Biography of Bertolt Brecht (1898

2012-2013
Season
Attending a Live Performance
Attending a live show is a unique experience. Going to see a play can be a great
opportunity for students, but there is a lot of responsibility that goes with it. In a
play, the actors are live onstage in front of the audience. This means they can
hear, (and sometimes see) the audience. How you react as an audience member
affects what the actors do onstage. Because of this, the audience can be
considered another character in the show.
Before you come to the theater, think about seeing a (stage) play and what is
expected of you during a live show. Here are some important etiquette points to
remember when going to the theater:
• Do not talk to your neighbors or friends around you, it can be distracting
for the actors, as well as other people watching the show.
• Do not take photographs during the show, not only is it distracting, but it is
illegal.
• There is no food, candy or gum allowed in the theater.
• Cell phones, PSPs, mp3 players and other electronic devices should be
turned off and put away for the performance. If audience members
take these items out during intermission, they need to be completely
turned off when the show starts again.
• Texting is just as distracting as talking on the phone, people around you
can see the light from your phone and it will distract them from the
play.
• During the performance you should focus your energy and attention on
the action happening onstage.
Enjoy the show!
WRITE A THEATRE REVIEW
A review is a kind of evaluation of a performance of a play.
Here’s a template for writing a theatre review. Be sure to touch on all of the
elements listed below in your review.
INTRODUCTION
Introduce the production. WHO is involved (playwright, director, actors), WHAT is
the title of the play, WHERE was the performance, WHEN did you see it and
WHY did you see this production?
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Briefly summarize the plot (without giving everything away!)
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE
Highlight the aspects of the production that you enjoyed, and be constructive
when pointing out less successful elements by understanding why they are not
working well or suggesting how they might be improved.
THE ACTING
React to the performances in the play. Use the performers’ real names and
character names. Was their performance believable? Try to balance criticism
with tact. Was there anyone (or a number of performances) that stood out for
you? If so, why? Was there a performance that bothered you or underwhelmed
you? If so, why?
THE MUSIC OR SINGING
If the production included music react to the songs and musical performances in
the play. Was there anyone (or a number of performances) that stood out for
you? If so, why? Was there a performance that bothered you or underwhelmed
you? If so, why? Was the music familiar? Was it in a style that you enjoyed? Did
the music enhance the production?
THE PRODUCTION
Describe the set, lighting, costumes, sound, and scene changes (if there were
any). Did the set establish the correct mood and period for the play? What did it
look like? Were the costumes appropriate for the characters and the period? Did
the lighting convey the right mood? Did all of the elements of the production
come together to create a believable world for you to enter? Did any of the
elements not seem to fit or take your attention away from the story?
YOUR OPINION
Give your opinion of the play. Explain what you liked/didn’t like. What was your
opinion of the play as a whole? Remember that a review is not objective and that
you speak only for yourself. If you did not enjoy the production, include your
thoughts about who you think this production might appeal to.
THE AUDIENCE
What was the reaction of the people around you? Did they appear to be
interested and attentive? Amused? Moved? Bored?
A critic wants people to see their opinion as reasoned and considerate. A critic is
only successful if their opinion is valued by others. Approach your review with
this in mind. Support your opinions with reasons. Be as objective, honest, and
constructive as possible.
ROMEO and JULIET
By William Shakespeare
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare is usually considered the greatest dramatist and finest poet
the world has ever known. No other writer's plays and poetry have been
produced so many times or in so many countries or
translated into so many languages. One of the
major reasons for Shakespeare's popularity is the
variety of rich characters that he successfully
creates, from drunkards and paid murderers to
princes and kings and from inane fools and court
jesters to wise and noble generals. Each character
springs vividly to life upon the stage and, as they
speak their beautiful verse or prose, the characters
remind the viewers of their own personalities, traits,
and flaws. Shakespeare also made his characters
very realistic. The dramatist had an amazing
knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, and his well-developed characters
reflect this knowledge, whether it be about military science, the graces of royalty,
seamanship, history, the Bible, music, or sports.(6)
In Shakespeare's time, few biographies were written, and none of the literary
men of the Elizabethan Age was considered important enough to merit a book
about his life. The first portfolio of his works, collected as a memorial to
Shakespeare by members of his own acting company, was not published until
1623, seven years after his death. His first biography was written one hundred
years later. As a result, many of the facts of Shakespeare's life are unknown. It is
known that he was born in Stratford-on-Avon in England, sometime in early 1564,
for his Baptism is recorded on April 26 of that year. His mother Mary had eight
children, with William being the third. His father, John Shakespeare, was a fairly
prosperous glovemaker and trader who owned several houses in Stratford and
became the town's mayor when Shakespeare was a boy. The young
Shakespeare probably studied in the local grammar school and hunted and
played sports in the open fields behind his home.(4, 6, 10)
The
next
definite
information about William
Shakespeare is that the
young man, at age 18,
married Anne Hathaway,
who was 26, on November
28, 1582. In 1583, it is
recorded that Anne gave
birth to their oldest child,
Susanna, and that twins,
Hamnet and Judith, were
born to the couple in 1585. By 1592, the family was living in London, where
Shakespeare was busy acting in plays and writing his own dramas. From 1592 to
1594, the plague kept most London theaters closed, so the dramatist turned to
writing poetry during this period, and his poems, which were actually published
unlike his plays, became popular with the masses and contributed to his good
reputation as a writer. From 1594 to the end of his career, Shakespeare
belonged to the same theatrical company, known first as Lord Chamberlain's
Men and then as the King's Company. It is also known that he was both a leader
and stockholder in this acting organization, which became the most prosperous
group in London, and that he was meeting with both financial success and critical
acclaim.(4, 6, 10)
In 1954, Shakespeare was popular enough as an actor to perform before Queen
Elizabeth. By 1596, he owned considerable property in London and bought one
of the finest houses in Stratford, known as New Place, in 1597. A year later, in
1598, he bought ten percent of the stock in the Globe Theatre, where his plays
were produced. In 1608, he and his colleagues also purchased The Blackfriars
Theatre, where they began to hold productions during the winter, returning to the
Globe during the summer months. Throughout the rest of his life, Shakespeare
continued to purchase land, homes, and businesses. He obviously was a busy
man between handling his business ventures, performing on the stage, and
writing or collaborating on the thirty-seven plays that are credited to him.(4, 6, 10)
Shakespeare's most productive years were from 1594 to 1608, the period in
which he wrote all of his great tragedies, such as Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, King
Lear, and Romeo and Juliet. During these fourteen years, he furnished his acting
company with approximately two plays annually. After 1608, it appears he went
into semi-retirement, spending more time in Stratford and creating only five plays
before his death on April 23, 1616. He was buried before the altar in the Stratford
Church, where his body still lies today. Many literary students and visitors make a
pilgrimage to this shrine each year in order to honor William Shakespeare, still
recognized after 400 years as the world's greatest poet and dramatist.(4, 6, 10)
Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the
century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as
the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The
unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about
Shakespeare’s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many
details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people
have concluded from this fact that Shakespeare’s plays were really written by
someone else—Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular
candidates—but the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and
the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars.(4, 6, 10)
In the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, Shakespeare must be
viewed as the author of the thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets that bear his
name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeare’s
plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, becoming so
influential as to profoundly affect the course of Western literature and culture
ever after.(4, 6, 10)
CONTEXT
Shakespeare did not invent the story of
Romeo and Juliet. He did not, in fact,
even introduce the story into the English
language. A poet named Arthur Brooks
first brought the story of Romeus and
Juliet to an English-speaking audience in
a long and plodding poem that was itself
not original, but rather an adaptation of
adaptations that stretched across nearly
a hundred years and two languages.
