Franz Kafka Essay

Franz Kafka was born in Prague on July 3rd 1883, a German-speaking Jew. His father was a large, imposing man named Hermann. A lot of his realize reflected his hatred for his father, in the swordplay metabolic process and also in Letter to His Father, which reflects his feelings of inferiority and paternal rejection. His tap was not of one specific genre. His work was of fantasies, dreams and human suffering. It was eclectic. Dying of tuberculosis after the First World contend, he wanted his work to be burnt upon his death, however his friend, Max Brod realised their potential and published them obdurate to his wishes.His troika most renowned pieces of work were The Trial, The Castle and Amerika. Kafkas three sisters all perished in German concentration camps. The themes of Kafkas work atomic number 18 the loneliness, frustration, and oppressive guilt of an individual threatened by anonymous forces beyond his comprehension or control. In literary technique, his work has the qualities both of expressionism and of surrealism. Kafkas lucid style, blending reality with fantasy and tinged with ironic humour, contributes to the nightmarish, claustrophobic consequence of his work.Like in his famous long short story Metamorphosis where Gregor Samsa, a hardworking insurance agent, awakens to find that he has turned into an howling(a) insect. Rejected by his family, he is left to die alone. Simulating the situation in his own home, it seems that Kafka based Gregor around himself. Mr. Samsa also seems to be represented as Hermann Kafka, Franzs own dominating father. Kafka was heavily work outd by religion.As a Jew in his time, there were huge effects of anti-Semitism on their race, although Hitlers rule over Ger many a(prenominal) and his terror-regime over the Jewish at the time was ulterior on in the 1930s, Kafka probably would have faced racist remarks and stiffness towards him and his work. As the son of an assimilated Jew who held only perfunctorily to the religious practices and kindly formalness of the Jewish community, Kafka was German both in language and culture. The absurdity of this kind and cultural position created an ambiguous reality for Kafka, often more hallucinatory than realistic.Steven Berkoff was born into a family of Russian Jewish immigrants, and was born in the eastside End of London on the 3rd August 1937. During World War 2, in 1942 he was evacuated to Luton to avoid bombing. When he was 14 years gray his family instilld to the USA. This gave him the vision to see where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do in life. Moving back to Britain, he ideal school, saved up enough money and went to France at the age of 19 to study the art of mime. Upon returning to London in 1968 he make the London home Group.It was in 1969 that Berkoff remade Kafkas Metamorphosis. In 1976 he wed his second (and present) wife, Shelley Lee. With the London Theatre Group, Berkoff attempted to create something unique. The Lon don Theatre Group prided itself with trying to cover all forms of theatre. They wanted to be everything. They called their work a fusion of elements. Their main aim was to shock the audience. There were no set rules to Berkoffs theatre. It was a mixture of many kinds of theatre, influenced by many people.The London Theatre Group wanted people of all social backgrounds to come and see their plays. Another thing they tried to do was to move away from conventional theatre, and use different ways of using the head and positioning the audience. In The Penal Colony, The Trial and Metamorphosis were three plays of Kafkas that Berkoff remade. Other plays the London Theatre Group has performed include Macbeth, Miss Julie versus Expressionism, Agamemnon, The magnetic inclination of the House of Usher, East, Greek, Hamlet, Decadence, West, Lunch, Actor, Harrys Christmas, Kvetch, Sink the Belgrano, Salome, Acapulco, Brighton Beach Scumbags, Dog, Storm und Drang, Dahling you were Marvellous, Massage, Shakespeares Villains, The Messiah.The Bow of Ulysses, Ritual in Blood and The Secret Love flavour of Ophelia amongst many others. He also starred in many movies such as A Clockwork Orange and Rambo. He usually played the villain, but the main reason for his film roles was to fund his theatre productions. Berkoff was an atheist, explaining his wish to pull back people of all social masses to see his plays. He neer uses religious effects in his plays to avoid any conflict of cultures.Brecht was an influence of Berkoff. Brecht didnt want to get involved with an audience. Another influence was beak Brook, an expert of slapstick. Stanislavski believed in naturalism, the opposite of Brecht, and yet Berkoff used elements from both Brecht and Stanislavski in his work. This is shown in Metamorphosis, as without the audiences sympathies for Gregor, the play would not work. Antonin Artauds was another(prenominal) influence. He was involved in theatre of the absurd. Again, Berkof f uses these ideas, mainly to shock the audience in his productions.