Laura Enescu ENG3-UB

UNIT 4

Lesson 17 17) a) The house represents the past, Hesters past especially. The building is very old and cut off from any community. Hester is very attached to the house. For her it is almost as if the house itself is her father, his presence. Even though Mr. Warren passed away for 6 years, Hester dose not really realise it. Her whole life was dedicated to her father and the house. It became a substitute for her father. The house is been kept in the same stage as it was when Hesters father was alive, because it is a reminder of the past when Hester was not alone and she had someone who loved her. Hester: Father meant for us to stay here and keep things as they were when he was with us! Hester is lost in the past and the closest reminder of her memories is the house and her fathers belongings. She sacrificed her future and her potential family to take care of the house and her father and because of that, selling the place and living with young Ruth is a reminder of what she gave away to stay to the Warren farm. Hester: () I can have a husband any time I want, but my duty is here with father. The only place where Hester is complete and sane is the house. Her fathers house keeps her memories alive and she can pretend that nothing has changed. Hester: Thats fathers chair. Ill put his Bible out Hester is so rooted to this place that she kills her brother, his wife and her nephew. Hester: () I put your slipper out. ()Everything will be the same now Father. Ill read the one you like ()The Hesters problems, the conflict between the characters and the tragedy of Ruth and Bruces deaths happened because of the house, because of the past Hester did not want to let go of.

b) One character trait possessed by Ruth Warren is loneliness. In most of the Ruths lines, we see that she is eager to move from the Warrens farm and that she does not like the house. The playwrights notes are very clear and helps the reader to see the seeds of the future conflict. The feeling the characters have and contains relevant background information. In the line Ruth: () The

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wind swirls and shrieks and raises such queer echoes in this old house! It seems to laugh at us in here thinking were safe, hugging the stove! As if it knew it could blow out the light and the fire and (Getting hold of herself) () it is clear that Ruth is not comfortable leaving in that old house and she seems to feel stuck, leaving in the middle of nowhere and even the winds seems to laugh at her situation. The dialog has direct hints, but also it is used to give subtle feelings and ideas about Ruth and her situation. Ruth is a young women, full of life and dreams, who feels lonely and shut out by her husband and she tries to escape and save her family. Ruth: And, Bruce, it wouldnt be so lonely there, so cruelly lonely. In some lines of dialog, we can understand indirectly that Ruth is lonely, but in the playwright also gave Ruth lines where the clearly states that she finds the place shes living in, very lonely.

Lesson 18 18) Similarity Essay

The modern play, Jinch Malrex, presented in the article has some similarities with The Farm Show and Miles theatre group from The Drawer Boy. All this three drama creations are based on real life people and situations. The actors from The Drawer Boy and from the Jinch Malrex are also playwrights and came up with ideas, stories and research. People involve in The Farm Show, Jinch Malrex and the play Miless part of are trying to send a message to the audience, to tell stories, they do not perform just to be on the spot light and to receive applauses. Miless show in The Drawer Boy portrated two friends and their life story. In order to put the play together, Miles met Morgan and Angus, and lived with them in order to get more information and to actually live in real life the story he would put on stage. Originally, Miles wanted to know how it is to life at a farm, but after he got to know more about Morgan and, he found their story more fascinating. Miles group performed plays inspired and based on real life, farm life. The Farm Show also played stories inspired from Canadian life and country side lifestyle. In 1972, a group of young, Toronto