Many of the details of Shakespeare’s plot
are lifted directly from Brooks’s poem, including the meeting of Romeo and Juliet
at the ball, their secret marriage, Romeo’s fight with Tybalt, the sleeping potion,
and the timing of the lover’s eventual suicides. Such appropriation of other
stories is characteristic of Shakespeare, who often wrote plays based on earlier
works.(1,2, 6, 10, L2.2a, L8.1d)
Shakespeare’s use of existing material as fodder for his plays should not,
however, be taken as a lack of originality. Instead, readers should note how
Shakespeare crafts his sources in new ways while displaying a remarkable
understanding of the literary tradition in which he is working. Shakespeare’s
version of Romeo and Juliet is no exception.(6) The play distinguishes itself from
its predecessors in several important aspects: the subtlety and originality of its
characterization (Shakespeare almost wholly created Mercutio); the intense pace
of its action, which is compressed from nine months into four frenetic days; a
powerful enrichment of the story’s thematic aspects; and, above all, an
extraordinary use of language.(1, 2, 6, 10, L2.2a, L8.1d)
Shakespeare’s play not only bears a resemblance to the works on which it is
based, it is also quite similar in plot, theme, and dramatic ending to the story of
Pyramus and Thisbe, told by the great Roman poet Ovid in his
Metamorphoses.(6) Shakespeare was well aware of this similarity; he includes a
reference to Thisbe in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare also includes scenes from
the story of Pyramus and Thisbe in the comically awful play-within-a-play put on
by Bottom and his friends in A Midsummer Night’s Dream—a play Shakespeare
wrote around the same time he was composing Romeo and Juliet.(9) Indeed, one
can look at the play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as
parodying(L4.3a, L7.3a) the very story that Shakespeare seeks to tell in Romeo and
Juliet. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in full knowledge that the story he
was telling was old, clichéd,(L4.3a, L7.3a) and an easy target for parody(L4.3a, L7.3a). In
writing Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, then, implicitly(L4.3a, L7.3a) set himself the
task of telling a love story despite the considerable forces he knew were stacked
against its success. Through the incomparable intensity of his language
Shakespeare succeeded in this effort, writing a play that is universally accepted
in Western culture as the preeminent, archetypal(L4.3a, L7.3a) love story.(1, 10, L2.2a,
L8.1d)
ABOUT THE PLAY
PLOT (Synopsis)
In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the servants of the
feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. Benvolio, a Montague, tries to
stop the fighting, but is, himself, embroiled(L4.3a, L7.3a) when the rash Capulet,
Tybalt, arrives on the scene. After citizens, outraged by the constant violence,
beat back the warring factions,
Prince Escalus, the ruler of Verona,
attempts to prevent any further
conflicts between the families by
decreeing death for any individual
who disturbs the peace in the future.
Romeo, the son of Montague, runs
into his cousin Benvolio, who had
earlier seen Romeo moping in a
grove of sycamores. After some
prodding by Benvolio, Romeo
confides that he is in love with
Rosaline, a woman who does not
return his affections. Benvolio
counsels him to forget this woman and find another, more beautiful one, but
Romeo remains despondent.(L4.3a, L7.3a)
Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet’s hand in marriage. Her
father Capulet, though happy at the match, asks Paris to wait two years, since
Juliet is not yet even fourteen. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people
to invite to a masquerade and feast he traditionally holds. He invites Paris to the
feast, hoping that Paris will begin to win Juliet’s heart.
Romeo and Benvolio, still discussing Rosaline, encounter the Capulet servant
bearing the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that they attend, since that will
allow Romeo to compare his beloved to other beautiful women of Verona.
Romeo agrees to go with Benvolio to the feast, but only because Rosaline,
whose name he reads on the list, will be there.
In Capulet’s household, young Juliet talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and her
nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not yet considered
marriage, but agrees to look at Paris during the feast to see if she thinks she
could fall in love with him.(2, 3)
The feast begins. A melancholy(L4.3a, L7.3a) Romeo follows Benvolio and their witty
friend Mercutio to Capulet’s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a
distance and instantly falls in love with her; he forgets about Rosaline completely.
As Romeo watches Juliet, entranced,(L4.3a, L7.3a) the young Capulet, Tybalt,
recognizes him, and is enraged that a Montague would sneak into a Capulet
feast. He prepares to attack, but old Capulet holds him back. Soon, Romeo
speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a profound attraction. They kiss, not
even knowing each other’s names. When he finds out from Juliet’s nurse that she
is the daughter of Capulet—his family’s enemy—he becomes distraught.(L4.3a,
L7.3a)
When Juliet learns that the young man she has just kissed is the son of
Montague, she grows equally upset.(2, 3)
As Mercutio and Benvolio leave the Capulet estate, Romeo leaps over the
orchard wall into the garden, unable to leave Juliet behind. From his hiding place,
he sees Juliet in a window above the orchard and hears her speak his name. He
calls out to her, and they exchange vows of love.
Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar Lawrence, who, though
shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers
in secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud
between Capulet and Montague. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at
Friar Lawrence’s cell and are married. The Nurse, who is privy to the secret,
procures a ladder, which Romeo will use to climb into Juliet’s window for their
wedding night.(2, 3, 8)
The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt—Juliet’s cousin—who,
still enraged that Romeo attended Capulet’s feast, has challenged Romeo to a
duel. Romeo appears. Now Tybalt’s kinsman by marriage, Romeo begs the
Capulet to hold off the duel until he understands why he, Romeo, does not want
to fight. Disgusted with this plea for peace, Mercutio says that he will fight Tybalt
himself. The two begin to duel. Romeo tries to stop them by leaping between the
combatants. Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, and Mercutio dies.
Romeo, in a rage, kills Tybalt. Romeo flees from the scene. Soon after, the
Prince declares him forever banished from Verona for his crime. Friar Lawrence
arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave
for Mantua the following morning.
In her room, Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband. The Nurse enters, and,
after some confusion, tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt. Distraught, Juliet
suddenly finds herself married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she
resettles herself, and realizes that her duty belongs with her love: to Romeo.
Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room that night, and at last they consummate (L4.3a,
L7.3a)
their marriage and their love. Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell,
unsure when they will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected
by the recent events, now intends for her to marry Paris in just three days.
Unsure of how to proceed—unable
to reveal to her parents that she is
married to Romeo, but unwilling to
marry Paris now that she is
Romeo’s wife—Juliet asks her
nurse for advice. She counsels
Juliet to proceed as if Romeo were
dead and to marry Paris, who is a
better match anyway. Disgusted
with the Nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet
disregards her advice and hurries to
Friar Lawrence. He concocts(L4.3a,
L7.3a)
a plan to reunite Juliet with
Romeo in Mantua. The night before
her wedding to Paris, Juliet must
drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest in the
family’s crypt, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free
to live with Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding.
Juliet returns home to discover the wedding has been moved ahead one day,
and she is to be married tomorrow. That night, Juliet drinks the potion, and the
Nurse discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. The Capulets grieve,
and Juliet is entombed according to plan. But Friar Lawrence’s message
explaining the plan to Romeo never reaches Mantua. Its bearer, Friar John, gets
confined to a quarantined house. Romeo hears only that Juliet is dead.
Romeo learns only of Juliet’s death and decides to kill himself rather than live
without her. He buys a vial of poison from a reluctant Apothecary, then speeds
back to Verona to take his own life at Juliet’s tomb. Outside the Capulet crypt,
Romeo comes upon Paris, who is scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. They fight,
and Romeo kills Paris. He enters the tomb, sees Juliet’s inanimate body, drinks
the poison, and dies by her side. Just then, Friar Lawrence enters and realizes
that Romeo has killed Paris and himself. At the same time, Juliet awakes. Friar
Lawrence hears the coming of the watch. When Juliet refuses to leave with him,
he flees alone. Juliet sees her beloved Romeo and realizes he has killed himself
with poison. She kisses his poisoned lips, and when that does not kill her, buries
his dagger in her chest, falling dead upon his body.
The watch arrives, followed closely by the Prince, the Capulets, and Montague.
Montague declares that Lady Montague has died of grief over Romeo’s exile.
Seeing their children’s bodies, Capulet and Montague agree to end their longstanding feud and to raise gold statues of their children side-by-side in a newly
peaceful Verona.(2, 3, 5, 10)
CHARACTERS
Romeo - The son and heir of Montague
and Lady Montague. A young man of
about sixteen, Romeo is handsome,
intelligent, and sensitive. Though impulsive
and immature, his idealism and passion
make him an extremely likable character.
He lives in the middle of a violent feud
between his family and the Capulets, but
he is not at all interested in violence. His
only interest is love. At the beginning of the play he is madly in love with a
woman named Rosaline, but the instant he lays eyes on Juliet, he falls in love
with her and forgets Rosaline. Thus, Shakespeare gives us every reason to
question how real Romeo’s new love is, but Romeo goes to extremes to prove
the seriousness of his feelings. He secretly marries Juliet, the daughter of his
father’s worst enemy; he happily takes abuse from Tybalt; and he would rather
die than live without his beloved. Romeo is also an affectionate and devoted
friend to his relative Benvolio, Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence.(2, 3, 10)
Juliet - The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. A beautiful thirteen-year-old
girl, Juliet begins the play as a naïve child who has thought little about love and
marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of
her family’s great enemy. Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has
none of the freedom Romeo has to roam around the city, climb over walls in the
middle of the night, or get into swordfights. Nevertheless, she shows amazing
courage in trusting her entire life and future to Romeo, even refusing to believe
the worst reports about him after he gets involved in a fight with her cousin.
Juliet’s closest friend and confidant is her nurse, though she’s willing to shut the
Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo.
Friar Lawrence - A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civicminded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar
Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might
eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being a Catholic holy man, Friar
Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mystical potions and herbs.
Mercutio - A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. One of the most
extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s plays, Mercutio overflows with
imagination, wit, and, at times, a strange, biting satire and brooding fervor.
