John Galsworthy : Justice a out the miseries of the working class and dramatists like Jones, Pinero and Robertson took up the cause of the poor and the oppressed. They satirized social evils and ex- pressed a desire for reformation. But they did not offer any really valid solutions. These three writers can be treated as the heralds of the true problem play which came into its own in the works of Galsworthy and Shaw. Both of them are powerful artists, though Shaw is more influential. Galsworthy was not so prolific as Shaw and he wrote novels and Short stories in addition to plays. Silver Box, Joy, Strife and Justice are some of his well-known plays. He concentrates on the working and the middle classes and his plays try to offer a solution to the problems they threat. Strife is a play about factory workers. His works show great sympathy for these characters. Shaw’s plays are in a class of their own. It can be said that he, almost single- handed, established the Problem Play and made it what it is. The hypocrisy of the upper classes, their moral turpitude etc. are the subject of these plays and most of them are carefully constructed ones. Even if they do not solve, they present problems. 2a.2 Introduction Galsworthy, along with shaw and Barrie, makes up the triumphant trio of social dramatists of early twentieth century. Both on the stage and on the literary Level he was a very successful dramatist. He had an acute social awareness as well as consciousness of dramatic craft, and the two together made him highly effective. He wrote both trag- edies and comedies and Justice is one of his best tragedies, of modern times. His trag- edies are not modeled on heroic personalities like the Greek or the Euzabethan ones. They are social tragedies. Justice for example is a moving tragedy that shows how a too severe judiciary can be ruinous to society. Justice is necessary for any kind of social security, but it should be tempered with mercy. The problem lies in bringing the two together to make a harmonious combination. Loke most of the writers of Problem plays, Galsworthy too presents the social problems, in this and other plays, with great sympa- thy but he cannot offer any solutions. Allardyce Nicoll has observed : Galsworthy’s drama, true as it is the finest tradition of tragic art, is fundamentally modern. 2a.3 A Brief Summary of Justice in Brief Justice tells the story of William Falder, junior clerk in the office of solicitor James. How and his son. He is a serious and efficient young man who is in love with a married woman. This girl, Ruth Honeywill, is unlucky enough to be married to a brutal man who ill-treats her so much that her very life is in dange.r Falder is a naturally com- as)John Galsworthy : Justice passionate young man and is unable to bear her sufferings. They plan to run away to- gether and begin a new life. Money is needed for this venture and Falder commits forg- ery to obtain money. This forgery is detected before they can flee and Falder is arrested. He is tried and pronounced guilty by the jury and given three years’ imprisonment. Falder shows himself to be a docile young man. If he had been treated with mercy and consideration he could have led a good life later, like a law-abiding citizen. As it is, he accepts the punishment given to him and serves his sentence in prison without creat- ing any trouble. But his own troubles do not end. After he comes out of the prison he tries to get jobs, but the attitude of his employers change as soon as they come to know that he had been jailed for forgery. In desperation he and Ruth Heneywill approach his old office, the How solicitors, for a job. James How agrees to take him back, provided he cuts off all connections with Ruth. This is unbearable for Falder. It is the knowledge of their mutual love for each other that has helped him survive all his misfortunes. Be- sides, he feels responsible for her : I couldn’t give her up. I couldn’t ! Oh Sir! I’m all she’s got to look to. And I’m sure she’s all I’ve got. While they are still talking in James How’s office, an inspector comes to arrest Falder for having forged testimonials in order to get a job. This is the last straw. The author makes it quite clear that he will not be able to survive this. Walter, James How’s son, who sympathizes with him, cries out : That finishes him. It'll go on for ever now. But, unable to bear it any longer, Falder commits suicide while the inspector is taking him to the prison. Galsworthy shows how a promising young life comes to a tragic end through the cruelty of fate and that of the penal system. 