Dramatic Tension in “The Royal Hunt of the Sun” Essay

How does Shaffer nominate and role salient focus in The Royal Hunt of the fair weather and to what effect?The Royal Hunt of the Sun is a gripping reckon ab verboten the journey of the Spanish army sent to conquer Peru, and the improbable acquaintances that are formed. Shaffer puddles dramatic tightness with a number of techniques such as the use of Martin to narrate the story to the reference, a unique and powerful use of sounds, and the use of symbolic prop up and negotiation scenes that create dramatic chaff. He also employs a number of methods to show the severalizes and similarities of holiness, culture and philosophy mingled with the Inca and Spanish armies.Shaffer initi completelyy uses Martins narration to foreshadow the ensuing mordant events. Old Martin generates the hearings attention at the very go about of the extend by saying This story is about ruin. This creates dramatic irony and suggests a treacherous and threatening atmosphere. In The Mime of the Great wage increase Old Martin speaks about the tribulation the army faced we crept forward deal blind men, the sweat freezing on our faces in order to get in the sympathy of the auditory sense. Old Martins emotions are showed in different slipway throughout the play, Look at the warrior where he struts salvation in his immature spurs. One of the knights at last.Here Shaffer uses Old Martins cynicism and bitterness to overdraw the loss of Young Martins innocence and childhood and gain the empathy of the audience. As the story unfolds, the reason for Old Martins pessimism becomes clear to the audience, I went out into the night and dropped my premier tears as a man faithfulness never came again. Here Shaffer uses Old Martins reflection on his knightly as a window through which the audience can empathise how Martins broken youth shaped him as a man, and uses naive realism to involve then in the action onstage, creating suspense.Shaffer makes use of stage directions, which play a big part in revealing the symbolism of the performance, and creating dramatic tension. The use of Tropical bid cries throughout the play creates a good and threatening atmosphere, and hints at the power Atahuallpa has over Peru and the Spanish army. During the climb of the Spanish Army to reach the city, Shaffer usesan eerie, cold music made from the thin whimper of huge saws. This creates an unnerving atmosphere, putting the audience on edge. Symbolic props also play a large part in creating contrastive moods throughout the performance.Four black crucifixes, sharpened to resemble swords are put on the back wall, criticizing the hypocrisy of the church, and the use of religion as a pretext for killing whilst representing the conflicted and violent theme. During the course of the play, Shaffer uses the imagery of the golden cheerfulness which is placed at the back of the stage. Diego drives his halberd into a slot in wiz of the rays. This symbolizes the destruction of t he Inca empire, and once again sound is used to create tension when The sun gives a deep groan, like the sound of a with child(p) animal being wounded. Here the personification of the sun creates sympathy and leniency amongst the audience.Peter Shaffer uses scenes of duologue amongst the main characters to give the audience an perspicacity into the relationships between them, and create dramatic irony. During the play there are moments where Pizarro is merely with Young Martin, and speaks to him in confidence here the audience is encouraged to interpret with the characters predicaments and anxieties. When Pizarro warns Young Martin that the Army is Nothing but years of Us against Them the audience becomes aware of the extreme differences in their opinions and views, which creates great tension and unrest between the characters. Shaffer enables Pizarro to freely suggest the extent of is own greed and betrayal during his duologue scenes with Martin, if the time ever came for you to harry me, Id rip you too, calorie-free as look at you.Here Shaffer creates more tension, causing the audience to question Pizarros loyalty to Martin, whilst hinting at the slightly more malicious and spiteful side to Pizarro. The duologue scenes between Pizarro and Atahuallpa allow the audience to catch the fragile and personal characteristics of the otherwise powerful, dominant male figures. At first Atahuallpa shows his lack of distrust in Pizarro when proclaiming him dish angiotensin converting enzymest you have no cuss to give. Atahuallpa takes a leap of faith and trusts his captor, to the surprise of the audience, creating an uneasy and loathsome atmosphere. You make me laugh (In sudden wonder) You make me laugh It is at this pip in the play that Pizarro realizes he has formed a genuine friendshipwith Atahuallpa, and the audience feels the tension rise once again as Pizarro is squeeze to decide the fate of Atahuallpa.A main theme of the play is the contrast between t he Inca and Spanish cultures. Atahuallpa is nearly always shown sitting high up in front of the golden sun, showing his power and authority, whereas the Spaniards wore heavy, clumsy clothing, which symbolizes their rigourousness in the foreign land, and their ignorance of other cultures. Domingo says God-dammed place. Im starting to rust. This could insinuate of the immorality and true objectives of their journey. The Spanish consider Atahuallpa to be just one savage when in fact he is the core of the Inca society, this is shown throughout the play. Atahuallpa finds it unenviable to understand the Spanish way of life as the Incan religion and society was built on concepts and simplicity rather than material wealthiness and gain, creating tension.Despite many differences, both religions believe in a compulsive being who would rise from the dead. Until Pizarro met Atahuallpa, he had lost faith in all conventional religion, and exclaimed, Im going to die And the thought of that s ick has rotted everything for me. Atahuallpa gave him a new sense of belonging and introduced him to the Inca religion, Believe in me. I will give a word and fill you with joy. Pizarro put in this concept very attractive and was instantly fascinated by Atahuallpa. This creates tension and increases the audiences interest in the story. The great contrasts between the twain cultures and the similarities between the two men create a sense of mystery story and rising tension as the story continues, this is greatened by the audiences knowledge that Pizarro will have to kill Atahuallpa.Shaffer uses stages directions, imagery, sound and narration to create an ongoing sense of tension throughout the play, it is extremely effective. I in particular enjoy his use of duologue scenes to create tension and allow the audience to gain an insight into the story.