In every play or art form the ideas of the author are transmitted by the characters. But in the following play; Trifles by Susan Glaspell, Andres Mother by Terence Mc Nally and The Stronger by August Strindberg the central role is carried by three silent women. In the first one Mrs. Wright a women going through an emotional break down after killing her husband after all the suffering and pain he brought her. In the second play Andres mother is suffering from her sons death which was cause by AIDS and she did not know this fact and what is more she did even know that her son was homosexual so she is doing the discovery trip to get to know her son for what he really was. In the third one Miss Y is the one who is facing a friend that blames her for insecurity and her husband adultery . In the three cases there are three strong women leading to the resolution but one of them carries a more influential role as the play is named after her.
Trifles is a play entirely seen from a womans point of view and the play is set in the early 20th century and it is a try to analyze the social role and rights of women compared to men. The central act in the play is the murder of Mr. Wright but the author does not describe the murder in itself she concentrates more in other details like the interaction between men and women after his death. In the moment that the local authorities and also the neighbors arrived in the house, they try to find the clues of the murder and the murderer. And they get divided, the men go upstairs to look at the evidences and the women stay downstairs where in fact all the conflict and the story develops.
Mrs. Wright does not speak at all she is experiencing an emotional breakdown caused by all she has been through, because her tragedy does not start in the moment when she kills her husband, in fact it ends there. For Minnie her real unfortunate life started in the moment that she had to marry him because she had to give up her all to please her husband and the society as well. She made a lot of sacrifices and gave up her tranquility, talents and individuality because as Mrs. Hale says she once was a joyful, beautiful girl who also sang beautifully. But her husband took all her energy and her spirit and made her sad women without interest in life anymore. Also her home was not a shelter for tranquility and a place where she could herself freely.
Mrs. Wright was nervous and the words of Mrs. Hale after finding that she made a bad sewing:What do you suppose she was so nervous about? (Glaspell , 1005).
By moving around the house the women also discover the dead canary which was the most important clue that leads them to the right series of event and discover the crime committed by Mrs. Wright because the canary was her last ray of hope and joy in that dark an sad house. This is the point where she is full with her husbands prohibition of everything. So even though she does not talk she has the key role in the play because she is the one that everybody is trying to find and analyze. What is more by analyzing her acts and her relationship with her husband, the picture of how women were treated at those times becomes clear.
Also in the other play Andres Mother a silent character, Andres mother, plays a central role. This drama is about the social behavior and acceptance towards the gay community and AIDS, especially by their families.
Andre is a young man that likes acting and goes to a big city to persuade his dream to be a successful actor. But the conflict in play is created by the fact that he is gay and what is more he is infected with AIDS. For his bad luck this disease brings him to death. And from the fear of not being accepted he did not tell his mother about his sexuality and his illness. The mother discovers the truth about her son from his boyfriend and his family.
During all the play by the words that all the other character say we get the impression that this woman is bounded by the the society calls moral and she is very traditional and conservative. We get this because her son knew that she would not accept his homosexuality and even more his disease and this problem of hiding his real personality to his mother caused him a very deep pain. This whole issue for him was as big as the Hamlet question To be or not to be. His mother for him was so important that caused so much trouble and distraction for him the fact that he did not have her approval. In the same time from the play it is also inferred the remoteness of this women from her son s life because even the nearest person to her son , his boyfriend does not call her by her name but he always says, Andres mother. All this emotional stress and pain brings her to an understanding in the end of the play. In fact this is the only moment in the play where she is alone and it seems like finally she is alone face to face with her son. All this is very painful for her too, but like every other mother the love for son is stronger that everything else and this in the end helps her to understand her son.
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