The Provoked Wife by John Vanbrugh | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Provoked Wife was the second and the last completed play was written by John Vanbrugh that was first staged in 1697. Like his first play The Relapse, Or Virtue in Danger, John Vanbrugh raised the same issue of wedlock turning into a deadlock because of the husband’s promiscuity and the wife’s virtuous behavior. However, again he offers an insight into how a wife may also take the same course of promiscuity if she decides she also attains many venues to cheat. The premise of the plot, that a wife trapped in an abusive marriage might consider either leaving it or taking a lover, outraged some prominent sections of English society of the Restoration age. Yet, the play proved to be a huge success. It is a restoration comedy, however, the lead character Misses Brute may appear to be a tragic heroine.

Characters: Sir John Brute is a promiscuous rake who sets his eyes on a voluptuous beautiful Lady Brute. Lady Brute was a virtuous girl belonging to a poor family. They engage in a haste marriage, she for money, and he for sex. However, after some months, John Brute is again attracted to his rakish behavior and finds himself trapped in an unwanted marriage. Lady Brute is also provoked by her husband’s infidelity but she is bound by her goodness and virtues. Yet, she meets a gentleman named Constant and finds herself deeply attracted to him. Constant also desires Lady Brute but he respects her virtuous attitude and loyalty toward her husband. He continues to meet her and they flirt with each other while Lady Brute continues to protect her virtuous self. Belinda is Lady Brute’s niece who realizes that she is in love with Constant. She knows how brutish and rude her uncle is towards her aunt. She supports Lady Brute’s relationship with Constant. Constant, on the other hand, is very respectful towards Lady Brute and remains ready to protect her dignity in all situations. His friend Heartfree is in love with Belinda and wishes to marry her but he has to ask Sir John Brutes permission for her hand in marriage. Lady Fanciful is a preposterous neighbor of Lady Brute. She is a female version of Lord Foppington. She is enamored by Heartfree and wants to marry her and thus, is jealous of Belinda and Lady Brute.

Summary of the Provoked Wife:

The play is divided into 5 acts. The play starts with a soliloquy by John Brute who expresses how bored he is with being married. Soon Lady Brute appears and asks an innocuous question to which Brute, being rude starts his surly angry replies and leaves home. Lady Brute then offers her soliloquy asking what wrong did she do to suffer such indignities and inhuman behavior by her husband. She admits that others had warned her about Sir John Brute but she married him because of his money as she was poor and believed that she could change him. Belinda enters home and understands what might have happened. She says how rude a husband John Brute is. She reminds Lady Brute that he is an infidel too and continues to go to brothels. Belinda says that she knows her aunt has a soft corner for Constant and starts praising how good a gentleman Constant is. Lady Brute stops her and preaches to her about how women ought to resist the temptation to flirt and coquette outside their marriages. Then the two women start discussing Lady Fanciful, the annoying neighbor.

Lady Fanciful is a popular figure with many admirers but her eyes are set on a particular gentleman named Heartfree who hardly recognizes her love. She gets a letter from Heartfree who is known to be a women hater. In the letter, Heartfree rejects her love for him and says that she’s a damn attractive woman but has made herself so prettified and pretentious that she has become a figure of fun. Lady Fanciful cries how rude Heartfree is, yet finds him more desirable than he ever was.

Heartfree and Constant visit Sir John Brute’s house to meet him. Heartfree is a close friend of Constant who is sad. When Sir John Brute meets them, he asks why is he sad, is it because of a woman? This is true because Constant is said for Lady Brute whom he loves from the heart despite her being married to Sir John. Sir John is unaware of this. At the same time, Lord Rake and Colonel Bully arrive at Brute’s house and ask him to accompany them to the brothel. John Brute goes out with them while telling Heartfree and Constant to stay until he returns. This offers Constant a chance to express his feelings for Lady Brute as she enters with Belinda. Lady Fanciful arrives and interrupts Constant before he could say anything and complains about how rudely Heartfree addressed her in his letter to her. Belinda realizes that Lady fanciful is in love with Heartfree and starts flirting with him to tease her. Heartfree realizes that Constant will have no chance to express his love to Lady Brute, so he takes him away.

Lady Brute and Belinda are alone again as they talk. Lady Brute confesses that she feels weak for Constant but isn’t willing to go the immoral away alone. She asks if Belinda is interested in Heartfree, and Belinda says that she might be but Heartfree isn’t that interested in her.

Meanwhile, Sir John Brute, Lord Rake, and Colonel Bully are heavily drunk. They attack a tailor parring by them and rob the clothes he was taking to deliver. It is a woman’s dress, a lady gown that he made for Lady Brute. John Brute doesn’t know anything about that dress but in his drunken state, he finds it attractive and wears it himself. Lord Rake and Colonel Jovial jokingly call him the Amazon and John brute says that he is Boudica, a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe who fought against Romans. As they go forward, they meet a constable and a watch. Under the effect of alcohol, Sir John Brute announces that they are ‘the enemy’ of the Romans, and as he is Boudica, he attacks them with his club. The Watch subdues him and arrests him while Lord Rake and Colonel Bully run away. The constable takes Sir John Brute to the magistrate. When the magistrate asks him why is he wearing a lady’s gown? He answers that he is Boudica, the queen of Britain. The Magistrate says that you are heavily drunk and asks again how he got that feminine dress. Sir John brute answers that he is Lady Brute and this is her own dress. Sir John gives the impression of a rebellious, fearless, drunken, lawless wife. The magistrate feels sorry for his drunken state and lets him go free.

Meanwhile, Heartfree is still thinking of how Belinda flirted with her. He is deeply impressed by her and admits to Constant that he is in love with her. Soon their servant brings a letter from some anonymous admirers. As Constant reads the letter, he informs Heartfree that they have invited them to a rendezvous in Spring Walk that evening at 8pm. Heartfree doesn’t want to go as he is too lovesick but Constant takes him anyways. At Spring Walk, they meet two voluptuous young women wearing masks so they may not recognize them. They start talking without knowing that Lady Fanciful and her french servant have been stalking Heartfree and Constant. At the same time, Sir John Brute also arrives at the same spot and as he sees Constant and Heartfree, he hugs them as their friend and grabs both the women, assuming they are their whores. Lady Rude runs towards Constant and shows her face to him. Constant saves her from John Brute. John Brute tries to grab another girl. She runs to Heartfree and shows him her face. Heartfree saves her from John Brute. Meanwhile, Lady Fanciful and her servant hide in an arbor out of fear.

