Relationships Are Like Glass: Once Shattered, Never Again Complete

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In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson is the protagonist and can be portrayed as a meticulous, amusing, and dependable character. Rose Maxson is Troy’s younger wife and she is depicted as faithful, affectionate towards her children and husband, and iron-willed. Troy and Rose have been together for eighteen years and have a marriage that even the most cheerful people would envy; they can count on one another, they share jokes and laughs, and they have worked hard together to earn the things they have. Although their marriage seems well-built and joyful, this picture of bliss soon diminishes when Rose Maxson discovers a secret happening that her husband has been keeping from her. The audience or reader can see there has been an emotional and physical transformation in the couple and their relationship after the undisclosed information of Troy’s affair and expected child is exposed.

The primary indication of the couple’s feelings towards each other is their body language and the stage directions of the play. Throughout act one, Troy and Rose Maxson are exemplified as a loving, playful, and enthusiastic couple, who enjoy spending time together at the end of a long day. On a Friday evening, while Troy and his jail buddy Bono are hanging out in the yard after work, Rose decides to join their conversation against Troy’s sarcastic wishes: “This is men talk. I got some talk for you later. You know what kind of talk I mean. You go on and powder it up.” (Wilson, 525). This line indicates the playfulness and intimacy between the Maxson couple as well as the close friendship they share with Bono. A second act of liveliness in the Maxson’s relationship is when Troy sneaks up and grabs Rose from behind while she is hanging clothes...

... middle of paper ...

... loving relationship to having a house with no love to fill it. Troy died a lonesome death and Rose was left to raise his illegitimate daughter; which was the one thing that gave her hope.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. “List of Characters in Fences.” Bloom’s Major Dramatists: August Wilson. 2002. 34-35. Literary Reference Center (EBSCO). Web. 20 July 2010.

Metzger, Sheri. "An essay on Fences." Drama for Students. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 20 July 2010.

Shannon, Sandra G. “The Ground on Which I Stand: August Wilson’s Perspective on African American Women.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 222. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 20 July 2010.

Wilson, August. “Fences” The Seagull Reader: Plays. Ed. Joseph Kelly. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2008. 372 – 88. Print.

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