Literature
1. How does Blanche’s fascination with teenage boys relate to her decline and fall?
Beginning with Blanches first marriage (114), the stage is set for her inclination towards young men to come back to harm her. Her experience led to an unsatisfying marriage with certain emotional attachments. With the feeling of being less than enough for her first young husband, the seed was planted that would feed her need to find love in the arms of younger men. This was the initial experience that led to real long term damage to the overall associated psyche. The crack that came with her discovery of homosexuality could also be blamed for the first symptoms of mental instability.
The revelation of wrong doing with a seventeen year old that led to the loss of her teaching career further solidified the perception of impending doom for Blanche (122). With the lapse of ethical responsibility, Blanche illustrates the very core of the need for companionship. She is so lost and alone that she must reach out to a child in the hopes of finding emotional nourishment. With the kiss of the paper boy, Blanches merely falling back on an established habit of seeking out affection in the wrong sources.
Each one of these instances serves to be used as ammunition against her, which in the end serves to see her raped and put in a mental institution with no real way out. By never letting go of the first relationship, she harvested her own doom.
2. What does she mean? Is Blanche the only person trapped? Who else is trapped? Explain your answer with concrete examples.
Blanche in her efforts to escape Stanley had found the way to a phone in the hope of summoning help. Prior to the attempt to summon western union (160) Blanches conversation with Stanley takes a turn for the worse as Stanley, very happy with the announcement of a pending child, finds himself alone with Blanche in the apartment. This was following a decidedly bad attempt by her former boyfriend Mitch to convince her to have sex. The trap, was the entire apartment, her current life was her trap. With Mitch gone and her past brought to light, there was a real perception that the future failed to hold much in the way of promise. This led to her feeling trapped in that sense.
Secondarily, Stanley barring her exit from the apartment served to provide a very real and tangible element of threat to the entire situation (161). This simple intimidation causes all of the angst and resentment that has built up in Stanley to boil to the surface in the form of a violent rape. Blanches desperate plea’s only served to fuel the drunken Stanley who felt that this was the best moment to take retribution. There was the additional component of the element of wanton sexuality in Blanche. Such a cavalier approach, an open mind to the entire experience was not common of the era. This perception of potential availability led to a simmering lust that fed the anger, which in turn fueled the tragic act.
3. Lighting is a key factor in this play. Consider what it means – what could its presence and absence mean?
Lighting plays a key role in a number of ways. It has the ability to influence the feel and texture of the entire scene. In the Blanche and Stanley rape scene the light allows for the sinister element to be incorporated into the apartment (150). The missing bright light that Blanche waxes about serves to illustrate another facet that the light has the ability to be tied to. The perception of hope and promise was wound up in her first marriage, and after that crumbled, the ability for Blanche to once again find the light has been diminished to the point she sets out upon a personally destructive path.
Blanche refusing to go out in the daytime over the course of the production instils a further perception of hidden intent. She pointedly refuses any scenario that has her exposed in a public area. This is a further reflection of her overall insecurity and her inability to connect with the men that truly mean something in her world. Remaining in the realm of younger men often took away to the truly deep or meaningful relationship points found in the more mature settings.
Blanche puts forth is a real effort on her part to conceal her age by remaining the darkness. She goes so far as to purchase the lantern to put over the light bulb in order to ensure that she maintains an air of aloofness (60). These actions serve to conceal her age and hence a large part of her insecurity. This is a component of the way in which she has chosen to pursue happiness, by concealing the fact that she is beginning to suffer the ill effects of time, whiles still chasing after much younger men. This is another element directly connected to her on-going relationships with the younger men, the ability to remain attractive to these men rested on her ability to maintain the relationship.
4. Explain how each of the four main characters – Blanche, Stella, Stanley, and Mitch – display desire. What do they desire and how does it influence their actions?
Each one of the main characters in the production was guilty of a display of desire at one point or another. Blanche has the continual issues with her younger lovers, yet found in Mitch a potential partner (60). This perception by Blanche was her innate desire to find a suitable companion, a husband that would serve to be more than an irresponsible youth. Mitch in turn demonstrated desire for Blanche on more than one occasion, seeking after her hand in order to marry her and then upon hearing of her past, Mitch still found the physical desire present, trying to convince Blanche to have relations with him (150). This state of affairs led to a continued perception by one and all that Blanche was a desirable woman.
Stanley demonstrated evil desire in the moment that he followed up on the date comment with dishonorable action (160). The defilement of Blanche, regardless of the fact she was lying at the moment, was a violent action of suppressed lust and desire mixed with violence.
Finally Stella desires a husband and a father for her child (4). From the moment that the production opens her perception of her husband are both loving and long lasting. Throughout, she takes his side, or attempts to longingly convince him to be nicer to Blanche.
In every case desire fuels their actions, whether in an honorable fashion or a negative manner that leads to evil. Overall the driving element in this production was the unexpressed desire that each one of the characters attempts to fill the gap in their own life with some form of pleasure.
- Discuss the significance of the title (Fences) as it relates to characters and themes of the play.