Constant and Heartfree send John Brute away and then Heartfree openly confesses his love for Belinda and takes him away for a stroll. As Constant and Lady Brute are alone, he admits his love for her. Lady Brute also confesses that she also loves him but states that she holds her virtue high and her loyalty to her husband is supreme. She says that even Constant loves her only for her virtues and if she lowers herself from her loyalty to her husband, will he still love her? Constant agrees but fails to control himself and starts kissing her and dragging her to the arbor where Lady Fanciful is hiding. As she realizes that someone is coming there, she gets out with her servant and runs away. Lady Brute gets frightened about being seen by someone while Constant was kissing her. She worries her reputation will be ruined. However, she saves her virtue. Heartfree and Belinda returns and the four decide to come back to Lady Brute’s house. As they are playing some card game at home, Lady brute’s servant informs them that Sir John Brute is returning home. As he returns, he tries to rape Lady Brute while Constant and Heartfree are hidden in a closet. Observing his rude behavior, Constant jumps out and faces John Brute. He challenges him to a duel or to leave Lady Brute alone. Sir John Brute confesses that though married, he never loved Lady Brute and accepts defeat. Heartfree then asks for Belinda’s hand in marriage to which John Brute agrees. At the end of the play, Heartfree Marries Belinda while Lady Brute remains in the deadlock of wedlock. Constant continues to pay court to Lady Brute, and she continues to try to maintain her virtue.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Hairy Ape was a play by Eugene O’Neill that was first performed in 1922. It is an expressionist play telling the existentialist story of Yank, a ship worker, who suffers an existential crisis as he fails to attain the worth that he believes he deserves. The story depicts the negative effects of industrialization and capitalism. However, the play also suggests that the socialist setup can also not be the answer to the problems as it cannot fulfill individual needs. O’Neill depicts the world of upper-class capitalists as superficial and manipulative.

Characters: Bob Smith, known as Yank is the protagonist. He is a strong ship worker who is proud of his masculinity. He is a stoker. In his small world within the ship, he believes he is important because of his masculinity as it makes him strong, brutish, and hardworking. Paddy is an aged Irish ship worker working with Yank. He has seen the changes brought through industrialization and remains nostalgic about the good old days. However, he realizes his position in the capitalist world and tries to avoid any senseless struggles. He vanishes from the scene as soon as he realizes that Yank is being driven by his vengeance against the rich. Long is another stoker working with yank who tries to keep Yank’s temper down. He suggests that brute force cannot be the solution, rather Yank should join the labor union to bring a positive and peaceful change to the situation. Mildred Douglas is the rich daughter of the president of the Steel Trust. She is a superficial hypocrite who although enjoys the comforts and benefits of her father’s fortune, pretends to be aware of the struggles of poor folks and intends to get involved in social welfare programs only to boost her own social credibility. Mildred’s aunt is an experienced lady who accepts things as they are. She was reluctant in joining Mildred on the trip but now she is stuck with her. She points out her hypocrisy in social welfare and claims to her face that it has nothing altruistic, rather Mildred is just trying to justify herself. The Secretary of the I.W.W. is the primary representative of International Workers of the World, a fictional socialist group raising the cause of laborers around the world. When he listens to the violent desires of Yank, he rejects Yank’s application to join the organization.

Summary of The Hairy Ape

The whole play is divided into eight scenes. The play begins as a crew of stokers are enjoying their free time on the forecastle of their ship. A stoker is a ship worker who shovels coal into the engine of a ship. The crew members appear happy, though there is a hidden tension between them. All of them have been away from the shore and their family for a long. The toughness of their work is quite visible on their faces. The men are singing about their wives and homes. Yank is not too happy about their songs as he verbally attacks the idea of home, marriage, and emotional attachments. Another crew member, Long says that while they are working hard, the benefits of their labor are enjoyed by the passengers of first class, the capitalist upper class. Yank exclaims that the workers are better than them.

Another ship worker Paddy talks about the good old days when people used to go on sea journeys for their fun. He remembers the days before industrialization when the engines weren’t the driving force of ships. Yank believes that Paddy is a relic of a past gone by. He calls him crazy, and dead.

The rich, beautiful Mildred Douglas is sitting on the luxurious promenade deck of the first class. Her aunt is also sitting beside her. Her aunt isn’t too happy about traveling with Mildred who appears to be insisting on some of her personal whims. Her aunt chides her about her posing attempts to help the poor through her social activities. She claims that there is nothing altruistic about it. Her aunt claims that though she enjoys all the benefits and comforts of her father’s fortune, she fails to find her own worth in that and hence, tries to justify her being and boost her own social credibility by indulging in such acts. Mildred is determined to meet the working crew of the ship to understand their hardship. She decides to visit the stokehole to see the laborers and their condition. As she approaches the captain with her request, he denies her permission. Thus, she makes a false claim that her father, who is the chairman of the shipping line, has asked her to inspect the ship. The captain then asks a second engineer to accompany Mildred to the stokehole. The second engineer notices her white dress and warns her that the stokehole isn’t a clean place and there is the dust of coal on the walls everywhere in the stokehole that will ruin her dress. Mildred says that she has many clothes and if her dress gets dirty, she will just throw it away.

Meanwhile, the workers have returned from the forecastle to the stokehole. Paddy and the other workers are still tired and unenthusiastic about their work. However, Yank is all interested in his job. He ridicules others and boasts of his ability to withstand the heat of a furnace without suffering exhaustion. No doubt, he is the most strong and most devoted worker in the stokehole. As he chides others, they also start working harder. Mildred enters the stokehole with the second engineer. The stokehole is full of smells of burning coal and the sweat of workers. Mildred isn’t too comfortable with the environment but she decides to go forward. All the crew workers are astonished at seeing this beautiful young lady among them except Yank, who pays no attention to her while continuing to work on the furnace. As she reaches him, he feels a bit disturbed and sees her with anger. Mildred gets frightened and uncontrollably says ‘oh filthy beast’ as she faints. She is taken away by the second engineer. Yank feels insulted by her remark and throws his shovel at the door as it closes back at her.

After some hours, the shift at stokehole changes. All the workers take a bath and clean themselves except Yank. He is disturbed, and angry. He still cannot forget how that girl insulted her. They tease him that he has fallen in love with the beautiful girl. However, he convinces them he is feeling a strong hatred for her for insulting him. The other men chastise the second engineer and blame him that he showed them off to Mildred as if they are not workers but animals of a zoo and they name Yank The Hairy Ape. Yank likes the idea because it allows him to think of getting violent against that girl like an Ape if given a chance. He decides to visit the promenade deck to punish her but his colleagues somehow hold him down and stop him from creating any crazy act.

