At least once a day, everybody believes to be something that they are not! Honestly, it feels good sometimes. In two plays, there were two characters whom have strongly deceived themselves to be who they were decades ago. The first play is The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. In this play, the character Amanda, the mother, acts as if she was a girl, young at heart, waiting for her suitor. In the second play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the character Willy is aversely stuck in his past, and does not know what is real anymore. Throughout both plays, Amanda and Willy both lived in the past believing to be someone who they no longer are, which affected their relationship with their family members.
In the first play, Amanda is a bright woman, who only hopes for the best for her children. However, she constantly finds herself living in the past. When she prepares for Jim, she put on one of her dresses she wore to lure her suitors back in the day. Also, her Southern Belle accent came back and throughout the play she is constantly referring to how many suitors she had, a...
In this play, the women are housewives; responsible for bearing children, and keeping the house. They are often made fun of or made to feel less of themselves when they didn’t perform those duties to the specifications of the men. The city attorney openly criticizes Mrs. Wrights housekeeping skills by stating “here is a mess, dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper would you say, ladies?” (Glaspell 1109-1110). Mrs. Hale describes Minnie Foster as “real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery” (Glaspell 1114). But a lot of changes are evident once she marries Mr. Wright. She spends her days in isolation, focusing on her quilts, preserves, and caring for her canary. She didn’t receive any type of appreciation for her hard work. This defeats her mentally and she doesn’t have any joy left in her life. While looking for evidence in the murder, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find red flags that support her mental decline, such as blocks on the quilt described as “all over the place” (Glaspell 1113), like she didn’t know what she was doing and a “dead bird in a fancy box, wrapped in a piece of silk” (Glaspell 1114). After the death of her beloved canary at the hands of her husband,
For example, in the case of Blanche DuBois we are introduced to a woman who portrays herself as a southern belle, a woman who is supposed to be genteel. It doesn't take long before the audience can recognize DuBois for what she really is. However, she never gives in, or admits to what the audience can see in her. DuBois is drawn to a life of illusion. She tells people she is a schoolteacher on leave, when she has actually lost her job for becoming involved in an affair with a much younger man (Harris 444). Laurie Lanzen Harris states,
The plot, Jackie navigates the life of a preteen in New York during the 1960s. This plot begins late in Jackie’s life since her story begins 12 years prior which is when she was born but begins at the most present moment in the play which is the now. Although all of the characters are being depicted through one phenomenal actress, the characters are limited to her parents, Perespone and her family, and the friends she makes along the way. As well as the scenes and locales are fairly limited all of the scenes take place on a geographic scale in New York, and on Erickson Street or Manhattan at her private school. This shown the privileges of a small set reaffirms the focus and tightness of the
Each character, in some capacity, is learning something new about themselves. Whether it be new views, new feelings, newfound confidence, or a new realization of past events, each character involved in the play realizes something view-altering by the end of the play. Bonny is realizing that she is growing up and discovering how to deal with boys, and to lie to her parents; Elsie realizes that she doesn’t need her father for everything, and eventually overcomes her fear of driving on her own; Grace is discovering that she must let her children think for themselves at times, and that she must let Charlie choose what he wants to do; and Charlie, of course, is discovering that there are more ways to think than the status quo that society presents. Each character obviously goes through very different struggles throughout the play, but in the end, they all result in realizing something about themselves they didn’t at the beginning of the
created the play as a comedy, showing how the world might be in the times of the
The women in the play are observant. For example when the men are looking for
The play is set in the 1950’s, and it has two narrators, called Voice 1 and Voice 2, which act as dramatic devices and move the play along in space and time.
The use of vernacular speech, in this play, lends to the overall feeling of life in the early 20th century. This definitely aids in establishing a link with this play’s key audience, women. And also helps to establish the play’s surroundings and setting. The use of language provides a backdrop for the play, illustrating the differences between men and women.
In today’s society, women are empowered, independent, and have freedom on their parts to live their life freely. This is definitely a positive aspect of the modern day society, however, this may not be how it always was. Travelling back in time, to the Red Hook community of Brooklyn, circa 1950s, we are able to see the societal expectations of a women at the time through Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. The two female characters, Catherine and Beatrice, play crucial roles in the play and are essential to the tragic storyline of Eddie and his downfall. However, Arthur Miller has skillfully been able to show the lives and societal expectations of the women at the time, and to portray how women should not be treated. Both Catherine and Beatrice face different particular issues, but in the end are treated similarly as women. First, we shall look at Catherine and Beatrice and their individual parts in the story. After this, the portrayal of women and femininity in Red Hook at that time will be explored in reference to Catherine and Beatrice.
changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the
...ve been suffering mental abuse by their husband. This play presents the voice of feminism and tries to illustrate that the power of women is slightly different, but can be strong enough to influence the male dominated society. Although all women are being oppressed in the patriarchal society at that time, Glaspell uses this play as a feminist glory in a witty way to win over men. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters solve the crime by reflecting on Minnie Wright’s unhappy marriage that leads her to murdering. Using the relationship between female and male characters throughout the play, Glaspell speaks up to emphasize how the patriarchal society underestimated women’s rights and restricted women’s desires.
At the start of the play, all of the characters enter the abandoned farmhouse of John Wright, who was recently hanged by an unknown killer. The Sheriff and County Attorney start scanning the house for clues as to who killed Mr. Wright, but make a major error when they search the kitchen poorly, claiming that there is nothing there ?but kitchen things.? This illustrates the men?s incorrect belief that a kitchen is a place of trivial matters, a place where nothing of any importance may be found. Mrs. Peters then notices that Mrs. Wright?s fruit froze in the cold weather, and the men mock her and reveal their stereotype of females by saying ?women are used to worrying over trifles.? The men then venture to the upstairs of the house to look for clues, while the women remain downstairs in the kitchen where they discuss the frozen fruit and the Wrights. Mrs. Hale explains that Mrs. Wright, whose maiden name was Minnie Foster, used to be a lively woman who sang in the choir. She suggests that the reason Mrs. Wright stopped being cheerful and active because of her irritable husband.
This play, which is the first part of the novel, symbolizes what is yet to occur—a disastrous love story between April and Frank Wheeler. After the play, April and Frank get into an argument in the car, leading April to walk off and telling Frank he’s, “got [her] safely in a trap” (Yates, 37). April is felt as if she is in a trap because of the role of housewife she is automatically placed in. She wants to be more than a woman who stays home, washes the dishes and takes care of the children, she wants to explore and be free, something that the 1950s gender roles are limiting her to not ...
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,
are still in place in today's society. The play is a comedy but to a