Hopelessness is seen through the setting. At the rear of the stage there is a window and through it the sun streams “as the play progresses it fades imperceptibly until, at the end, the room is almost in complete darkness.” Apart from the obvious reason, which would be the course of a day, the sun, here, is a symbol of glory, success and faith. We can interpret it by saying that at the beginning of the play, when Paul and Sylvia are still young, “at twenty-odd years of age”, they still have hopes of a better future. It is shown through Paul’s ambition of working and studying law to guarantee a better living, and Sylvia’s intentions of marrying and abandoning her family. As the time goes we notice only disappointments and attempts to change their lives. These attempts are not successful as they are hopeless, shown by their fear to abandon the firm and conquer a better job.
Working in that office is for them the only way of living. Another theme that appears in the play is the routine. Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot explores the same theme. Habit is something that makes us feel secure. It is a guarantee that we will be alive the next day as the present has a succession, which is to wake up next morning and do everything again. Since Paul starts working in the office, Sylvia passes to him her routine. Nothing can be alternated.
She tells him: “strike each key with the same steady rhythm (…) don’t move your head, keep your eyes on the material you’re typing”. The steady rhythm to strike the keys, the expressions “don’t move” and “keep” refer to lack of alternation and it means routine. Not only this, when Paul suggests to break Sylvia’s habit of having lunch always at 1p.m. and have it at 1:30p.m., she says that it wouldn’t be easy. Also, at the end of the play we see the following: Paul (looking at his watch): Sylvia, it’s twelve minutes to five. Sylvia: we don’t generally stop until ten minutes to, Paul.
The Essay on Critique of the play “Effects of Gamma Rays”
On Thursday April 11, 2002 the play, The Effects of Gamma Rays was performed in the Macfarlene auditorium at Utica College. The play was performed from April 11, 2002 through April 15, 2002. This play was written by Paul Zindel and was directed by Marijean Levering, a theatre teacher at Utica College. The play is another spin on the typical dysfunctional family. You have Beatrice, the unhappy ...
Paul: I know. But I thought… Sylvia: That wouldn’t be fair. Paul: You’re right, as always. In this excerpt we see that they are caged inside their own routine, as if stopping two minutes before the usual time would be a sin.. Related to the routine is the fear of change.
Paul and Sylvia are unhappy for several reasons: the lack of feeling their boss has, Sylvia mentions sexual arrestment inside the firm, Paul is unhappy with his marriage and Sylvia with her family. However, they never change. They don’t have the guts to give themselves a new life. They fear the unknown. All the factors are mainly influenced by their superegos. Superego would be the division of people’s minds responsible for the “do it right”. It is the part of our mind which says “go to work” instead of “stay home and relax”, which is the id talking.
In this play we see their wishes to travel, dance, spend money, be with one another, etc., but they are not capable of giving themselves pleasure. Pleasure for them is something wrong. Even having lunch must be something set, not natural as we see in this extract: Sylvia: I think I’ll eat now. Paul: We made a deal, didn’t we? Sylvia: Don’t be childish. If I want to eat now, I’ll eat now, and that’s all there is to it. Paul: You women are all alike. No backbone.
No self-discipline. Also, we clearly notice the superego acting in these parts: Sylvia (grabs Paul’s lapels, her emotions soaring): Oh Paul, I’m so filled with the desire to live, to experience things, to laugh… Oh, I want to laugh, Paul! (Silence. Paul stares dumbly at her, clears his throat. Stiffly they return to their chairs, type energetically) Paul: What am I knocking myself out for? School almost every night, weekends I’m home studying. I can’t remember the last time I took a decent vacation. What for? You’re young only once; this is the time to enjoy yourself.
The Essay on 17th Centre Theater Plays Time People
The 17 th Century gave life to an array of cultural and educational advances. This was known as the renaissance. Renaissance, a word meaning rebirth of knowledge and culture, is the ideal word to explain the occurrences of the time period of 1400-1700. In this range of time, subjects such as science, math, and literature made an amazing and strong comeback. These topics became immensely important ...
Sylvia: (…) You probably could enjoy yourself a great deal more if you were a lawyer. Paul: I never had the guts to do anything but feel sorry for myself. Paul: You don’t meet men any more; they’re all afraid of losing their jobs, afraid of spending a dollar, afraid of their own shadows. We see here that there is always something fighting against their wishes. The thing that fights against people’s freedom is the superego. It can be also illustrated through Paul’s drunkenness.
When he gets drunk, the superego becomes weaker, so he is able to say what he really feels. He tells his wife that he doesn’t care about her, he tells his boss what he thinks about him and his job. However, after the effect of the alcohol is over, he regrets. It seems to me that much more than being trapped in a society that demands people to work hard, they are trapped inside themselves. The significance of the Theater of the Absurd is to the audience to identify themselves with the whole reality of the play. I believe that everyone would identify with the reality of this play, as no one is free of his own judgment and punishment. We are the ones who charge us..
