August Wilson met success as a play writer after experiencing various odd jobs and dropping out of school after facing intense racism. In a way, the drama is a personal piece of expression for him. The Piano Lesson focuses on the lives of two siblings and an ancient family heirloom dating back to their great grandfather’s time. The drama revolves around their bickering over the piano that what should be done with it. Boy Willie and Berenice, the two siblings, and their story focuses on the migration of Africans and the problems they faced during whole life but also add to the sentimental value of family possessions. This is an interesting story takes place in the house of Doaker Charles, who is an uncle to the siblings and moves around the non-living thing Piano, which remember the history and feelings of all character’s family.
Doaker is young smart personality character, who served his tenure age in doing hard work. Now he is doing his major work over the piano history and play as a major character in this story by connecting family members. Another fast character of this drama is Boy Willie, who spends his whole life below the average family and deal with property in major part of life. The sister of Boy Willie named as Berenice also did role and the major clash happened when her husband died and she compelled his brother for the reason of his death. The most adorable character of this serial is the brother of Doaker, winning Boy. In this play, his role is doubled, once he died and appeared in bantering about his wife with ghost in the next stage. The whole story circles around more than a century year’s old piano, which shows the whole history of a family. It also describes the importance of that piano in the life of played characters. It lost several times and always found by various ghosts appeared during different stages of their life. This piano has also positive impact and plays a key role in the connection of family.
Taking into account the family history revolving around the piano and how it was exchanged for Doaker’s grandmother and his father, it is safe to assume that it carried much sentimental value to their family as it had been stolen by their ancestors, who were burned in the process. Appearance of Sutter’s ghost and the story that follows is what Wilson has based his play on. He chose to give the story a twist by making Berenice a character who blames her own brother for the death of her husband and blaming her brother for throwing Sutter down the well.
The main characters of the story can be assumed the two siblings and the piano. However, another character that plays an important part in the story is the Wining Boy, brother to Doaker and an uncle to the children, who was a successful musician and a gambler as well. Wining Boy’s character is one that is instilled into the story by chance, as he is, by nature, someone who lives only in the past drowning himself in the sorrows. He shows up at his brother’s doorstep every time he is bankrupt. Although his character seems like someone who is always sorrowful, one could not be more wrong. The Wining Boy gives the story the humorous touch that is needed and is a character that can be considered a comic relief.
Wining Boy gives off the aura of a strong and charming personality but it does seem that he regrets the actions he undertook in his past. He also talks about how he is tired of all the drinking and his involvement with women and the piano, but most of all he seems most regretful regarding his wife who kicked him out years ago. His character gives the play the musical touch and the representation of African-American history and culture. Being a musician, he also plays the piano on which, the drama is based .
The Wining Boy’s character cannot be classified as a Walk-on in the story as he plays an important role to the theme, being the storyteller that he is and the musical history that defines him. He is not arguing over what should be do not with the piano like the siblings and yet his character has an attachment to the instrument. His character also represents the theme of the drama, telling the tales of their family history and background. In a way, the author has utilized his character to tell the story of his own historical background and has tried to depict the African-American heritage.
Minor characters in the story gaining audience attention are not unheard of. The audience will notice his uniqueness and will expect it to amount to something. However, the audience is not supposed to care about him as he is not expected to play a continuing role and may disappear from the story soon. That character is expected to be involved in the scene shortly, after which he may disappear. However, his performance limited, will set the mood, and/or add humor to the story. Getting the audience to instantly memorize that character without raising their expectations regarding his role can be achieved by shaping that character to be eccentric or exaggerated. This certainly applied to Wining Boy’s character as he breathes humorous life into the story and leaves a mark on the audience.
The closing scene of the play could not highlight more on the distraction created by Wining Boy, as he clumsily enters the house, drunk and breaks the tension between the siblings created over the piano. He comically sits down to play the piano while Sutter’s ghost is being exorcised and all chaos has broken lose. It can be observed that his character highlights the scene with his non-seriousness and his humorous behavior. It can be seen that his character has been created solely to take away the seriousness from the play when needed.
Wining Boy’s character differs from all others due to his role. If his character was not to have been included in the story, the play may have been too dull and too serious for the people’s liking. His character served the purpose of giving the story a bright side in the middle of an intense struggle between two siblings over a family heirloom, the piano. He adds to the plot a touch of humor, non-seriousness and makes it colorful among a family dispute. In regards to other characters in the story, his may have been the most memorable after the two main characters of Boy Willie and Berenice.
The word “theatre” comes from the Greek word “theatron” which means, “to view as spectators.” Theatre was originated about two centuries ago, it is actually an art of performance, and God gifted abilities. The history of theatre is primarily concerned with the origin and subsequent development of the theatre as an autonomous activity. This highlights the importance of the audience in a theatrical event. It is the audience and their mental perception of the presented art that makes it a fruitful success or a catastrophic failure. Hence, the creation of stories and characters is made with the intended audience in mind and what characters they would find attractive and what stories will capture their attention. It seems that the character of the Wining Boy was adopted with the Greek methodologies in mind .
In conclusion, the character of the Wining Boy played a major part while carrying a minor role and proved crucial to not only the telling of the tale, rather to attract the liking of the audience. The author’s brilliance and success was depicted in his character as he amused the audience at the most needed times while playing his part as a storyteller, drunk, gambler, and a retired musician. His diverse qualities enabled the writer to use him on multiple occasions, utilizing each of the qualities he possessed to their fullest.
Works Cited
Card, Orson Scott. "What is a Minor Character: Understanding the Minor Characters’ Role." Writer's Digest (2012). Web Browser.
Classics Technology Centre - Able Media. Introduction to Greek Tragedy. n.d. 08 12 2014.
Wining Boy in The Piano Lesson. n.d. Web Browser. 8 12 2014.