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based actors headed into Southwest Ontario in order to interview local farmers and their families and create what became The Farm Show. They lived with the farmers, worked with them, watched them and learned their stories. Jinch Matrex is doing the same thing, but in a modern set. The young actors are playing troubled youth and their life stories. Joenai, for example, is a drug runner who tries to escape her family by being on the streets. They inspired their characters from teens who live in at risk neighbourhoods. Another character is Lisa, an orphan who lives in an orphanage in Jinch Malrey. Lisa was created by Casandra London, who also doesnt have a parent in her life. She created the character putting some part of her life in it. All three theatre groups are creating stories based on real people and their life. The artists from Jinch Malrey are trying to send a message and to make the audience aware of the problems young people are dealing with. We are more than at-risk youth making a play about something. We are storytellers telling a story she [Funmilola Lawson] says. They want to change not only themselves, but people around them as well. Miles and his group in The Drawer Boy are telling stories as well. The Farm show was dedicated to the farmers and they wanted to play on stage the present of the Canadian lifestyle, not the future change. The audience can link their stories with the one on stage. Angus said all the time that he was on stage during and after he saw Miles play. It was like he saw his life being played before his eyes. The modern group and the traditional group are making their stories alive on stage and people from the audience can find themselves in their stories. In both plays, Jinch Malrey and Miless, actors are not just performing, they also create. The youth from Jinch Malrey put together their stories and created a play about different troubled teens. They wrote, research and perform. The actors from The Farm Show created a play, through improvisation and based on their interviews they took from the local farmers. The Drawer Boy and Miles theatre group was based on The Farm Show. Miles and his colleagues tool notes and shared their experiences they had when they lived at a real farm. Miles, is researching a theatre piece about farming to be put on by his Toronto based theatre collective, and he wants to observe Morgan and Angus on their daily routines. The actors are telling the story in

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all three groups, they are not some simple executants. Storytelling is another similarity between The Farm Show, Miless group from The Drawer Boy and Jinch Malrey. Jinch Malerx is a modern version of The Farm Show and Miles play. They have the same foundation and similar rules. The actors are the storytellers, they want to send a message to the audience and to present the present society. Real life on stage. The Farm Show was dedicated to the Canadian farmers, Miles story was dedicated to Morgan and Angus, Jinch Malrey is dedicated to troubled youth from present day.

Lesson 19 19) The Drawer Boy Theme

The play The Drawer Boy, written by Michael Healey, expresses the universal theme of storytelling. Most of the play focuses on this theme and even the play itself it is a story. Storytelling is part of the human nature. Every culture has its own stories and legends. The Drawer Boy highlights the power of storytelling throught the whole play. Each one of the three characters are connected to the theme of storytelling. Milles is using the storytelling as a profession and as his passion. Angus, who is having memory problems, needs the storytelling as a way to function. Morgan leans on it as a way to cope with the past and the present. Miles is a young actor who came from Toronto to the country side to gather information for the play he is working on. He is using the storytelling as a profession and as a passion. Milles stays at Morgan and Anguss farm to learn more about the life of a farmer and to come up with ideas for the play. He always has a notebook and a pan with him so he can write down everything he finds interesting. The young actor ends up stealing the story Morgan always says to Angus, which proves that being an actor and telling stories is one of the most important thing in his life. While Angus becomes

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more open, Milles starts telling him the plays he was part of and he must did a good job since Angus enjoyed it. Actors and storytellers can be found in every culture and in every period of time, which makes the act of storytelling universal. Morgan is a farmer and he is living with his friend Angus. He always tells a story to Angus, their story, because Angus has memory problems and needs it as a way to function. Eventually it is revealed that the story Morgan told to Angus is not real and that the reality it is sadder than the story. Morgan had had a hard time dealing with the fact that his wife left him because of Angus, and he is using the story he told Angus as a way to cope with the situation. Morgan: . I told it again, and you stopped crying. I told it again, and you fell asleep. I kept telling it cause it made you feel better. Goddam it, it made me feel better (59). For Morgan it was easier to accept that his wife died in an accident, it made him feel less worthless and abandoned. In short, he was hiding from the reality and did not want to deal with it. Many people are like that. When reality gets ugly, people tend to run away, to pretend it is not that bad as it is. They minimize the problems and they glamorise the reality. They tell themselves stories, they change the reality by adding or subtracting events so they can manage life more easily. The best example are the women who live with an abuser. They are dependent on their partner and they gloss over the bad by thinking of the good side of their partner, thinking in the past or telling themselves that the situation would change. Using storytelling as a way of coping with reality is common, it was done in the past and it is done in the present, which makes it universal. Storytelling is also used as a way of making a statement, to send a message, remember historical events or to highlight human characteristics. The play Milles did was Morgan and Angus story. Angus saw what he thought it was his past. Angus: . You were Morgan. You told about us. God! Ill never forget it. () Morgan: Never recognized anyone but me. (31). Angus started to have hints of his old memories after he saw the play. It changed him. . Morgan: You remember that? Angus: I I guess I do (40).People can go to a theatre and see a story that resemble their own life. They can see the good and the bad and learn from it. The Drawer Boy it was inspired by The Farm

