Ways In: Approaches to Reading & Writing About Literature

A book about learning how to identify what is “good” in literature; how to read critically; and transform one’s ideas into words (a never-ending battle)..

• Binding: Paperback
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education; Eighth edition (1 Sep 1993)
• ISBN-10: 0070442045
• Link: amazon.com

Excerpt from Ways In, Part 2: The Elements of Literature

Theme

Theme is a slippery topic in talking about drama as it is for any genre of literature. For it asks the questions, "What does the play mean?" or "What is the author trying to say?" Understanding the theme or themes of a play seen on a stage may be even more difficult than deciphering the meaning of other forms of literature, since after you will be emotionally carried along by the action, whereas in a novel or short story, you can always pause and consider the significance of what you have read. Although there is no hard and fast rule, it is perhaps in understanding theme that reading a play may have an advantage over seeing a play.

Sometimes the title of a play can offer a clue to its theme, as do the titles A Doll's House, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Rising of the Moon. (Note too that the latter two titles have images that have been traditionally used as symbols.) The phrase "a raisin in the sun" is from a poem by Langston Hughes that deplores the betrayal of the promise to provide African-Americans with equal rights; the phrase "rising of the moon" suggests an awakening of what is often repressed or suppressed from consciousness, the moon being a symbol in many cultures of the hidden aspect of human nature.

In Hansberry's play, you will find enacted among the characters the fight to achieve racial justice and the outcome of this fight for one family. In Lady Gregory's play, you find the Sergeant's attitude transform from one of an officious civil servant to a humane individual who gets in touch with his early roots and values. Thus The Rising of the Moon can be taken to be a statement about the suppression of the Irish independence movement as symbolized through the encounter between the Sergeant and the Ragged Man. The term "doll" as used in doll's house has meanings that go beyond the literal meaning of a child's plaything. In Ibsen's play, Nora seems to be treated as a doll by her husband, and her rebellion at the end is her escape from this unflattering and demeaning role.

Titles aside, themes in plays can be inferred through the study of other images, actions, and statements, particularly when they recur. When you read a play, be aware of such repetitions, and see if there seems to be a common thread that stitches them together. By this method you may be able to interpret motifs in what you read or see to more general or universal pronouncements about the human condition. Critics have noted the importance of Lena Younger's (Mama) plants in A Raisin in the Sun and interpret them as symbols for the determined survival of the Younger family. Other critics make much of the tape recorder in Kropp's Last Tape, suggesting that it represents the human experience, which is merely a playing out of what has already been recorded by consciousness, providing the dim view that humans have little say in determining their destinies.

To appreciate the full dimension of what you read, and to find hooks that can provide topics for discussion or writing, look for recurring motifs and character tranformations in plays. These will more than likely lead you to discovering a play's theme.

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