"Easy A"

“A”. A is an important symbol in the play In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks. This is the only letter in the alphabet that Hester knows. She cannot read and cannot write anything but the letter “A”. Throughout the play she writes or says the letter to people, and at many points she practices writing the letter. The letter and main character are parallels to the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The “A” is the letter Hester wore in the Scarlet Letter that marked her as an adulterer in the town. In the play the main character, also named Hester, only knows this letter. It is a symbol of the constant reminder of their mistakes and fate. Also Hester in the Scarlet Letter had a child named Pearl. Hester in the play In the Blood had five children. In both works the children were also a constant reminder of the women’s mistakes. Also both women experience something more demeaning the injustice of their society. Both Hester’s, being outcasts and looked down at in society. They are seen as the unethical in society. Other women say that there is a difference “between our kind and their kind.” Most people would not talk to them and treat them maliciously. In the Blood’s Hester is taken advantage of by her children’s fathers, Welfare, and her friend Amiga Gringa.

The Piano

In the play The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, the piano is a symbol of many things. First, it is a symbol of family. Bernice and Boy Willie’s grandfather, Willie Boy, carved the piano by hand for his master Mr. Sutter. The carvings consisted of the faces of their grandmother and father, the marriage of their parents, a funeral of a family member, and also the splitting of their family which was common during slavery. This piano was a physical memory of their family history. Second, the piano symbolizes domination. The piano was Sutter’s property and so was the family. They were his slaves. This is also why Miss Ophelia liked the piano so much because “she had her piano and her niggers too.” By stealing the piano from Sutter, Boy Charles, Bernice and Boy Willie’s dad, stole the family freedom as well.

The piano symbolizes a better life for many of the characters. When Wining Boy played it he became a recording star. Also if Boy Willie sells the piano he can buy all three parts of Mr. Sutter’s land which will give him the resources he needs to work for him and be self-sufficient. As for Bernice, she is sees the piano more on the sentimental aspect. To her the piano symbolizes memories. The memory of her mother and how she would, day after day, “polished this piano with her tears for seventeen years.” The piano to Bernice is the remembrance of her mother’s struggle after her husband died. She was left alone all because of a piano. Last, the piano is a symbol of the past due to all the family history carved into it. It is also a symbol of death because Boy Charles was murdered because of the piano, and when Boy Willie and Lymon tried to move it they heard the ghost of Sutter. These are the things the piano symbolizes.

Fool for Love

Secrets affect everything. A constant feeling of guilt, fear, and frustration is always with the person who has the secret, and once the secret is brought to light the people who are affected by it are changed forever. In a family, secrets are always present. Sometimes parents do not tell their children about the finances, and children do not tell their parents about the all things they do. Every family has their secrets. In the play Fool for Love by Sam Shepard, the old man had two families whose children were and still are in love. The old man had two families because he was in love with two women. He would disappear from one house for a long time and go to the other. The old man’s secret devastated his families. Eddie, his son, realized that he had been “fooling around” with his sister, May, and they have immense love for each other. Also, Eddie’s mother was so heartbroken that she kills herself. The old man felt so guilty about the whole thing, and that is why he drank so heavily before showing Eddie where he went all the time.

There are many elements of realism in this play. Realism in a play portrays ordinary settings, dialect, and people. They are regular people with ordinary strengths and weaknesses. They make common mistakes and are very relatable to the audience. In Fool for Love the old man’s infidelity is an element of realism. Also the drinking, fighting, and expressions of love are also elements of realism. The setting of a simple motel was very realistic. The actions, expressions, and dialogue of the characters are real and relatable. However, Shepard also is different in the use of Realism. The most prevalent instances are the headlights and the sounds of the door shutting. These two elements in the play were heightened and exaggerated. Also the Old Man was a contrast to the Realism in the play. The Old Man only talked to Eddie. He never talks to May and Martin. The Old Man was like the embodiment of the secret that haunts Eddie. All in all, Shepard makes fantastic use of Realism and secrecy in his play.

Top Gilrs

In the play Top Girls by Caryl Churchill, Marlene decides to throw a dinner party for her promotion to managing director at her job. However, instead of inviting friends and family Marlene dines with five other companions that she does not know very well. Her companions are all women from different times and backgrounds. Isabella is an old woman who has spend much of her time traveling the world, and Lady Nijo used to be the concubine of a Japanese Emperor who, after her life in the palace, became a nun. Pope Joan was a woman who disguised as a man to go study and became Pope. But she was later removed as Pope because she had a baby and was a woman. Gret is a very unusual character. She does not say much, but when she does she is either using profanity or speaking the harsh truth. She also steals the wine and bread at the table. The last companion was Griselda who was a peasant who married Marquis Walter and did anything he told her too. These women, in a sense, all clashed with each other but they also were alike. They would talk over each other and debate with each other, but they also felt for each other at times. For instance, Nijo knew exactly what Griselda was going through in trying to please the man in their life because he was considered their life. Each woman has experienced some sort of failure or loss of love. The only one at the table who did not seem to relate was Marlene.

