of 200 pounds for us if there is a marriage”. Mena’s devious behaviour deepens and develops the plot as she is conveyed as the villain of the play. “There was never an ounce of luck in this house since that greasy bitch darkened the door of it.”

Similarly in K.L,...