Mercutio loves wordplay, especially sexual double entendres. He can be quite
hotheaded, and hates people who are affected, pretentious, or obsessed with the
latest fashions. He finds Romeo’s romanticized ideas about love tiresome, and
tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite. (2, 3, 10)
The Nurse - Juliet’s nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a
baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. A vulgar, long-winded, and
sentimental character, the Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently
inappropriate remarks and speeches. But, until a disagreement near the play’s
end, the Nurse is Juliet’s faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet’s affair
with Romeo. She provides a contrast with Juliet, given that her view of love is
earthy and sexual, whereas Juliet is idealistic and intense.(2, 3, 10) The Nurse
believes in love and wants Juliet to have a nice-looking husband, but the idea
that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is incomprehensible to her. (2, 3,
10)
Tybalt - A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. Vain, fashionable,
supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent,
and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. Once
drawn, his sword is something to be feared. He loathes(L4.3a, L7.3a) Montagues.
Capulet - The patriarch(L4.3a, L7.3a) of the Capulet family, father of Juliet, husband
of Lady Capulet, and enemy, for unexplained reasons, of Montague. He truly
loves his daughter, though he is not well acquainted with Juliet’s thoughts or
feelings, and seems to think that what is best for her is a “good” match with Paris.
Often prudent, he commands respect and propriety, but he is liable to fly into a
rage when either is lacking.
Lady Capulet - Juliet’s mother, Capulet’s wife. A woman who herself married
young (by her own estimation she gave birth to Juliet at close to the age of
fourteen), she is eager to see her daughter marry Paris. She is an ineffectual(L4.3a,
L7.3a)
mother, relying on the Nurse for moral and pragmatic(L4.3a, L7.3a) support.
Montague - Romeo’s father, the patriarch of the Montague clan and bitter
enemy of Capulet. At the beginning of the play, he is chiefly concerned about
Romeo’s melancholy.
Lady Montague - Romeo’s mother, Montague’s wife. She dies of grief after
Romeo is exiled from Verona.
Paris - A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by
Capulet. Once Capulet has promised him he can marry Juliet, he behaves very
presumptuous toward her, acting as if they are already married.
Benvolio - Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend, he
makes a genuine effort to defuse violent scenes in public places, though
Mercutio accuses him of having a nasty temper in private. He spends most of the
play trying to help Romeo get his mind off Rosaline, even after Romeo has fallen
in love with Juliet.
Prince Escalus - The Prince of Verona. A kinsman of Mercutio and Paris. As
the seat of political power in Verona, he is concerned about maintaining the
public peace at all costs.
Friar John - A Franciscan friar charged by Friar Lawrence with taking the news
of Juliet’s false death to Romeo in Mantua. Friar John is held up in a quarantined
house, and the message never reaches Romeo.
Balthasar - Romeo’s dedicated servant, who brings Romeo the news of Juliet’s
death, unaware that her death is a ruse.
Sampson & Gregory - Two servants of the house of Capulet, who, like their
master, hate the Montagues. At the outset of the play, they successfully provoke
some Montague men into a fight.
Abram - Montague’s servant, who fights with Sampson and Gregory in the first
scene of the play.
The Apothecary - An apothecary(L4.3a, L7.3a) in Mantua. Had he been wealthier, he
might have been able to afford to value his morals more than money, and
refused to sell poison to Romeo.(5)
Peter - A Capulet servant who invites guests to Capulet’s feast and escorts the
Nurse to meet with Romeo. He is illiterate, and a bad singer.
Rosaline - The woman with whom Romeo is infatuated(L4.3a, L7.3a) at the
beginning of the play. Rosaline never appears onstage, but it is said by other
characters that she is very beautiful and has sworn to live a life of chastity.(L4.3a,
L7.3a)
THEMES
Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary
work.
The Forcefulness of Love
Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition.
Love is naturally the play’s dominant and most important theme. The play
focuses on romantic love, specifically the intense
passion that springs up at first sight between Romeo
and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, love is a violent,
ecstatic, overpowering force that supersedes all other
values, loyalties, and emotions. In the course of the
play, the young lovers are driven to defy their entire
social world: families (“Deny thy father and refuse thy
name,” Juliet asks, “Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my
love, / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet”); friends (Romeo
abandons Mercutio and Benvolio after the feast in
order to go to Juliet’s garden); and ruler (Romeo returns to Verona for Juliet’s
sake after being exiled by the Prince on pain of death in 2.1.76–78). Love is the
overriding theme of the play, but a reader should always remember that
Shakespeare is uninterested in portraying a prettied-up, dainty version of the
emotion, the kind that bad poets write about, and whose bad poetry Romeo
reads while pining for Rosaline. Love in Romeo and Juliet is a brutal, powerful
emotion that captures individuals and catapults them against their world, and, at
times, against themselves.
The powerful nature of love can be seen in the way it is described, or, more
accurately, the way descriptions of it so consistently fail to capture its entirety. At
times love is described in the terms of religion, as in the fourteen lines when
Romeo and Juliet first meet. At others it is described as a sort of magic: “Alike
bewitched by the charm of looks” (2.Prologue.6). Juliet, perhaps, most perfectly
describes her love for Romeo by refusing to describe it: “But my true love is
grown to such excess / I cannot sum up some of half my wealth” (3.1.33–34).
Love, in other words, resists any single metaphor because it is too powerful to be
so easily contained or understood.
Romeo and Juliet does not make a specific moral statement about the
relationships between love and society, religion, and family; rather, it portrays the
chaos and passion of being in love, combining images of love, violence, death,
religion, and family in an impressionistic rush leading to the play’s tragic
conclusion.(1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Love as a Cause of Violence
The themes of death and violence permeate
Romeo and Juliet, and they are always
connected to passion, whether that passion is
love or hate. The connection between hate,
violence, and death seems obvious. But the
connection between love and violence requires
further investigation.
Love, in Romeo and Juliet, is a grand passion,
and as such it is blinding; it can overwhelm a person as powerfully and
completely as hate can. The passionate love between Romeo and Juliet is linked
from the moment of its inception with death: Tybalt notices that Romeo has
crashed the feast and determines to kill him just as Romeo catches sight of Juliet
and falls instantly in love with her. From that point on, love seems to push the
lovers closer to love and violence, not farther from it. Romeo and Juliet are
plagued with thoughts of suicide, and a willingness to experience it: in Act 3,
scene 3, Romeo brandishes a knife in Friar Lawrence’s cell and threatens to kill
himself after he has been banished from Verona and his love. Juliet also pulls a
knife in order to take her own life in Friar Lawrence’s presence just three scenes
later. After Capulet decides that Juliet will marry Paris, Juliet says, “If all else fail,
myself have power to die” (3.5.242). Finally, each imagines that the other looks
dead the morning after their first, and only, sexual experience (“Methinks I see
thee,” Juliet says, “. . . as one dead in the bottom of a tomb” (3.5.55–56). This
theme continues until its inevitable conclusion: double suicide. This tragic choice
is the highest, most potent expression of love that Romeo and Juliet can make. It
is only through death that they can preserve their love, and their love is so
profound that they are willing to end their lives in its defense. In the play, love
emerges as an amoral thing, leading as much to destruction as to happiness. But
in its extreme passion, the love that Romeo and Juliet experience also appears
so exquisitely beautiful that few would want, or be able, to resist its power. (1, 2, 3, 5,
8)
The Individual Versus Society
Much of Romeo and Juliet involves the lovers’ struggles against public and social
institutions that either explicitly or implicitly oppose the existence of their love.
Such structures range from the concrete to the abstract: families and the
placement of familial power in the father; law and the desire for public order;
religion; and the social importance placed on masculine honor. These institutions
often come into conflict with each other. The importance of honor, for example,
time and again results in brawls that disturb the public peace.
Though they do not always work in concert, each of these societal institutions in
some way present obstacles for Romeo and Juliet. The enmity between their
families, coupled with the emphasis placed on loyalty and honor to kin, combine
to create a profound conflict for Romeo and Juliet, who must rebel against their
heritages. Further, the patriarchal power structure inherent in Renaissance
families, wherein the father controls the action of all other family members,
particularly women, places Juliet in an extremely vulnerable position. Her heart,
in her family’s mind, is not hers to give. The law and the emphasis on social
civility demands terms of conduct with which the blind passion of love cannot
comply. Religion similarly demands priorities that Romeo and Juliet cannot abide
by because of the intensity of their love. Though in most situations the lovers
uphold the traditions of Christianity (they wait to marry before consummating their
love), their love is so powerful that they begin to think of each other in
blasphemous terms. For example, Juliet calls Romeo “the god of my idolatry,”
elevating Romeo to level of God (2.1.156). The couple’s final act of suicide is
likewise un-Christian. The maintenance of masculine honor forces Romeo to
commit actions he would prefer to avoid. But the social emphasis placed on
masculine honor is so profound that Romeo cannot simply ignore them.