The ship makes a halt in New York and Yank and Long decide to visit the market. Long talks about the ill effects of capitalism and how socialism can be a better alternative. Yank is still disturbed by Mildred's comment. He asks for the price of some fur which he finds too exorbitant. He sees some wealthy churchgoers and starts an argument with them and saying that rich people like them are worthless while people like him with physical power make the world move. Seeing the altercation, the police arrive and before Yank could get violent, they arrest him.

In Jail, other inmates make fun of Yank as he tells what he went through. One of them asks the name of the girl and he informs. When they hear the last name of Mildred (Douglas), they claim that she is the daughter of the chairman of the Steel Trust. They try to reason with Yank and suggest that his struggle against Midred is futile because her father is too rich and too strong. Yank’s anger continues to boil. One of the jail inmates then suggests Yank visit the office of the International Workers of the World Union and ask for their help.

As soon as Yank is released, he visits the office of the labor union. He is determined to take their help in exacting his revenge. The secretary of I.W.W. greets him and listens to his ordeal. He asks him how he wishes their organization to help him? Yank shows his desire for violent revenge against Mildred Douglas. Yank's attitude makes the secretary believe that he didn’t visit their office on his own but that some competitive organization has sent him to spy on them and ruin their name. Yet, he tries to test him further and asks him to fill out the form of membership. In that form, one question asks how he wants to exact his revenge, through dynamite or through legitimate direct action. Yank answers Dynamite. After observing his form, the secretary rejects his membership application. Yank goes outside and chides that he belongs nowhere. Two policemen watch him and think as if he is drunk. They reprimand him and tell him to go to his home in silence.

As Yank goes a little further, he sees a zoo and decides to visit it. He sees a monkey house where some monkeys and a gorilla are sitting near the gate. He starts telling his experience of New York to these animals. The gorilla, being curious, pounds his chest. Yank gets attracted to the ape as he sees the same masculinity in the ape. He remembers how he was called a ‘filthy beast’ and how his colleagues named him the Hairy Ape. He opens the gate and goes to the gorilla who captures him and hugs him strongly in his arms, killing him. Just before he dies, Yank realizes that he doesn’t belong with the hairy apes too.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Relapse, or Virtue in Danger by John Vanbrugh | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Vanbrugh was an English architect and political activist with a deep interest in drama and literature. He was known for his views in support of women’s rights in marriages. We recently saw how John Farquhar raised the issue of a woman’s right to get rid of a burdensome, unloving, unfruitful married relationship. John Vanbrugh wrote two outspoken restoration comedies that offered arguments in support of women’s rights, or equality of women in married relationships. The first play that he wrote was The Relapse or Virtue in Danger which was first performed in the year 1696 and the second play written by him was The Provoked Wife which was first performed in 1697. Both plays are known for their sexual explicitness and radical viewpoint present in them. John Vanbrugh was a close friend of William Congreve, Colley Ciber, and other dramatists of the Restoration period.

In 1696, Colley Cibber’s drama Love’s Last Shift was performed. It was a story of a virtuous lady married to a rake. The drama celebrated the power of a pious woman Amanda who reforms her rakish husband Loveless. Amanda masquerades as a high-class prostitute and seduces Loveless without being recognized by him. The next morning, she reveals her true identity and counterfaces Loveless with the argument that a wife can be as good in bed as an illicit mistress. Loveless, who already had his best night ever with the stranger woman realizes his fault. He appreciates his wife for doing so much so to change him that she chose to act like a prostitute and promises to change his behavior and be a virtuous married man. It was a period when the economic power was gradually shifting from the high class to the middle-class people. The play attracted both, the high-class aristocratic audience for the sexual explicitness, and the middle-class audience who cherished the preaching and success of a virtuous good lady. As a result, Love’s Last Shift became a huge hit. However, John Vanbrugh wasn’t happy with the ending of the play and he decided to write his own play on the same plot line as a sequel to Love’s Last Shift. This play was The Relapse or Virtue in Danger. Vanbrugh too managed to entice both the upper-class and middle-class audiences and The Relapse proved to be a bigger hit than Cibber’s play.

However, John Vanbrugh was attacked by Jeremy Collier in his pamphlet, A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage which was published in 1698. The Relapse and The Provoked Wife were the two main plays, that Collier believed exuded immorality and profaneness.

Characters of The Relapse, Or Virtue in Danger

Loveless is a married man who is trying hard to overcome his bad habits as a womanizer. Before marriage, he used to spend his nights with prostitutes. His wife Amanda is a virtuous good lady who inspires him to lead a good morally sound life. However, he continues to fail. Amanda, on the other hand, faces the test of temptation on her own but passes and saves her chastity outside the married relationship. Berinthia is Amanda’s cousin who breaks up with her boyfriend Sir Novelty Fashion who is a fop. He is so much indulged in clothing and fashion that he gets the title Lord Foppington. Lord Foppington wishes to marry a rich girl. First, he tries his luck with Berinthia but fails to make progress as she breaks up with him. With a sense of vengeance, he makes it an aim to seduce Berinthia’s married cousin sister Amanda and break her marriage. Lord Foppington is engaged to a rich voluptuous beautiful girl Miss Hoyden. However, she hides a secret within her heart and it turns out that she marries Young Fashion, the younger brother of Lord Foppington. Undoubtedly, Lord Foppington proves to be a butt of jokes at every instance.

Summary of The Relapse, Or Virtue in Danger

The basic story of the play is similar to that of Cibber’s Love’s Last Shift. The Relapse depicts two love stories. The first one involves a married young couple Loveless and his wife Amanda. Loveless and Amanda are living a quiet life in the countryside. Before their marriage, Loveless had spent a long time in London where he became a habitual womanizer. During his days in London, he not only slept with many prostitutes but got many virgins of the upper class in his bed though, he had no feelings for any of those girls and women. Then he met Amanda, a virtuous, good girl whom he decided to marry. Amanda had to bear his immoral behavior but she tried to change him and once pretended to be a high-class prostitute and seduced him without letting him know her true identity. Later on, when she revealed that she is Amanda, his own wife, and made him believe that a wife can be as much fun in bed as a high-class mistress Loveless promised her to change his behavior. Amanda, loyal to her husband, decided to trust him and they continued happy married life. However, Loveless failed miserably in keeping his promise. Now, he keeps visiting London just to test himself if he can keep his promise to Amanda but finds himself unable to resist the charms of immorality.