2a.4 A Galsworthy’s Art of Characterization Galsworthy can create fully convincing characters. He regards the art of charac- terization as the most important element of dramatic technique and craftsmanship. To him characters are the foundation of plot. In his plays he gives primacy to character portrayal, next to plot. He clearly says : The perfect dramatist rounds up his characters and facts within the ring fence of a dominant idea which fulfils the craving of his spirit; having got them there he suffers them to live their own lives. Take care of character; action and dia- logue will take care of themselves. (6)John Galsworthy : Justice Due to this his characters are drawn from real experience of persons and of situ- ations around him. Galsworthy as a humanist is interested in every individual, great or small. All his characters, including his heroes, are ordinary men, who become victims of common human weakenesses and frailties. As the character are real ones, they have the same weaknesses are we have. His characters are also quite emotional, though they can- not express their feelings very effectively. They are not very vocal, but subdued ones. Galsworthy’s own statement clarifies their position: About Shaw’s plays one might say that they contain characters who express emotions which they do not possess. ‘About mine, one might say that they contain characters who possess emotions which they can’t express. Another quality of his characters is that they are usually flat ones, without show- ing any development. This is also the chief dramatic weakness of his plays, as, for a satisfactory dramatic effect, definite progress is required both in character and action. But Galsworthy is skilled in presenting the undertones of thought and feeling without breaking the dramatic tempo. This adds to the depth of the problem play. 2a.5 The Character of William Falder William Falder is the most important character of the play, though many critics refuse to give him the status of a tragic hero. This is because he has no tragic dignity in him. Galsworthy presents him as the pathetic victim of a judiciary system that is much too sever and makes no allowances for human frailty. The dramatist has presented him as a man “more sinned against than sinning”. The more we come to know about him the more pity is roused in us. He is a meek character whose sincerity calls forth respect, but not awe, which is necessary for a tragic here. It can be clearly seen that he has many sterling qualities. He is 4 forger not through a natural bent but through the force of circumstances. He is capable of great love and it is this quality that leads to his crime and the unduly severe punishment he under- goes. He attracts the reader’s sympathy in the play and we do not think of despising him though he is a criminal. R.H. Mott ram refuses to look upon him as a tragic hero : Justice also had no “hereof”. No one could call William Falder the ill-destined little clerk, that. Inspite of this judgement it can be said that Falder is a highly successful dramatic character. nn (7)John Galsworthy : Justice —_——— 2a.6 The Theme of Justice Galsworthy is occupied in the plays with presenting the various problems in soci- ety and that too in a realistic manner. His plays deal-with fundamental sociat problems dealt with in a natural and easy manner. There are many ways in which society, through its institutions, is led to support some of these and oppose others and so influence the lives of the individuals within it. H observed the entire position as impartially as he could, and his sympathy was constantly with the victims. The very name of the play points at its central theme. It is the unduly severe ju- dicial system about crime and its punishment that had excited the pity and anger of Galsworthy. He shows how very necessary it is for a judicial system not merely to pun- ish the wrong-doer, but also to reconcile him to society after the punishment. The news- papers of his time pointed out this fact. The reviewer in The Magistrate wrote : Justice portrayed with turid emphasis the terrible effect of separate confinement on a highly strung temperament. Galsworthy focuses his attention not only on the misfortunes of the individual tragic here, but on the legal system of a society that allows such tragedies to take place. Had Falder not been punished so cruelly he would have become a good citizen and led a good life after he came out of prison. But neither his employers nor the police allow him to do so. When he commits suicide Galsworthy makes it clear that it is the blind and pitiless course of miscarried application of “Justice” that has killed him. Death is deliv- erance for him. As Cokeson says : No one’ll touch him now ! Never again ! He’s safe with gentle Jesus ! 2a,7 Justice as a Tragedy Justice is a very successful tragedy. It is not a tragedy on the heroic scale like Hamlet, Othello and other such plays, but it is, all the same, a good tragedy on the social and realistic level. There is a plainness and simplicity about it that goes directly to the heart of the reader. It has the classical requirement of pathos. As it ends with the death of the hero, it can definitely be called a tragedy. It is true that the hero is not an awe-inspiring man like Othello or Macbeth but his tragedy is not to be neglected, though it is on a smaller scale. It is one of the requirements of a tragedy that the hero’s doom should generate pity and terror in the heart of the audience. As Falder is not a character on the grand scale and lacks dignity, his fate does not strike us with terror or awe. But the play definitely moves us with pity. We have great sympathy qs)John Galsworthy : Justice for Falder, who is, primarily, a pathetic character. A reviewer of the time had said after seeing the performance : Yes, it is a tragedy, a tragedy on the realistic plane, told absolutely without comment of “Literary decoration” of any kind, told so as to let the facts speak for themselves. 