It is possible to see Romeo and Juliet as a battle between the responsibilities and
actions demanded by social institutions and those demanded by the private
desires of the individual. Romeo and Juliet’s appreciation of night, with its
darkness and privacy, and their renunciation of their names, with its attendant
loss of obligation, make sense in the context of individuals who wish to escape
the public world. But the lovers cannot stop the night from becoming day. And
Romeo cannot cease being a Montague simply because he wants to; the rest of
the world will not let him. The lovers’ suicides can be understood as the ultimate
night, the ultimate privacy.(1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
The Inevitability of Fate
In its first address to the audience, the Chorus states that Romeo and Juliet are
“star-crossed”—that is to say that fate (a power often vested in the movements of
the stars) controls them (Prologue.6). This sense of fate permeates the play, and
not just for the audience. The characters also are quite aware of it: Romeo and
Juliet constantly see omens. When Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, he cries
out, “Then I defy you, stars,” completing the idea that the love between Romeo
and Juliet is in opposition to the decrees of destiny (5.1.24). Of course, Romeo’s
defiance itself plays into the hands of fate, and his determination to spend
eternity with Juliet results in their deaths. The mechanism of fate works in all of
the events surrounding the lovers: the feud between their families (it is worth
noting that this hatred is never explained; rather, the reader must accept it as an
undeniable aspect of the world of the play); the horrible series of accidents that
ruin Friar Lawrence’s seemingly well-intentioned plans at the end of the play; and
the tragic timing of Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s awakening. These events are
not mere coincidences, but rather manifestations of fate that help bring about the
unavoidable outcome of the young lovers’ deaths.
The concept of fate described above is the most commonly accepted
interpretation. There are other possible readings of fate in the play: as a force
determined by the powerful social institutions that influence Romeo and Juliet’s
choices, as well as fate as a force that emerges from Romeo and Juliet’s very
personalities.(1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to
develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Light/Dark Imagery
One of the play’s most consistent visual motifs is the contrast between light and
dark, often in terms of night/day imagery. This contrast is not given a particular
metaphoric meaning—light is not always good, and dark is not always evil. On
the contrary, light and dark are generally used to provide a sensory contrast and
to hint at opposed alternatives. One of the more important instances of this motif
is Romeo’s lengthy meditation on the sun and the moon during the balcony
scene, in which Juliet, metaphorically described as the sun, is seen as banishing
the “envious moon” and transforming the night into day (2.1.46). A similar blurring
of night and day occurs in the early morning hours after the lovers’ only night
together. Romeo, forced to leave for exile in the morning, and Juliet, not wanting
him to leave her room, both try to pretend that it is still night, and that the light is
actually darkness: “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes” (3.5.36). (1,
2, 3, 5, 8)
Opposite Points of View
Shakespeare includes numerous speeches and scenes in Romeo and Juliet that
hint at alternative ways to evaluate the play. Shakespeare uses two main devices
in this regard: Mercutio and servants. Mercutio consistently skewers the
viewpoints of all the other characters in play: he sees Romeo’s devotion to love
as a sort of blindness that robs Romeo from himself; similarly, he sees Tybalt’s
devotion to honor as blind and stupid. His punning and the Queen Mab speech
can be interpreted as undercutting virtually every passion evident in the play.
Mercutio serves as a critic of the delusions of righteousness and grandeur held
by the characters around him.
Where Mercutio is a nobleman who openly criticizes other nobles, the views
offered by servants in the play are less explicit. There is the Nurse who lost her
baby and husband, the servant Peter who cannot read, the musicians who care
about their lost wages and their lunches, and the Apothecary who cannot afford
to make the moral choice, the lower classes present a second tragic world to
counter that of the nobility. The nobles’ world is full of grand tragic gestures. The
servants’ world, in contrast, is characterized by simple needs, and early deaths
brought about by disease and poverty rather than dueling and grand passions.
Where the nobility almost seem to revel in their capacity for drama, the servants’
lives are such that they cannot afford tragedy of the epic kind.(1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract
ideas or concepts.
Poison
In his first appearance, in Act 2, scene 2, Friar Lawrence remarks that every
plant, herb, and stone has its own special properties, and that nothing exists in
nature that cannot be put to both good and bad uses. Thus, poison is not
intrinsically evil, but is instead a natural substance made lethal by human hands.
Friar Lawrence’s words prove true over the course of the play. The sleeping
potion he gives Juliet is concocted to cause the appearance of death, not death
itself, but through circumstances beyond the Friar’s control, the potion does bring
about a fatal result: Romeo’s suicide. As this example shows, human beings tend
to cause death even without intending to. Similarly, Romeo suggests that society
is to blame for the apothecary’s criminal selling of poison, because while there
are laws prohiting the Apothecary from selling poison, there are no laws that
would help the apothecary make money. Poison symbolizes human society’s
tendency to poison good things and make them fatal, just as the pointless
Capulet-Montague feud turns Romeo and Juliet’s love to poison. After all, unlike
many of the other tragedies, this play does not have an evil villain, but rather
people whose good qualities are turned to poison by the world in which they
live.(1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Thumb-biting
In Act 1, scene 1, the buffoonish Samson begins a brawl between the Montagues
and Capulets by flicking his thumbnail from behind his upper teeth, an insulting
gesture known as biting the thumb. He engages in this juvenile and vulgar
display because he wants to get into a fight with the Montagues but doesn’t want
to be accused of starting the fight by making an explicit insult. Because of his
timidity, he settles for being annoying rather than challenging. The thumb-biting,
as an essentially meaningless gesture, represents the foolishness of the entire
Capulet/Montague feud and the stupidity of violence in general.(1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Queen Mab
In Act 1, scene 4, Mercutio delivers a dazzling speech about the fairy Queen
Mab, who rides through the night on her tiny wagon bringing dreams to sleepers.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of Queen Mab’s ride is that the dreams she
brings generally do not bring out the best sides of the dreamers, but instead
serve to confirm them in whatever vices they are addicted to—for example,
greed, violence, or lust. Another important aspect of Mercutio’s description of
Queen Mab is that it is complete nonsense, albeit vivid and highly colorful.
Nobody believes in a fairy pulled about by “a small grey-coated gnat” whipped
with a cricket’s bone (1.4.65). Finally, it is worth noting that the description of
Mab and her carriage goes to extravagant lengths to emphasize how tiny and
insubstantial she and her accoutrements are. Queen Mab and her carriage do
not merely symbolize the dreams of sleepers, they also symbolize the power of
waking fantasies, daydreams, and desires. Through the Queen Mab imagery,
Mercutio suggests that all desires and fantasies are as nonsensical and fragile as
Mab, and that they are basically corrupting. This point of view contrasts starkly
with that of Romeo and Juliet, who see their love as real and ennobling. (1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
QUESTIONS AND
ACTIVITIES
Study Questions(1, 2, 4, 5, 10)
1. The action of the play takes place over just a few days. What effect does the
accelerated time scheme have on the play’s development? Is it plausible that a
love story of this magnitude could take place so quickly? Does the play seem to
take place over as little time as it actually occupies? Support your answer with
logical arguments and,where possible,evidence from the play.
2. Compare and contrast the characters of Romeo and Juliet. How do they
develop throughout the play? What makes them fall in love with one another?
3. Compare and contrast the characters of Tybalt and Mercutio. Why does
Mercutio hate Tybalt?
Suggested Essay Topics(1, 2, 4, 5, 10)
1. How does the suicidal impulse that both Romeo and Juliet exhibit relate to the
overall theme of young love? Does Shakespeare seem to consider a selfdestructive tendency inextricably connected with love, or is it a separate issue?
Why do you think so?
2. Discuss the relationships between parents and children in Romeo and Juliet.
How do Romeo and Juliet interact with their parents? Are they rebellious, in the
modern sense? How do their parents feel about them?
3. Apart from clashing with Tybalt, what role does Mercutio play in the story? Is
he merely a colorful supporting character and brilliant source of comic relief, or
does he serve a more serious purpose?
4. How does Shakespeare treat death in Romeo and Juliet? Frame your answer
in terms of legal, moral, familial, and personal issues. Bearing these issues in
mind, compare the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Mercutio, and
Mercutio and Tybalt.
HIS GIRL FRIDAY
Adapted by John Guare
from “The Front Page” by Ben Hecht and
Charles MacArthur
and the Columbia Pictures film
Authors Biography
John Guare was born on February 5, 1938,
in New York. At age eleven, along with another
boy, he produced his first play in a garage for an
audience of family and friends. He also called up
several magazines and newspapers to promote
the play. Newsday sent a photographer, and the
paper ran pictures of the production in July
1949.
As a teenager, Guare attended the theater
regularly and listened to cast recordings of
musicals. He attended Georgetown University and graduated in 1960. Three
years later, he received his M.F.A. from Yale Drama School. Guare expressed
dissatisfaction with this course of study, however, claiming that he learned more
about plays while at Yale from a design course than from his playwriting
course.(4)
After finishing school. Guare wrote several one-act plays and worked as a reader
for a London publishing house. In 1965, he began hitchhiking through Europe.
His visit to Rome inspired one of his most important plays, The House of Leaves
which shows his vision of modern America.