After some time, the couple decides to return to London and live there. After returning to London, Loveless finds it more difficult to remain true to his wife and soon finds himself enchanted by a beautiful theatre actress Berinthia who also falls for him and breaks up with his current boyfriend Sir Novelty Fashion who has gained the title of Lord Foppington for being a ridiculous fop. Lord Foppington comes to know that the man for whom his girlfriend broke with him is married and decides to lure Loveless’s wife Amanda to fall for him and thus break Loveless’s married life. Thus, Amanda comes to face her own test of temptations. However, despite a strong attraction towards Sir Novelty Fashion, Amanda remains loyal to her cheating husband and she puts an end to the increasing lust of Lord Foppington for her by turning him down.

The other love story involves Miss Hoyden who is a beautiful, voluptuous noble young girl. Lord Foppington wishes to marry a beautiful rich girl and after his break-up with Berinthia, he is unwilling to take any risk. Thus, he engages a professional matchmaker to find a suitable rich girl for him to marry. The matchmaker asks for a handsome price and when Lord Foppington agrees to pay after initial bargaining, he arranges the engagement of Lord Foppington with a very beautiful and rich girl Miss Hoyden. However, the matchmaker isn’t convinced that Lord Foppington will honor his agreement with him and he worries that he won’t pay a dime.

Lord Foppington’s younger brother Young Fashion is facing troubles as Lord Foppington has fraudulently grabbed his share of money and now he refuses to share part of their inheritance. Young Fashion comes to know about his plan to marry a rich girl and meets the matchmaker.

Thus, instead of introducing Sir Novelty Fashion to the family of Miss Hoyden, he decides to arrange a meeting of Young Fashion as Lord Foppington with Miss Hoyden’s family. Miss Hoyden too finds herself attracted to Young Fashion and the two get married. In the end, Lord Foppington suffers defeat at the hands of both, Amanda and Miss Hoyden.

The theme of Amanda and Loveless’s story is the importance of patience, obedience, and the submissiveness of a wife for the success of a marriage. Despite knowing that her husband is cheating, she maintains her virtuous being. Even when she faces temptations outside her married life in face of Lord Foppington, she decides to maintain her loyalty. When Loveless takes her to London and keeps her in a lodging in London, he asks her if she loves the lodgings in town, she responds, “I am satisfy'd with everything that pleases you; else I had not come to Town at all.”

However, the author also shows another side to the audience. Just like Loveless had many avenues to cheat his wife, Amanda also gets many chances to cheat on her husband as an act of revenge. Yet, she chooses the path of morality and chastity outside her married life.

Loveless, on the other hand, remains unchanged. He is as immoral as he was despite all his promises to his loyal wife Amanda. He faces no consequences for all his immoral acts and hence, he is a contradiction to the poetic justice that is missing. 

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Emperor Jones by Eugene O’Neill | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Emperor Jones was a tragic play by Eugene O’Neill that was first performed in 1920. It was the first massive hit by Eugene O’Neill, partially based on the brief, corrupt, and brutal presidency of Haiti’s Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, who was murdered by Haitians on July 28, 1915. The play is a brilliant experimental work of Eugene O’Neill in which he mixed expressionism with realism to invoke a proper amount of emotions in the audience.

Characters: Brutus Jones was a train porter in the United States. Once, during a game of dice, he kills a man and is sent to life imprisonment. He then kills a prison guard and runs away from America as a stowaway on a ship going to West Indies. He reaches an unidentified island where he impresses the gullible native people and gradually exploits them. The native people gather and try to kill them but fail as he dodges the bullet and makes the native people believe that he cannot be killed by lead bullets and only a silver bullet can kill him. He then becomes the uncrowned ruler of the island and starts exploiting the people ruthlessly. Smithers is an evil man who is always on the side of one with power. He pretends to be a good friend of Jones but has veiled malice against him. He is a profound racist white Cockney trader. He warns Jones of the revolution against him. Lem was the leader of the native people before Jones arrived. He tried to kill Jones with a bullet, but Jones somehow remained unscathed. To kill Jones, he melts some coins to make silver bullets to kill the brutal despot. There is an old native woman who informs Smithers about a rebellion against Jones as he arrives on the island at the beginning of the play. The witch doctor is a figment of  Jones' imagination during his weird hallucinatory experience when he tries to save himself against the rebellion by running away to the jungle. The witch doctor is a spiritual shaman, an image of Africa trying to sacrifice Jones to a god-like crocodile. Brutus Jones uses his silver bullet to kill the crocodile, his imagination representing himself. As the crocodile dies, he realizes he is mortal and subject to harm and death.

Summary of The Emperor Jones:

Smithers, a Cockney trader arrives at an unidentified island in the West Indies and goes to meet the Emperor of the Island at his palace. It is a dark night. He observes that all the servants and workers have left the palace. As he searches more, he sees an old native woman. He asks where has everyone gone? She says that a rebellion is arising and all the servants have joined hands with the natives who are planning to kill the Emperor. The Emperor is Brutus Jones a fugitive from America.

Smithers is worried, Emperor Jones is one of his friends and a profitable business partner. He goes to his bed chamber. As Emperor Jones wakes up, Smithers informs him about the rebellion and warns him that he can be killed. He suggests that the emperor should run away through the jungle but says that it can be very dangerous. However, Jones isn’t worried about the insurrection. He does not believe that his illiterate, superstitious subjects can outsmart him. He has deceived them to believe that no lead bullet can kill him. They believe that only a silver bullet can kill the Emperor but the only silver bullet on the island is with Emperor Jones. He still confesses to Smithers that he knew this day would come when people will revolt against him as he has been stealing from the people of the island and amassing a huge fortune in a foreign bank account.

Jones observes that none of his servants is with him. He hears the beating of drums from afar. He decides that he will run away through the jungle and go to a foreign land to enjoy his fortune. As he enters in the dark forest, his worries get over him and he starts hallucinating, seeing figures in thin air. However, he is convinced that the native people cannot acquire a silver bullet to kill him. Lem, the leader of the rebels once tried to kill Jones but he dodged the bullet and established that no lead bullet can kill him.

Emperor Jones continues to go deep into the dark jungle so that he may reach the shore from another side. Gradually, his hallucinations get intense. He has a loaded gun with five lead bullets and a silver bullet. He sees his innermost fears, his crimes from the past, one by one as his hallucinations get stronger. He begins a monologue as if the figures he sees in his hallucination are real. The first figure that appears is of the person that he killed during the game of dice. As he laughs at Jones, Jones fires a bullet at the figure and it vanishes. The sound of bullets reaches the ears of rebellions and they follow it. The sound of beating drums intensifies a bit so do the heartbeats of Jones.

