Dramatic Devices in Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine
Willy Russell uses many different dramatic devices to explore the
issues and themes of the play 'Shirley Valentine'. One of the main
themes is change, Russell explores and portrays this issue using
several dramatic techniques, particularly flashbacks, stereotypes and
contrast.
In the opening scenes of the play, Shirley is a stereotypical
housewife. Her daily routine is cooking and running after her husband,
Joe. Like most of the important characters in 'Shirley Valentine' Joe
is also a stereotype. He is a chauvinistic male who expects his wife
to be there to serve and respect him. His old-fashioned ways make him
believe that he is the breadwinner, therefore, when he comes home in
the evening, Shirley should treat him with superior respect.
Shirley is also expected to be a servant for her spoilt daughter
Millandra, a stereotype who does not respect or care for her mother.
Jane is Shirley's best friend, who became the stereotypical feminist
after her husband left her. Being a man-loathing feminist, however is
simply a facade for Jane to hide behind. This enlightens the audience
on how some people may use stereotypes to protect their real identity
and personality in order to prevent getting hurt, like Jane had been
before.
Marjorie's stereotype changes. In Shirley's flashback of school,
Marjorie is a stereotypical 'teacher's pet'. She was bright, well
behaved and had elocution lessons.
Shirley is shocked by the change in Marjorie. Her expectations, based
on the stereotype established in school, were completely demolished
and Willy Russell points out to the audience how foolish it is to
'label' people and not expect them to develop or change out of the
narrow parameters ascribed to them.
The fact that Shirley expected Marjorie to have a good job
demonstrates how we all, even if only subconsciously, make judgements
on what we see. This makes Willy Russell's views on stereotyping
clear, that people's true personality's cannot be judged on a first
impression, which is usually when the person is being stereotyped.
The Stage Techniques Used By Willy Russell To Keep The Audiences Attention In His Play Blood Brothers
In Annie Baker’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning play The Flick two men, Sam, a thirty-five year-old who has been stuck in the same job for years, Avery, a twenty year old black man with a obsession for movies, and Rose, a confidant yet itimidating woman who works in the projection booth. As the play progresses the characters relationships are formed forcing their fears, dreams, and desires to slowly surface.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
...s did not have a lot of options. The two women in the end of the play are shown to be almost puppet like, and controlled by the will of the men around, and do not have a say in the outcome at all. The debate of love over friendship is placed back in a balance when Valentine says that they will all marry on the same day and live in the same place "Our day of marriage shall be yours, one feast, one house, one mutual happiness."
Comedy in Our Day Out by Russell In this assignment I am going to look at the ways in which Willy Russell has created humour within the play 'Our Day Out'. I will pay particular attention to the characters, their dialogue and the events that take place Willy Russell was born in a town near Liverpool, he left school at fifteen with no idea what he wanted to do and nothing but an O'level in English. ' Our Day Out', 'Blood Brothers' and 'Educating Rita' are a reflection of Russell's own experience of education.
Joseph and Shirley’s relationship shows how difficult it was to be married coworkers, especially during the 1940’s, as many workplaces did and still don’t allow for relationships between coworkers and are promptly told they will be fired at the end of the film due to many layoffs occurring in the corporation and speculation that the two were together. Shirley does not wear her wedding ring whilst at work and talks to Joseph in a polite matter. Mr. Wershba on the other hand, is not as careful and still makes sly comments if the couple is ever alone together in a room. This shows how women were expected to act proper and work well despite any outside conflict (emotional distress, hormones, etc.), whilst men were given lenience on these policies. Women are also shown to be given easier tasks than the men in the film, such as being secretaries and running information around the office for the male journalists. The film keeps with the fashion of the time period as well, showing women in short-sleeved dresses and simplistic makeup and men with suits and slicked-back/gelled hair. These male and female stereotypes are not the only time period generalities depicted
Miller’s use of personification and symbolism in the book shows the situational irony that surrounds Willy. This highlights the overall message of blind faith towards the American Dream. The major case of irony in the book is Willy’s blind faith in the American Dream. This belief is that if one is well-liked, they will become successful. The truth is actually completely opposite. The real belief is that if one works hard, with no regard to how well liked they are, they will be successful. This relationship is shown between Willy and his neighbor Charley. While Willy believes likability is the only way to success, Charley works hard and does not care how people think of him. Through his hard work, Charley started his own business, and is now very successful. Willy, however, ends up getti...
Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters, are all in marriages where their husbands dominate their lives. Mrs. Wright has been cut off from all contact with the outside world by her husband. She never has company, doesn’t have any children, and isn’t allowed a phone. She spends her days making bread and preserves and tending to the household chores. She is there to take care of her husbands every whim. Mrs. Hales states, “I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir” (Glaspell). This quote is important because it shows that Mrs. Wright used to be her own person prior to being married. Whenever Mrs. Hale talks about Mrs. Wright in the play, she always refers to her as Minnie Foster. This is a way of giving her back a little piece her identity. The other men characters in the play also show their dominance by the way they discount women’s opinions. Mr. Hale states, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell). By this he means, women spend their time worrying over small things that are not important. At this point in Minnie’s marriage, this was all she had to worry about. Her life was reduced to performing menial tasks that she clung to because everything else had been taken away from
In a Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, we meet a young woman that is surrounded by death. As the story progresses we find more and more death and decay throughout Emily’s life. This leads to the theme of Death and Dying. Through-out the short story the theme of Death and Dying is represented through many symbols. These symbols include dust, the house and Emily herself. This essay will examine how each of these symbols represent Death and Dying.
Tennessee Williams used his life experiences to write many successful plays. One of his most successful plays is A Streetcar Named Desire. In this play Williams relates the characters closely to his father, mother, and sister. William’s father was a gambler, a drunk, and very aggressive. Williams’s mother was a Southern Bell and looked down upon people that were not like her, and his sister was suffering from psychological disorders. Stanley is like William’s father, Blanche is like William’s mother and sister, and Allan, Blanche’s dead husband, is like Tennessee Williams. Suchitra Choudhury says that “Tennessee Williams’ plays are acknowledged to be substantially constituted of violence and victimization. . . . Williams’s plays very often end in what seems to be victimization.” The play A Streetcar Named Desire is a classic example of violence and victimization. Stanley is very violent and Blanche is the victim, her past haunting her in the present. Throughout the play we see how Blanche evolves into what seems to be a psychotic breakdown at the end. We see how the need for intimacy ultimately causes her to become psychotic. Blanche struggles with the death of her husband Allan, and as a result she is constantly trying to create a reality of what she believes life should be like. How does the past affect Blanche in the present?
In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner, the narrator creates this image of Emily to only benefit the townspeople and the town. The townspeople continue to torment Emily even when she has passed away. The town try’s to protect their image as a southern knit community, with her inheriting her father’s house, the town feels responsible for Emily at this point. Although they feel for Emily, they continuously
Another perception destroyed in this act is that the men hold the power in the relationships, which was the standard when the play was written. Their sexuality is what gives Martha and Honey their power. Honey used a false pregnancy to force Nick to marry her while Martha, as the daughter of the president of the university, uses sex as a tool to advance the careers of certain professors (although never her own husband).
Willy is a multi-faceted character which Miller has portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality. In another time or another place Willy might have been successful and kept his Sanity, but as he grew up, society's values changed and he was left out in the cold. His foolish pride, bad judgment and his disloyalty are also at fault for his tragic end and the fact that he did not die the death of a salesman.
In life everyone needs to grow up at some point. Growing up is a part of life that happens whether you like it or not. In this story “Last Kiss” by Ralph Fletcher, the little boy is very protected. His parents tuck him in and give him a kiss every night. His dad pushes him to act like a man in this story. The boy doesn’t understand this. “Last Kiss” teaches me that at some point you need to grow up. This is true in the beginning, middle and end of the story.
In the play Educating Rita, Willy Russell uses many dramatic devices to develop the themes and characters. By doing this he is able to build up an image of the characters and themes in the audience’s head. One of the main ways he does this is through characterisation. The two main characters (and the only ones we actually see) are Frank and Rita. These two characters couldn’t be any more different. Frank is a University lecturer in English Literature with a drink problem. He had a failed marriage and is in a struggling relationship with ‘Julia’. However he does appear to have a comfortable middle class lifestyle and has written some poetry in his time. Rita is a working class, 26 year old hairdresser who has taken the big step of enrolling on to an Open University literature course. She is married to a man called Denny, he objects to the course as it means Rita been away from home and leaving her social life within the community behind her. When these two meet a whole can of worms is opened and many amusing, sad and entertaining events take place.