Rumors

Rumors by Neil Simon is a farce about distinguished guests who arrive at a dinner party where the host, Charlie, has a bullet hole in his ear and his wife, Myra, is nowhere to be found. As the couples arrive they try to figure out what has happened, and then the cops show up. One of the guests, Lenny, pretends to be Charlie, and comes up with a ludicrous explanation for the gunshot that was heard on the spot. (Click here to watch Lenny's monologue). The play is entirely chaotic and ridiculous, which is why I love it.

4000 Miles

The most striking motif in Herzog's 4000 Miles was the mention of Micah's death. It comes up quite a lot in the play. Not much is revealed about Micah, but we know that he and Leo were very close, and that his death has much to do with why Leo is staying at his grandmother's house. Leo reveals that Micah died on their trip biking across the United States. After his death, Leo immediately kept on biking instead of attending his friends funeral. I think Leo did this for several reasons. He didn't want to face the death of his friend, but also he felt he owed it to Micah to finish what they had started.

Judith

"Will Judith kill Holofernes?" does not work as the Major Dramatic Question because the play does not end once this question is answered. Moreover, this is simply not what Judith is about. A more fitting MDQ would perhaps be "Will Judith gain power." Holofernes, who physically and authoritatively holds the most power of the three characters, in reality has the least power of the three. In the beginning of the play we see a hesitant and timid Judith. The servant seems to be running the show and pushing Judith to do what she needs to do throughout the play. Judith, even after killing Holofernes, appears weak. At one point she cannot even move from the ground. Once Judith finally rises, she has undergone a total transformation. She begins giving orders to the servant and treating her with the utmost cruelty. She even goes so far as to force the servant to wipe the blood from her sword and then cut off her own hair. Judith has made a quick transition from her weak self to a more cruel, tyrannical Judith. But there is no question that at the end of the play. Judith is the only one in power.

Night, Mother

While one could argue that "Will Jessie kill herself?" is the major dramatic question of Night, Mother, there is probably a more interesting question to ask the play. Once Jessie reveals to Mama that she plans to kill herself, she is unfaltering in her decision. This is something she decided she would do last Christmas and despite Mama's pleading and attempts to convince her not to, we do not see a moments hesitation from Jessie. She has already decided that this is the way it will be. Since Jessie's death is more or less inevitable from the beginning of the play I think a better major dramatic question would be, "Will Mama be able to handle Jessie's death." In the end of the play, although Mama is horrified that her daughter has just killed herself, she still manages to pick up the phone and call Dawson as Jessie had instructed her. This simple act shows that Mama has already begun to accept that her daughter is gone and she must move on with her life.

"You didn't say it would be so soon, Jessie. I'm scared. I love you."

Trifles

Glaspell's Trifles takes place in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. The men and women of the play are gathered in this home because Mr. Wright has been murdered and Mrs. Wright is the chief suspect. The men. While the men are upstairs trying to find evidence that Mrs. Wright did kill her husband, the women stay downstairs and actually do solve the case. The most interesting part of the play is when the women discover a dead canary in Mrs. Wright's sewing basket and conclude that Mr. Wright broke the bird's neck and after losing the one thing in her life that brought her joy, Mrs. Wright killed her husband in the same way. The men would never have thought to look in the sewing basket, because in their eyes, the things women concern themselves with are unimportant. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale ultimately decide to hide the dead bird from the men, because they sympathize with Mrs. Wright.

"Hale: Well, women are used to worrying over trifles."

Overtones

The aspect of Gertsenberg's Overtones that struck me the most was the way the characters interact. The "untrained" Maggie and Hetty are only concerned with their own desires. Maggie wants to win back John Caldwell and Hetty wants business for her struggling husband so they won't have to go hungry anymore. Margaret and Harriet, Maggie and Hetty's "overtones," set out to attain the desires of Maggie and Hetty through tactful charm and flattery. Margaret and Harriet would be useless without their inner selves constantly driving and pushing them to achieve what they want, just as Maggie and Hetty would not be able to gain what they desire without the grace and subtlety of their counterparts.