ipl-logo

Ideals, Dreams And Reality In Ray Lawler's Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll

1438 Words6 Pages

The play, “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll” by Ray Lawler is set in Australia and talks about times in the 1950s. In the play, one sees that, Lawler gives audiences rich insights into the societal structure, code of conduct etc typical of Australian life set in that period of time. The play talks about a group of ordinary people who are struggling to stay young as do not acknowledge the reality that they are aging. In their desperate bid to escape the inevitability of the consequences of change, the characters inflict hurt upon themselves and one another evoking pity and compassion in the audiences. Through the characters Lawler explores issues about Australian masculinity, mateship and the so called social "norms". Lawler sends a message to his audiences through his play about the social problems people faced in their day to day lives and how he sees that there is a need for change. He challenges readers to examine and question the ideals, values and attitudes, which form their own "world" by exposing the limitations of lives based on the pursuit of unrealistic aspirations. This paper discusses the theme of ‘ideals, dreams versus reality’, which shows how each character in the play cherishes a dream and respects an ideal, while in reality, it turns out to be something different and portrays how these expectations are up to the mark or lay shattered at the end.
Keywords: Australia, masculinity, mateship, norms, Ideals, Dreams, Reality, Ray Lawler …show more content…

The four main characters in the play are Roo, Barney, Olive and Pearl. Roo and Barney live with two bar maids, Olive and Nancy. The play is set in the seventeenth year of this arrangement. Nancy has married and been replaced by the sceptical Pearl. Olive fights against the change, desperate to maintain her ideal of ‘the

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Homosexuality In Bram Stoker's Dracula

    901 Words  | 4 Pages

    Craft examines the usual roles of the Victorian men and women, passive women especially, requiring them to “suffer and be still”. The men of this time were higher up on the important ladder of that era. Craft believes the men are the “doers” or active ones in

    Read More

  • Essay On Women In Othello And A Streetcar Named Desire

    1737 Words  | 7 Pages

    Although being written centuries apart, the limited expectations of women presented in ‘Othello’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ differ little from each other. The female characters are confined by society’s expectations of male dominance, female purity and virginity, and the many passive roles of women. Despite the differing legalities surrounding the position of women between the centuries in which the plays were written, both plays explore the impact of how societal conventions confine women and the ways they must comply to be safe in a patriarchal society. The behaviours and treatments of Desdemona, Blanche and Stella illustrate the attitudes enforced on and the behaviours of women throughout both periods in time and it is these attitudes and behaviours that impact the plays to the greatest extent. When characters in either plays defy their norms, or demonstrate a lack of compliance they induce negative consequences, such as the murder of Desdemona and the institutionalisation of Blanche.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of The Father In August Wilson's Fences

    1457 Words  | 6 Pages

    Throughout the play, the characters look at faith, race, opportunities, fatherhood and

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Trifles

    1014 Words  | 5 Pages

    The characters in the play reveal some of the gender stereotypes through the way they are presented in the beginning of the play, “The sheriff and Hale are men in the middle life… They are followed

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Analytical Essay

    1136 Words  | 5 Pages

    Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was highly criticized for undeniably demonstrating woman’s issues in the 19th century. While the play doesn’t change setting much at all, Ibsen clearly focuses in on the characterization of three insightful characters: Mrs. Linde, Nora, and Helmer. Mrs. Linde is a minor character; however, that doesn’t alter her effect on the play. She provides the mold for the perfect, idealized wife. Nora, the main character, develops rapidly in the play, and her character is a stark contrast to Mrs. Linde.

    Read More

  • Trifles Gender Roles

    823 Words  | 4 Pages

    The one-act play, “Trifles,” by Susan Glaspell, has several themes that are incorporated within it. There are several dominant ideas such as female identity, patriarchal dominance, isolation, and justice are themes that are all reflected in different ways throughout the play; however, gender is the main theme of “Trifles.” There is a considerable difference between the roles of the men and the women in this play. The men are expected to act in a more controlling, dominant way, while the women are expected to act in the typical ‘housekeeper’ fashion. The theme of gender is brought out through the play in many dramatic elements such as character, tone, and dramatic irony.

    Read More

  • Social Norms In A Doll's House

    1406 Words  | 6 Pages

    Henrik Ibsen has used the play A Doll’s House to highlight some of the social issues and cultural norms that existed during his time, a period when society was transforming to modernity. Ibsen used the characters of Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer to perfectly depict the historical and cultural norms of the society at the time, especially in the relationship between a husband and wife. The play begins with the depiction of a seemingly happy couple who are living a bourgeois life but as it unfolds, the Helmer’s marriage would later disintegrate after the expected social conventions are rejected. Ibsen, in his play A Doll’s House rejects social conventions of his time.

