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A Sense of "Self."
One of the common obstacles that face the main characters in the plays, The Hairy Ape and The Glass Menagerie (by Eugene O'neil and Tennessee Williams) is that each of them has a skewed sense of "self". Whether it be self-worth, self-identity, or self- actualization, each of the main characters in these plays face the obstacle of "self".
In, The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'neil, the main character Yank struggles with the obstacle of self-worth. At the begining of the play he sees himself as hte end all be all of his world. He does not view his place in life realistically, he thinks its has a higher value than it does. Early in the story a co worker, Paddy asks Yank," Is it one wid this you'd be, Yank -black smoke from the funnels smudging the sea, smudging the decks - the bloody engines pounding and throbbing and shaking - wid divil a sight of sun or a breath of clean air - choking our lung's wid coal dust - breaking our backs and hearts in the hell of a stokehole - feeding the bloddy funrnace - feeding our lives along wid the coal, I'm thinking - caged in by steel from a sight of the sky like bloody apes in the zoo!.." (P,1053) Yank sees himself and what he does very differently as evidenced by his response to Paddy. " ...'It's me makes it move! Sure, on'y for me everyting stops. It all goes dead, get me? De noise and smoke and all de engines movin in de woild, dey stop. Dere ain't nothin' no more! Dat's what I'm sayin'. Everyting else dat makes de woild move, somep'n makes it move. It can't move witout somep'n else, see? Den yuh get down to me. I'm at the de bottom, get me! Dere ain't nothin' foither. I'm de end! I'm de start! I start somep'n and de woild moves!...' " ( P. 1054) By the end of the play he places a lower value on his life than he should, never fully seeing his true self- worth.
In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, each of the Wingfield women are confronted with their own battles with "self". Amanda Wingfield (mother) with a battle of self-Identity, and her daughter Laura, with a battle of self-actualization.
Amanda Wingfield is caught in another time and place. Having watched her world fall apart after her husband left her, she has regressed back into the young vibrant woman she was when she met him back in the Old South when she was a wealthy care free girl. Because of this she has a hard time living in reality. A perfect example of her struggle with self-identity is shown in the way she acts when her son Tom is to bring a gentleman friend by then Name of Jim O'connor home for dinner. She dusts off an old gown and prances around like a teenager. " This is the dess in which I led the Cottilion. Won the cakewalk twice at Sunset Hill, wore one spring to the Governor's Ball in Jackson! See how I sashayed around the ballroom, Laura?..." (P. 1282) She continues remeniscing throughout the meal and even flirts with the company like she used to her beaux when she was young.
Unlike her mother, Laura's battle is with her own self-worth. Laura has been sickly all her life, one bout of severe illness has left her crippled and she has convinced herself that because of this she is not worthy of attention and has consequently shut herself out of the world, alone with her figurines and her records. In part of her conversation with their caller, Jim O'Connor, an old acquaintance from high school, we see a glimpse of what her skewed sense of self has cost her. " Jim- As I remember, you sort of stuck by yourself. Laura- I - I never have had much luck at making friends. Jim- I don't see why you wouldn't.
Laura- Well I - started out badly. Jim- You mean being- Laura- Yes, it sort of- stood between me- Jim- You shouldn't have let it. Laura.- I know, but it did and - Jim.- You were shy with people! Laura- I tried not to be but never could- Jim.- Overcome it? Laura- No, I - I never could. ..." As evidenced by these characters, obstacles are not always physical or economical. Some of the biggest obstacles we humans face come in the form of our "selves".
 chessiejo · Sat Sep 17, 2005 @ 08:00pm · 0 Comments |
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