Importance Of A Scene In A Play example essay topic

The play "Simply Mar " ia", written by Josefina L'opez explores social and gender values which are clearly exposed in the play. We see how a particular scene can show most of the main ideas the author would like the reader to think about when they read the play. For me, scene seven of the play, although it's simplicity, shows various themes that are also presented throughout the whole play. From this stems the importance of the scene. In this scene Mar " ia tells her parents about the scholarship she received and how that would help her reach her dream of becoming an actress. An argument begins in which her father Ricardo, her mother Carmen, and herself participate.

In first place the stereotype or machismo shown by Ricardo when he tells Mar " ia: "I didn't know you had to study to be a whore". That line, found in page 1904 shows Ricardo's ignorance mixed with a false stereotype toward women, specially actresses. He thinks the only decent women are those who get married and dedicate only to their husband and kids. He also thinks that women are no good without a man by their side, which I consider to be a complete "machista" thought. As Mar " ia says, women can do both, be a good housewife and mother and also have a career and be successful in the two aspects.

Vega 2 Ricardo doesn't want Mar " ia to deny Mexico if her life gets better because that would be to deny him and her mother. He's afraid that could happen because where he works there are Mexicans that deny their origins. Mar " ia is kind of mad with her father because he had encouraged her to get educated when she was young and helped her construct her dreams for the future. But now that she's clear with what she wants to accomplish she does not feel her parents's up port. Her father had told her he had struggled to bring them to the United States of America in order for her to become someone; to be whatever she dreamed of. She understands that the scholarship she has earned is an opportunity she can not miss.

She " ll have to do it for herself and by herself. Another theme shown in this scene and also throughout the whole play is the "American dream". America is, for immigrants, a place where everything would work out perfectly for them, it's full of opportunities and where life for them will be easier. Although it's not explicit in this scene, everything deals around it. We can see it mentioned when Mar " ia says: .".. and that's why you brought me to America". He brought her to America so that she could be educated and become whoever she wanted to be, but then changed his mind.

His changed thoughts or decisions may be influenced by the Mexican machista culture, which at the same time affect his daughter's own "American Dream". There are elements of drama that help explain the importance of a scene in a play. For example, there is the plot. It helps us understand and remain held to the play to see what may happen as a consequence of an event that happened before. Scene seven of "Simply Mar " ia" begins to show arguments or conflicts between characters and it may be considered as the rising action of the play. These conflicts precede the climax of the play.

This scene leads to the dream scenes, Vega 3 which at the same time lead to the ending of the play in which Mar " ia decides to follow what she thinks is best for her. She " ll do whatever it takes to reach her dream. When it comes to characters we can see that Josefina L'opez exposes real life characters. We see the family "boss", whose thoughts are machista ones and would not accept other than his. Carmen, the housewife and mother is shown as if she has to accept everything her husband tells her. She depends completely on her husband.

The daughter, Mar " ia, who aspires to be an actress and have a career of her own. We see how both, the mother and her daughter become affected by the father's point of view. Carmen, accepts her husband's will with resignation, while Mar " ia is more analytical and thinks about the reasonableness of her father's arguments. Mar " ia is the protagonist because she's the one who encounters a series of problems in her way to accomplish an objective or desire.

In this particular scene we see a small change in Mar " ia's character. She shows maturity when she realizes that women are worth much and can reach anything they propose. With an argument such as: "Mami, I consider myself intelligent and ambitious, and what is that worth if I am a woman? Nothing?" she's proving herself as a mature and intelligent young girl that can think for herself and can't accept anything she knows is not correct. Characters such as Ricardo and Carmen appear in the play to expose or help show the idea of the play. Ricardo is the machista and his wife's thoughts are those of women from previous generations who thought her husband would provide for them always and didn't need to receive any education for their own good.

Ricardo's character overcomes a change because he at first encouraged Mar " ia to be educated and be someone of good but then changes and tells Mar " ia that if a woman was busy with her career, she wouldn't be able to tend her house, husband and kids. Vega 4 The antagonist is the character or force against which the protagonist struggles. (Literature 5th ed. P 1187) In this case I think that the antagonist is the machista culture, to which Mar " ia's family is attached to. It shows itself through the character of Ricardo, who is directly related to Mar " ia and is the cause of her struggle. He's against her dreams and aspirations, but he's her father and she must obey him and at the same time she knows that if she does what he tells her, she won't be as successful as she could be.

The dialogue in a play is very important as well. We know that not only what is told, but how is something told can affect so much other people. How someone says something may also show the type of person or character he or she is. For example in scene 7 Mar " ia gets hurt to a point in which she yells at her mother and tells her to get out of her room. Ricardo makes her cry when he told her: "You ungrateful daughter! I don't want to see you.

Get out of my face!" . The play let's us know that that affected Mar " ia and she ran away crying. We see in this scene that the dialogue between characters is to express their different points of view. They become mad and hurt each other's feelings. Another element of drama, irony, is present in this scene and is demonstrated throughout the play. Mar " ia's father wants her to become someone, but when her desires don't match with his beliefs he turns all the way around and doesn't support her.

At this point, this character becomes somewhat disrespectful to his loved daughter. For me, this scene is of much importance for the development of the play. Most of the elements of drama are present in it as discussed in the previous paragraphs. In my opinion, scene seven is the backbone of the whole play.