2a8 Important Questions. (@) Long answer Question: @ Examine Justice as a Problem Play. Gi) Analyse the central theme of Justice. Gii) Sketch the character of Falder. (iv) Evaluate Justice as a social tragedy. ) Short answer Questions : e @ Comment on the title of Justice. Gi) Comment on the element of pity in Justice 2a.9 Suggested Readings. Allardyce Nicoll : British Drama Robert Hamilton : Galsworthy the Playwright. 000 ay)Unit-2 Lesson —2b Teronessee Williams Cat on A hot tine Roof Lesson Structure The Objective American Drama 2b.1.1 Tennessee A Brief Summary The Character of Margaret. Character of Brick Important Questions. Suggested Readings. 2b.0_ The Objective The aim of this lesson is to familiarize the student with Tennessee William’s play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It is one ob his mature plays and as it was written and produced in 1955 it depicts modern American society after the Second World War. A brief account of American drama will be followed by a study of the dramatist and of the play, and its important features. 2b.1 American Drama Modern American drama is greatly influenced by continental writers, the foremost among whom is Augusta Strindberg. His plays were streamlined in structure, direct, yet symbolic. This suggested to American dramatists that, even in a realistic theatre, plays of power and significance could be written, for American drama has been following the realistic tradition of the nineteenth century Strindberg is regarded as the father of Expressionism. Other expressionist dramatists appeared after this and as result the expressionistic drama developed in America. The three chief expressionistic in America are O'Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee William’s. The expressionistic technique brought about a revolution in the stage presentation as well as the writing of the plays. It lay stress on symbolism, music, lighting, and, above all, on the inner realities of the human mind and life in a manner that expresses the psychological condition or the mood of the play. Great stress is laid on the creation of (20)Teronessee Williams Cat on A hot tine Roof the right atmosphere with the help of lighting and music. Reality is or distorted, but, with the help of symbols, dream-sequences, flashback etc. is given a new dimension. As Strindberg had said about Anything may happen, everything is possible and probable. On an insignificant back ground of reality, imagination designs and embroiders novel patterns. After the Second World War everything underwent great changes. The drama also changed. Experimentation with the mode went on but there was change in the subject matter as well. It is the mind and life of the individual that came to be of importance. There was a narrowing in the scope of the play, for usually it was confined within the family. Social concern were no longer very important, instead it was the mind of the individual that gained importance. The stage presentation became a bit non-realistic. William's serious work belongs to this period. It should be remembered that his The glass Menagerie was staged in 1945, the year of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ‘The plays written during the 50s take up the thenies of adjustment and of acceptance. Indeed, there is a play of that name by Williams— Period of Adjustment (1960). The hero is usually seen in a domestic situation. His brothers and sisters, his parents, his wife, his children become averse to him and drive him to alcoholism, drug addiction, mental breakdown etc. The other side of the coin may also be depicted, in which his family members might save him from the evils already mentioned. Where family does not exist love affairs might serve. The language used is often full of psychological terms. The purposes is always a highly moral one and this morality is stressed in many different way throughout the play. 2b.1.1 Tenneessee Williams. Williams is definitely one of the major American dramatists. As has already been pointed out. Expressionism has three great dramatists under its sway and Williams was one of them. It has been pointed out that by the ‘50s expressionisms had become an accepted mode, an it as the chief mode adopted by both Arthur Miller and Williams. Literary critics agree in ascribing certain features to Tennessee Williams as a dramatist. These are, point by point, being given below. He has had a very long dramatic career, over forty year of producing fully successful and stage worthy plays. Naturally therefore there have been may changes and development during this time. So some of the features listed below apply to his early work and some to the later ones. Lyrical dialogues — specially in the early plays. There are some in the Cat —————— in @21)Teronessee Williams Cat on A hot tine Roof See Sentimental dialogues and situations—early plays Ambiguous characters—one does not know whether by sympathize with the character or not. Present in Cat Loading a ply with more meaning than it can support. This is