Category: Drama

The story of birth and the early development of English Drama are complicated. It has passed various stages and transitions. There was no drama in English before the Norman Conquest. The bulk of old English writings were overshadowed by the influence of Latin Christianity. The Latin Church had always feared the powerful appeal that drama made to the eye and ear. Drama is an appeal to the senses being a direct challenge to its spiritual authority. The church had done nothing to encourage the stage since the decadence of the pagan drama of Rome. It was strange that the mass in Latin Christianity was in reality a strange sacred drama and it contained any rate of dramatic possibilities. Being phoenix, raised from its ashes the shadow of the church drama rose again.

During the 10th century, the clergyman requisitioned the most elementary kind of dramatic representation. It was a sort of tables. The clergy man wanted to bring home to the spectators the simple truths of Christianity. From the continent it was passed over to Normans of England. This traced the origin of both Miracle plays and Moralities. There was a distinction between Mysteries and Miracles. The Miracle was a play which dealt with miraculous incidents in the lives of saints and martyrs. The Mysteries were stories which were taken from scripture and narratives. The clergy and choristers took part in the church services at Easter and Christmas showed the possibility of dramatic representation of the myths of religion. While developments in mysteries and miracle plays had been taking place, the Latin plays of Platus and Terence were studies and imitated in the monasteries. Thus Hrotsvitha, Abbess of the Benedictine convent in Gandersheim (Eastphalia) wrote in the 10th century. Six Latin plays were modeled on the comedies of Terence.

The earliest miracles were written probably by an Englishman. They are in Latin with refrains inn old French towards the end of the eleventh century; lost miracles on the subject of St. Katherine might have taken place. It was the work of a certain Geoffrey, settled at Denstable. These performances have been quite common by the latter half of the 12th century.

The earliest dramatic performances arose with the church rituals and it was played in the church itself. The clergies wrote and presented the plays. Then the plays were enacted by the laity from the church into the churchyard and then into the street. The plays became popular and the overcrowding of the spectators led to the descreation of the graveyards. The comic element and farce began to over dominate the religious element. The clergy who took part in this performance felt scandalized. The trade guilds started celebrating the feasts of their patron saints and they began to perform mysteries on some occasions.

These plays were represented outside by pageants i.e. movable platforms. The performances were repeated and steered round the town halting at different stations. In 1311, the council of rienne revived the feast of Corpus Christi. In 1264, it had been instituted by pope urban IV. This festival was celebrated usually in June and it was observed by trade guilds as a public holiday. This was also absorbed into the dramatic representations of the day. The original repertory was the Christmas and Easter scenes and it was expanded until a complete cycle was formed. It started from the creation and fall of a man dealing with principal events in the life of Christ and terminating with the judgment. Four such cycles have been preserved the York, Townley Chester and Coventry cycles.

The York cycle consists of forty eighty plays and it dates from the middle of the fourteenth century. The townley or Wakefield cycle belongs to about the same date was thirty two in number. In these plays the comic and realistic elements are more highly developed. The Chester plays are twenty five in number. It was acted at Whitsuntide instead of Corpus Christi. The Chester plays gave a steady view about the object of religious instructions. The Coventry cycle consists of forty two plays. It was connected with doubtful tradition and it was performed a company of strolling players. The introduction of abstract personification in these plays links the cycle with the earlier moralities.

These plays were performed until 16th century. In 1579, the York plays were performed lastly. The pageants were a moving house consisting of high scaffold with two rooms, a higher, and a lower upon four wheels. The higher room served as a stage and the lower room served as green room. The top was wide open so that the spectators might hear and see everything. They played all along the street. Thus they began first at the Abbey gates and when the first pageant was played, it wheeled to the high cross before the mayor and then to the every street. So every street had a pageants playing before it at one time until the pageants appointed for the day they had been played. All the pageants in different streets assembled at one place at the end of the performance.

The relation between miracles and Shakespearean drama has been stated by court hope: “They prepared the ground in the first place, by spreading a taste for theatrical exhibitions among the people: by furnishing opportunities, in many of the scriptural scenes for the direct imitation of human nature as at second place: By importing into the representations foreign materials and characters, which led to the invention of the plots beyond the range of scripture invention was at third place. These early dramatists furnished the hints for all the namdes generic characters, which were figured so prominently in Shakespeare’s plays. The prototypes in the pageants of the craftsman were Shakespeare’s first and second citizens, carriers, gentlemen and soldiers. The scripture narrative was generalized form the familiar talk which helped the actors to realize about townsfolk and the style made classical in the Mouths of Bottom, Dogberry and Falstaff. There were also some elements which influenced the later history of drama. For Eg. The pathetic situations in the scene between Abraham and Issac, in the story of Jesus Christ, the comic element in the character of Lucifer undramatic character of the bombastic herod and the pastoral element in the scene of the annunciation of the shepherds.

The intermediate stage between the miracle play and the true drama was represented by the morality plays. The dramatic power of the moralities fall far below the miracles. The themes of the miracles were from the scripture narratives and therefore it had readymade plots. The invention of allegorical characters scene paintings and dramatic properties showed the interest of writers of moralities some real characters were depicted under ,oral nick name in attempt to individualize allegorical characters. The form and substance of true drama gradually appeared when actual historical or contemporaneous people were substituted for abstract virtues and vices

The miracle plays do not have great literary value, but they popularized the desire for dramatic representation especially the intermingling of the comic elements with the tragedy giving a way for the romantic plays of Shakespeare. The morality plays appeared in the fifteenth century. But it was gradually developed into didactic interludes and other dramatic composition. The dramatic at advanced the individuality of characterization and realism of dialogue.

Interlude is the next stage in the development of Drama. It was different from morality worth regard to secular and comic subjects. But it anticipated the early form of comedy. The important feature of the Elizabethan drama was the performance of interludes. Household servants and retainers acted in the interludes. There were more or less well trained actors among the noblemen. Noblemen’s theatrical companies were found in the later of Elizabethan’s reign. Example: the earl of Leicester’s servants, the Queen’s players and so on.

Another important form of dramatic art is the Masque. The origin of the masque traced its origin from the spectacle or pageant with a certain amount of pantomime thrown in. The masque has a dual character. Dancing and concerted movement resembled the modern ballet and songs and dialogues resembled the modern opera.

