The Hills Are Alive!

The Sound of Music is a musical film based off of the Von Trapp family singers. In the movie, Maria is a young Austrian woman who is studying to become a nun in Salzburg. Due to her imaginative personality and lack of discipline, Maria is sent to be a governess for the seven children of a retired naval officer. Maria brings music and love back into the family. She falls in love with and marries Captain Von Trapp, all while Nazi Germany invades their homeland. The family flees from Austria in order to avoid Captain Von Trapp's forced position in the German Navy. The Von Trapp's loved their homeland and could not bear witness to Austria being victimized by an oppressive regime. The Sound of Music fits Aristotle's definition of a comedy as it has a heroine that builds herself up from an orphan to a step-mother of seven, a marriage, and a happy ending, but still has dark elements interwoven into the plot.

Maria is whimsical and fun, a stark contrast from the environment at the convent. She is an orphan with no family and is the obvious odd-one-out. Maria can be viewed as a character who starts at a lower level. She begins to find belonging as a governess and ultimately finds her family with the Von Trapps.

Overall, I think The Sound of Music highlights the importance of individuality. Maria stays true to herself, and the Von Trapp family demonstrates the importance of morals as they leave everything behind to resist the Nazi regime.