Marlene is very successful and got a promotion. She even expressed how she has never lost a lover. It was almost as if she was higher than the other women at the table in that since. But comparing to what the other ladies have seen, done, and experienced, Marlene is belittled. To me it seems that Marlene is does have many successes, but when it comes to dealing with people she is not the best. She does not know how to talk to some people, and she cannot relate to real people.

The American Dream

The American Dream has been part of the American culture for years. It is a dream that, if you were in America, you have a chance at. It is the dream of having the nice cars, big houses, money, and being a huge success. It is the dream that anyone can be as rich as Bill Gates or have that Wall Street job that makes millions. The American Dream in one word is opportunity whether one is rich or poor. Even the Statue of Liberty speaks of the opportunity in America. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, each character has his or her idea of the American Dream that is both similar and different to the definition. Most of the characters have different ideas depending on each character’s personality. Willy Loman thinks of the American Dream as having a job in the business world of America. It is being well liked by you bosses, co-workers, and everyone. To Linda Loman, the American Dream is about her family and taking care of her husband who works too hard. For Happy the American Dream is all about material things, women, and being better than the next guy. Biff believes the America Dream is not being stuck in the business world of America. His American Dream is just freedom to do what he wants. He was always his father’s golden boy, but when he did not graduate all of his plans shattered and he did not know which direction he should go in regards to his future. Each character is trying to reach their "American Dream" but can't because of eachother or their conflicts.

Symbolism

In the play Trifles there is a lot of symbolism that gives the themes of the play deeper meaning. The apron symbolizes the wife and emphasizes the theme of gender roles. A wife is the homemaker. She is the one who takes care of the house, educates the children, and pleases her husband. Also being a wife is the role of the woman. The woman stays at home and play housekeeper while the husband is away at work. These gender roles are considered the norm of society. This is why Mrs. Wright wants the apron with her in jail; it is “to make her feel more natural.” Another symbol was the dirty towels which symbolizes that “men’s hands aren’t always clean as they might be.” The theme stressed in this symbol is secrecy and sexism. The dirty towel stresses secrets about the murder and the digging up of evidence. It also relates to the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Wright and the unknown dark hard side of Mr. Wright. Lastly, the dirty towels signify sexism because the men think that women just “worry over trifles,” and the men of the play are very quick to judge the woman and not the man. The last symbol is the quilt which symbolizes the disorder in the home and signifies the theme of appearances. Every stitch in the quilt was perfect except for one part where the sewing “was all over the place.” The Wright home is not as happy as it seems. Mr. Wright drinks and, at times, can be very hard. Mrs. Wright is trapped in her own home and marriage, and she “changed” drastically when she got married. She is not happy and her husband is oppressive and abusive. These were the three symbols that stood out to me in the play.

"The Life of a Doll"

The difference between being human and being a doll is that a doll is an object and a human is a subject. Dolls are things. They can be anything you want them to be with manipulation. However human beings think, feel, create, and express who they are and who they want to become. In the play A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen the two characters, Torvald and Nora, are the “doll-wife” and “doll-husband” in a doll house created by society. They both have similar but different definitions of a “human being” that in the end destroys their marriage.

To Torvald, men are supposed to work hard, earn money, handle all the finances, and be the providers for their family. Women are to make a home for their husbands and children, and they are not to bother themselves with “men’s business.” The women are also to be the objects of their husbands and are seen as childlike because they cannot make well reasoned decisions. They also always submit to their husbands because whatever the husband does is always right. The husband has complete control in the relationship. This is being a human being. When Torvald’s wife Nora abides by these standards he is pleased because it is nothing out of the ordinary. To Nora, this is also how men and women should be. She has been cultured in this society of where being human is to be the object of your husband.

However when Nora takes out a loan without her husband’s consent in order to help her husband get better, both Torvald and her reputation are at stake. Torvald loses control and becomes oppressive. Because of her mistake, he wants to cut her off from the children and hide her away. He expresses that “happiness doesn’t matter; all that matters is saving the bits and pieces, the appearance”. All that matters is the fake doll house lifestyle that the Helmers have grown accustomed too and that Torvals has manipulated Nora into living in. In other words, when Nora tries being human and goes against the traditional role of being a woman, Torval cannot handle it. Her definition of a human being is shattered. She now defines a human being as a person who makes decisions, learns, and controls herself. Being human is making mistakes and learning from them. It is not being manipulated into something one is not. Nora was a doll her whole life, and it took one human mistake to make her realize that her whole world was fake.