The three influences, traced in the development of English drama are native tradition. The Latin influence and the Italian influence these three elements were blended in the works of later Elizabethan playwrights. The Mystery and the Miracle plays, the morality, interlude, rough farce, chronical plays, historical plays and the jester and the fools represent the development of the native tradition. Seneca’s tragedy, Platus and Terence’s works showed the development of Latin influence. Example: Udall’s first comedy though English in plot, incident, tone and dialogue, it followed the classical principles in construction. The Italian influence marked in tragedies like Gascoigne’s Jocasta and Wheatstone’s Promosarp Cassandra and in the comedies of Gascoigne’s supposes.

The interludes disregarded the abstract personification of morality plays in favor of living types. Heywood’s interludes like A play of Love, the four P’s, the curate and the neighbor pratt are all more or less realistic sketches. A typical example for realistic sketches was the four P’s. It has a single incident and moral dialogues, concerned with a dispute. The first three P’ (Poticary, Pardoner and Palmer) told the biggest lie and the fourth P (Pedler) told about an appointed judge. The Topiary called the peddler as an honest man but Peddler passed it and bid them in the form of a narrative piece. The poticary told the story of a marvelous cure. The pardoner beats hi by telling the story of the release of a woman’s soul from hell. The Pardoner expressed his marvel at the story of the Pardoner and protests in good humored sarcasm.

The first regular English comedy was Nicholas Udall’s Ralph Roister Doister. It followed Latin models. The play is divided into acts and scenes and it was written rhyming couplets. The action is clearly developed, the dialogue is lively and plot has some substance and the dramatis personane are live characters. In 1562, the first English tragedy Gorboduc or Ferrex and Porrex by Sackville and north Norton was played. This play is divided into acts and scenes and it was written in blank verse. Before each act, there is a dumb show which foreshadows what is next to appear on the stage. The end of the act contained chorus in rhyming verse. Long speeches and Gloomy atmosphere are the features of this play. The regularity of the plot meter was the only merit it possessed. The Latin models were followed in both tragedy and comedy. The comedy plays founded upon Platus and the tragedy plays influenced upon Seneca. The classical influence was more than the native genius and tradition in the subsequent development of English drama.

The later development of English drama traced through the works of university wits. The university wits are the scholars who were fostered under either Cambridge or oxford. George Peele of oxford, Robert Green of Cambridge and then of Oxford Margaret are the chief university wits. Among them, Margaret is worthy of Shakespeare. He is chiefly remembered for his spiteful attack on Shakespeare in his pamphlet, “Groastsworth of wit”. Form Thomas Lodge’s Prose novel Rosalynde, Shakespeare borrowed the plot of ‘As you like it’. As a dramatist, John Lyly is hardly important. The introduction of Eupheism in his Euphes the anatomy of wit and Eupes and his England had a great influence in Shakespeare’s development. In Shakespeare’s love’s labor lost, Bastard Eupheism is ridiculed. In much ado about nothing, genuine Eupheism is truly illustrated in the tongue fence between Benderick and Beatrice. Thomas kyd, was at either university wrote Hieronymo and its sequel the Spanish tragedy, was full of blood curdling horrors and vulgar rant. Bit here and there are passages of lofty poetry.

The important of all university wins and the one who influenced Shakespeare’s development was Christopher Marlowe of Cambridge. His chief plays are Tamburlaine, doctor Faustus, the Jew of Malts and Edward II. Christopher Marlowe was Shakespeare’s predecessor. Shakespeare’s Ricard II was influenced by Marlowe’s Edward II. Marlowe’s blank verse had been perfected by Shakespeare. Marlowe had no touch of humor, no sense of artistic proportion; in straining after the vast and awful, he sometimes degenerated into Bombast. But his work has a force and poetic beauty, which was hardly surpassed by Shakespeare.

Saintsbury summedup the work of university wits: In all we find the may sided activity of the Shakespearean drama as it was to be sprawling and struggling in a kind of swaddling clothes of which it cannot get and which hamper and cripple its movements. In all, there is present a most extraordinary and unique rant and bombast of expression which reminds one of the shrieks and yells of a band of healthy boys just come to play. The passages which are known to everyone are evidently meant quite seriously throughout the work of these poets. Side by side with this is another mania, foible of classical allusion. The heathen gods and goddesses. The localities of Greek and Roman poetry are put in the mouths of all the characters without the remotest attempt to consider property of relevance. On the other hand, the merits, though less evenly distributed in degree, are equally constant in kind. In kyat, in Greene still more, in Peele more still, in Marlowe, most of all, Phrases and Passages of bright and dazzling poetry flash out of the midst of the bombast and the tedium.

Shakespeare was not belonged not to the university group, but he was rival to the set of actor playwrights. The actor playwrights who preceded Shakespeare were very little. They worked in group for the development of their respective companies. They contributed their work to the drama, rather than of poetry. They made characters, plot, acting and reacting develop each other as an organic parts of a living whole, instead of using the plot as a peg to hand splendid speeches. A mere background to throw out in Lurid light the hero’s all-devouring egotism was in Marlowe’s case.

Among Shakespeare’s contemporaries four of them specially were connected with him both by the character of their work and their personalities. Ben Johnson made his name through Shakespeare’s good offices. It is said by his work “Everyman in his humor”. He wrote many plays but the two roman plays Sejanus and Catiline gave deficient in human interest. He had a keen eye on characteristic foibles of men and women and a wide range of observation. His plays exhibit every variety of wit, subtle character analysis and knowledge of the world. Johnson’s genius was too unsympathetic to make him a perfect master of Drama. His dramatis personae do not come to our hearts as Shakespeare’s works do. George Chapman is all fools and the best tragedy of him is Busya Ambois. His dramatic work is inferior to Johnson’s except in occasional passages. John Marston wrote several plays but his best comedy was Antonio and Mellida. In his “What you will”, in spite of blood curdling bombast, there are fine passages in his plays. Being a hack writer, Thomas Dekker wrote a large amount of dramatic work chiefly in collaboration with others. He approached Shakespeare far nearer than any of his contemporaries in pathos and in the definition of manhood.

Modern Dramas engage audiences by bringing the problems of life to the stage.

The play Twelve Angry Men written by Reginald Rose, is a Modern Drama that covers real-life social issues, portraying themes of social class, race, justice, and innocence. The play is based on 12 jurors who are instructed to deliberate a case where an 18-year-old, Hispanic boy from the slums, is accused of stabbing his father. The genre of Modern drama is characterized by its particular subject matter of realism, social consciousness, social issues, and real-life relatable issues. Modern Dramas depict realistic environments and dramatic plots, as well as character development, dialogue, and an intriguing and complex storyline, which was utilized in the play to engage the audience to portray themes of social class, race, justice, and innocence.