When Guare returned to the United States, some of his plays were produced offoff-Broadway. He eventually was invited to become a founding member of the
Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theatre Playwrights' Conference, and that is where the
first act of The House of Blue Leaves had a staged reading in 1966. After
working on nine revisions of the second act, Guare concluded that he still lacked
the skill to complete a full-length play. Instead, he concentrated on writing more
one-act plays, some of which were produced at the O'Neill as well as offBroadway.
Guare's early plays raise several themes that would continue to interest the
author throughout his career. The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year (1966) and
Muzeeka (1967) both rely on a character's act of violence to avoid life's dreary
existence. Guare has also attacked the role of the media in several of his plays.
He eventually completed The House of Blue Leaves, and he staged it in 1971.
Over the next decade Guare continued to produce his work, which included a
rock musical adaptation of a Shakespeare play, a science fiction comedy, and a
murder mystery. Six Degrees of Separation opened in New York City in 1990. It
was an immediate critical and popular success. It was made into a movie several
years later and Guare wrote the screenplay.
Guare has won many awards over the years. His screenplay for Atlantic City,
directed by Louis Malle, garnered an Academy Award nomination. He has been a
longtime member of the Dramatists Guild and was elected in 1989 to the
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.(1, 2, 4, 5)
ABOUT THE PLAY
It is August 1939 and in the press room of Chicago’s Criminal Courts Building,
reporters can hear the sound of the gallows being tested. Earl Holub is a poor
dope who lost his job, went berserk and shot a
cop. The hard-bitten reporters are betting on
how many steps he’ll take up to the noose
before he trips. Seems the Mayor wants to
hang this guy so no one will notice the high
unemployment or count up the price tag for a
new sewer system. He and the Sherriff are
calling Holub a terrorist since they found
pamphlets blasting Hitler in his apartment; and
the cop he shot was German, in a town where
the pro-German vote carries a lot of sway. In
the middle of all this, former reporter Hildy Johnson stops by to say farewell to
the gang. She’s said good- bye to her life as a reporter and she’s off to move to
Albany and marry a square named Bruce. Walter Burns, her former editor (and
ex-husband) just can’t let his gal go and through the wise-cracks and tough talk,
he tries to lure her back with the breaking story of the year.(10)
His Girl Friday started life as the play The Front Page, Ben Hecht and Charles
MacArthur’s 1920s comedy about Chicago newsmen. It was then adapted by film
director Howard Hawks in 1940 as His Girl Friday with Cary Grant and Rosalind
Russell, in one of the great screwball film comedies of all time. The movie was
originally supposed to be a straightforward adaptation of The Front Page, with
both the editor and reporter being men. But during auditions, Howard Hawks’
secretary read reporter Hildy Johnson’s lines. Hawks liked the way the dialogue
sounded coming from a woman, and the script was rewritten to make Hildy a
woman and the ex-wife of editor Walter Burns.(8, 9)
In his adaptation, playwright John Guare has taken
the best of both the play The Front Page and the
movie His Girl Friday and added his own twist. The
movie was shot in the summer of 1939; Guare has set
his adaptation during that same summer, precisely on
August 31st, the day before Hitler invaded Poland. So
along with the screwball zaniness and satire of the
newspaper business is the threat of war. How do
these tabloid reporters, and the country, react to the
fear in their city, in the country, and in their own lives?
Characters
HILDY (Hildegaard) JOHNSON - Ace news reporter for Chicago newspaper The Record. She has the respect of every man in the in the boys club of
the newsroom. She is trying desperately to escape the newspaper business by
marrying Bruce Baldwin. Will she be successful?
THE MAYOR and THE SHERIFF - The Mayor and the Sheriff are in
cahoots.(L4.3a, L7.3a) They are up for re- election and believe that the citizens of
Chicago will not put them back in office unless Earl Holub is hanged. They will go
to extreme lengths to ensure a win in the next election: murder, planting
evidence, concealment and bribery ... anything to win.
MOLLY MALLOY - A prostitute and sweetheart to Earl Holub. She will go to
tremendous lengths to protect Earl from harm.
WALTER BURNS - The quick and unscrupulous(L4.3a, L7.3a) editor for Chicago
newspaper The Record. Walter goes to extreme lengths to ensure that his exwife and star reporter, Hildy Johnson, returns to journalism (and to him).
BRUCE BALDWIN - A mild-mannered insurance salesman and mamma’s boy.
He is engaged to be married to Hildy.
MRS BALDWIN - Bruce Baldwin’s mother and Hildy’s future mother-in-law.
EARL HOLUB - An anarchist(L4.3a, L7.3a) and Jewish immigrant who fled the
Nazis in Czechoslovakia to come to America. In a moment of panic, he shoots a
German Chicago police officer and is now set to be hanged.
The Evolution of His Girl Friday (2)
The Front Page (1928)
This hit Broadway play is set in Chicago, 1928. A dark and cynical
look at the world of crime reporting in Chicago in the 1920s, The
Front Page was created by reporters turned playwrights, Ben
Hecht and Charles MacArthur. It was a huge success and
grabbed the imagination of many. In this version both lead
characters (Walter, the ruthless editor and Hildy, his ace reporter)
are male.(4)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Enter Hollywood. Producer Howard Hawkes was determined to
do a film adaptation of The Front Page. This was intended to be
a straightforward adaption, but during auditions, the director’s
secretary read reporter Hildy Johnson’s lines — and, liking the
way the dialogue sounded coming from a woman, the director
had the script re-written to make Hildy (the reporter) female and
the ex-wife of newspaper editor, Walter Burns.(5, 6)
Switching Channels (1988)
A comedy film based on The Front Page
and His Girl Friday, Switching Channels
stars Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds,
and Christopher Reeve. The film uses
only the basic premise of The Front Page
and His Girl Friday. All of the characters' names are changed, the story is
modernized to the present day, and none of the dialogue from the play is used in
the film.(5, 6)
His Girl Friday (2003)
The Front Page and the film version, His Girl Friday, were
combined into a new adaptation for the stage by John Guare.
Set on September 1, 1939, the eve of World War II.(5, 6)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A TIMELINE OF EVENTS SURROUNDING THE PLAY(7, 8, 9)
The date: August 31, 1939, the tail end of the Great Depression and the eve of
World War II. His Girl Friday begins with the following news report: “Polish
soldiers in a deliberate act of provocation(L4.3a, L7.3a) brutally attacked German
soldiers in Gleiwitz, a town on the border between Poland and Germany.
Germany was outraged that they would be attacked on their own soil. In
retaliation,(L4.3a, L7.3a) German troops are now gathering at the Polish border.”
As you’ll see, this account of events was not exactly true.(4, 5, 6)
January 30, 1939
Hitler threatens Jews during Reichstag speech “It is a
shameful spectacle to see how the whole democratic world is
oozing sympathy for the poor tormented Jewish people ...
Today we are merely paying this people what it
deserves.”(L3.3a)
February 20, 1939
Thousands of American Nazis, mostly German immigrants, pack New York’s
Madison Square Garden and listen to American Bund leader, Fritz Kuhn,
describe his vision of an “economically independent, Jew-free America.” (see p.
13 The German Bund)
March 15/16, 1939
Hitler seizes Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain accelerates British rearmament and
publicly repudiates his policy of appeasement, then establishes peacetime
conscription for the first time in British history.
May 22, 1939
Nazis sign “Pact of Steel” with Italy.
August 2, 1939
Albert Einstein writes Roosevelt warning of atomic bomb possibilities, which led
to the creation of the Manhattan Project. Einstein arrived in America as a fugitive
from Nazi Germany in 1933.
August 25, 1939
Britain and Poland sign a Mutual Assistance Treaty.
August 31, 1939 (the date on which His Girl Friday is set)
Operation Himmler: a covert project planned by Nazi Germany to create the
appearance of Polish aggression against Germany, which was subsequently
used by Nazi propaganda to justify the invasion of Poland.
CHARLES LINDBERGH(7, 8, 9)
Over the course of His Girl Friday, several references are made to Charles
Lindbergh
May 21, 1927: Aviator CHARLES LINDBERGH completed an unprecedented
transatlantic solo flight from New York to Paris. For this, he became famous.
THE LINDY HOP: A dance also known as ‘The Jitterbug’. It was named after a
newspaper headline that declared “Lindy Hops the Atlantic” after Lindbergh
completed his first transatlantic flight.
THELINDBERGH BABY: In March 1932, two year old
Charlie Lindbergh, the child of Charles Lindbergh and
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was taken from his bedroom
and a ransom note demanding $50,000 was left in his
place. He was later found murdered. Charles
Lindbergh and his wife left America to escape the pain
of being in the spotlight.
ISOLATIONISM AND PRO-NAZI ACCUSATIONS: After returning from a tour
abroad in 1939, Lindbergh drew upon his travels to Germany and his knowledge
of air force power (having seen the strength of Germany’s air force) to become
one of the most vocal proponents(L4.3a, L7.3a) of American isolationism(L4.3a, L7.3a).
He believed America could not win a war against Germany. He gave many
speeches for the America First Committee, a powerful isolationist organization
and was accused of being pro-Nazi.
