Gift Gugu Mona once said, “A powerful woman is a heat-resistant and storm-proof calibre. There is nothing she cannot handle.” Throughout history, women have been treated as second-class citizens, as they were expected to be homemakers, caring mothers, and obedient wives to their husbands. They were seen as “good wives” if they did everything and anything their husbands asked them to do. Despite all of the expectations, women have defied the odds, done exceptional things, and lived fascinating lives. In August Wilson’s play Fences, the character Rose Maxon portrays the struggle of being a woman with the expected priority of maintaining a healthy marriage, and stable family life, and how they both affect the lives of the women and their families. In the early to mid-1900s, it was …show more content…
I got some talk for you later. You know what kind of talk I mean? You go on and powder it up” (Wilson 6). Troy is emphasizing his opinion that Rose should keep the traditional role of a wife, and not be involved in any sort of “manly activities,” like the conversation between Bono and himself. Troy believes that women have two roles, and those are to be a faithful wife and a mother to their children. Marriages were often difficult to maintain because they were seen not as loving relationships but as agreements between two people, and the ideal marriage was said to be a “partnership,” centered around children and devoted to “togetherness” (Foner et al). Over the last two centuries, men and women in America have come to expect only material, psychological, emotional, and sexual satisfaction from their marriages, leading to divorce, and an unhealthy family life. August Wilson portrays this struggle as Rose shares her feelings about her marriage to Troy saying, “I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams.and I buried them inside you.And it didn’t take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn’t ever gonna bloom” (Wilson
perceived? What should we learned from them? Are their lives to be discarded or honored? Fences is a compelling story of a Black family in the 1950s. A tale of the encounter of the released black slaves trying to survive in the middle of American urban industrial city. A story of four generations of Black Americans and of how they have passed on a legacy of morals, mores, attitudes, and patterns of life. Fences examine the escalating racial tensions in America during the 1950s. It deals with such
Should a neglected, discriminated, and misplaced black man living in the mid 1900s possessing a spectacular, yet unfulfilled talent for baseball be satisfied or miserable? The play Fences, written by August Wilson, answers this question by depicting the challenging journey of the main character, Troy Maxon. Troy, an exceptional baseball player during his youth, cannot break the color barrier and is kept from playing in the big leagues. That being his major life setback, Troy has a pessimistic view
Fences, written by August Wilson, is a short play that overall revolves around racism. The author chooses to show us this theme through the main character, Troy, and his working days in America’s 1950s. This is done by showing what Troy is struggling with and dealing with in both his relationships and his professional life. Troy is a black garbage man who, in his work life, is fighting to feel more privileged so that he is able to be a driver for the trash trucks. With this on his plate, he is also
August Wilson’s play, Fences, portrays an African American family as they go through life during a time of racial discrimination and injustice. The father of this family, Troy, who faced the most difficulties throughout his life as he grew up during slavery, acts as the tragic figure Faye describes. Troy’s inability to separate himself from the past despite his reformation results in the destruction of his familial relationships, demonstrating how the tragic cycle of abuse never ends. Troy’s life
August Wilson uses the symbol of a 'fence' in his play, Fences, in numerous occasions. Three of the most important occasions fences are symbolized are by protection, Rose Maxson and Troy Maxson's relationship, and Troy against Mr. Death. Throughout the play, characters create 'fences' symbolically and physically to be protected or to protect. Examples such as Rose protecting herself from Troy and Troy protecting himself form Death. This play focuses on the symbol of a fence which helps readers receive
Robert Frost once said, “Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.” In life there are really only two reasons why a fence is put up; to keep out the outside influences, or protect what is on the inside. These two reasons are why the title of August Wilson's dramatic play, “Fences”, is so appropriate. In the dramatic comedy, “fences” by Augusta Wilson the main characters, Rose, Cory, and Troy, all perceive the idea of a “fence” in a different but symbolic way, which accounts for
There are different types of fences put up every day. There are even some fences that you wouldn’t even think that they were a type of fence. There are two different types of fences; metaphorical and the literal. A metaphorical fence is a barrier that can’t be seen; it can be between two people or your emotions. A literal fence is referring to a barrier that can be seen. It is used to keep things out or keep certain things in. Throughout Fences by August Wilson, many of the characters put up both
Fences is the play, which noticed about humankind society in the late 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson 's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Like all of the "Pittsburgh" plays, and the play started to begin in 1983. The beginning scene noticed about Troy, who is the man with fully strong controlling to his life, and his son, Cory and his wife, and the last scene is on the day of the funeral of Troy Maxson. Fences play is the portrait of kind other characters come with the flawed human, who has been the
In the play, Fences, Troy seems to have a complicated relationship with every other character in the play. This applies especially to his relationship with his son, Cory. Troy and Cory have many similarities and differences that complicate their relationship. There are many outside factors that also make matters worse. One of the differences that complicate their relationship is that they have grown up in completely different time periods. A great deal has happened between the times when Troy
A dream is like a star, it shines bright for all to see, but when dies it leaves a violent aftermath. Fences is a play written by August Wilson, set in Pittsburgh in the 1950s, mainly in the dirt yard of the Maxson household, a lower class African American family. The Maxson family and the rest of the African American community are still subject to segregation and discriminatory laws that hinder their ability to climb an economic and social ladder. Troy and Cory, both protagonists, face different
August Wilson plays read like fiction, the narrative drive, symbolic settings, and evocative stage directions. The sense of storytelling is nowhere more evident than in fences 1985. Fences concern the lives of the Masons, and African American family whose struggles are re-counted from 1957 to 1965. The play extends Wilson’s exploration of the African American experience within the twentieth century. Troy Maxson, the protagonist, is a former baseball player and a talented athlete whose prowess on
Fences serve as an enclosure, a barrier or a boundary to something. A fence does not have to be physical, it can be metaphorical one serving as an enclosure or a boundary to ideas. In Fences August Wilson uses metaphorical fences created by Troy and Cory to show the struggles of Black America. Because of his experience with segregation, Troy builds fences in his relationships. Despite integration, the segregation in sports in the causes Troy to have a bad perspective on sports. Troy Maxson’s experience
A fence provides a barrier intended to keep something in or possibly keep something else out. The hurdles of those that try or wish to cross boundaries that hold them back is the focus of the play Fences by August Wilson. Throughout the play He creates an extraordinary symbolic idea behind the fences built around his house. As the story progresses the various symbolic meanings of fences are revealed. Wilson’s play is a story of injustice, repressed feelings, and pride set during the 1950s. Troy
The play Fences by August Wilson revolves around Troy Maxson, an African American who works in the sanitation department during the late 1950s through to 1965, a period best known for the Struggle for Civil Rights and fight to end racism for the African-Americans. Troy in order to escape his abusive father made his way north where the black lived in poverty and had hard time finding jobs. Troy is sent to prison for stealing and killing, where he learns how to play baseball. His baseball dream is
Born April 27, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August Wilson is an African American author and play writer. August Wilson was best known for his ten series of plays that each depicted African American Life in the 20th century. Wilson won multiple of awards and recognition for his series of plays; the Tony Award (1985), the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1985), and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1990). The Wilson's “Pittsburgh Cycle,” consists of ten plays where nine of them took place in