Václav Havel Summary

A world-renowned playwright and human rights activist, Vaclav Havel (born 1936) became the president of Czechoslovakia in December 1989, a unique position in European history. His literary brilliance,... Read more

Critical Essay by Samuel Beckett DIRECTOR (D) HIS FEMALE ASSISTANT (A) PROTAGONIST (P) LUKE, IN CHARGE OF THE LIGHTING, OFFSTAGE (L) Rehearsal. Final touches to the last scene. Bare stage... Read more

Critical Essay by Martin Esslin Havel's cheerfully beaming appearance is deceptive. His plays are very funny, certainly, but there is a core of deep pessimism, even despair in them. They are a... Read more

Critical Essay by The Times Literary Supplement [The] controlling idea [of The Increased Difficulty of Concentration] could be best summed up by such fashionable sociological terms as "alienat... Read more

Critical Essay by Marketa Goetz-stankiewicz In approaching Havel's brilliant and startling plays it might be useful to become aware of how the main theme of his work, which had been formulated... Read more

In the following review, Howe offers positive assessment of Open Letters. "We turn to Havel," Howe writes, "not for theoretical innovation but for the consolidation of truth.�... Read more

In the following essay, Meche discusses the role of subordinate or victimized women in Havel's drama as a symbolic foil for deficient male protagonists. Václav Havel's recent r... Read more

In the following review, Elshtain offers a positive evaluation of The Art of the Impossible. President Václav Havel of the Czech Republic is one of the great spokesmen for the "return... Read more

In the following essay, Carey provides an overview of Havel's literary career, major works, and critical reception. The performance of Vaclav Havel as Czech President since December 1989 has... Read more

In the following essay, Carey provides an overview of Havel's creative periods and major dramatic works. Americans were captivated by the 1989 election of Vaclav Havel, a human rights activi... Read more

In the following review, Kennan offers favorable assessment of Summer Meditations, praising Havel's courage to "offer to the public so unsparingly an exposure of what one can only call h... Read more

In the following review, Knoll offers favorable assessment of Open Letters, Summer Meditations, and Living in Truth. Knoll praises Havel's "literate, profound, and humane essays."... Read more

Below, Hughes-Hallett characterizes the mood of The Memorandum as one of "weary, witty disenchantment. " Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum is set in the kind of office in which not on... Read more

The following is a highly favorable assessment of the off-Broadway production of A Private View. Oliver asserts: "The performance of these plays, in the impeccable translation of Vera Blackwell... Read more

In the evaluation below of A Private View, Brustein argues that Havel has made Vaněk the spokesman for his own views, and in so doing has "created for himself an insoluble problem: how to... Read more

The following interview was first published in 1986. Havel surveys his career and discusses the origins of several of his plays. How many plays have you written by now? Could you give us a bibliogr... Read more

In the essay below, Goetz-Stankiewicz traces the dance metaphor through Havel's plays. At fifty-three the Czech playwright Václav Havel has arrived at a crossroad in his life that he ha... Read more

In the following evaluation of a recent British production of The Memorandum, Kingston praises the play but finds its absurdist elements dated. Written and produced in 1965 when its author, Vaclav ... Read more

Hemmings argues that the subject matter of The Memorandum is still current: "the use of language or jargon to obscure meaning has by no means vanished, " she maintains. One problem fa... Read more

19 January 2006 English (Advanced) Module One Critical Study Of Text Rory Halliday Great Speech's That Echo Into The Future Of Today The Speech's that continue to echo through the archives of... Read more