The second figure that emerges out of his hallucinations is that of the prison guard trying to catch him and throw him back into the prison. As the figure charges toward Jones, he uses the second bullet at the figure and it vanishes. The sound of fire echoes in the jungle and the drum beats intensify. Jones is forced to go deeper into the dark jungle.

His hallucinations then take him deeper into his subconscious and he sees a slave market. He sees himself being auctioned in the slave market and as he is about to be auctioned, he uses his third bullet and the resounding noise allows rebellions to know where he is. Meanwhile, Jones continues his monologue, describing all his past life crimes and experiences. He then sees a slave ship taking slaves from African shores. He is forced to use his fourth bullet. The sound of the drum continues to intensify.

As he reaches further deep into the jungle near a stream, he sees a figure of a witch doctor trying to force him towards a huge threatening crocodile sitting near the river with his mouth wide open. The crocodile is willing to eat jones while the witch hunter is trying to offer Jones as a sacrifice to the god-like crocodile. Jones gets frightened. He uses his fourth bullet on the witch doctor who escapes. Now his pistol contains the last silver bullet. As the crocodile charges towards him with its open mouth, Jones shoots at the crocodile with the last remaining silver bullet. Darkness intensifies and so does the ear-tearing sound of drum beatings.

Smithers meets Lem, the leader of the rebels. Lem proudly informs him that they have killed Jones. He informs Smithers that the revolutionaries melted down silver coins to make silver bullets to kill Emperor Jones and the play ends.

The play uses many symbols signifying the changes in the fate of Jones. The most important is his uniform as the Emperor. When Brutus Jones first appears as the Emperor of the island, he is wearing an impressive uniform with lots of medals, brass buttons, and gold chevrons and braids. As he tries to run away from the rebels in the jungle and faces his past demons, his medals and braids and everything precious continues to fall away from him until there is nothing left. His uniform becomes a symbol of his fall from power. Similarly, the silver bullet that Jones carries is a symbol of his hubris, his false ego, and his fake importance. The silver bullet signifies his power over the innocent native people of the island. Jones cleverly creates a myth that he cannot be harmed by a lead bullet. The poor native people cannot think of getting a silver bullet to kill him. As he holds the silver bullet himself, he is convinced that he cannot be harmed. But when he is forced to use it on the crocodile of his imagination, he loses that silver bullet and it signifies the end of his hubris. He always knew that one day he would have to face rebellion. He had saved that silver bullet to use on himself. The crocodile signifies himself, a false god that can be taken down by a single bullet. The dark jungle signifies his own mind filled with his consciousness, confessions, and memories of his past criminal life. The beating sound of drums signifies to Jones that the rebels are reaching near to hunt him down. As the sound of drums intensifies, so does the rate of his heart beats.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Beaux Stratagem by George Farquhar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Beaux Stratagem was a comedy written by George Farquhar and was first performed in the year 1707. It was one of the last restoration comedies that gained huge success. The drama touches on the difficult subject of the divorce of an incompatible couple while the divorce wasn’t legal in England during the restoration period. Even if a couple decided to separate during that time, the wife wasn’t offered any money or help from the husband. Farquhar developed this plot involving a divorce of a woman with her drunken, unsupportive, and unloving husband and then created a deceiving device to let her have her share of the money.

Characters: The main characters are the two young and handsome friends Archer and Aimwell who have lost all their fortune in their expensive lifestyle. They plan to go away from the city and entrap some rich girl in love, rob her and then move away. The very first town they visit is Lichfield where they meet Dorinda, the young daughter of a rich landlady Lady Bountiful who specializes in herbal medicines. Boniface is an inn owner of Lichfield where Archer and Aimwell stay. Cherry is the inn owner’s daughter who falls in love with Archer. Squire Sullen is the son of Lady Bountiful and the brother of Dorinda. He is a drunkard who doesn’t care for his wife at all, Scrub is his servant. Count Bellair is a french soldier. Kate Sullen is Lady Bountiful’s daughter-in-law, Sullen’s unhappy wife. She tries everything to get the attention of Squire Sullen but he remains indifferent. Gipsy is Kate’s maid. Gibbet is a robber who plans to rob Kate, Dorinda, and Lady Bountiful with the help of his associates Bagshot and Hounslow. Sir Charles Freeman is the brother of Kate Sullen who visits her. He is a past acquaintance of Archer and Aimwell.

Summary of The Beaux Stratagem

Archer and Aimwell are two young handsome gentleman richly spending their life and money in the extravagance of London. The two beaux are almost penniless now as they have got the last two hundred pounds left with them. While both are strong and able, none of them is willing to sell their swords for the wars and join the Military. The only other option left for them is to trap some rich girls in their love and get money from them. However, they cannot let their friends in London know that they are penniless. Archer suggests that they should leave London for the countryside and let fate decide their course for them. Aimwell agrees and suggests a shrewd plan that in the other towns they will visit, one of them will pretend to be a fine lord and the other will be his loyal servant. This will let them impress the country folk and deceive some rich landlord’s beautiful girl. Archer agrees and it is decided that they will play the part of rich lord one by one and the first turn will be of Aimwell while Archer will act as his servant.

The first town they visit is Lichfield. They visit the local inn and befriend the inn owner Will Boniface. Aimwell playing the part of lord invites Boniface to drink with him as he pays and tries to know about the rich people of the town. Boniface informs him about Lady Bountiful who is a widow and lives with her son, daughter, and daughter-in-law. Everyone in the town respects Lady Bountiful for her specialization in herbal medicines. Her daughter Dorinda is young and beautiful and Lady Bountiful is looking for a good suitor for her. Boniface further informs that Lady Bountiful’s son Squire Sullen is a lazy person who does nothing but sleeps, eat, and drink. He recently married a beautiful London girl but it seems she is not happy with Squire Sullen. At the inn, there are some French captive soldiers including Count Bellair, his assistant Foigard, and their priest.

Aimwell tries to win the trust of Boniface by giving him the bag of their 200 pounds to keep in safety that he will take when he leaves the town. Boniface has connections with the local robber Gibbet, Hounslow and Bagshot. He suspects that Aimwell and Archer are thieves and plan to rob their money. He tells his young daughter to tease the servant Archer to gather more information about them while he offers more alcohol to Aimwell trying to pry about him. However, Aimwell is too smart to spill his secrets and Boniface gets nothing. Cherry also tries her best but instead of gathering any information about her father’s interest, she finds herself attracted to Archer and feels she loves him.