The play Twelve Angry men operates various techniques to engage the audience. Dialogue and character development are utilized in the play to bring in issues of Discrimination, especially on social class and race. The dialogue in the play is suspenseful and intense and is used to voice the controversial, prejudiced opinions of the jurors. Juror 10 epitomizes this,

” Listen to me. They’re no good. There’s not a one of ’em who’s any good.”

the intensity, tone, and controversy of the dialogue engage the audience. The quote implies that minorities are “second class” and Caucasians are “first class”, this quote brings in the issue of racism, a common real-life social matter. In addition, character development was used to engage the audience, and to also convey the themes of class and racial discrimination. Character development in the play shows the change of opinion and bias of the accused. For example, Juror 4 who is an affluent, wealthy man is strongly assured that the accused is guilty, based on prejudice of the accused’s class and race. This is shown in the quote

“It’s no secret that slums are breeding grounds for criminals”,

he describes that all people who come from a low socioeconomic background, are criminals and implying them as “second-class citizens”.However, Juror 4 opinion alters slowly throughout the play, he says,

“I’m sorry. I’m convinced. I don’t think I’m wrong often, but I guess I was this once. There is a reasonable doubt.”

The change of thought strongly emphasizes the character development prevalent in this play. In essence, the play utilized character development and dialogue to engage the audience with real-life issues, thus modern dramas do engage the audiences by bringing problems of life to the stage.

Furthermore, the play employs themes of justice and innocence. Justice and innocence are depicted through the intriguing storyline. The themes of justice and innocence were shown towards the end of the play, showing the change of verdict from the jurors from “Guilty’ to “Not Guilty” as a result of Juror 8’s persistence and his tolerant mindset, as he tries his best to change the minds of this other 11 jurors, this is emphasized when Juror 8 explains,

“It’s always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth.”

The juror’s mindset emphasizes justice and innocence, explaining that the importance of truth, and the accused should not be judged based on preconceived biases. Moreover, the theme of innocence is prevalent throughout the play, the lack of strong evidence that proved the boy’s actions were apparent but the jurors were “blinded” by their prejudice, Juror 8’s quote emphasizes this,

“You want this boy to die because you want it, not because of the facts”.

This implies the boy’s innocence and lack of strong evidence, as well as the juror’s prejudice. In essence, although the conception of justice and innocence is a complex and difficult concept to grasp, the play manages to convey these themes of social issues effectively and engage the audience through its intriguing storyline.

In conclusion, the play effectively conveys its themes of innocence, justice, and discrimination. An intriguing storyline, dialogue, and character development were utilized to communicate the real-life problem themes to engage the audience. Therefore, Modern Dramas engages audiences by bringing the problems of life to the stage, and Twelve Angry Men, does this effectively.     

 American literature shows the relationship between traditional and modern values in Tennessee Williams’s psychological drama A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). After the brief introduction, the author focuses on two main characters Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski who symbolize significant historical pressure between the traditional values of the Old South, and the modern values of the New South. The central heroine of the drama, Blanche, is partially like Williams’s schizophrenic sister Rose, and partially like him neurasthenic, sensitive, and shy. By the extensive use of color religious symbolism, and dramatic technique, through the character of Blanche, Williams explores prejudices and ideas about the South in the 20th century, about its almost non-existent values and culture. Through the character of Stanley Kowalski, Williams explores the new, urban modernity of the New South with its gracious and comfortable life. The use of ubiquitous symbolism emphasizes the emotions and conflict between Blanche and Stanley. Certain symbols influence each other by the accent put on the opposite aspects of related qualities. In the paper, there are discussed only the symbols according to their thematic importance. Williams concludes the last scene with the victory of the old world. Blanche is like a living martyr as she leaves Stanley’s house with dignity. Triumphant in suffering, she rises to a new life.

Introduction

Tennessee Williams has achieved superior status in the realm of American theatre. Though, Williams was a prolific author of drama, essays, poems, short stories, novels, and screenplay, his status as an essential American dramatist seems inseparably linked with what is arguably his most famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire. It has the tragic overtones of grand opera, and is, indeed, the story of a New Orleans Camille – a wistful little trollop who shuns the reality of what she is and takes gallant and desperate refuge in a magical life she has invented for herself. (Chapman, p. 29). Philip Kolin makes a distinction between works of art that appeal to a general audience and those that appeal to what he calls “Sophisticated literary critics” (Kolin, p. 133). William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, perhaps no play in English since the time of Shakespeare, has won much praise from both the critics and the populace. (Kolin, p. 134). Looking at A Streetcar Named Desire from a feminist perspective proves enormously complicated. This is a Woman’s story, Blanche, the key character, whose point of view dominates the story; is a woman; her problems are distinctly women’s problems, and her limitations and strategies are peculiar to powerless women. In addition, the character who is faced with deciding between the warring parties, Stella, is another kind of wake. Yet her choices are also peculiarly female choices, she ignores the needs of others and eventually adopts her illusion. Life (sex) with Stanley is her highest value. Her refusal to accept Blanche’s story of the rape is a commitment to self-preservation rather than love, and thus Stella contributes to Blanche’s disintegration. Her final decision is a concession to the constraints on a woman, not only in twentieth-century America but in most of human history. Blanche refuses to accept the reality of her life and attempts to live under illusion. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella and Blanche are portrayed as the weaker sex: Women who are overpowered by Stanley, the self-aggrandizing macho hero Williams Confronts Modern Society directly with the problem of female victimization because even though we have made considerable progress over the last century, women remain subordinate to men. Much of William’s beliefs about marginalized women are rooted in his own life story.

