Variation on a theme

Variation on a theme

Variation on a theme is a fundamental aspect in art history.

"Graphic artists as well as musical composers sometimes work (or play) with variations on a theme." [Lewis-Williams and Dowson, 1988]

An example is William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors", in which key plot elements are taken from two Roman comedies of Plautus. From "Menaechmi" comes the main premise of mistaken identity between identical twins with the same name, plus some of the stock characters such as the comic courtesan. In "Menaechmi" one of the twins is from Epidamnus; Shakespeare changes this to Ephesusand includes many allusions to St Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. From "Amphitruo" he borrows the twin servants with the same name, plus the scene in Act 3 where a husband is shut out of his house while his wife mistakenly dines with a look-alike. The frame story of Egeon and Emilia derives from "Apollonius of Tyre", also a source for "Twelfth Night" and "Pericles, Prince of Tyre". [Paul Skrebels, Sieta van der Hoeven " [http://books.google.com/books?id=kv20FGSFxKgC For All Time?: Critical Issues in Teaching Shakespeare] " p.64]

ee also

*Variation (music)
*Variation (ballet)
*Standing on the shoulders of giants
*Switcheroo
*Detournement
*the well known ancient controversy between Eupolis and Aristophanes, with accusations of plagiarism

Notes

References

*Lewis-Williams, J.D. and T.A. Dowson (1988) " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0011-3204%28198804%2929%3A2%3C201%3ATSOATE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D The signs of all times: Entoptic Phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic Art] ". Current Anthropology April 1988, Vol. 29, No. 2: pp. 201-245 doi: 10.1086/203629 [http://www.wynja.com/arch/entoptic.html]
*Robert S. Miola (1994) " [http://books.google.com/books?id=hiY-wWTOdFwC Shakespeare and Classical Comedy: The Influence of Plautus and Terence] "

External links

*" [http://www.drinkerbiddle.com/files/Publication/093b9d24-f5c7-4838-a335-6a5d4b279ee8/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/27178705-0f2d-4bc4-afa7-f3baf77a8470/Seidel_article_Apr_01.pdf A Case of Variations on a Theme] " by Arthur H. Seidel "Philadelphia Bar Association Quarterly Magazine", Spring 2001 vol. 64 n.1
*Rockwell J, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5DA133FF931A35752C1A960948260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FZ%2FZorn%2C%20John Zorn Variations on Themes by Morricone] , "NY Times", November 2, 1986
* [http://law.udayton.edu/LawReview/documents/31-1/Gupta.pdf “I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR” – CONTEMPORARY ART AND THE ROLE OF STYLE IN COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT ANALYSIS] by Arjun Gupta


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