not the case with Cat. Striving for deep significance by introducing unnecessary complexities. Not so with Cat. Use of private myths and symbols. Deep personal involvement—specially in the later plays. Lack of detachment—Later plays. Lack of universalization—Later plays. These are all negative features. Against these can be set many positive ones. All are present in Cat Great talent for Character portrayal Great talent for portraying women. Sensitive ear for dialogue. Sensitive ear for the rhythms of natural speech. Talent for comedy. Talent for “black comedy.” Stage consciousness—setting, lights, music and other things like costume, the movetnent and grouping of the characters on the stage etc. He gives directions at'every point. One of the features of his work is its autobiographical nature. His personal life is reflected in his works. He himself was full aware of this features and had clearly said : I’m a deeply disturbed person and I write about * disturbed people. | write from my own tension. For me it is a form of therapy. He himself says that, as his dramatic career progressed, he became more and more attracted towards “undisguised self—revelation.” This is more apparent. in his later drama than in the earlier ones. In the early plays there is joyful confidence in asserting the life force. While the later once are more concerned with doubt and despair. Both of these features are partially present in Cat . Margaret asserts the life, force, while the misery of life is reflected in Brick. Failure is one of the important themes in Williams. As a matter of fact is the chicf Q2)Teronessee Williams Cat on A hot tine Roof rr theme that produces conflict which in its twin is an essential feature of tragedy. Indeed, the word “tragedy” has been specifically used by him with reference to Brick Pollitt, the hero of Cat, and this play is usually considered as a tragedy. Many of the features of tragedy are present in it. Summed up briefly they are being given here: Unity of action—there is only ‘one action in the play, for there are no sub-plots. Tragic and comic actions however, have been brought together. Unity of place—the entire action takes place in one room. Unity of time—the action covers only as much time as is taken in the actual stage performance. Williams points this out again and again. Anagnorisis or Recognition—this is presented again an again in the form of self-recognition, both in Brick and in Maggie or Margaret. Perpeteia or Reversal—this is not presented very clearly in the case of Brick, though it is said clearly again and again that there had been a crucial change in his fortune before the play began. But peripeteia is present in a different way, when the truth about Big Daddy’s illness is revealed. 2b.2 A Brief Summary The play presents the events taking place in a plantation home on the Mississippi delta. It is a very big estate. As big Daddy says: . my kingdom—twenty-eight thousand acres on th” richest land this side of the Valley Nile. Big Daddy is the owner and his family has gathered round him on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. There are six members in the family: Big Daddy, Big Mama, their two sons Gooper and Brick and the two wives Mae and Margaret (magic) respectively. Brick and Maggie are the chief characters and Maggie is the “Cat” of the title. Beside these there are the five children of Gooper and Mae. Brick and Maggie ac childless. Big Daddy is a bluff, hearty, no-nonsense person and Brick is his favourite. He does not know and neither does his wife that he is under sentence of death. He has got cancer but the two of them have been told if is just something wrong with his colon. But (23)Teronessee Williams Cat on A hot tine Root to-night, after he has gone to bed they are going to tell Big Mama. Gooper and Mae too know about it, ad have their plans about it. Big Daddy has made no will and nor will he, for he does not know he is going to die. Gooper and Mae are both self-seeking opportunists. Gooper who is a lawyer, has drawn up legal papers for a trusteeship, for he is afraid that this huge estate will otherwise fall into the hands of Brick who is an irresponsible person. In this he is more than justified. Brick pollitt, the her, is a compulsive drinker. He was a football here when a student. Now he is no longer a player. Besides, his dearest friend skipper is dead. Brick started to drink after his death and he is a confirmed drunkard now. He dos not even have marital life with his wife. At present he is suffering from a broken ankle which he got because he tried to jump a hurdle too high for him. There is a long, very important dialogue between Big Daddy and Brick. It is held after the birthday party is over. In the course of this dialogue Big Daddy lets fall the suggestion that the friendship between Brick and skipper had not been a normal one, Maggie had said the same thing earlier. She had said it to skipper also who could not bear to face the taught. He fell ill of a fever and died, and Brick took to drink. Now Bid Daddy tells him that it was he who is indirectly responsible for his friend’s death, as he could not bear the truth either. This terrible truth coming from his father completely throws him off balance. Without really meaning to, he tells his father the truth about his disease. The Second Act. Now comes to an end here, with this double revelation. There are two versions of the Third Act. In the first version Big Daddy is absent and the truth is told to Big Mama. Margaret declares that she is going to have a baby which is not actually the case. This is what Brig Daddy had wanted all along. The play ends with Maggie determined to have this child so there will be someone to inherit the property, which is due to Brick. The Second versions is slightly different. In it Big Daddy is present and Maggie make her announcement to him Brick emphatically supports her. In both the versions it is mad clear that Maggie will be successful. 