4,000 Miles

4,000 Miles is full of motifs. There are many repeated images and ideas throughout, but I am going to focus on the backslashes in the text. This is an example of people talking at the same time. The play is littered with backslashes. Nobody really seems to care about what the others are saying, and they always talk on top of one another. This shows a huge sense of disconnect. It is sad that they completely miss what the other person is saying because of their own selfishness.

Flea Out!

Judith

A good major dramatic question for Judith would be something along the lines of "Will Judith come out of the play on top?" I say this because there are times in the play where we worry about what kind of person Judith is and whether she will get lost along the way or continue what she was sent there to do. At times, it seems as though she gets caught up in pretending too much and that she really does care for Holofernes. The part where she is on the ground and can't get up is a great example of not knowing. It is like a conflict with herself of whether or not she can push herself up off of the ground and continue on. The servant is totally a catalyst for this. She is an instigator, and without her I am not sure that Judith would have played out the way it did. And even though she did "come out on top" at the end, is she even the same person as before?

Flea out!

Night, Mother!

For Night, Mother..

I feel like "Will Jesse kill herself?" is a very weak dramatic question. The play is very complex and the decision and the way Jesse's mind works is, too, complex. Mama spends the entire play trying to convince Jesse to stop her nonsense and stay alive. I feel like a better one could be "Will Mama convince Jesse to not commit suicide?" Even though this seems like the same thing, I feel that it isn't. The point of Jesse even telling her mother about it is that she respects her (in my mind). She wants to spend that last night with her and her alone. She is sharing an intimate moment with her and even though she loves her, she has decided to get off of the train. The reason why this is a better question is because there are points in the play where the audience might think that Mama is actually getting to Jesse. Even though in my mind, Jesse has already completely decided to go through with the act, I feel though it is important for us to see the conflict between them and the tension.

Flea out!

Trifles

I've got to respect the women in this play! They knew that if the men found the bird, Mrs. Wright would be sent straight to jail. So what do they do? They back her up! I enjoyed the sense of community within the women. Mrs. Wright isn't even there really to see. I appreciate when people do the right thing even when nobody is watching. Now people will argue that it is never okay to kill, but I'm going to have to disagree. I feel that it was almost an instance of self defense that she killed her husband. He pushed her and pushed her until there was nothing else for her to do. The emotional abuse had to be hard for her, and that was her way out. So I instantly side with the women and I am glad they did what they did.

Flea out!

Overtones

Overtones!

Gah! I really enjoyed this one. There is just such a clear image in my brain of what is happening. With Hettie and Maggie behind Harriet and Margaret... It paints a perfect picture of the constant struggle people have when trying to be proper and uphold that mask for society that they have. I think it is a great idea that the author split their conscientiousness into separate characters. This really allows for a visual representation of what everyone battles in every day life. There are many times where I feel like the person inside my head has more to say but I try to stop it from coming out. That is what I get with this play!

Flea out!