Dialogue Reflecting Hyperrealism in Fool for Love by Sam

Shepard

Ahmad Taufiqur Rahman

English Department
Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University

taufiqur@students.undip.ac.id

Abstract

Fool for Love is a play that written by an American playwright named Sam Shepard.
This paper examines the specific dialogues that possibly reflect hyperrealism in Fool
for Love. This study is mostly focusing on the script of the play and dealing with the
constructed dialogues that project its characteristics in building hyperrealism theme.
The writer has decided that he is using close-reading and dialogue exploration method
in this paper, because they are the best methods that could fulfill the purpose of this
discussion. Several dialogues in this play driven by some characters are trying to show
the hyperrealism theme in this drama. The objective of this study is to explore and
discuss how dialogues and its characteristics can be the main reason why this play
could be categorized as a hyperrealism play.

Keywords: Sam Shepard, hyperrealism, dialogue, play.

1. Introduction The conflict in this play is

Fool for Love might be a play that has
the most emotional mixed feelings
that Sam Shepard has ever created.
The drama contains undeniable truth
and very dark jokes because it is
telling about a couple who need each
other in their life. This couple is Eddie
and May. May is a woman who afraid
of the world which makes her always
hide at her old motel room that is
located in the Mojave Desert and she
doesn’t want to deal with the outer
world and the real life that she should
be lived. Meanwhile, Eddie is her
childhood friend who always tries to
drag her out from her room and
command her coming back to her life
which she had been left.
really interesting to be examined
because it reflects the reality of ‘wild
life’. The dialogues of this drama that
projected the theme of hyperrealism is
the main aspect that the paper will be
examined. The purpose of this paper
is to examine and also to discuss the
aspects of hyperrealism brought out
by the dialogues the play driven.
2. Methods
2.1 Research Methodology
This study is using qualitative
research method by sorting the
important dialogues that are
considered the most important in this
play. The qualitative is used in this
study because the writer thinks that it
is the best method which should be

