Plays/Musicals that Portray Evil Essay

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 6:45pm

Hey everyone. I am writing an Essay for my English class on Evil. Let me explain my paper and maybe some people can help me ... I hope.

Stephen King describes two different evils in his book Danse Macabre. Outside Evil: Evil that is forced upon a character(s) by an outside force/source. And Inside evil: Evil that is forced upon by inside a characters mind... ie. Jekyll and Hyde.

My question for you guys is ... can you guys name some musicals that I can use as sources for my essay that involve Outside and Inside Evil, how it is used in the show ... and information on the villian, which would be the source of Evil.

My ideas so far:

Jekyll & Hyde - Inside Evil; Villian-Hyde

Beauty and the Beast - Outside Evil; Villian-Gaston*
*I am going to talk about how it is thought that the Beast is the villian but stereotypes of ugly=evil and good looking=good guy.

Thouroughly Modern Millie - Outside Evil; Meers. --Can someone explain how she is evil, I can't find the script anywhere!

Wicked/Wizard of Oz - Going to talk about the Wicked Witch of the West/Elphaba and the Wizard and Morrible from both stories.

Would Judas be a villian in Godspell? I know nothing about Jesus Christ Superstar ...

How about Cats ... would that include Outside evil because of the other cats tormenting Grizabella?

Any other ideas? Please help!

[MusicAndPassion]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 6:51pm

Almost every show has an "evil" character written in somewhere. You can probably look into plays to find more evil rather than musicals. Wicked & The Wizard of Oz would be a good contribution to your report. Would you use a stage verison of The Wizard of Oz?

Arsenic and Old Lace is a play that envovles a twisted kind of anger. It could make your report fun.

You can buy many books of plays online, or go into book stores to find scripts.

It may be best to use characters of musicals & plays that you've seen and/or read and completely understand.

Good luck with your essay!

Ohh, and check into shows not so modern, either. Into The Woods is a great choice. You can look into The Giant & The Witch. The Witch is a huge evil that envovles the past, present and future. You could write an essay just on the Witch! Updated On: 5/4/06 at 06:51 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 6:55pm

The most fascinating show that deals with "evil", perception, and perspective is INTO THE WOODS.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 6:55pm

The obvious one I can think of is Cabaret. The outside evil is both the Nazi party, which poluted the German nation and the Weimar Republic, which incompetently turned a blind eye to the coming storm. The inner evil is pretty well every character in the piece who refusesto escape while they can - especially Sally. Only Cliff has the brains to leave.

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 6:58pm

Ohhh!! I never thought of using Cabaret even though I knew that the Nazis are involved. I never thought of that...

Sound of Music? That would include Nazis ... traitors ... Spys ...

[maybethistime]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 6:59pm

Papa Ge actually represents death in "Once On This Island".

[Shay Jericho]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 7:58pm

You might also use Sweeney Todd as an example of both outside (being sent away for a crime he didn't commit) and inside (his slow descent into madness and vengeance).