Lady Bountiful, her daughter Dorinda, and daughter-in-law Kate Sullen also learn about the new visitors to their town and they are curious about them. Aimwell visits the local church to meet rich Dorinda and impresses her with his etiquette. Dorinda immediately falls in love with this handsome stranger while Kate Sullen finds Archer very attractive. She asks Scrub, her husband’s servant, to invite Archer to their home so that Dorinda may come to know more about Aimwell. Archer visits their home but Dorinda and Kate fail to get any information about Aimwell. However, Kate further falls into Archer’s charm.

Kate is recently married to Squire Sullen but he has no interest in his beautiful wife. Kate and Dorinda attempt to awaken him and make him take interest in Kate as a dutiful loving husband by pretending that Kate is having an extra-marital affair with someone. They chose the captive Count Bellair as a fake lover of Kate. Dorinda informs Sullen about Kate’s (fake) affair and to offer proof, she hides Sullen in a closet so that he may see Kate meeting some stranger with his own eyes. As Count Bellair is brought to their house, hands freed, Sullen rushes out of the closet with his sword in his hand. However, Kate stops him from attacking Bellair by showing him a pistol aimed at him. Sullen gets subdued by his wife but he makes a point that he doesn’t worry if she is having an affair as long as she is not falling for a Frenchman as he detests all Frenchman. Thus, the ruse of Kate and Dorinda fails as Sullen doesn’t care if Kate has an extra-marital affair. As he leaves, Kate informs Count Bellair that it was all a drama and she has no interest in him as she is loyal to her husband. Count Bellair says that even if she is a virtuous lady, she is not honest. He further says that she may call him at any time whenever she needs his help. As Dorinda and Kate’s stratagem proves to be a failure, she gets reckless.

Meanwhile, Archer knocks at Dorinda’s door and informs her that his master is ill as he is suffering a fit. He requests Lady Bountiful to check and cure him. Aimwell feigns a coma but as soon as Dorinda comes to see him, and caringly touches his hand, he regains consciousness and squeezes her beautiful hand. Archer is happy for his master gaining consciousness back but suggests that he is still unwell and must rest at Lady Bountiful’s house for a while. Dorinda and Kate invite them to a tour of their house. Aimwell takes Dorinda away while Kate Sullen finds herself alone with her attractive beau Archer. She is strongly attracted to him especially since her own husband has never touched her since their marriage. As she shows Archer the door of her bed chamber, he enters in and seducingly invites her into her own bed. However, she is determined to keep her conscience and saves herself from falling for Archer.

As Archer leaves, Scrub meets him who has become a friend of Archer a fellow servant. He says that he is worried about his master Squire Sullen as he overheard Foigard, the assistant of Count Bellair bribing Gipsy, the maid of Kate to conceal Beallair in Kate’s bed chamber at night so that he may sully the virtuous lady Kate Sullen. Meanwhile, Boniface connives with Gibbet, Hanslow, and Bagshot to rob the house of Lady Bountiful. After reaching the inn, Archer and Aimwell confront Foigard and the Priest and charge them of treason. They threaten them and in exchange for their silence, they demand that the priest will send Archer in place of Bellair to Kate’s bedroom.

Back at the home, Kate receives the information that her brother Sir Charles Freeman is visiting her to help her get rid of her obnoxious husband. Dorinda is still enjoying the memories of romantic moments she had spent with Aimwell as she dreams of her future as lord Aimwells wife in London. Kate is also thinking of how charming Archer is.

To avoid any struggle, Gibbet makes Squire Sullen tipsy with alcohol at the inn. When Freeman reaches the town, he meets Sullen and starts talking to him without knowing that Sullen is his brother-in-law as the two have never met before.

At night, Archer is shifted to Kate’s bedroom in place of Bellair. Cherry comes to know that the robbers have armed themselves to march and rob Lady Bountiful’s house. She informs Aimwell about their plan. Back at home, Kate is preparing to sleep as she dreams of Archer and moans. Archer notices her and realizes that she is weak for him. He jumps out of the closet in front of her and takes her in his arms. Kate gets frightened and her conscience and shame save her against Archer’s charm. At the same time, Scrub runs into the bedroom and informs that robbers have attacked the house. Archer takes out his sword and as Gibbet enters, he attacks them and subdues them. He calls for the help of Foigard who is hidden in Gipsy’s home to bind Gibbet. Hounslow and Bagshot were robbing Dorinda and Lady Bountiful in another room when Aimwell reached there. He subdues them and saves Dorinda and her mother. Soon Archer and Kate also appear and Archer suggests to Aimwell that it is the right time when he should ask for Dorinda’s hand from Lady Bountiful as she will feel grateful. At the same time, Freeman enters the house and greets his sister Kate. When Archer sees him, he gets frightened because Freeman is one of their friends from London. He thinks Freeman will tell the truth about their fraud. Aimwell, on the other hand, proposes to Dorinda at the same time and honestly tells her that he is no lord. He confesses that he is a fraud, falsely bearing his elder brother’s title. Dorinda accepts Aimwell as he is and soon gets good news from Freeman that the elder brother of Aimwell has suddenly died and now Aimwell is the only heir of his father and dead brother’s estate. Dorinda and Aimwell cherish the news as Lady Bountiful nods for their marriage.

Bellair arrives there and informs that the inn has also been robbed. He gives Archer a letter from Cherry in which she informed him how her father collaborated with robbers and ran away with lord Aimwell’s money. However, Aimwell isn’t worried about that money now when he is a true lord. Freeman reveals that he visited there to get his sister freed from the burden of a marriage where her husband is not at all interested in her. Archer finds the papers of Kate Sullen’s estate in the things that Gibbet robbed. He persuades Sullen to sign the papers of separation with Kate while offering all her estate that he got as dowry back to her. Sullen is still in the effect of alcohol and he signs the papers. Everyone is happy as Aimwell is a true lord now and he has got Dorinda as his wife. Archer is also happy because Aimwell offers all the estate of Dorinda to Archer. Freeman is happy because his sister is free now. Kate is also happy as now she can dream of marrying Archer as the play ends.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. George Farquhar was an English Irish actor and playwright who played the role of Young Bellaire in George Etherege’s drama The Man of Mode. However, he achieved greater success as a dramatist and produced some popular comedies. His first successful play was The Constant Couple (1699). The other two more famous plays authored by George Farquhar were The Recruiting Officer which was first performed in 1706 and The Beaux’ Stratagem which was first performed in 1707. The drama satirizes Army recruitment and shows the corruption in Army ranks. The recruiting officers are shown as corrupt and unscrupulous and cowardly. Another theme is greed to attain a higher class and wealth. All the characters continue to look for someone from higher and wealthier background to love. Love in the upper class of society is shown as shallow and fickle.

