A History of Modern Drama, 1960-2000 by Krasner David;

Author:Krasner, David;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Published: 2016-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

JOHN:

Well. We’ll break them.

CAROL:

How can we?

JOHN:

We won’t tell anybody.

CAROL:

Is that all right?

JOHN:

I say that it’s fine.

CAROL:

Why would you do that for me?

JOHN:

I like you. Is that so difficult for you to …

CAROL:

Um …

JOHN:

There’s no one here but you and me. (Pause)54

John had just said “I like you” once before (1102), adding that he has had “problems … With my wife … with work … (1102). These remarks, as well as his hand on her shoulder, can be interpreted as innocuous or sinister; Mamet has ingeniously established postmodern signs of variability. The two characters potentially miscommunicate the meaning of their gestures and words; or, perhaps they intentionally send mixed signals. Thomas Hoggans has astutely observed that “Mamet achieves a wonderful irony in constructing a text which the audience must decode just as the characters are required to do.”55 Carol must decode John’s gesture and language: does John like Carol, or does he like her; does John raise the problems of his marriage and work to empathize with Carol’s frustrations, or for something else; or both? Is John sincerely trying to help Carol, or is his fatuity the product of his short-sightedness, or does he have ulterior motives (or a combination of these)? The depth of semiotics – the task of deciphering codes in language and gesture – is remarkably evident in this play. In Act Three, Carol has gathered the forces of her Group to charge John not only with sexual harassment, but with the abuse of power that exists in the classroom dynamic:

By the administration. By the teachers. By you. By, say, one low grade, that keeps us out of graduate school; by one, say, one capricious or inventive answer on our parts, which, perhaps, you don’t find amusing. Now you know, do you see? What it is to be subject to that power. (pause)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.