    Read More

  • A Doll House And Trifles Comparison Essay

    558 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the plays Trifles and A Doll House the reader can see the portrayal of a male society and the way women are where dominated and abused by their husband in the nineteenth century. In A Doll House Nora’s Husband Treats her as if she is and absent minds doll wife that is incapable of thinking for herself. In Trifles Mrs. wright is a woman that have been oppressed and abuse by her husband for so many year that she need to escape one way or another. The woman in the play both took steps to gain there independence in society by any means

    Read More

  • Significance Of Teddy Mcswiney In The Dressmaker

    799 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Dressmaker, by Rosalie Ham, follows the lives of the residents of the fictitious small Australian town of Dungatar. Having unique and somewhat disturbing character attributes falling under three basic traits of humanity, those who are ‘good, bad and ugly’, Ham employs the technique of characterisation to expose Teddy McSwiney’s admirable qualities and Mr Percy Alamanac’s deplorable arrogance to explore how the intent of actions are returned. Ham employs positive characterisation to demonstrate how Teddy McSwiney represents the scarce goodness in the town, and how his story ends in tragedy. Teddy is introduced as a character who is “highly valued … charming … [and] girls loved him”

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

    928 Words  | 4 Pages

    Oscar Wilde’s satirical play The Importance of Being Earnest, set in the late Victorian era, London, is a portrayal of British upper class society and its conventions surrounded by a strict code of conduct. In 1890’s class society, earnestness was desired; to follow the moral code and social obligations in order to keep up one’s appearance. Besides, there was a huge gender disparity between men and women. In the play, Wilde criticizes the social inequality and Victorian upper class standards. He characterizes Victorian personae making fun of their qualities; hypocrisy, arrogance and absurdism, ultimately the very vital state and lifeline of not being earnest at all in Victorian society.

    Read More

  • Social Expectations In A Doll's House

    759 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the three-act play, set in 19th century Norway, explores the progress of Nora’s marriage as she attempts to hide her debt and forgery from her husband. Ibsen conveyed social commentary on gender roles and societal expectations, a topic still in controversy, through the use of symbolism, irony, and dramatic elements. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen presents the problems associated with the position of women in a man’s world of business as his central focus, even if other social or individual problems become more prominent as the play progresses.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Glass Menagerie

    891 Words  | 4 Pages

    As showcased by Amanda’s regimented beliefs, The Glass Menagerie demonstrates how society’s gender roles objectify women. The mother and widow of the play, Mrs. Wingfield is no pushover, yet her parenting is a product of gender roles preset by society . The first scene of the play features her at the dinner table nagging the narrator, Tom, to not “push with his fingers... And chew — chew!... A well cooked meal has lots of delicate flavors

    Read More

  • Social Class In A Doll's House

    958 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ibsen’s play A Doll 's House, written in 1879, examines the importance of social class and the expectations that follow. A Doll’s House tells the story of married couple, Torvald and Nora Helmer who strive to fulfill social expectation. However, the ending is known to be a shock for some, as roles reverse and Nora comes to realize that she has been mistreated like a doll throughout the whole marriage. Throughout A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, doll 's and the dolls house are symbolic of how Nora is a submissive wife controlled and dominated by Torvald, and both are repressed by societal standards.

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism In A Doll's House

    1349 Words  | 6 Pages

    A Doll’s House was written, published and first performed in 1879, to a societal backdrop dominated by men. Women, especially those married, were the victims of restrictive laws and expectations. Ibsen’s play revolutionised not just the superficial theatre of the time, but also criticised the social conventions of the patriarchal Norway and Europe. He condemns the economic dependency women have on their male counterpart whilst attacking the prejudices of bourgeois values. The characterisation of Nora provides the

    Read More

  • The Glass Menagerie Analysis

    1897 Words  | 8 Pages

    Tenessee Williams is one of the most outstanding playwrights in American Theatre. His play The Glass Menagerie premiered in Chicago in 1944 and was an instant hit. It is set in the days of the Great Depression of 1930s when unemployment, inflation and shortage of necessary things had made the lives of people all over the world miserable. The playwright has sought to evaluate this era that caused financial as well as emotional trauma through depiction of the plight of a middle class family living in St. Louis, Missouri. The play deals with the memories of Tom Wingfield, an officer in the Merchant Navy, who had deserted his poor mother, Amanda, and disabled sister, Laura, in order to pursue a life of adventure but suffers from acute remorse due to his realisation of what his helpless family must have gone through in his absence.

    Read More

More about Ideals, Dreams And Reality In Ray Lawler's Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll

Open Document