Discussion

Williams’s women characters are among some of the finest ever portrayed. They are also among the most complex and anti-stereotypical. Blanche is both a villain and a victim, the cause of her husband’s suicide and the suffering widow as a result of it. William’s sympathy, by and large, lies with the women: Furthermore, unlike traditional writers of romantic fiction, he is not fixated on nubile young virgins. His interesting women tend to be older, experienced, and subtle. In addition, instead of seeing marriage as the end of a woman’s life, he sees it as the beginning. He loved and admired many woken for their courage and their integrity. Critics pay particular attention to Blanche’s character and much less to Stella, who is every bit as much a victim of her gender and puts up with more than she needs or deserves to, Stella, the misplaced gentle lady, serves as a foil to Stanley, the brute, William’s choice of names for these two charactersis noteworthy in how it sets them apart. A homeless woman in her thirties, Blanche arrives at her sister’s house at the beginning of the play. She had been a school teacher and married Allan, a man she later discovered to be homosexual. His reactions to his sexual orientation cause him to commit suicide. Lonely and guilty, she becomes a prostitute, who loses her teaching position when he sexual relationship with a teenager is discovered. After the family plantation Belle Reve is lost, she turns to her sister Stella, who is sympathetic towards her older sister (Blanche) and is protective of her, especially when she observes Blanche’s emotional instability. She pleads with Stanley to show kindness to her as well. He ignores Stella’s request not to tell Blanch about the baby and overrides her feelings as he asserts his male dominance in his power struggle with Blanche. Blanche and Stella are portrayed as victims of traditional Southern Society in which females ad few choices in life. Both sisters raised in Southern tradition, were to seek the security of marriage, but chose unsuitable husbands. At the end of the play, when Stella is faced with believing either Stanley or Blanche about the rape, she tells Eunice that she could not continue to live with Stanley if she were to believe Blanche. She follows Eunice’s advice to believe her husband because “Life has got to go on.” However, this decision will ultimately cause her bad marriage to become worse. The ultimate act of violent male domination occurs when Stanley rapes Blanche. Rape is a very difficult problem to decipher, and most feminists agree that it represents the ultimate outrage of men’s abusiveness towards women because women are particularly vulnerable to the invasion of their bodies. The setting for A Streetcar Named Desire is Post World War II when the American South was steeped in sexist views that were established during the mid-eighteenth century. Cash explains that Southern Society perceived the ideal woman as merely pure and innocent. Women were expected to attract and allure men, but they were also required to maintain their innocence and purity, which made their rules particularly challenging Blanche is right brain hemisphere dominant and Stanley is left: the world of “idealized romance versus the world of brute reality”. Kernn indicates that Stella balances the two perspectives – “born kin to the ‘romantic’ and married to the ‘realistic’”. Williams indicates that Stella is a sad victim in a relationship that she thinks is within the boundaries of normal. The most disgusting element in the play occurs at the end when mental health professionals take Blanche away and Stanley puts his hands in Stella’s blouse to console her. This chauvinistic act is the ultimate degradation of a woman amid a devastating family trauma and reduces him to a mindless animal. Williams acknowledges his sensitivity to the status of women as powerless and defined as the “other” because he experienced sexual abuse and received his share of the marginalization as a homosexual. Frequently, Williams’s female characters become his mouthpiece, because both Psychologically and thematically women better express his romantic and poetic style. As mentioned earlier, Blanche is sometimes viewed as a spokesperson for Williams. Williams is sometimes viewed as an “androgynous artist leaning more towards feminine sensibilities”, because he presents women as more sensitive, feeling, and humane than their male counterparts. Williams identified with women and loved and admired them for their courage and their integrity. Williams held that the two conflicting strains in his nature; the “Puritan” and the “Cavalier”, are also present in every human being. Harold Bloom indicates this dualism in Blanche who yearns for the values of the aesthetic but scarcely embodies them, might represent a “masochistic self–parody” on the part of Williams himself.

Conclusion

Tennessee Williams masterfully presents women’s oppression in male Patriarchal Society in Streetcar Named Desire. He relates to the male other through his own experience as a marginalized segment of Society as a homosexual. Williams also shows sensitivity towards the mentally ill, another victimized minority in a male-dominated world. In Streetcar Named Desire, the dramatist is attacking those disruptive forces in Modern Life that disturb the women.

Within the realms of fairy-tales and dramatic plays, characters have always been depicted as villains or heroes. Villains are conquered, while heroes are triumphant. August Wilson examines this with regards to the protagonist, Troy Maxson, in his play Fences, where a bold and bitter black man alienates those around him, cheats on his wife and commits Gabe to a mental institution. The short story suggests that Troy is a villain. This is shown through symbolism, irony, and imagery.

Firstly, Fences suggests that Troy is a villain through symbolism. The fence in Troy’s backyard is a symbol of the relationships that are repaired and shattered in their yard. Troy is under the assumption that the fence that he and Cory are constructing, is merely one of Rose’s cumbersome projects. Due to Troy’s cynical personality trait, he supposes the fence also signifies keeping something out, rather than letting something in, which is another reason as to why Troy is a villain. The protagonist is responsible for how he views the meaning of the fence. He decides to view it in a pessimistic manner, which results in Troy veritably pushing his loved ones away. Bono attempts to makes him comprehend that the fence can have the reverse outcome. When Rose says,

‘ROSE:Where you going off to? You been running out of here every Saturday for weeks. . . .’ Troy: ‘I’m gonna walk down to Taylors’. Listen to the ball game.’.

This quote explains how Troy pushes Rose away from finding out he cheated on her. Instead of being open and truthful about the fact that he has not been at Taylor’s to watch the baseball game, he makes a conscious decision push her away by sleeping with another woman, and to be dishonest with her about his unfaithfulness in their relationship. When Rose says, ‘’… you’ve been running out of here every Saturday for weeks’’, she is simply asking where he is every Saturday. In this act, Rose is still oblivious to the fact that he is unfaithful to her. However, she remains suspicious. It is evident that Troy has been seeing Alberta for a lengthy period. Cheating and being mendacious are part of the characteristics of a villain. Cheating is disrespectful to the other partner, kills trust within the relationship, and is entirely unfair to the other committed partner. Due to these reasons, Troy is villain. In addition, when Rose says,

‘He [Troy] say you were supposed to help him with this fence.’

Cory: ‘He been saying that the last four or five Saturdays, and then he don’t never do nothing, but go down to Taylors ‘’.This quote represents Troy’s absence of commitment to finishing the fence and depicts his lack of commitment in his marriage with Rose. When Cory utters, ‘’He been saying that the last four or five Saturdays, and then he don’t never do nothing but go down to Taylors’’ it is apparent that even though Rose has been begging Troy to conclude the construction of the fence, Troy is indifferent to his wife’s desires. The fact that the protagonist, simply put, will not even attempt to finish the fence alone, and repetitively demands that Cory helps him (as the quote states above), demonstrates the scarcity of his respect towards Rose. In a relationship, both partners must be willing to act as a team to help each other. Respectively, Troy must be willing to help his other half. While Rose takes care of the house chores, and uplifting the family dynamic that Troy is breaking, the least that Troy could do, apart from complaining about how difficult life is, is please his wife by putting up the fence. The fence seemed to be described as completed, solely at the end of the play, when Troy perishes, and his family reunites. The completion of the fence illustrates the resilience of the Maxson family and paradoxically the strength of Troy who tears them apart, but also brings them back together one more time when he perishes. Wilson demonstrates that Troy is a villain through symbolism.

