Worth 100 points as a Project.
Instructions:
Pick one of these topics and write a 1-2 page essay (typed, double-spaced, times new roman, size 12 font, 1 inch margins). This essay is due no later on Friday, February 18th. To access the lyrics for Into the Woods, click here.
1. Why does one go �into the woods?� Define what a metaphor is. What is the woods a metaphor for? Back up your answer with information from Into the Woods and Grimm�s Fairy-tales.
2. In Into the Woods, the witch drinks the magic potion to restore herself to her former beauty. As a consequence, she loses her powers. Which would you rather possess: beauty or power? Why?
3. Compare the Grimm Brothers� of Cinderella (Aschenputtel) with Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine�s version (Into the Woods) to the Disney version of Cinderella. How are they different? Why are they so different? Why did Sondheim, Lapine and Disney make these changes? How do these changes effect the story? How do they effect how the viewer/reader views the characters?
4. What role does the Narrator play inInto the Woods? Before the witch throws him to the giant, he asks the other characters, �You don�t want to live in a world of chaos, do you?� How does his death effect the rest of the story?
5. Into the Woods is full of proverbs, such as �no knot unties itself,� �opportunity is not a lengthy visitor,� etc. What is a proverb? Look at the lyrics to the songs �first midnight,� and �last midnight.� Identify the proverbs. What do each of them mean? Why are they important to the story of Into the Woods? Why did Sondheim and Lapine include these in the lyrics?
6. Cinderella�s and Rapunzel�s princes are self-involved men (�I was raised to be charning, not sincere,�) who are after one particular thing which always seems to elude them. Examine the lyrics of �Agony,� and �Agony Reprise,� and figure out what they want. Will they ever be happy? Why or why not? What do you ultimately need to be happy? Will you ever get it?
7. James Lapine, the author of Into the Woods (the book), describes it as �a quest fairy-tale musical). What do each of the characters in Into the Woods need to be happy? What are they on a quest for?
8. Pick 4 songs from Into the Woods. Print out and examine the lyrics. What is the point of each song? Why do you think Sondheim included them in Into the Woods? How do they help you understand the characters?
9. One of the main metaphors of Into the Woods is the �wood,� or forest. Child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim says that the woods is �the place in which inner darkness is confronted and... where uncertainty is resolved about who one is... or who one wants to be.� If you agree with this interpretation, what fear or �darkness� does each character face? Explain your reasoning.