ISOLATIONIST SENTIMENT(7,8, 9)
During the 1930s, many Americans came to feel that their involvement in World
War I had been a terrible mistake and anti-war sentiment was high. The Great
Depression of the 1930s focused the attention of the American people on their
own economy and the nation’s domestic problems and getting America back on
track. The overwhelming loss of human life in World War I haunted the American
psyche. Isolationists advocated(L4.3a, L7.3a) non-involvement in European and
Asian conflicts and international politics. It was a movement to put America and
its people first.
Throughout the 1930s, as the Nazis rose to power and Germany began a
process of rearmament,(L4.3a, L7.3a) it became increasingly clear that Europe was
heading towards another war. The majority of Americans did not want any
involvement whatsoever in this burgeoning(L4.3a, L7.3a) conflict and America’s
foreign policy reflected the desire of the American people, distancing America
from the conflict. It was the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 that dramatically
changed the attitude of the country.
The isolationists were a diverse group, including progressives and
conservatives,(L4.3a, L7.3a) business owners, and peace activists, all with different
motives for wanting to stay out of any future European war. The prevailing(L4.3a,
L7.3a)
attitude was that Great Britain was not going to drag America into another
European war.
This determination to remain neutral gave rise to a series of Neutrality Acts.
NEUTRALITY ACTS
A series of laws enacted in the 1930s that were designed to prevent the U.S.
from being embroiled(L4.3a, L7.3a) in a foreign war. They clearly stated the terms of
U.S. neutrality and prohibited American companies from trading with
belligerents.(L4.3a, L7.3a)
The first Neutrality Act (1935) prohibited the export of “arms, ammunition, and
implements of war” from the United States to foreign nations at war and required
arms manufacturers in the United States to apply for an export license.
In His Girl Friday, Earl Holub is greatly upset when he discovers his employer,
McClosky, is selling goods to Germany.
MUNICH PACT(7, 8, 9)
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting Nazi Germany to annex(L4.3a, L7.3a)
Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland (areas along the Czech border, mainly inhabited
by ethnic Germans). The agreement was negotiated by Germany, France, the
U.K. and Italy at a conference held in Munich, Germany — without the presence
of Czechoslovakia at the meeting. The agreement was signed in September,
1938. Czechoslovakia was informed that it could either resist Nazi Germany
alone or submit to the annexation. Czechoslovakia felt betrayed.
The agreement gave Germany the Sudetenland starting on October 10 and
German armies moved in and proceeded to occupy the rest of the country, which
was transformed into a protectorate of the Third Reich. 150,000 refugees fled.
The character Earl Holub is from Czechoslovakia.
AMERICAN BUND(7, 8, 9)
An American Nazi organization established in the 1930s. Its main goal was to
promote a positive view of Nazi Germany. On President’s Day, February 20,
1939 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 20,000 people heard the
head of the Bund criticize President Roosevelt (referred to as Frank D.
Rosenfeld), calling his New Deal the “Jew Deal”, and stating his belief of
Bolshevik-Jewish American. Most shocking to Americans was the outbreak of
violence between protestors and Bund storm troopers (parade pictured at right).
The German ambassador to the U.S. expressed concern about the group to
Berlin and the Bund never received support or approval of any kind from the Nazi
government.
GLOSSARY(L4.3a, L7.3a), (4)
Calumnies - False statements maliciously made to injure another’s reputation;
slander.
Proletarian - A member of the working class.
Human Interest Story - A quality of a story or report, as in a newspaper or
broadcast, that engages attention and sympathy by ena- bling one to identify
readily with the people, problems and situations described.
Herodotus - An ancient Greek historian, known as the “Father of History”. He is
credited with being the first historian to collect materials systematically, test their
accuracy and arrange the facts into a vivid narrative. He is best known for The
Histories, an investigation of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. He claimed
to report only what had been told to him.
Thucydides - A Greek historian and author. Called the “father of scientific
history” due to his strict standards of evidence- gathering and analysis in terms of
cause and effect - without reference to intervention by the gods.
Freedom of the Press - The right to publish printed material without censorship
or restraint subject only to the laws of libel, obscenity, sedition, etc.
Partisan Politics - Taking actions that demonstrates favoritism towards a
particular person or party in politics.
Paragon - A model of excellence or perfection of a kind; a peerless example.
Scooped - Acquired and published an important news story before a competitor.
Venal - Open to bribery.
Swan Song - A farewell or final appearance, action, or work. The beautiful
legendary song sung only once by a swan in its lifetime, as it is dying.
Dementia Praecox - Schizophrenia. A term no longer in scientific use.
Anarchist - A person who advocates the abolition of government and a social
system based on voluntary cooperation.
QUESTIONS AND
ACTIVITIES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Do you believe everything you read or hear in the media? Why or why not?
2. Do you think this His Girl Friday is a critique of American journalism? If yes,
explain in what way is it commenting on or critiquing journalism? Is this
critique justified? Explain.
ACTIVITIES(1, 2, 4, 5, 10):
Divide the class into two groups, and have them write a theatre review from two
perspectives:
The first group will write an opinion piece, a theatre review, for the production
that you just saw (use the guidelines provided earlier in this guide.)
The second group will write a journalistic piece about your trip, reporting on the
facts. (What time did the bus leave? How many students went? Where was the
play presented? Etc. Report the only factual news of the trip. Did anything
unusual happen? Related or unrelated to the play? Gather quotes and
information from eyewitnesses.
Have the students read the different reports. Which did they prefer? Why?
HAIRSPRAY
Book By Mark O’Donnell & Thomas Meehan
Music & Lyrics By Marc Shaiman & Scott
Wittman
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPIES
Mark O’Donnell – Book
Mark O’Donnell’s plays include That’s It, Folks!, Fables
for Friends, The Nice and the Nasty, Strangers on
Earth and Vertigo Park. He wrote the book and lyrics
for the musical Tots in Tinseltown. He has published
two collections of comic stories Elementary Education
and Vertigo Park and Other Tall Tales as well as two
recent novels Getting Over Homer and Let Nothing
You Dismay. His humor, cartoons and poetry have
appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Spy, The New
Republic and Esquire, among many others.(4)
Thomas Meehan - Book
Thomas Meehan won the 2003 Tony Award for co-writing the book for Hairspray
after having won the 2001 Tony Award for co-writing the book of The Producers.
He received his first Tony Award in 1977 for writing the book of his first Broadway
show, Annie. He was also a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including
Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, To Be or Not to Be and the film version of The
Producers. Mr. Meehan is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild.(4)
Marc Shaiman - Music & Lyrics
Marc Shaiman composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics for Hairspray with his
partner Scott Wittman. They won the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Awards. As a
composer and arranger, Marc’s film credits include When Harry Met Sally,
Beaches, Misery, City Slickers, The Addams Family, A Few Good Men, Sister
Act, Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Club, Patch Adams, The American
President, George of the Jungle, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and The
Bucket List. He has been nominated many times for an Oscar and lost every
time. Marc has worked with many artists, including Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Eric
Clapton, Kristen Chenoweth, Jennifer Holiday, John Mayer, Barbra Streisand,
Rob Thomas and, well, basically everyone in show biz. His most recent
collaboration with Scott Wittman, Catch Me if You Can, recently opened on
Broadway.(4)
Scott Wittman - Lyrics
Scott Wittman's recent credits include directing and co-writing Martin Short:
Fame Becomes Me on Broadway and on tour. Scott has created and directed
two Broadway shows, three recordings and two Carnegie Hall concerts for Patti
LuPone. On television he has conceived and directed performances for Nathan
Lane and Sarah Jessica Parker and co-written Neil Patrick Harris’ musical
numbers for the Emmys and the Tonys. He has received the Tony, Grammy,
Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and London’s Olivier Awards for his work on
Hairspray. He recently opened Catch Me if You Can with partner Marc Shaiman
and they are working on a stage adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory.(4)
John Waters – Original Film
Filmmaker John Waters, born in Baltimore on April 22, 1946, had offbeat
interests from the beginning. As a child, he was drawn to the spooky and bizarre;
he was fascinated by the characters of Captain Hook from Peter Pan and the
Wicked Queen from Snow White. At the age of six, he asked his mother to take
him on a tour of the local junkyard so he could look at the wrecked cars and
imagine how the accidents had happened.
He became interested in puppets; his talent for keeping birthday party puppet
show audiences spellbound earned him up to $25 per performance, a substantial
amount for a child in the 1950s. By the age of
twelve, he was intensely interested in show
business, and subscribed to Variety, the trade
journal of the entertainment industry.
His grandmother gave him a movie camera for his
sixteenth birthday, and he began shooting short
films in and around his parents’ house. For his
casts, he assembled an ensemble of friends who would appear in his films
throughout his career. Waters’ star was the drag performer Divine (real name
Glenn Milstead), whose persona grew more outrageous with every role.