Secondly, Fences suggests that Troy is a villain through irony. Troy constructs the fence around his backyard to avert mortality from invading and take him over to the other side. The protagonist articulates, addressing death, ‘I’m gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I want you to stay on the other side.’ However, in the final acts, death surpasses the fence and reaches him, and the Maxsons are present at his memorial. The irony is evident when the protagonist fabricates the fence on the perimeters of his disintegrating house as an attempt to shield himself, nonetheless, decease trespasses the fence and greets him to the afterlife.

In addition, as an occupation, the protagonist desires to drive the garbage truck rather than executing the redundant and unwieldy responsibilities of lifting garbage. Troy yearns becoming the first dark-hued chauffeur, and his objective is realized. Though, his new profession is making him feel sorrowful rather than content. He says, ‘Ain’t got nobody to talk to. . . . Feel like you working by yourself.’ He surmises that the alteration and job upgrade will result in gleefulness, when, Tory undergoes isolation and depression.HOW DOES THIS MAKE HIM A VILLAIN?????

Thirdly, Fences suggests that Troy is a villain through imagery.

In The Fictional Story Fences by August Wilson, I do truly believe Troy does loves Rose because he does the best he can to provide for his family and still is affectionate with her and cares about her. Troy does choose to have an affair with Alberta but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love her, I Believe he loves Rose but he’s more In love with Alberta because he feels he can be himself and laugh. In the play Troy says “ I can sit up in her house and laugh. Do you understand what I’m saying. I can laugh out loud… and it feels good. It reaches all the way down to the bottom of my shoes.” He never said he stop loving Rose but he just loves the feeling that he gets with alberta and doesn’t want to give that up. He does apologize to Rose for deciding to step outside their marriage but he also says that he’s not exactly going to stop seeing Alberta because she is having his child and He does have something for her.

Some Time goes by and Troy does still continue to see Alberta but is still at home with Rose, He’s still providing for his family by continuing to give money to Rose and taking care of her. Another reason why I do believe Troy loves Rose because when Bono tells Troy if he does love Rose he will be honest with her and tell Rose he’s having an affair. In the play Bono says “ I know what Rose means to you, Troy. I’m just trying to say I don’t want to see you mess up.” Bono is saying here that he cares for Troy and Rose and he knows Troy loves Rose so he doesn’t want him to mess things up with their marriage. Also when Troy does tell Rose about the affair he does say it had nothing to do with her and that she was doing everything right. In the play Troy says “ It ain’t about nobody being a better woman or nothing. Rose, you ain’t to blame. A man couldn’t ask for no woman to be a better wife than you’ve been. I’m responsible for it. I done locked myself into a pattern trying to take care of you all that I forgot about myself.’

In conclusion I do believe Troy does love rose and never stopped loving her just because he had an affair. I also believe he does love Alberta too because she makes him feel differently than Rose does and he likes that feeling. So I don’t think his love for rose ever went away just because he chose to have an affair with Alberta. This topic of this drama does apply to other situations because some people can experience things like the relationship cory and troy had or just the family problems in general. so I don’t think this situation could only apply during this time period, so it’s still relevant. In General I could relate to the topic a little because I feel like I experienced similar occurrences that happened in my life, so this whole play is something I could understand and relate too.

 There are a lot of famous dramas in Japan, and many people enjoy watching them. When I was in elementary school, some dramas led to the sales of many celebrities. And also there were so many masterpieces that it was said to be the golden age of the drama. I was a prisoner of drama at that time. Among them, there is an impressive drama that I still remember. The drama’s name is “99 Days of me with a star”. I am going to tell you about this drama.

The 99th drama of Me with star was broadcast from October 23 to December 25, in 2011. This drama said that it is a love story depicting the theme of ‘The far love even though I am closest to you”. However, it is very important to draw the days of the two people who are not allowed to fall in love with each other. and at the end of the day, what kind of decision they make.

This drama’s main character is an ordinary man whose name is “Kouhei Namiki”. His hobby is astronomical observation, and he has by part-time job. He has been working a part-time job at a security company for 20 years, and he has a very insensitive personality and has no interest in anything other than astronomical observation, which is his hobby.

One such day, he was told by his supervisor that Kohei should serve the Korean Star whose name is Yuna, as a bodyguard and stay with her to protect her gender. Coincidentally, the president of Yuna’s entertainment company and the president of the company that Kohei works in had by chance to get to know each other. Then, Kohei was asked to work as a bodyguard. At First, Kohei refused, he was told in a short period of 99 days, and after that, he was asked.

It is said that the love between the bodyguard and the actress is illegal. Kohei is only interested in the stars, for the reason he became a bodyguard for Yuna is because he doesn’t have to worry that he will fall in love with her. The contract period is 99 days until Yuna’s stay in Japan ends. Kohei has to protect her for ninety-nine days. It was starting the secret love of two people who were not supposed to meet.

Yuna is a Korean top-star actress with the nickname ‘Bride of the People’. In Korea, Yuna is called the ‘bride of the people’ and has a pretty young lady-like image by people who live in Korea. However, while she worked hard in order not to destroy her image, she also decided to work overseas because of such a cramped situation. So she desperately studied Japanese and prepared to go to Japan. Also, she has a brother who is separated from her alive. Yuna decided to go to Japan because she knew her younger brother was in Japan. Yuna thought that if she became famous in Japan, she would be able to meet her younger brother, so she would stay in Japan for a long time to record a drama called ‘White Memory.’ After a few days, she met Kohei, who later became her bodyguard.

At first, Kohei and Yuna were on bad terms, and they had disagreements about everything they did. Because Yuna was staying at the hotel while she was in Japan, Kohei had to watch her over 24 hours a day to prevent Yuna from trying again and again to get out of the hotel.

Yuna carries the strap of ‘Hokuto Sitisei’ which is the brother’s keepsake always with her, but the president of Yuna’s office throws it away without permission. The person said ‘Don’t carry something that the top actress doesn’t do like this.’ She believes that she can meet her brother sometimes because her brother found the strap as a landmark. so she searched for the strap that was thrown. Kohei saw that scene, and he said “ I’ll always find your important things.” From that day on, the distance between them shrinks at once, and each other becomes conscious of each other.