The title ‘Fences’ plays a pivotal and symbolic role throughout the context of the entire play. The very setting revolves around the fence and the fence building materials in the opening segment (7). This equipment is symbolic of the work to be done, of a home unfinished. Further, Rose, references the protective nature of the fence of Jesus. This is a tie to the religious belief in the power of Jesus in the world. She is relying on this fence to be the comfort in the course of her day to day existence.
With the fence set at the center of the production, the conversations that take place while in the process of building illustrate the time and effort that must go into every family (34). As Troy and Cory discover during their time at the fence, there is no easy solution to the travails of teenage life. Troy demonstrates that regrets and holding on to his own former potential, are holding back Cory. In effect building a fence between Cory and his dreams creates a deep divide which is never truly healed.
The fence is at the center of the bet between Bono and Troy as well (61). This dimension of the story exemplifies the difficulties that maintaining a relationship can bring. Lacking a strong moral center, Troy fell to the temptation to another woman and then expected Rose to accept it. In a very real way this built a fence between Rose and Troy, letting her accept the baby, but not the husband. With a give and take, both of these characters found themselves on opposite sides of the fence looking over.
2. How does Fences fulfill Wilson's description of the style as a "blues aesthetic?"
The entire Fences production is an exercise in the “Blues Aesthetic”. Troy begins as a man that holds in his hands, what many would consider a wonderful life (33).There are chores to be done, but there is ample opportunity to accomplish the work at hand. Throughout the context of the production, Troy goes from this position of love and family to an increasingly withdrawn man. His actions demonstrated that his very nature had changed as he fathered the girl child another wife.
With this story taking place in the fifties, revolving around the broken dreams of Troy, and the still to be realized dreams of Cory, the true pain and hope of the era is demonstrated. There is a nature throughout the production to use the fences to illustrate the love within the family, yet the circumstances that serve to pull the members apart only drive them to actions that they likely regret. With the eventual death of Troy (89) and the return of Cory, the blues tragedy of the unrealized relationship potential between father and son only serves to reinforce the blues concept in a manner that speaks to the very foundation of the story.
Beginning with a man’s efforts to make himself better and ending with a damaged family that does not communicate, the fabric of the production, from beginning to end carries the true soul associated with a lasting “Blues Aesthetic”. The story of Troy’s failure and then jealousy cuts to the core. Rose’s wish to keep her loved ones close only to have them driven off speaks resonates deeply. Underlying each is the interwoven factor of the unfinished fence to symbolize the broken effort.
3. Is Troy a tragic figure, a hero, a villain or a combination? Is he a sympathetic character? How does Troy's character change over the course of the play?
Troy is at one point or another figure of tragedy, a villain, hero and a combination of each of these. He begins as a hero, seeking to guide his son and family in a manner that would give themselves the best of all worlds (7). There is hope and potential to be found in the setting and the wood and the fence that can both protect and nurture the family. However this capacity continually shrinks over the course of the production with Troy making things worse in nearly every area. The one bright spot being that he is successful in his bid to become a driver, the remaining personal choices only serve to propel him into a dark place.
His decision to deny Cory the opportunity to play (34) is Troy acting out of jealousy. He missed the opportunity himself in his youth, and now he cannot find it in his heart to allow Cory to be better than he is. This is the first of many of stumbles that lead to a diminished experience for Troy. This lack of understanding is a tragic event in that the entire event could have turned out differently had Troy only realized that there were better choices to be made.
Troy made himself a villain the moment that he went beyond the realms of the marriage bed. Rose deserved far more than Troy gave her and she demonstrated this very component when she agreed to take in the baby. Troy was a combination of these elements as he did in the end support the child and stay with his family, despite the hardship. Underlying each element was the fact that he loved his Family.
4. What is the play's attitude towards women? How might a female playwright tell the story of Fences differently than August Wilson? Do Rose and the women mentioned in the play typify roles of the 1950's or defy them? What attributes or actions of the female characters support your interpretation?
This play portrays the women in a manner representing love, determination mixed with a hard headed practicality. There is little doubt that Rose loves both her husband her family and feels the need to protect and nurture them with a fence (61). Troy loves Rose and in the beginning is faithful. Yet, upon learning the truth Rose calls out Troy for what he is and what he does. In the end, Rose keeps Alberta’s child by Troy, yet refuses to provide the wifely comfort that Troy feels is his due, even after admitting that affair. Especially for the era that this play portrays, the strength and confidence that Rose demonstrates shows that she is the true backbone of the family.
A female playwright would have moved away from the male dominated view and explored the underlying emotion in a more overt manner. The ability to grasp the subtle undertones that women bring to anything would serve to better illustrate the very delicate yet necessary truths that lie in this production. Overall, the actions of Rose and the female cast are typical of the women of the fifties, with the exception that they remained able to think for themselves and not fall victim to the complete loss of control.
Throughout the story, Rose remains stoic and strong in the face of Troy’s decline. Even though he pushes away Gabriel and Cory, and even as a child by another woman Rose remains with him in body, if not in spirit. The roles of the females are resilient and hardy, with the capacity to look beyond the petty male and achieve the core goals that the family needs to survive. These women demonstrated love, dignity and the timeless grace that will only serve to be example for generations.
Works cited
Williams, Tennessee. A streetcar named Desire. New York: New Directions, 1980. Print.
Wilson, August. Fences. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2007. Print.