John Waters showed his early films whenever and wherever he could. One
project, Roman Candles, was shown in the basement of Baltimore’s Emmanuel
Episcopal Church (admission 75¢). The movie used an experimental technique in
which three projectors ran simultaneously.
His breakthrough film was Pink Flamingos which became a midnight-movie
smash, and earned John Waters the title “The Pope of Trash.”
Divine and John Waters reunited to make
Polyester, for which Waters invented
Odorama — scratch-and-sniff cards that
audiences were given to smell at various
points in the movie.
Waters became interested in making a movie
about his childhood obsession with The Buddy Deane Show, an after-school
dance show, in which local teens bopped to pop hits. Waters considered calling
the film White Lipstick, but settled on Hairspray. Divine originally wanted to play
both teen heroine Tracy Turnblad and her mother, Edna. However, Waters cast
Divine as frumpy housewife Edna Turnblad (and station owner Arvin Hodgepile,
one of the rare times Divine played a man on screen) and nineteen-year-old
unknown Ricki Lake won the role of Tracy.
With its PG rating and subject matter, Hairspray drew a larger audience than
Waters’ earlier movies. It became one of the hits of 1988, catapulting Ricki Lake
to fame, and earning Divine critical praise for his performance as Edna.
Tragically, soon after the movie’s release, Divine died in his sleep.
Hairspray’s success drew a wide audience to Waters’ subsequent films (which
include Cry Baby, Serial Mom, and Cecil B. Demented). Waters even appeared
in cartoon guise on The Simpsons. Waters has continued to set all his films in
Baltimore, keeping true to his particular skewed vision and delighting audiences
with his tales of eccentric characters who revel in the excesses of tastelessness
and trash.(3, 4, 9)
ABOUT THE PLAY
Synopsis(Plot)
Hairspray opens in June 1962, as plus-sized(L3.3a) teenager Tracy Turnblad
wakes up ready for another day (“Good Morning, Baltimore”). After school, she
and her best friend, Penny Pingleton, watch The Corny Collins Show, starring
“The Nicest Kids in Town.” While Tracy and Penny sigh over handsome Link
Larkin, Tracy’s mother, Edna, slaves away at her ironing board. Penny’s mother,
Prudy Pingleton, expresses her
disapproval of teenagers dancing to
“colored music.”(L3.3a) Edna points out that
it “ain’t colored. The TV’s black and white.”
In the studio, show producer, Velma Von
Tussle, instructs her teen-queen daughter
and Link’s girlfriend, Amber, to hog(L3.3a)
the camera, while berating Corny, the
host, about including songs with “that
Detroit sound.”(L3.3a, L4.3a) She reminds him
that they have to steer the kids “in the
white direction.” On air, Corny announces
auditions for an opening on the show, as well as the national broadcast of the
forthcoming “Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962” contest.
Tracy wants to audition for the show. Edna is skeptical, fearing Tracy’s size will
lead to rejection, but her father, Wilbur (owner of the Har-de-Har Hut Joke Shop),
tells Tracy to follow her dream.(2)
While Edna tells Tracy to forget about going to the audition, Velma and Prudy
argue with daughters, Amber and Penny. The girls stubbornly resist their
mothers, declaring “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now.”
Making their own decision, Tracy and Penny race into the WZZT studios just as
the auditions are ending. Tracy sees Link and swoons “I Can Hear the Bells.”
Velma rejects Tracy, sneering at her weight and lamenting that times certainly
have changed since she was crowned “Miss Baltimore Crabs.”
At school, Tracy’s hairdo lands her in detention, where she befriends Seaweed J.
Stubbs, the son of Motormouth Maybelle (the host of once-a-month “Negro Day”
on The Corny Collins Show.) At a school dance, Tracy catches Corny’s eye while
doing steps she learned from Seaweed.
The next day, an astonished Edna and
Wilbur see Tracy on TV, the newest member
of the Corny Collins Council. Link sings the
latest hit, “It Takes Two,” dedicating it to
Tracy, now an overnight sensation. After her
mother forgives her, Tracy takes Edna out
on the town for a fashion makeover
(“Welcome to the ’60s”).
During a rough scatter dodgeball game, Amber knocks out her rival,( Tracy. To
cheer her up, Seaweed invites Tracy, Link, and Penny (who has an immediate
crush on him) to his mother’s record shop (“Run and Tell That”). Motormouth
Maybelle welcomes them warmly; Tracy wonders why they can’t all dance
together on the show and plans to lead a protest during “Mother-Daughter Day.”
Link rejects the idea, fearing it will hurt his chance to be on national TV. He
leaves a heartbroken Tracy to go back to Amber. Edna is dubious about joining
the protest. She is self-conscious about her weight, but Motormouth persuades
her to accept herself — after all, they’re both “Big, Blonde & Beautiful.” The
demonstration turns into a riot; the police arrive and drag Tracy and all the
women off to jail.(L3.3a, 2, 4)
Act Two opens in the women’s house of
detention, “The Big Dollhouse.” Everyone
is released on bail, except Tracy, who is
moved to solitary confinement. Wilbur
comforts a downcast Edna (“Timeless to
Me”). Meanwhile, Link realizes his love for
Tracy and breaks her out of jail (using a
blowtorch improvised with a lighter and a
can of hairspray), and Seaweed rescues Penny from her mother’s clutches
(“Without Love”).
The four flee to Motormouth’s record shop. She reminds them that the fight
against injustice is never ending (“I Know Where I’ve Been”),(1, 3, 5). The next day,
Corny’s prime-time show (4) is in full swing and ready to announce the winner of
“Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962” (“Hairspray”). Amber and Tracy are finalists for
the title of “Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962.” Amber performs a dance she
dedicates to the absent Tracy (“Cooties”). (Just as it looks like Amber has won
the crown, Tracy bursts in from the audience to claim victory and perform a
dance that’s dedicated to everyone. They all dance together; black and white, fat
and thin, young and old, as Tracy leads the company in declaring “You Can’t
Stop the Beat.”(10)
Characters(3, L4.1g, L9, 6.3a)
Tracy Turnblad Teenager from Baltimore, wants to be a dancer on The Corny
Collins Show. Tracy is a big girl with big hair and a big heart who has dreams of
being a star. Tracy isn’t afraid to be herself and stand up for what she believes in.
Corny Collins Host of The Corny Collins Show
Amber Von Tussle The reigning teen queen on The Corny Collins Show and
Link’s former girlfriend.
Lou Ann Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Brad Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
IQ Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Tammy Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Fender Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Brenda Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Sketch Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Shelley Dancer on The Corny Collins Show
Link Larkin A teenage heartthrob on The Corny Collins show and Tracy’s love
interest.
Prudy Pingleton Mother of Penny
Edna Turnblad Tracy’s overprotective, plus-size mother (played in drag).
Penny Pingleton Tracy’s slightly dorky but lovable best friend
Velma Von Tussle Amber’s scheming mother and producer of The Corny Collins
Show.
Harriman F. Spritzer President of Ultra Clutch Hairspray, sponsor of The Corny
Collins Show
Wilbur Turnblad Tracy’s goofy father who owns a joke shop and encourages
Tracy to follow her heart.
Seaweed J. Stubbs A “Negro Day” dancer and Motormouth Maybelle’s son.
Penny’s love interest. Befriends Tracy in detention
Duane Friend of Seaweed
Gilbert Friend of Seaweed
Lorraine Friend of Seaweed
Thad Friend of Seaweed
The Dynamites Female singing trio in “Welcome to the ’60s”
Mr. Pinky Owner of Mr. Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway clothing store
Little Inez Seaweed’s little sister
Motormouth Maybelle Seaweed’s mother, a record store owner and host of
“Negro Day” on The Corny Collins Show
Gym Teacher, Principal, Matron, Guard, Denizens of Baltimore
LANGUAGE IN THE PLAY (L6.3b, 4, 9)
Listen out for these cultural references from 1960s America which feature in
Hairspray. See how many you can catch.
Connie Francis: A top singer of the 1950s and early 1960s. She
appeared in the classic Spring Break movie, Where the Boys Are
(1960).
Gidget: Pint-size surfer girl originally played by Sandra Dee in
Gidget (1959). Sequels included Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes
to Rome (1963).
Jackie B. Kennedy: First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, wife of President
John F. Kennedy, was known for her trendsetting style, particularly her bouffant
hairdo and pillbox hats.
“Hair Hopper”: A Baltimore term for someone, male or female, who spent too
much time on their outsized hairdos.
Rock Hudson, Doris Day: Starred together in romantic comedies such as Pillow
Talk (1959) and Lover Come Back (1961). He was tall, good looking, and
debonair, while she was known for her squeaky-clean “good girl” image.
“Wilt the Stilt”: At 7'1", Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain was one of the NBA’s
legendary players, setting numerous records during his 14-year professional
basketball career.
Candid Camera and Allen Funt: Allen Funt was
the host of Candid Camera, the first hiddencamera stunt show, which captured the reactions
of ordinary people to pranks played by Funt and
his cast. The show first aired in 1948 and has
been revived on various TV networks for over 50 years.