Modern English and American Drama 1

used to find out the motives of
hyperrealism inside the dialogues of
the drama.
2.2 Instruments
The play Fool for Love is the main
instrument in this paper especially its
specific dialogues that categorized as
the most important. The play itself is
written by Sam Shepard who is a great
figure and having impactful role in
creating hyperrealism in modern
plays.
2.3 Data Analysis Procedures
The data that the writer has collected
is used like this:
1. Reading the whole script of the play
and watching the video on YouTube.
2. Analyzing each dialogue in the
play. 3. Collecting and sorting the
important dialogues that reflect
hyperrealism.
4. Examines the dialogues that have
been selected.
3. Findings
The writer has collected the data from
the play that could support his goal to
show the readers the motives of
hyperrealism in this drama. Several
dialogues have been chosen that will
be break down above.
The very first dialogue, which
is also the starter of the main conflict,
projects Eddie and May arguing in
May’s room. Eddie: “What should I
do?”
May: “You will forget and ignore me”
Eddie: “What the hell are you trying
to talk about? I don’t understand”
May: “You either will leave me or
have me left alone.”
2 Modern English and American Drama
Eddie: “Why would I do that kind of
thing? Are you trying to troll me?”
May: Because I'm in the way.
“Because I’m just gonna be
bothersome for you.”
Eddie: “Please, don’t be a fool.”
May: “I’m actually smarter than you
and you knew it already. I could think
your thoughts before you think about
them.”
That is the great example of what the
writer wants to explain. Hyperrealism
is really strong in this dialogue, but it
will be discussed later in the
discussion section, not in here.
Another finding that also used
by the writer is this dialogue:
Eddie: “Do you know how far I have
been traveled through the way to just
see you? Have you got the idea, huh?”
May: “Actually nobody asked you to
come here, even I won’t.”
Eddie: “Two thousand, four hundred
and eighty miles.”
May: “Yes, and what? Where have
you been, Kathmandu or where?”
May: “So what!”
Eddie: “I really missed you, really. I
missed you more than somone or
something all the time in my entire
life. I always think about you even
when I was driving to here.”
So it was the brief thing that
will be used in this paper. The writer
has been sorting out several dialogues
that have the most impact and have
potential to be discussed. Some of the
dialogues might not be included on
these section because they are being
used in small scale in the discussion,
so the main dialogues that are the
most significant which the only ones
that have been included in this
section. In the next section, the writer
will be discussing in-depth about the
findings he got.
4. Discussion
Hyperrealism inside the dialogues is
the main aspect that will fill this
discussion. For the brief explanation,
hyperrealism is a theme or genre in
literature that originally from visual
arts and hyperrealism contains very
detailed explanation about what is
happening in the literary work- a huge
amount of description that really
happening in the play.
Now we will discuss about the
first section of dialogue. This opening
section illustrates an event that
contains guilty, doubt, and unfaithful.
We can see the hyperrealism through
the dialogue when May and Eddie
arguing. May accuses Eddie that he is
cheating on her. We could know it
when May says that ‘you smell’,
because it actually implies that May
assuming Eddie having a relationship
with the other girl that she doesn’t
know. She knows it from the smell of
Eddie’s fingers, and it smells like the
other girl’s scent that still sticking to
Eddie. Where is the hyperrealism?
The hyperrealism is reflected clearly
in that scene. May smelling Eddie is
the incident that really happened in
the story, and the scent of Eddie’s
fingers projects maybe an event that
Sam Shepard has ever experienced?
Because Sam Shepard has divorced
with his wife, it could be real that
some of the scenes from these
dialogues are taken from the real life
to build the hyperrealism.
The readers should have
noticed that May would not leave her
room. This actually provokes an
insecurity feeling in May’s heart,
Modern English and American Drama
because she is a smart woman and she
thinks that Eddie will leave her
because she doesn’t want to leave her
room, doesn’t want to live her life,
and doesn’t want to meet troubles.
May is aware all of those.
Hyperrealism once again strongly
reflected by the dialogue, and it
continues with Eddie’s line.
Eddie says that she is the most
precious woman in his whole life. He
even drove thousands miles away just
to meet May and know her condition.
We know that if a person who wants
to meet his beloved will be doing
anything to reach that. Eddie missed
May so much, but May is too doubtful
and stubborn to acknowledge Eddie’s
feelings. She even thinks that Eddie
will leave her for another woman
because Eddie smells like another
woman. May suspects it from the
beginning because Eddie may think
that May is just bothersome for him.
We could tell the hyperrealism in this
dialogue by Eddie and May acts
towards each other that really
reflecting strong hyperrealism. They
are not fantasizing, but they think and
do the most logical things to do.
Another dialogue that reflects
hyperrealism is when Eddie asking
May that she could leave this motel
room and moving with him to
Wyoming. But, unfortunately May
doesn’t want to move to Wyoming nor
lave her motel room. She is too
insecure about it, because she thinks
that somethings will happen and it
will be bad for her. May also says that
she got a job in here, as a regular
citizen. Eddie cannot believe it that
she got a job, because who thinks that
person who never leaves her room
will get a job? She says that she does
3
cook. Eddy replies that’s not an actual Burns, Gail M. and Murray,
job because she does it for herself. Larry. "Brilliant production of Sam
This, we can know the hyperrealism Shepard's Fool for Love at
from there. May doesn’t do anything Williamstown Theatre Festival",
and it’s really illustrated that she berkshireonstage.com, accessed
literally doesn’t anything instead lying November 30, 2019
at her room.
Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp
5. Conclusion Berkshire Feature. Fool For Love, An
The Fool for Love’s dialogues are rich Overview"CurtainUp, July 23, 2014
of hyperrealism as we know from this
discussion. Dialogues that capture the "Magic Theatre
events which really happened and it History" magictheatre.org, accessed
was very logical make this play is November 30, 2019
perfect for hyperrealism theme. Every
dialogue has deep meaning what the
character wants to express. We could
see how beautiful Sam Shepard writes
the dialogue from examining one of
the main theme that is hyperrealism.
Hyperrealism is a theme that could
build a literary work become more
stronger and has very rich deep felings
that could be driven by dialogues
towards the audience. With this paper,
the writer hopes that the readers could
understand the hyperrealism that is
reflected by the dialogues in this
drama by reading this paper.

References

Roudané, Matthew. “The Cambridge

Companion to Sam
Shepard” Cambridge University
Press, March 28, 2002.

Hebert, James. "A double dose of

Shepard's wild West" San Diego
Union Tribune, September 30, 2014

Pressley, Nelson. "Fool for Love at

Round House, taking the edge off
Shepard" The Washington Post,
September 10, 2014

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