Analysis Of `` Dover Beach `` And `` Plymouth Of The...

Existentialism is defined as a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It is the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. This school of philosophy has time and time again been explored in literature and film, as it is the answer to the defining question of the human experience: why am I here? The doctrine of existentialism is the core theme of the films Synecdoche, New York, written and directed by Charlie Kauffman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kauffman (who’s writing directed the direction and main theme of the film), the poem, Dover Beach, written by Matthew Arnold, and Franz Kafka’s literary classic and masterpiece, The Trial. Our first text is Charlie Kauffman’s directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York. The postmodern melodrama attempts to depict every aspect of the human condition, therefore, making the film itself, a synecdoche of the human experience. For example, in the film, life and art are well and truly indistinguishable. All the events in the protagonist’s (playwright Caden Cotard) life become part of his impossibly large theatre piece. However, Caden’s inconceivable art comes with a revelation. As Caden continues to try, and ultimately fail to recreate his life and world in an impossible warehouse it becomes more and more prevalent that he can’t, and he never will. This is because real