Monday, February 10, 2014
Night Mother
Being a particularly morose play, I agree with the playwrights Major Dramatic Question, but would also intend to add something to it. What seems clear is that the playwright means to generate sympathy for Jessie.Yet her act seems self-indulgent at best. We don't care deeply enough about Jessie to mind that she kills herself. On this point, in an odd way the play is reportorial. We are not inside the character's head and heart, but at a distance from both. At the same time, their roles as well as their language make the Mother the more sympathetic of the two women, to the extent they are comparable. So, summing this up, I think that another MDQ could be formed around the specific relationship between Jessie and Mama and whether or not this relationship couldve affected the outcome of the play.
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I completely agree with you. As I read it, I wanted to feel sorry for Jessie, but I felt much more sympathetic towards Mama than Jessie. An MDQ could definitely be formed around the relationship between Jessie and Mama, possibly "Will Jessie and Mama get past their differences and be able to live with/without each other after this evening?"
ReplyDeleteI also agree. At the start of the play, I did feel a bit sorry for Jessie, but as the play progressed I began to see that the entire situation was taking a Huge toll on Mama and not so much on Jessie. I agree with your MDQ and in my opinion i think that if their relationship would have been different, the outcome of the play may have been different as well.
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