Sharon E. Cooper\'s Play \"Mistaken Identity\" Criteria:

¶ … Sharon E. Cooper's play "Mistaken Identity" criteria: Clear thesis statement, coverage elements

No Mere Mistake

Without a doubt, Sharon E. Cooper's dramatic work, which is entitled Mistaken Identity is unabashedly a comedy. This play is based upon a number of situations that are emblematic of modern day life, which the author primarily uses to poke fun at several social conventions that are prevalent in contemporary society. As the title of this play largely implies, the fundamental concept that fuels the majority of the plot is misunderstanding, which manifests itself in a couple of disparate forms that are intrinsically related to the two principle characters, Steve and Kali. Cooper utilizes the fact that each of these characters has a misconception about who the other is and what that person wants as a means of providing comedy and insight into notions of identity in contemporary society.

The principle misunderstanding that exists between Steve and Kali is that Kali is a "Hindu lesbian" (Boslaugh 2007) who is solely interested in romantic relationships with women. Steve, on the other hand, is the stereotypical American prototype who is looking to get married and begin a life that is traditional in the sense of engendering a family with a wife. Throughout the play, Cooper utilizes Steve to symbolize traditional American values. Kali, however, mistakenly believes that Steve has sought her society for the fact that he wants to be her friend. The following quotation demonstrates that the author utilizes this misconceptions of the two characters -- who have only met because Kali's brother Rashid, who is aware of each other's true identity and desires -- in a comical fashion to steer the plot. Steve believes that he can overcome Kali's lesbianism, or even utilize it to his advantage, in his attempts at marriage, to which Kali retorts "Being lesbian isn't negotiable. And don't even get started on how sexy it is to be with me or to watch me with another woman!" (Cooper).

This quotation demonstrates the comical nature of Steve trying to negotiate around Kali's lesbianism, which merely underscores his own ignorance and that of traditional American values regarding people's sexual preference. Furthermore, the comedy in this drama that really begins once Steve and Kali find out about each other's true identity and goals is principally based upon dialogue, since Mistaken Identity is a play. To that end, the author uses the conversation between the pair of characters as the principle means of effecting comedy relating to their misunderstanding, a fact which is evinced by Kali's conception that Rashid "got so desperate that he set her up with a cowboy!" (Cooper). In both this quotation and the one that preceded it, the punctuation plays an integral element in the humor. Since most of the plot is administered through dialogue, the reader has to rely on the exclamation marks that typify many of the comedic passages (and both referenced within this paper) that emphasize the humorous outrage that both characters feel regarding the misconception of identity that the play is based upon