Characters: The play contains many stock characters such as Mr. Balance, Mr. Scale, and Mr. Scruple who are the three judges. The main characters are Captain Plume who is the titular recruiting officer. He is a corrupt officer who is willing to engage in any means necessary for recruiting new soldiers. His main goal is to somehow make Sylvia his mistress by letting her believe that she is married to him while he is in no mood to marry her at all as she isn’t as wealthy as he would prefer. Sylvia Balance is a young bubbly girl who dearly loves Captain Plume and wishes to marry him at any cost. As she finds that Plume is trying to evade her, she masquerades as a man, a competing false recruiting officer. Mr. Worthy is a friend of Captain Plume while Sgt Kite is his aide. Sgt Kite is as corrupt as Captain Plume. Melinda is a cousin of Sylvia whom Mr. Worthy loves. He proposed to her to be his mistress as she is of poor background but Melinda got offended. As her aunt died, Melinda got a fortune in her aunt’s will. Now as Melinda is richer, Mr. Worthy wants to marry her. On the other hand, Melinda chooses to use Mr. Brazen, another recruiting officer to make Worthy feel jealous. Justice Balance is Sylvia’s father. He is the local magistrate who presides as justice of the peace over potential recruits accused of vagrancy. He doesn’t want Sylvia to be with Plume as he knows that Plume is corrupt. When he finds that Sylvia has disguised as a soldier named Mr. Jack Willfull just to be near Captain Plume as he recognizes the clothing used by Sylvia which is of her brother, he eventually allows her to marry Captain Plume.

Summary of The Recruiting Officer

The play begins as Sgt Kite reaches the town of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England for recruiting new Army officers. He openly calls for those men in the town who are not happy with their life to enlist in the Military. However, no one is interested in his call. So he decides to offer free booze and the whole crowd gathers him. Meanwhile, his senior recruiting officer Captain Plume arrives with his friend Mr. Worthy. Captain Plume is in love with a girl named Sylvia but doesn’t wish to marry her. He is planning to deceive her into believing that she is married to her while having no legal responsibility to her so that he may marry some other girl of higher status. Mr. Worthy loves Sylvia’s cousin. Some days ago, He proposed to Melinda to be her mistress as he didn’t wish to marry her especially because she is of poor background. However, Melinda got offended by his indecent proposal. Meanwhile, as Melinda’s old aunt died, she got 20000 Pounds in inheritance. Now Mr. Worthy wishes to marry Melinda but she isn’t listening to him. Instead, Melinda has increased closeness with Mr. Brazen, another recruiting officer, a competitor to Captain Plume, and now to Mr. Worthy too. However, Melinda has yet not met Mr. Brazen, rather she sent her servant Lucy to meet Captain Brazen pretending to be Melinda.

Sylvia goes to meet Melinda. Sylvia tells her that she is determined to get married to Captain Plume. Melinda is still upset with what Mr. Worthy did to her and this makes her more jealous. She wonders why will an officer marry a judge’s daughter? Sylvia is of no higher class than her. Furthermore, Melinda believes that Captain Plume is a characterless libertine. She feels that Captain plume is ruining Mr. Worthy too. Both argue over it and Sylvia says that just some days ago, Melinda was even willing to go to Worthy for maintenance as a mistress. Melinda fumes over this as Sylvia goes away. She decides to write a letter to Judge Balance informing him about how Captain Plume is a bad influence on Sylvia.

Justice Balance had two children, a son, and a daughter. He had saved 15000 pounds as dowry for her daughter. However, his son dies and now his daughter Sylvia is the sole heir and this increases her worth from 15000 pounds in total that Judge Balance was ready to give to Captain Plume if he marries Sylvia, but for Plume, that was too less. Now, as Sylvia is Judge Balance’s sole heir, Captain Plume will get 1200 pounds every year along with 15000 pounds and Judge Balance thinks this huge money will ruin Plume’s head. Thus, Judge Balance tells Sylvia Know yourself price and throw Captain Plume out of your head." He asks her why Melinda wrote that letter to him to which Sylvia says that she quarreled with Melinda and she wrote it to take revenge. Judge Balance is happy to know that Captain Plume is not actually characterless and the letter was a lie. Yet, he doesn’t want to let Sylvia go near Captain Plume. Instead of arguing with Judge Balance, Sylvia tells him that she is going to Wales to get rid of memories of Captain Plume. However, she disguises herself in the male uniform of her dead brother and goes to Shrewsbury to be near Captain Plume.

Sylvia reaches Shrewsbury and pretends to be Mr. Jack Willfull. Both recruiters, Captain Plume and Captain Brazen try to recruit Jack Willfull on their list. Jack says that he will get enlisted with whoever offers him more money. Captain Plume then challenges Captain Brazen to a duel and as they start sword fighting, they realize that jack has disappeared. They soon give up their argument and start talking like close friends.

Sylvia goes to a local wench named Rose to stay overnight. She is still in Jack’s disguise. Captain Plume pursued Rose to recruit her brother into his regiment and he succeeded. At night, Rose decides to rob Jack and when she fails, she accuses Jack of sexual assault. She is arrested and taken to the court where Judge Scruple, Judge Scale, and Judge Balance hear Rose’s cases. Sylvia doesn’t give up her disguise and pretends to be Jack. She insolently accuses the army of being corrupt and her remarks force Judges to send her to imprisonment. Judges notice the remarks of Jack on the corruption of army recruitment and decide to check on Sgt Kite but do not take any action against him.

Captain Plume decides to help Mr. Worthy in wooing Melinda. Sgt Kite disguises himself as a fortuneteller while Captain Plume disguises himself as his controlled spirit. As Melinda visits the fortuneteller, he makes her believe that she must not let Mr. Worthy go away as it will ruin her life. Melinda agrees with him and accepts Worthy’s proposal. At the same time, Captain Brazen visits and shows Sgt Kite a letter apparently written by Melinda in which she promises him to marry. However, Mr. Worthy doesn’t believe the letter, and Melinda opposes it. Worthy decides to match the handwriting and finds that the letter sent to Captain Brazen is written by someone else. He rightly guesses that Melinda’s maid Lucy wrote that letter as she was the one who met Captain Brazen in place of Melinda. He assumes that Lucy is in love with Mr. Brazen and he is correct too. However, Mr. Brazen doesn't want to marry Lucy as she is poor.

