The Narrator In Rita Doves The Darker Face Of Earth

In almost every, major novel, book, or play, there is a narrator in it. The point and the job of the narrator is to obviously narrator the story, but the other job is to give the character thoughts and to break the fourth wall in a sense. The narrator usually has the most spoken parts in a play. Rita Doves’ the Darker Face of Earth is different than most other plays. The Narrator is only used four times and only has spoken word three times.

Doves’ the Darker Face of Earth was a play similar to Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Doves’ the Darker Face of Earth takes place before the civil war. Augustus is Oedipus in this sense. He falls in love and marry his mother, Amalia (who acts as Jocasta). He finds out about the circumstances of his birth and Amalia ends up dying by suicide, like Jocosta did at the end of Sophocles play. Augustus is carried off as the slaves chant the words “Freedom”.

He can stand up to a glare, but he doesn’t know his heart. Look around you, child: it’s glowing dark.” (Dove 1724). The second showing of the narrator happens at Act 2 at the very end of Scene 2. This is kind of like the thinking of Phebe, inside her thoughts, the narrators is her thinking. Unlike the first appearance of the narrator, she shows up in the tableau remains. She shows up as the screen turns black. If I was the director, I would have her around the back of the stage coming in from the left while a single spotlight shines are her.

“Sweet whispers can leave a bitter taste when a body’s supposed to be freedom bound. Every day as the sun comes easing down our man climbs the stairs to sherry and lace.”(Dove 1731) The third showing and final speaking part of the narrator has her speaking about lies and the feeling of when one lies in Act 2 Scene 5. If this was omitted, it would missed the last sighting of the narrator until Scene 8 of the Act 2. I would have the narrator speak in passionate way and stay