After reading the book The Art Of Being Human by Richard Janaro

After reading the book The Art Of Being Human by Richard, Janaro and Thelma Altshuler my knowledge of the humanities grew intensely. The book states that the word “humanities” actually came from the term “humanism.” This meant the study of what the best minds of classical Greece and Rome have accomplished, they were considered the great artists, writers, and philosophers. At the beginning of the fourteenth century cultures of Greece and Rome had set a huge artistic and political revolution, which took place during the Renaissance.

Both cultures had been overlooked during the thousand-year span that followed the fall of Rome. A person was believed to only become “fully human” through a study of art, literature, philosophy. Most of the Western Europe countries began to become introduced to these disciplines. During the time of the Renaissance the disciplines grew and scholars discovered that they were a part of ancient worlds legacy. There is a “humanistic tradition” that limited more or less to the contributions made by men of the classical and Western Europe worlds.

The humanities are the creative and intellectual expressions of each of us in moments of inspiration. Whether they might be scary or exciting the humanities is our safe haven where we can understand who we are as humans. Through humanities we can express thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. Our own knowledge of the humanities can help us explore our imaginations and be creative in who we are. I have realized that the more I know about the humanities, the more I know about myself and who I am.

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But how does one’s love involve the humanities? Without love, all artwork would be diminished. Love is shown as a source of both pleasure and pain within poems, novels, operas, films, and plays. Love can’t really be explained aside from what science shows about the chemicals in our body that release hormones. My three artworks that I am using in my paper all portray an image of love in their own way. The Sound of Music is what I am using as my Theatre piece, The Lovers is what I am using as my visual art piece, and “Yesterday” is what I am using as my music piece. I intend to experience these artworks through my research of their backgrounds. I want to be able to feel the emotions that are depicted throughout each whether it’s from the lyrics or signifying colors.

The Sound of Music is a theatre piece that was produced in 1965 by director and producer Robert Wise. The musical was a lovely film that portrays a theme of love and happiness. There are clouds and snow-covered mountains in the opening scene. Among the mountains are steep wooded valleys where lies a village between the peaks. Then appears Maria, the main character of the film. The actress Julie Andrews plays her role as a Salzburg Austrian nun. She is one who appreciates the beauty of nature. The peaks are glowing and make her so ecstatic she begins to spin and sing the song “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” Maria is so in love with the outside world she forgets the she has other duties with the nuns. She ends up getting sent to a retired naval captain named Captain Von Trapp to take care of his children. He was a widowed man for several years and was responsible for his seven crazy children. They are brought up in a very disciplined home which is most likely the cause of them acting so insane. Maria steps up and decides that the children just need a little extra love to change their poor attitudes. Maria teaches the children how to sing and eventually her and the Captain fall in love. The Sound of Music to me is a true love story that captures the importance of music and family. As the Captain grew closer to his children his passions begin to show. He is a patriot that loves his country and is happy with his life in Austria. He is having a romance with a wealthy Baroness but is secretly in love with Maria as she is with him. She runs away from the Captain’s home as she grows frightened of their love but when she returns to the convent her reverend mother tells her she must face the situation. When she returns to his home, she discovers that he is now engaged. But the Captain is honest with the Baroness and blurts out his love for Maria and she calls of the engagement. Shortly after the Captain finally marries Maria! I think that the Captain realized that Maria was the one for him as soon as she engaged with his children. It was love not lust, and it showed when they both sing “Something Good” in rewards to themselves for expressing their true love for one another. At the end of the film the Captain is asked to serve again but he refuses so he and Maria leave Austria. They have to escape the pursuit of Nazi officers but once they do they take the children and head to the mountains of Switzerland on foot.