After that, a new rival of love appeared. The person who co-stars in Yuna’s debut film in Japan is a famous actor who is the top actor in Japan named Yamato Takanabe. He falls in love with Yuna while he plays with her. From there, the triangular relationship between Kohei, Yuna, and Yamato begins.

Even if she notices Yamato’s feelings, Yuna realizes that she loves Kohei and refuses his saying. but a reporter who doubts about their relationship begins to follow in an attempt to take a scoop. The scene where Kohei and Yuna are together is taken to the photograph, and it becomes a fuss, Kohei is made to stop Yuna’s bodyguard.

Yuna says that she can’t stop feeling that she loves him, and she says “Let’s go run away anywhere only two of us”. But Kohei says that “I want you to continue to shine as an actress”. They realize that their life is different. The end of love without the possibility of being united was the decision to go on each road for each other’s dreams.

In conclusion, this drama shows that men and women gradually become more and more fall in love with each other, but it is very painful that it is not allowed and should not be connected. It seems to be a drama that is not reality, and the point is also good. I would like to recommend many people who like watching Japanese love drama. 

Throughout the drama, “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” author, Robert Emmet Sherwood presents the themes of death, doubt, and war and peace. Sherwood conveys these themes through the use of structure, character development, and language. This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama contains the historical context of Abraham Lincoln’s life and reflects various experiences he faced from his early, unsuccessful days as a postmaster in New Salem and closes with his election to the presidency and departure for Washington. Sherwood’s previous works led to his discovery as he later became a speechwriter for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After this drama had erupted on Broadway, Sherwood said, ‘To be able to write a play a man must be sensitive, imaginative, naive, gullible, passionate: he must be something of an imbecile, something of a poet, something of a liar, something of a damn fool… He must be prepared to make a public spectacle of himself. He must be independent and brave.”(Francis) This quote demonstrates Sherwood’s thick skin as he constantly ridiculed public figures in his anti-war movements in support of the common theme in his play futility of war.

From beginning to end, Lincoln’s life was controlled by the feelings about the deaths that he had witnessed. This is seen in the opening scene of the drama as Lincoln speaks to Mentor Graham and tells him how he thinks about death often. Young Abe says, ‘‘because it has always seemed to be close to me—as far back as I can remember’’ (8). He then goes on to describe what it was like to help build his own mother’s coffin, who died at a young age. The theme of death is continued in this narrative structure as Lincoln relates this situation to the death of Ann Rutledge, the woman he had fallen in love with. Her death caused Lincoln to back out of his political rise. He later explains why to Bowling and Nancy Green saying, “I could not give any devotion to one who has power over death so large and uses it.” (30) Although Lincoln was referring to prayer, it can be related to sending troops to war and further conveys Sherwood’s anti-war theme along with the futility of war. Another example portraying the theme of death controlling Lincoln’s actions through Sherwood’s narrative structure is found in the passing away of his friend Bowling Green. As Ann’s death retreats Lincoln from his political involvement, the death of Bowling pulls him out of his next marriage to his new love, Mary Todd. Although these death experiences usually gave Lincoln negative thoughts, the near-death of Jimmy Gale grasps Lincoln back into his responsibilities in his personal and political lives. In scene 7, Lincoln’s approach to death takes a positive shift. Lincoln prays, “Grant him the freedom of life. Do not deny him his birthright. I humbly beg you to not condemn him the imprisonment of death” (56). Instead of Lincoln’s usual denial and hiding from God, he has matured and accepts that death is a natural occurrence that all will face. This narrative structure displays the character development of Lincoln about the theme of death as he now embraces it unlike before. Scholar Eleanor Flexner described Sherwood’s constant incorporation of death as, ‘‘a device forced upon him by his inability to construct a play in which the suspense will arise from the actions of the characters themselves’’ (Flexner).

Another theme displayed throughout the drama by Sherwood is doubt. Abraham Lincoln is known and remembered by most as a man with a clear vision whose decisive actions during the Civil War preserved the Union. The Lincoln portrayed in this drama is quite the opposite. Sherwood presents Lincoln as an uncertain man who is incredibly doubtful of himself. An example of this is found in scene 2 as Lincoln lists off plenty of reasons why the people would not want to vote for him and how he was unfit for the position. Sherwood writes, “I am afraid I cannot go quite that far in self-esteem” as the committee offers him the nomination. In addition, Lincoln is not confident in his love life. This is visible when he is asking Ann to go out with him and he asks for her to consider him despite his faults. This is also present as Lincoln sends a letter to Mary Todd before their wedding stating that their marriage would only lead to pain and misery for both of them. In Sherwood’s notes for this play, it is stated that the real Lincoln was not as doubtful as portrayed and is presented as growing into confidence for the sake of the drama. This theme again is portrayed through the growth of Lincoln and his confidence or lack thereof.

A final theme conveyed through this drama by Sherwood is one of war and peace. Lincoln’s whole presidency was consumed by the Civil War. As Lincoln does oppose slavery, he does not enough to support a war over it. In scene 4, Lincoln states, “I am opposed to slavery. But I am even more opposed to going to war.” This example further shows how Sherwood incorporates themes through character development and dialogue with Lincoln’s struggle between war and peace towards slavery. In the critical essay, ‘Bob Sherwood in Illinois’ John Mason Brown states that Lincoln moved into the present with a new timeliness as ‘a man of peace who had had to face the issue of appeasement or war’ (Brown). Lincoln’s attitude towards the war in the drama stays consistent and reflects Sherwood’s ideas against war.

The structure of this play allows Sherwood to freely write and jump around as he divides Lincoln’s life into segments. This narrative structure makes the drama rather choppy as Sherwood squeezes three decades of Lincoln’s life into a three-hour drama. It includes many well-known events of Lincoln’s life along with fabricated ones by Sherwood to highlight qualities of Lincoln he thought were important. The consensus among multiple critics of Sherwood’s work agrees that it is not a well-written drama. Even before this play was produced, esteemed scholar Eleanor Flexner predicted many repeated series of events such as, ‘A man wise, cynical, and charming finds the answer to his quest for the meaning of life, in a woman; suddenly he falls in love, no less suddenly his life is wrenched from its old pattern, and in three cases out of four he goes gallantly to his death in consequence’ (Flexner). By creating the drama without any set structure, Sherwood can easily establish the themes he chose to highlight in Lincoln’s life whenever necessary.