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Show and it was created in its memory. Stories and plays were done even in Ancient Times and they are still loved by humans, which makes the act of storytelling, as a way of teaching and expressing feeling, universal. Storytelling is a universal theme expressed by the play The Drawer Boy written by Michael Healey. Humans are using stories all the time, whether is as a career as Milles, as a way to cope with reality like Morgan, as a way to function like Angus or as a way to send a message, a story like the play The Drawer Boy. Stories will exist as long as humankind will exist on Earth. Lesson 20 20) Hester and Morgan

Miss Hester and Morgan are two character who went through a few hard times in their lifetimes. Life changed their plans and they both had to deal with the changes in their life. Hester is a loner and very rooted in her past. She is not pleased with the fact that her brother and his wife came to live with her. Morgan was abandoned by his wife and stayed with Angus who had memories problems and he tried to move forward. Both Morgan and Angus had to take care of others people and they dedicated their life to them. While both characters had to deal with change of plans and lifestyle, they deal with it similar and different in the same time. Morgan and Miss. Hester lost a loved one; Morgans wife left him, Miss. Hesters Father died. Both of them had to deal with this huge change in their life and to try and get used without their dear ones. Hester loved her Father very much and therefore his death caused great grief to Hester. Miss. Hester did not know what to do with herself. She did not want to make any changes to the interior of the house nor did she wanted to leave the property. Ruth: Dont you think theyll make this room more cheerful? ; Hester: The ones we have seem good enough to me.(5) The house itself became Hesters father presence. She became stuck in the past and she did not make any intention to try and move forward. Morgan was deeply hurt when his wife left him because of Anguss condition. He made up a story to calm down Angus, who

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indirectly felt that something was wrong, and that story became a way of dealing with the past and making it look better. Morgan: . I told you the story of the black car crashing for the first time. I told it again, and you stopped crying. I told it again, and you fell asleep. I kept telling it cause it made you feel better. Goddam it, it made me feel better (59). Morgan was hurt because his wife left and he also felt guilty about Angus memory loss. Yet, both characters had different ways of coping with the loss of someone dear. Morgan tried to live a normal life and to forget the past, while Miss. Hester tried her best to live in her memories. Hester acted like her Father was still alive, but Morgan worked on the farm and took care of Angus, even thou his friend was the major reason his wife left. After a few years had passed from the big loss the two characters had had, Morgan and Hester faced another change in their life. Morgan, while trying to live a normal life and to forget the past, is faced with the possibility that Angus would find out the truth about his memory loss and the reason why their wives left, due to Miles arrival. Miles discovered that the story Morgan tells to Angus is false. Morgan controlled Angus from finding the truth by distracting him: he would tell Angus to make a sandwich or to make calculations when Miles asks specific questions about their past. Angus: Its not true. What you tell him. I heard. ; Morgan: You hungry? Want a sandwich? ; Angus: No, I heard, I what did he mean- ; Morgan: Jesus, Angus. You havent walked off for some time. (49). He also controls Miles by giving him tasks to do around the farm so he can be away from Angus. He does not want anything to change. Hesters world is disturbed when her brother and his wife move in with her. She does not like Ruths ideas or suggestions. Hester gets very angry when Ruth convinced to sell the house and move to the city. She did everything in her power to not change her life. Hester: Thats fathers chair. Ill put his Bible out. (She starts from her chair.) (14). Both Hester and Morgan are faced yet with another change in their life. Morgan does everything he can to stop Angus from finding the truth because he does not want to deal with the past and with his guilt. Likewise, Hester does not allow any changes in her fathers house because she does not want to accept that she feels alone. She controls everything Ruth does to prevent her from

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changing her life. Similarly, Morgan controls everything Miles is doing and saying in order to keep Angus out of the loop. Both characters are not eager to accept another change in their life and to face the reality and their feelings. Morgan and Hester are also very private. They did not like talking about their feelings. Hester from the play Still Stands the House and Morgan from The Drawer Boy are two characters who had do deal with major changes in their life. Both of them had a hard life. Morgan was a bit stronger than Hester when he lost his love one, but he was running from the past and his feelings as Hester did. Two characters with different coping skills but with the same fears and methods of expressing their feelings.