Sgt Kite takes all prisoners to the courtroom where Judge Scale, Judge Scruple, and Judge Balance rethink their case. The first prisoner is not charged and Kite frees him. The second prisoner is accused of being too honest. Captain Plume wishes to recruit at least one honest man in the military so he goes to Captain Plume’s list. Next comes Jack Willfull. As Judge Balance sees jack closely this time, he recognizes the clothes Jack is wearing. These are his son’s cloth. He then sees the hand of Jack and realizes that Jack is Sylvia in disguise who got there just to pursue Captain Plume. He apparently gives his nod to Sylvia and order Plume to take Jack with him and never let his new soldier run away from him.

The play ends as Captain Plume realizes that he got Sylvia’s hand in marriage.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

Anna Christie by Eugene O’Neill | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Anna Christie was a drama by the American playwright Eugene O’Neill that won him his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama in the year 1922. It is a four-act play that was first performed in 1920. Unlike his previous play (Beyond The Horizon) which had a tragic ending, Anna Christie ends on a promising happy note. Yet, the titular character and the protagonist of the play represent the marginalized weak section of society.

Characters:

Anna Christopherson (Anna Christie) is a young girl who was abandoned by her father at the age of five. She decides to meet her father who is a sea Captain. Chris C. Christopherson (Old Chris) is her father. Mat is a young man who is among the rescued people from a shipwreck. He comes close to Anna. Johnny the Priest is the barkeeper in whose bar, Anna reunites with her estranged father after many years. Marthy is a grown-up woman, the current girlfriend of Chris. She shares a barge with Chris.

Summary of Anna Christie

The play begins as Anna Christie, a young girl knocks on the door of a bar. Chris is a barge captain who is having some drinks in the same bar. He is well known to the barkeeper Johnny the Priest and shows him a letter that he recently got. He says that this letter is from his estranged daughter whom he hadn’t seen since she was five years old. He says that since he used to be on the sea most of the time, his wife decided to live on a farm in Minnesota with her family members, and Chris never visited them there. He discusses the matter of the letter with Johnny the Priest. His daughter Anna is coming to New York City to meet him. Chris is a bit nervous about it as he hadn’t seen his daughter for years and he doesn’t know how to react. He is also worried that he isn’t leading a settled life. As Chris leaves the bar, Anna enters in. She is a confident girl who reveals herself as a tough cynical prostitute. She meets Mathy at the bar and soon the two become friendly with each other. Marthy is the girlfriend of Old Chris but Anna doesn’t know that. She reveals her reason to visit New York City to Marthy. She informs that the brothel she was working for in Saint Paul was arrested. She was given a choice of freedom if she leaves the town. She was feeling a bit ill so she decided to take a leave and visited New York City where her father lives. She is planning to stay and rest with her father for a while. She further reveals her past to Marthy and says that she doesn’t expect much from her father because she hasn't seen him since she was five. She informs her how her mother took her to a farm to live with her family where one of Christie’s cousins raped her. To save herself from further exploitation, she chose to run away to Saint Paul. She got some help in the new town and got a job as a nanny. However, she did not like caring for children and became a prostitute instead.

As Old Chris returns to the bar, he meets his daughter. Both cautiously greet each other and are optimistic about each other. Anna decides to hide her past life from her father and agrees to live with him and Marthy on his barge.

At sea, Anna feels a new sense of freshness. She tells her father that she is liking life at his barge as it makes her feel clean and healthy. Chris isn’t happy about it. He worries that Anna may decide to marry some sea captain like him because he doesn’t want his daughter to feel the same loneliness that his wife and Anna’s mother suffered.

Later that night, Chris sees some people trapped in the sea. He rescues four shipwrecked sailors. One of them is Mat who is young, good-looking, and flirtatious. When he sees Anna at the barge he tries to flirt with her. As Mat attempts to seduce Anna, she resolutely resists him. Mat gets impressed by her tough and determined nature. He feels she is the girl he should marry and settle with. However, he is a sailor and Chris doesn’t want her daughter to be with a sailor. Thus, Chris tries everything to keep them apart. This develops tension between Chris and Mat and ultimately they argue about Anna. Their argument soon gets the heat and they get involved in a fistfight. Mat is younger and stronger while Chris is getting old. Mat easily beats and defeats Chris. When Anna comes to know this, she gets very upset. She doesn’t like the fact that two such people who barely know her are fighting to decide her fate. She straightforwardly approaches Mat and says that though she likes him, she cannot marry him. Mat is adamant and he insists that Anna should accept his proposal. To this, Anna angrily reveals her past to him in presence of her father. She tells him that back in Saint Paul, she used to be a prostitute. As Chris and Mat listen to this, both get upset at Anna and criticize her. However, Anna isn’t ashamed of her past. She says that it is her father’s fault who abandoned her at such an early age. She informs how she was raped at the farm by her cousin and what forced her to become a prostitute. Anna further says that she decided to keep it a secret from her father but Mat has forced her to reveal her past. Mat gets furious and stomps out of the barge and starts drinking alcohol. On the other hand, Chris realizes that Anna became a prostitute only because of her situation while she has strong feelings for Mat. He decides to go behind Mat to convince him about Anna.

Chris continues to search for Mat for two days but fails to find him. He returns to his barge and finds that Anna is packing her belongings as she is preparing to return to Saint Paul. He informs her that he has signed on a ship project heading to South Africa. He says that he will make good money from it and will send it to Anna. Anna soothes him and says that she knows that he left her and his mother only to provide money for his family.

At the same time, Mat visits the barge through a steamer. He asks Anna to tell him that she lied about her past. But Anna isn’t ready to tell any lie and deny her reality. She says that she did work as a prostitute but now she has changed and swears that she will never go the same way she was in past. Mat realizes her toughness and believes in her. He forgives her and asks her to marry him the very next morning as he is also going to the same ship project headed to South Africa. He tells her that Anna won’t have to live alone for long as soon she will have his kids with her.

Chris tries to warn Anna again about the consequences of marrying a sailor. However, Anna convinces her that everything will be fine between her and Mat. Both Chris and Mat leave Anna as the play ends promising they will return soon to fill her life with all happiness she deserves. The play ends on a bittersweet note as it is suggested that Anna is making the same mistake that her mother did, years ago.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!