2b.3_ The Character of Margaret. Margaret or Maggie is the heroine of the play and one of the most important characters created by Williams. She is the “Cat” of the title and there are several references to this import. In Act I she herself refers to it no less than four times.: I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof. She is full of beauty and vitality, and this in spite of her husband's neglect. She is loyal to him in spite of the fact that he tells ———— (24)Teronessoe Wiliams Cat on A hot tine Root her to take a lover. She stands up for him and defends him in every condition. He is a drunkard and does not behave to her as a husband should, still she loves him. Her husband is ruining himself before her very eyes and she is determined to save him. There is financial motivation in this as well, because she wants him to get his own share of his father’s property. But that is perfectly natural. He should not lose his share of it. There are other dimensions to her character. She is the very embodiment of what shaw had called the life Force. She is determined to lead a normal married life with an abnormal husband. Determined to have a baby who will save the property and carry on the line. So towards the end of the play she announce that she is pregnant and right at the end there is no doubt that she will soon have her wishes fulfilled. In addition there is another factor that lends complexity to her character. She is the “Outsider” in the play ad often in Williams it is the outsiders who bring about ruin ad destruction in a family. Here that is not the case. In this play it is Maggie the outsider who tries to save the tragic protagonist, Brick, from utter ruin. Thus she is a character very rich in all the different aspects she has in her personality—a faithful wife, the embodiment of the Life Force and a savior figure. There are very few characters who can claim so much of rich complexity. What is more remarkable—these are all positive traits, which is a thing rare in Williams. 2b.4_ Character of Brick Brick Pollitt ig the tragic protagonist of the play. From the very beginning he has been presented as a failure. All three of these writers, O’Neill, Miller and Williams are very interested in such figures, for they are the once who have tragic potentialities. He had a glamorous youth as he had been a football hero and had a happy time with his most intimate friend skipper. There was intense love between the two of them. The Split in Brick comes when it suggested by Maggie that there was something improper about this love. Skipper dies, unable to face the truth and Brick takes to drink. He cannot play footfall any more and, in a drunken condition tried to jump a hurdle and so breaks his ankle. At the time of the play he is hobbling about on crutches, almost a cripple. There is in addition to all this the possibility of losing his inheritance if he continues to drink. His entire outlook on life is summed up in one word by himself: “disgust”. This disgust is the result of many things. One of these, as he tell his father, is “mendacity” or telling lies. But he himself does not tell lies, at least, not to his father. Nor does he tell lies to himself. He recognizes the flaw in his won character and this self-recognition is the highest type or recognition or “anagnorisis” to be seen in (25)Teronessee Williams Cat on A hot tine Root tragedies. Like a true tragic protagonist too, he commits an unforgiveable act in the middle f the play, telling his father the truth about his disease. It is true that he does not die, like an Elizabethan tragic hero, but thought he lives on, it is as a tragic, defeated figure. 2b.5_Important Questions. (a) Long answer Questions : (Analyze Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as a modern American tragedy. Gi) Analyze the character of Margaret. (ii) Evaluate Brick Pollitt as a tragic hero (iv) Justify the title Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (v) Evaluate the play as an expressionistic play. (vi) Write a note on the theme of failure in Cat. (b) Short answer Question: @_ Write a note expressionism Gi) Write a note on Maggie as a saviours figure. (iii) Write a note on “disgust” as expressed by Brick. 2b.6 Suggested Readings. Robert E. Spiller— A Time of Harvest : American Literature (1910 — 1960) Stanton, Stephen S. ed.— Tennessee Williams : A Collection of Critical Essays. ‘Twentieth Century Views Series. 000 (26)