Collectively, they are Ahab
Paul Alfieri
Friends, we have been had by a masterful sattire from a brilliant man. The
characters on Seinfeld are real-life manifestations of the character traits
of Herman Melville's Captain Ahab. The relationships between the characters
are the forces that tear Ahab apart during his quest for the great whale.
The finale, a fitting tribute to Ahab's self-centered approach. Let me
explain:
Jerry Seinfeld represents Ahab's fascination with minutia. Remeber the
"Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Elliot -- a tribute to his friend
Melville's dark hero. Prufrock wonders "Do I dare eat a peach" and reminds
us the women "come and go, talking of Michelangelo" -- the minor details in
life. Prufrock misses the big picture. Similarly, Jerry, the center of the
Seinfeld Universe, makes light of life's minor points (second button on a
shirt?), but can never see the big picture -- how the actions of each member
of his group affects the others.
George Costanza represents Ahab's commonness. Melville's classic begins
with "Call me Ishmael," chosen to represent a common name that is
unimportant within the context of the story. It has been argued that
Ishmael stood for Melville himself. Costanza is Larry David's common name;
the similarities between George and Larry David have been well documented in
this group.
Elaine represents Ahab's naivitivity and penchant for discovering trouble.
As Elaine dances at the end of "The Frogger" with cake, only to be foiled by
Peterman, her boss and an authority figure, in the closing scene, Ahab sails
the great ocean, lusting after the great whale as Elaine lusted after
another sliver of royal wedding cake. Ahab's authority is ultimately the
great whale, colored white not because of innocence but instead for
judgement. Like Elaine, his fate is an unfortunate judgement.
Finally, Cosmo Kramer is the burning neurosis that ignites Ahab against the
whale. Ahab's scar runs deep into his soul, just as Cosmo's desire for
quick success and glory drive his every action. As Cosmo drops an
oil-filled bladder out an office building hoping to satisfy his character
flaw of "needing to succceed," Ahab blindly sails a battered ship and
wounded crew against the great white beast.
Larry David searched deep into literary metaphor to discover inspiration for
Seinfeld. Through connecting the four principals, it is clear his
inspiration was Herman Melville's Ahab, from "Moby Dick"
The News Guy(Mike)
Paul Alfieri wrote:
> <snip>
> Larry David searched deep into literary metaphor to discover inspiration for
> Seinfeld. Through connecting the four principals, it is clear his
> inspiration was Herman Melville's Ahab, from "Moby Dick"
We have discussed a similar thread before. I agree with your comparison of the
Seinfeld characters with the character of Ahab. However a similar and even
clearer comparson can be made with almost any great work of literature or film.
'The Wizard of Oz' is a very clear common example. This is because most
literary works contain the same set of characters in some way or form. The four
standard characters are: A central person burdened with a quest, surrounded by
three main characters that portray the intellectual, emotional and physical
aspects of the human psyche. (Oh yes, a wicked witch, whale, Borg, or Newman is
then added for dramatic tension and conflict) So even though your parallels are
correct I do not believe Larry David searched deeply for them. In [The Scofflaw]
he parodied Moby Dick though.
--
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MSimon6986
Gee whiz. And I thought I needed to get a life...
Actually, I thought that Seinfeld was a parody of Peanuts...
George is Charlie Brown...the loser mocked by others...
Jerry is Linus...observing others and offering his sage wisdom
Elaine is Lucy...always making fun of Charlie Brown, offering advice on
occasion (Elaine sets George up with the bullimic)
Kramer is Snoopy...adventureous and unpredictable. Of course, this would make
Jerry Charlie Brown, since Kramer is always coming over in search of food. Of
course Kramer could also be Shermy. Kramer complains that he gets typecast (as
Gonnorhea) as does Shermy in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (he says he is always
stuck playing the shepherd).
This would make Newman Woodstock, Snoopy's companion.
Or maybe they're Peppermint Patty and Marcie?????
Call me crazy...
msimo...@aol.com
members.aol.com/ms
imon6986/index.html
Suzanne Morine
msimo...@aol.com (MSimon6986) writes:
>Actually, I thought that Seinfeld was a parody of Peanuts...
>George is Charlie Brown...the loser mocked by others...
Bald, too :-)
>Jerry is Linus...observing others and offering his sage wisdom
>Elaine is Lucy...always making fun of Charlie Brown, offering advice on
>occasion
>Kramer is Snoopy...adventureous and unpredictable. [..]
>This would make Newman Woodstock, Snoopy's companion.
Mmm, maybe his dark alter ego, that dog in Needles, I forget his
name, haven't read the comic in a years. Woodstock isn't pure evil. :-)
Maybe Bob Saccamano is Woodstock.
> Call me crazy...
Genius, sheer genius. This is brilliant, IMHO.
The Maestro = Schroeder
They like baseball.
(gotta go)
--
Suzanne Morine
smo...@nyx.net
Television Transcript Project: http://tvtp.simplenet.com