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Drama
The Family Drama
All families are dysfunctional, one might say, after a cursory glance at most of the husband-wife couples and extended families of Western drama -- only some are more dysfunctional than others. The Helmers of "A Doll's House," and the Wrights of "Trifles" illustrate the dark side of the husband-wife dynamic, whereby two people joined in matrimony can live side by side in a perpetual state of mutual misunderstanding. Children are incidental to this state of misunderstanding. Rather the well-intentioned crime of fraud that is perpetuated by Nora in Ibsen's drama, and the frustration-propelled murder of the husband in "Trifles" are both the realistic result of the man's refusal to acknowledge the contribution of what his wife has given up for him in the context of her marriage.
Yet even the happier, more fully fleshed out family of the Wrights, of "Our Town" suggest that Emily, who dies young, might have been happier had she spread her wings more and left her town and the offered prospect of the marriage that results in her death from childbirth. The play's climax reveals how much families interact as a part of daily routine but how little they actually interact emotionally. Still, the thwarted desires of Emily have more of a sense of inevitability, and thus seem less tragic than the willed and possibly preventable actions of the heroines of the "Doll's House" and "Trifles."
However, perhaps the least functional and most distorted family is the family without a father at the helm at all, that of "The Glass Menagerie," where Tom functions as the breadwinner and quasi-husband to this mother Amanda and quasi-father figure to his sister Laura. As strange as the surreal drama of this family may seem, it suggests that without any conventional family dynamics even more chaos ensues than in the aforementioned nuclear families. Like all of the family plays, "The Glass Menagerie" ends with the main protagonist's flight from the family -- with the slamming of the home's door, the only way he can break away. But he leaves not for death or prison, or even to uncertain job prospects like Nora for Tom is a man -- although, like Nora, he leaves dependants behind, whom unlike Nora's children, may become destitute because of his choice of freedom over family.
Though Antigone is certainly the protagonist of the play, she makes her decision very early in the action -- she chooses to bury her brother despite the civil disobedience and disrespect of the State that it shows. Ismene, on the other hand, wavers between the two duties. When Antigone is caught, her sister tries to take the blame with her: "But now you're in trouble, I'm not ashamed / of
He left her in her pain. I wanted to be there for her. She wouldn't let me. (Sits down next to SILENT GIRL) SILENT GIRL (Smiles, shakes her head, sighs a little, looks at MARK) MARK (Smiling amidst the tears): I remember the trip. I was glad she came; I finally found the courage to tell her. (Turns to SILENT GIRL) I took her for a walk near the field of
Keller's morals are good -- he does not merely seek to win glory for himself, like the simplistic motivation of the man in the fable, he wished to 'make good' for all of his sons. But greed, ambition for his family and himself, and foolishness took hold instead. He loses his sons because of his actions, one of them to suicide, and the others emotionally. Keller's son Chris likewise is
Drama Death of a Salesman -- comparison between the play and a 1985 TV rendering of the play, starring Dustin Hoffman The tragedy of Willie Loman in the play by Arthur Miller seems like a man who wants to be great, yet falls to a tragic and small end. However, the televised version of the play makes Willie seem like a little or 'low' man throughout. Thus, although the Arthur Miller 1950's
Drama Arthur Miller's Death of a salesman and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House appear to contain no common themes on first reading. But upon close analysis of the two plays, readers are likely to discover that there is indeed the one major theme that is common in both stories however it has been discussed and exploited differently. Both plays highlight the importance of 'identity' and the consequences of not having one. Death
Wilson settled into nibbling on French fries, but when he took the first big bite of burger, he spit it out, making a mess on the table. Lisa realized the burger had a pickle on it, and Wilson absolutely hated pickles. Even though she scraped every bit of the pickle off the bun, he refused to eat another bite, and began to cry again. Lisa fed him French fries, hoping