Another method Sherwood utilizes to convey themes to the audience is by depicting Lincoln as an everyday American. Lincoln embodies the same strength, doubts, and contradictions throughout the play that many Americans share in their everyday lives. The playwright’s focus on Lincoln’s humanity and contradictions allows the audience to relate more easily to these themes and acknowledge them. One example of this is seen through Lincoln’s love for life but also his various meetings with death. Another example in Lincoln’s life is his sense of greatness that contrasts his inner feelings of mediocrity. A third example of contradiction would be his need for female love in his life but his fear of its consequences. By depicting Lincoln’s many insecurities, Sherwood enables the audience to remember Lincoln as a being on their level and better accept the messages presented to them through the drama. Scholar Carl Sandburg, who studies and comments on works regarding Lincoln, explains to readers, “Sherwood was conscious of using good sources and also of the fact that he needed to change some facts for dramatic purpose” (Sandburg). Although Sherwood slightly embellishes Lincoln’s life, a more interesting story is the end product. This hooks the reader into the drama and allows the audience to think deeper into the themes Sherwood selected to present.

In conclusion, Sherwood successfully conveys his themes through multiple techniques that are understandable, relatable, and direct. The playwright also includes life experiences from Lincoln and himself that the audience can easily pull lessons away from and apply to their everyday life. By the end of this drama, the audience will be able to look back at it and realize how remarkable the life of Abraham Lincoln truly was.

Works Cited

1. Brown, John Mason, The Worlds of Robert E. Sherwood: Mirror to His Times, Harper & Row Publishers, 1962.
2. Fergusson, Francis, ‘Notes on the Theatre,’ in The Southern Review, Winter 1940.
3. Flexner, Eleanor, American Playwrights, 1918-1938, Simon and Schuster, 1938, pp. 272-82.
4. Sandburg, Carl, ‘Forward,’ in Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1939, pp. Xi.
5. Sherwood, Robert E. “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” 1896-1955:London: F. Warne; New York: Scribner 1 Jan. 1970, archive.org/details/abelincolninill0sher/page/10

Raina Telgemeier wants to be a normal sixth grader, after one night after coming home from Girl Scouts. While she was running with her friends, she fell and injured her two front teeth. That same night Raina goes to the hospital with her mom and dad. The next morning she wakes up with a cast in her mouth and forgets everything that happened last night. The following week after seeing a doctor she got back to school. Were students bullying her and making bad assumptions about how she got her teeth broken? The next few weeks go on and on and on while going to the doctors, taking pills, going to Girl Scouts and school. She finds out from her doctor that she damaged the bone above while falling onto the concrete and said by Raina’s sister Amara ‘A VAMPIRE.’

After a few weeks as it is getting closer to Raina’s birthday, she asks to get her ears pierced, but her mom seems to be bothered by it. As it is Raina she throws a birthday party gets lots of earrings, and tells her friends she is getting braces on the next Friday. So soon getting her ears pierced in about a week. In about three more weeks it was the last day of school, and all of Raina’s classmates got to sign each other’s yearbooks. That summer was pretty normal, as she went to Girl Scouts, visited her grandma’s, played Nintendo, waited for the bus stop in the fog, had car trips, and lots of trips to the orthodontist, and also got a headgear. Raina starts school in the 7th grade and feels like no one is treating her differently. While in-band she meets a 6th grader that sits by her and also has braces. She learns his Samuel, but people call him Sammy. Learning how to play the flute at home was hard because her hands were hurting as much as her teeth.

In October Raina went home and was watching TV while doing her homework, and then there was an earthquake. Will was almost hurt while standing in front of a bookshelf but didn’t get hurt. As it was over they tried turning on the T.V the power had gone out. All of their neighbors were standing outside of their houses. When they heard the whole Bay Bridge had collapsed. Two hours in the nighttime, Raina’s dad had come home. So Raina had to do her homework with a candle. As time passes Raina goes and watches the movie ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and she loves it. Then a flash from her childhood shows her in a carnival jumping on a bounce house and chipping her two front teeth as a child. Then she gets a retainer that makes it look like she has really big teeth. Then she finds another guy in the same grade as her named Sean. Because Raina now likes Sean she feels awkward around Sammy. Raina doesn’t go to the Valentine’s dance cause Sean didn’t go and that makes Sammy feel sad. Now in her band classes, Sammy doesn’t talk to her and only talks back to his friends, not Raina.

Raina gets her braces tighter and it hurts more to do anything even smile. Then the next week she gets her braces tighter again. Then she had her birthday party when she turned 13 years old. At her birthday Party her friends made lies about what Sean said. She goes back to school as she starts grade 8. Raina tries to make it on the basketball team to impress Sean, but doesn’t make it. In one of her classes, she is sending notes to her friend and the teacher asks to see the paper and reads it in front of the entire class. Summer break rolls up and Raina gets ready to go to high school. In the summer Raina doesn’t play spin the bottle at a friend’s party. At the periodontist doctor did something wrong, and fainted and her mom blew up and got so mad she left with her daughter. Raina’s summer break is over and gets a makeover before she goes to high school. At lunchtime, her friends make fun of her for having toothpaste, and calling her “dog breath.” Her friends see that Raina is getting food. And decides to pull her skirt down in front of everyone. Raina makes a new friend in her gym class and decides that it is better to have friends who treat you well than friends who make fun of you all the time. Raina got her braces off and felt like her teeth looked weird, but her friends told her her teeth looked fine. 

Fences

Fences is a story of a black man named Troy. Most of the story tells of Troy’s experiences and how it shapes his character. The audience cannot overlook the main ideas expressed in the play. The themes include poor upbringing, racial prejudice, interpretation, and inheritance of history, and struggles in relationships. The audience can also note elements such as symbolism, dramatic irony, and characterization used by the play’s author.

Poor Upbringing

Poor upbringing is one of the main themes illustrated in the play. At the beginning of the play, Troy and Bono are talking about their childhood life. The two recall how complex their relationships with their parents were. As they tell their stories, they realize how much similar their childhood was. It appears that it was typical for parents to raise their children that way during their time. The memories seem to cause pain to them as they compare with how Lyons and Cory were raised. Troy talks about his father, who, after slavery was abolished, had failed miserably in life. Troy says that his father was a very evil one. Because of that, he had a problem maintaining his relationship with women. As a result, Troy had to accept the fact that he had to grow without motherly affection. As they talk, Troy recalls a time when his father found out that he had abandoned a mule he was supposed to take care of to spend time with a girl he liked. As a result, his father gave him a severe beating with a leather rein.