Peyton Place: Based on a popular novel, this 1957 melodrama delved into the
sordid secrets of a New England town. It became the first American prime-time
soap opera television series in 1964.
Jackie Gleason: Robust comedian best known for creating The Honeymooners
television show in 1955. His trademark phrases included "And away we go,"
"Hommina hommina hommina," and "To the moon, Alice!"
“Don’t tell me Khrushchev has his shoes off
again”: On November 17, 1956, millions of
television viewers saw Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev pound the podium of the United
Nations General Assembly with his shoe, shouting
at the West, “We will bury you!”
Metrecal: First introduced in 1960, Metrecal (from
“metered calories”) was a canned diet drink, like
today’s Slim·Fast.
Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Liz and Dick: Singer Eddie Fisher and perky
film comedienne Debbie Reynolds married in 1955 (they are the parents of
writer/actress Carrie Fisher, perhaps best known as Princess Leia from the Star
Wars movies). Fisher fell in love with Elizabeth “Liz” Taylor, and married her in
1959 on the same day he divorced Debbie Reynolds. Taylor went to Italy in 1962
to film the epic Cleopatra. Although Eddie Fisher was also in the film, Taylor fell
for her co-star Richard “Dick” Burton. Their affair made headlines worldwide.
They married in 1964, divorced in 1974, and remarried the following year
Frankie Avalon and his “favourite Mouseketeer”: Teen idol Frankie Avalon’s
“favourite Mouseketeer” was Annette Funicello, who became a star on the 1950s
TV series The Mickey Mouse Club. They met in 1958 and became a wildly
popular couple, starring in 1960s movies such as Beach Party (1963) and Bikini
Beach (1964).
The Gabor Sisters: Glamorous Hungarian sisters Zsa Zsa, Magda, and Eva
Gabor became known in Hollywood for their seductive, sophisticated, yet slightly
scatterbrained, personalities.
Mamie Eisenhower: Wife of President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, she was First
Lady from 1953 to 1961, known for her trademark bags and fondness for pink
clothing.
Gina Lollobrigida: Sultry Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida was known in the
1950s as “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World.”
“Castro’s invading”: In 1961 the United States
launched an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Cuban
leader Fidel Castro by invading the Bay of Pigs.
Tensions remained high between Cuba and the U.S.,
culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of
1962.
Glenn Miller: Popular bandleader and composer of the 1940s, known for hits
such as “Moonlight Serenade.”
Chubby Checker: Originally named Ernest Evans, singer Chubby Checker
created a dance sensation with his recording of “The Twist” in 1960.
The Hindenburg: The 800-foot blimp, Hindenburg, was the largest aircraft ever
flown. While landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, the ship was
destroyed in a tragic fire when the hydrogen that filled the blimp ignited. (Modern
blimps are filled with nonflammable helium).
Eva Marie Saint: Beautiful blonde actress who starred in such films as
Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959).
CONTEXT
The setting for Hairspray: Baltimore, Maryland
“In Baltimore, hair is politics.” — John Waters
Hairspray is set in Baltimore, Maryland, John Waters’ hometown. Baltimore’s
unique character comes from its many paradoxical qualities: it is an urban center
with a rural sensibility, a city on the border between the North and the South, a
blue-collar town that is home to world-class institutions of science and culture. In
Hairspray — and in all his films — John Waters captures the sometimes tacky,
always exuberant, unself-conscious quality of Baltimore and its citizens.
Baltimore Town, named after Lord Baltimore, one of the founders of the Maryland
Colony, was founded in 1729 at the large natural harbor at the mouth of the
Patapsco River. Baltimore, the westernmost port on the eastern coast, as well as
a midpoint between North and South, became a natural center of trade.
In the war of 1812, Britain attacked Baltimore, which they considered a “den of
pirates on the Chesapeake.” While witnessing the bombardment of Fort
McHenry, Maryland lawyer Francis Scott Key scribbled his impressions on the
back of an envelope. Key’s account of “the bombs bursting in air” became “The
Star-Spangled Banner,” the American national anthem.(2, 3, 10)
Baltimore can claim some important “firsts”: the first railroad tracks in the United
States were laid there in 1829, connecting the landlocked Midwest with the port
of Baltimore; in 1844, the first telegraph line linked Baltimore and Washington,
D.C.
In the early 1960s, the time when Hairspray takes place, more than half of the
population of Baltimore was African-American. The city had voluntarily decided to
desegregate the school system, rather than be forced to do so by court order.
However, “white flight” (affluent white families moving to the suburbs) meant that
the increasingly overcrowded schools had a much higher percentage of black
students than white. Despite the efforts to integrate schools, Baltimore remained
heavily segregated, as it had been from its earliest days. (North Avenue, the
location of Motormouth Maybelle’s record shop in the show, was originally the
northern boundary of the city. Blacks were not allowed to cross this boundary
after dark).
Baltimore,
sometimes
described as “an
outpost of the
North in a
Southern state,”
found itself in a
strategic position
in the civil rights
movement of the
1960s. The proximity of the city to the nation’s capital made it a popular place for
civil rights activists to stage protests and rallies. The city’s central position
between the North and the South, the very location that made it an economic
center, put Baltimore in the midst of the social struggle that divided the entire
country.(L3.3a, 10)
EXPLORING THE PLAY
HISTORICAL CONTEXT(2, 3, 6, 10)
Hairspray takes place in 1962, a time when the Civil Rights Movement was
gathering momentum. Racial tensions were high; demonstrations, protests, and
riots were headlining the newspapers. High school and college students were
taking an active part in the movement. Below are some highlights of the events
that took place during the 1960s and shaped the world we know today.
1960
• Civil Rights Act of 1960 is signed by Eisenhower.
• Alfred Hitchocks’ Psycho is released.
• The Presidential Debates are televised for the first time.
• John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon and is elected President.
1961
• Four black students are arrested at a “whites only” lunch counter in
Greensboro, S.C.
• Construction begins on the Berlin Wall.
• Bay of Pigs invasion takes place.
• The Peace Corps is founded.
• Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space.
1962
• Andy Warhol exhibits his “Campbell’s Soup Can.”
• Cuban Missile Crisis takes place.
• Marilyn Monroe is found dead.
1963
• Alabama Governor George Wallace delivers his infamous “Segregation
Forever” speech.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his famous “I Have a Dream” speech; 200,000
attend Washington, D.C. Civil Rights March.
• Nuclear Ban Treaty is put into effect.
• JFK is assassinated in Dallas; Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President.
1964
• The Beatles first arrive in the United States & perform on the Ed Sullivan Show
to a viewing audience of 74 million people—the largest audience in the history of
television.
• LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act; public facilities are opened to all.
• Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison in South Africa.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1965
• The U.S. invades Vietnam.
• Malcolm X is assassinated.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. calls for call for an economic boycott of products made in
Alabama due to the state’s appalling discrimination, race riots and violence.
• San Francisco writer Michael Fallon coins the term “hippies.”
• Burning draft cards becomes illegal.
1966
• The Black Panther Party is founded.
• Mass draft protests sweep the country.
1967
• Three U.S. astronauts are killed during a simulated launch.
• Gray Line Tours begins offering “Hippie Tours” of the Haight/Ashbury
neighborhood in San Francisco.
• The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• There are now 448,400 U.S. troops in Vietnam; anti-war protestors chant “Hey,
hey LBJ; how many kids did you kill today?”
• “Summer of Love”
1968
• Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated.
• Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated.
• Riots breakout at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
• Nixon is elected President.
1969
• Charles Manson and “Family” arrested.
• Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon.
• Woodstock takes place in a farmer’s field in New York.
• The Gay Liberation Movement begins.
• The Rolling Stones’ concert at Altamont breaks out in violence; one man is
killed.
QUESTIONS AND
ACTIVITIES(1, 2, 4, 5, 10)
1. Hair & fashion are an important part of Hairspray. Research how hairstyles &
clothing of the 1960’s directly relate to the social issues of the day. Consider the
early 60s styles and the Civil Rights Movement and how this was a change from
the status quo of the 1950s. Do hair and fashion have this influence today? Why
or why not?
2. Consider the fact that the role of Edna Turnblad is traditionally played by a
male actor. What does this lend to the story? Would the character be just as
effective a dramatic device if portrayed by a female actor? Support your
argument.
3. Tracy is teased for her size; many other characters are discriminated against
because of the color of their skin. How are body image stereotypes explored in
Hairspray? What about racial stereotypes? Be specific. See if you can identify
other stereotypes that are examined in the show & give examples. How can the
lessons learned in Hairspray be applied to our everyday lives? *for further
discussion topics on bullying, turn to page 12.
4. Music was a greater part of everyday life in the 1960s than it is today. How did
popular music provide impetus for the Civil Right Movement? Consider the idea
of musical “anthems.” What were some songs from the 1960s that created a “call
to action?” How did music influence the way young people viewed the world? Do
anthems exist today? If so, what songs are so influential that they have changed
the way you view the world?