The lovers is a canvas oil artwork that was created by Rene Magritte in 1928, it intrigues and provokes a lot of thought. There are two individuals in the piece that are both wearing white a white cloth over their heads. They are locked in an embrace, faces pushed tight against one another’s. They appear to be kissing in a room that has odd colors, one wall dark blue and the other red with a ceiling as white as a cotton ball. The male figure is wearing a black suit and tie white a plain white shirt underneath, very classy. He is locked into the female figure who wears a red sleeveless top also laced with white trim. The male is the dominant in the piece due to his head being upright and hers being tilted while he leans for a kiss. This piece seems so pimple but it is quite the opposite, the lovers in the room create a scene. Due to the lover faces being covered in white cloths they are unable to communicate or touch each other to the skin. This is exactly what made me choose this piece because it made me wonder if their love is denied. It is not clear as to why they are not able to see one another and express their emotion. The cloths make them seem as if they had fallen out of love. The colors of the room may not se em important but the blue color in the wall suggests that it is a clam scene like water which is connected to life. The red color on the other wall suggests that there is anger among their lust or love. The color white is barely in the piece which is connected to purity. The black of the males suit suggests sadness. The red of the women’s top suggests love and passion. The cloths over their faces are greyish which suggests that the purity is fading among their love(Magritte). There can be many different scenarios of what this piece is showing but that is up to the audience. I believe that the piece depicts two people that love one another but also tear the other apart. The way the two are positioned make it out as if they have a deep love not lust. They can embrace each other without touching, which makes me feel emotion through the piece. True love is hard to come by, but they still keep themselves together through the anger and sadness. It’s like they can kiss without being together, they feel each other all the time.

“Yesterday” is a song written by Paul McCartney, the head singer in a group called the Beatles. He believed that this was his best song and stated, “I like it not only because it was a big success, but because it was one of the most instinctive songs I’ve ever written.” Chris Ingham’s book called The Rough Guide to the Beatles, “yesterday” held the record as the most recorded song in history. It had over 2500 versions and was broadcasted on American radio over seven million times. Paul wrote the song at a family home in London at 57 Wimpole Street. Richard and Margret Asher were the owners, but Paul was living there with their daughter Jane Asher. He stayed in a tiny room in their attack, but he did manage to fit his own piano, the one where he plays the first chords of “yesterday” on. Paul woke up one morning with a tune in his head and thought to himself about how good it was. He decided to get up and go to his piano where he then began to ply note by note the tune he kept going over in his head. He stated, “I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th-and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E”. Paul thought his work was magical and he was right, it was a new type of melody and it came right to him. He would write simple words to go along with this melody, he use to call it “Scrambled Eggs” because it really had no words. He stated that the lyrics used to go “Scrambled eggs, oh, my baby, how I love your legs” which would generate some laughs throughout the work. His girlfriend Jane told him that his lyrics were lies because her legs were not that great! So Paul did not continue on with another verse. His melody struck him in the morning of May 1965. His song was around for months before he had finally completed it. John Lennon stated that “Paul wrote nearly all of it, but we just couldn’t find the right title. Every time we got together to write songs or for a recording session, this would come up. We called it ‘Scrambled Eggs’ and it became a joke between us(Recording History)”. Paul and John decided that only a one-word title would work but they could not figure it out until one morning it came to Paul. I thought it was funny how most of Paul’s ideas within this song came to him right when he woke up! My favorite lyrics from the piece would have to be “Yesterday love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away.” These words show that a girl left all of the sudden, and Paul thought that he was the one winning the game. This game was “love” but she would not stay and he just thought that he said something “wrong”. This song was written based off one of Paul’s experiences and he must feel some regret because he talks about having a hideaway in the song which shows that he is lost and embarrassed. Love is complicated and hard to understand. I think that Paul’s lyrics can help his audience relate to love, sometimes the littlest things can push people to their breaking point.

The love amongst these three artworks has helped me experience a sense of relief. Everyone experiences some type of love and they all express it in different ways. Their emotions are expressed through lyrics, colors, and thoughts. The humanities are these creative pieces with expressions of particular moments in one’s life. As an audience we use these pieces as an inspiration to our own lives no matter if they are positive or negative. Love can be both, its overwhelming and exciting. Without the love within these artworks they would be so dull. Like I mentioned earlier love is a source of pleasure and pain within poems, novels, operas, films, and plays. Love is unexplainable and my three pieces show it in their own way.