At first, Troy related the beating with his disobedience until later when his father went ahead to assault the girl sexually. This made Troy fear his father even more. At this point, Troy lacked both paternal and maternal love. Troy had to become a man. He could no longer live with such a dangerous man, and so he decided to leave home. He was homeless and did not only lack familial ties but also funds to sustain him.

Bono, on the other hand, tells of a careless father. His father was so depressed that he failed to provide for Bono. Bono’s father had a problem settling in one place. He was always moving from one place to another, getting into relationships then leaving the women. As a result, Bono had no connection with his father and barely knew anything about him. Bono’s father was searching for land just like other men who had just been freed from slavery and were not comfortable with the places they lived. Due to Bono’s experience, he decided not to have any children to avoid going through hardships like him.

Racial Prejudice

Racial prejudice is also an evident theme in Fences. This is seen through the life experiences of Troy. Troy had been convicted and learned how to play baseball while in jail. Although Troy was very good at playing the game, he could not join the big leagues because black people were not eligible for recruitment. When the leagues began considering black people for recruitment, Troy was already too old to play. Instead, he is forced to work as a sanitization worker. This illustrates how black people have limited opportunities. As a result of racial prejudice, Troy has a very frustrating life and develops a negative attitude towards life.

Interpretation and Inheritance of History

The conflict present in the play is because the characters are not clear about how to interpret and how to use the incidents in their past to influence their direction in the future. A perfect example is that of Troy and his son. Troy is afraid that his son will not make it as a football player because he could not make it to the major leagues in the past. Therefore, he tries to stop playing football and eventually destroys his relationship with his son. Cory even tries to tell his father of people who has been successful as sportsmen. However, Troy does not accept to embrace his reasoning as that would highlight his misfortune. One can also note that although Troy’s father was abusive, Troy was able to get a good character from him. He was focused on providing for his family just like his father had done for him and his siblings. Aside from that, Troy’s children pick some attributes from Troy, such as learning to sing the songs he liked.

The idea of Troy not being able to accept that times have changed and allow his son to pursue his dreams show how one’s interpretation of the past can influence his actions in the future. Troy leans some attributes from his father, and his children also learn some things from his show that history can be inherited.

Struggles in Relationships

Troy and Rose’s relationship is not a bed of roses. The two are constantly faced with challenges that affect their marriage. Although the two can overcome the challenges, they are aware that their marriage has been stagnant since they got married. Rose is patient with her husband and tries so much to reconnect him with reality. Troy disagrees with Rose, who decides to play numbers, but this does not destroy their relationship. Later Troy confesses to having an affair with a lady named Alberta. However, Rose accepts this fact and moves on. It is clear to the audience that the two are constantly having challenges. However, their love for each other enables them to overcome their problems.

As stated above, the play’s author employs excellent use of symbolism, dramatic irony, and characterization. An example of symbolism in fences is the play’s name the use of a fence to illustrate Rose’s love for Troy. Aside from that, the completeness of the fence symbolizes the strong bonds that Troy’s family has. The fence is also a symbol of Troy’s strength, even though his actions nearly break the family. There is also dramatic irony in the play.

An example is that while the audience is fully aware of Troy’s affairs with other women, Rose has no idea of what is going on. This enables the audience to have a better picture of who Troy is. Roses are also known to be appealing but have thorns. Rose, on the other hand, is a thornless rose. Her character in the play is one of a flawless woman with sound judgment.

Characterization is also well used in the play. The audience can tell the characters of the people in the play through their actions. For example, Troy works as a sanitization worker to sustain his family. However, he pushes away his son and dares to have an affair even though he is married. On the other hand, Rose displays her loving character all through the play. She even accepts Troy’s child, who is a result of another affair.

The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls that was published in 2005. The title is refferred to her father’s long dreeam of building his dream house, the glass castle. The book shows how Jeannette and her siblings had to fend for themselves while their parents were there , but not there and mostly revolve around each other , poverty and tough love.The book was excellent.As a result of the book being so good, a movie of the book was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and was written by Cretton, Andrew Lanham, and Marti Noxon in August 9, 2017. People and other Jeannette walls fans are struggling to decide how the movie relates to the memoir. The film version is a fair portrayal of the memoir in my opinion because the scenes played by the Walls family that were described in the book were pretty much accurate.It will have you on the edge of your seat while reading , wanting to see what happens next.

One reason why I strongly agree that the film version is a fair portrayal of the memoir because the actors were on point on how the Walls family looked and acted as Jeannette described in the memoir , as so as the events that took place throughout both the book and movie. For an example , in the book when Rex buys groceries that lasts for two days , Rose Mary catches Jeanette and Lori eating the last stick of margarine and butter. Jeanette explains that they were hungry. Which makes Rose Mary realize how bad their life is and escalates an argument between Rex accusing each other of how their the cause of the problem. This scene was done perfectly by Namoi Watts and Woody Harrelson. Then again the family moves to 93 little hobart street , a fun-size house on the edge of a mountain in West virginia ( welch ) , they work as a team to make it look and feel like home , painting the outer structure of the house yellow just as described in the memoir.

Second reason The film was successful , was because in some ways “The Glass Castle” movie was actually more on point then the memoir. In the memoir, Walls writes about her mother Rose Mary Walls, a woman who likes to paint- a passion that she sometimes benefits from and enjoy at the expense of her children. In the movie, Rose Mary’s art is not just described, it is also seen. In the film , Naomi Watts who acts a Jeannettes mother , Rose Mary , flawlessly perfects the carefree spirit of the role played in the memoir like it was of her own.

In conclusion , the film is a fair portrayal of the movie because , four siblings must fend for themselves as their parents both hold them back and inspire them at the same time. When the father is sober he always captures their unbreakable imagination teaching them all kinds of things , such as how to embrace their life fearlessly , physics and geology but when he drank , he was very rude , destructive , untruthful ,corruptive and overall just filled with chaos. Simultaneously , as the mother ( Rose Mary ) abhorred the thought of domesticity and did not want to take the responsibility of raising a family , just as described in the memoir. Even though the actors can act out every little detail that was in the book the scenes were genuinely played by the Walls family in perfection that were described in the book. Brie Larson, who plays as Jeannette’s mom , and thee Woody Harrelson, who plays as Jeannettes father, were perfect. Harrelson portrayed Rex accurately as he was described in the memoir and was terrific for his part.