Brilliant Lies
In the play, 'Brilliant Lies', David Williamson uses a number of techniques to expand on the concepts introduced in the title. He uses characters and their back stories to build a supporting argument to compliment the text's overall theme that everyone lies to protect themselves. Susy's sexual harassment claim contains the most evident form of lies throughout the text, however Vince and Gary's relationship, Susy's family history, and even Marion's favouritism with clients all help to identify the main themes to the reader.
All through the play, there is an epic battle between Susy and Gary. Susy is _____. Gary is ______. Susy claims that Gary sexually assaulted her and Gary strongly denies it. At various points in the text, in mediation sessions with Marion who is a _____, we are told many variations of what happened between the pair. In the first scene, Susy tells Marion the Gary grabbed my breasts and said something sick and when I turned around Gary's member was inches in front of my nose. The next day, I was fired.' In the next scene, Gary tells Marion that she was fired because her work was unsatisfactory.'
In the first mediation meeting between Susy and Gary, Susy lies about telling Katy, her sister, everything that happened between her and Gary. Katy lies by saying that Susy suffered seven months of vicious sexual persecution' and Gary lies by saying that the claim is utter bullshit.' At this stage in the play, the audience is unsure as to who is telling the truth due to the fact that everyone is lying, and this is a statement that Williamson makes about personal and business relationships and how society operates. He is saying that everybody needs to lie in order for them to look out for their best interests, no matter who gets hurt.
It is not until the climax of the play that we think we've uncovered the truth as to what really happened between Susy and Gary when Susy admits to having sex with Gary on several occasions. She says that we would drive to my place and be gone before my sister got home' and that it was only when Susy decided to end the relationship that Gary became obsessed and began making dirty phone calls to her. Gary settles the case and Susy is awarded $40,000.
In the final scenes however, the viewers learns that Susy still embellished the truth while testifying against Gary.
Viorst opens her article by explaining social lies. She describes these as lies to avoid hurt, such as lying to a cousin by pretending to enjoy dinner. Judith believes they are necessary and acceptable; without them, relationships would be icky and short. By being honest and not telling white lies a person can come off harsh. Furthermore, Viorst thinks that not telling social lies is arrogant.
Lies play a central part in the play as the story is based around lies
This play shows that lying is wrong and will get you nowhere. At the end, lying will come back and haunt you. Also, lying will get you known as a liar. A liar who no one will believe at the end of the day. A liar that will be hard to be trusted by others. All of this is something that you want to avoid. Never lie and always tell the truth and you will end up feeling better about yourself. That is what I ended up getting from this ten minute play. Never lie because all those lies will be stored somewhere, maybe not recorded on tape like they were for the Person but stored somewhere like ones conscious. Lies will come back soon or later to come and bite you when you least expect it.
During the confrontation during the poker game, which immediately ends it, readers are exposed to the reality of Stella and Stanley’s
When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.
In the beginning of “The Ways we Lie”, Ericsson begins by lying to the bank, her client, and even her partner. What would have happened if she had decided to tell the truth? Well Ericsson tried going a week without lying and this is what happened, “The bank charges me $60 in overdraft fees, my partner keels over when I tell him about my travails, my client fire me for telling her I didn’t feel like being on time, and my friend takes it personally when I say I’m not hungry” (Ericsson). The truth is being honest can hurt just as badly as telling a lie. Ericsson lists several ways that people lie, “The White Lie, Facades, Ignoring the Plain Facts, Deflecting, Omission, Stereotypes and Clichés, Groupthink, Out-and-Out Lies, Dismissal, Delusion” which are just a few ways that we lie. Ericsson successfully makes her case, “Sure I lie, but it doesn’t hurt anything. Or does it”. By incorporating personal experiences in her essay, which she demonstrates moments where she has been a liar and a candid person her audience is able to accept reality. Yes lying is bad of course it is, but “We lie. We all do” whether it hurts someone or not is simply a matter of how it’s being told. As Ericsson confirmed through her one week of honesty, “it’s not easy to eliminate lying completely from our
In the play, Proof, the author David Auburn uses a variety of literary techniques to introduce and describe the characters. The author’s use of characterization and the explanation of the background of each character creates a story of a family. The family, Robert, Catherine, and Claire, is a mixture of similarities and differences. Catherine is the caretaker of her father, Robert, until his death a week before Catherine’s twenty-fifth birthday. Catherine’s sister, Claire, comes to her hometown for her father’s funeral, and to take Catherine to live in New York City. The climax of the play takes place the moment Catherine announces to Claire and Hal, a family friend, that she is the one who has written the mathematical proof. The characterization and heredity of the play explains how Catherine and Robert are alike, and how Claire is different from Catherine.
In the story Susy and Roat are very different, one needs the doll to prove innocence, while the other needs the doll for money. Also, by the end of the play Mike is the only character that changes, he becomes less greedy, and gives up. After all of this Susy might finally have some peace, and Mike, Roat, and Carlino will be made a grave, since they are
In Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire" two of the main characters Stanley and Blanche persistently oppose each other, their differences eventually spiral into Stanley's rape of Stella.
In “The Ways We Lie”, Ericsson describes the different types of lies: white lie, facades, ignoring
... Nonetheless, the signs also point to Father Flynn hurting him, because he was violating him. People’s assumptions are based upon personal experience and gut feeling, also on their upbringing; nature and nurture. Shanley uses inference in this play to create doubt in the audience’s minds'. The verdict is never in, on Flynn; guilty or not guilty. Shanley’s audience is left to be the jury.
Good acting is essential to any good performance. The actors and actresses have to try to make what the audience is seeing and hearing come alive. The four characters in the play “Proof” are able to do this. The meaning and purpose behind the play is easily understood because the actors and actresses do such a fine job in their performances.
By the end of the play Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters found the dead canary in Mrs. Wright’s sewing kit. The canary had marks around its neck inferring that it had been strangled just like Mr. Wright, but they faced a dilemma on whether or not to turn in the evidence. In the end they decided to withhold the evidence from their husbands. By keeping this evidence from their husbands the two women chose to defend not only Mrs. Wright, but all women during this time period. They felt that the prejudices and discriminatory acts of men during this time period towards women were not acceptable. Men of this time belittled their wives and these women tried to challenge that philosophy. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale help show the audience what women in this time period had to endure in order to get back their freedom.
Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said.
The play’s major conflict is the loneliness experienced by the two elderly sisters, after outliving most of their relatives. The minor conflict is the sisters setting up a tea party for the newspaper boy who is supposed to collect his pay, but instead skips over their house. The sisters also have another minor conflict about the name of a ship from their father’s voyage. Because both sisters are elderly, they cannot exactly remember the ships name or exact details, and both sisters believe their version of the story is the right one. Although it is a short drama narration, Betty Keller depicts the two sisters in great detail, introduces a few conflicts, and with the use of dialogue,