1 Boesman & Lena - notes • many modern playwrights dispense with plot and are concerned solely with the articulation of the personal existential quest, so that the audience is not presented with a coherent cosmos with its traditional measures of harmony & meaning, but with a complex vision of dissolution • action is free of linear extension of time, social action and defined location • setting is unspecified and an acting force in its own right, not just a background to action • characters are depicted as depersonalised, archetypal, everyman subjects stripped of heroism & functioning as mouthpieces for points of view & states of mind rather than explorations of individual psychology • playwright is the creator of literature for performance - multi-sensory nature of drama • Boesman & Lena are two coloured people living in a squatter camp on the mud flats of PE who are forced to witness the demolition of their shack by a bull-dozer • Fugard depicts the fragmentation of the individual psyche under the pressures of a hostile society & the painful realisation of being locked into a situation where choice has become obsolete • Boesman & Lena are not merely ‘little men’, they are the downtrodden; ‘We’ve been thrown away. Rubbishes’ (277) • their actual predicament however, extends beyond being trapped by their very real socio-political situation & their ethnic heritage to a plane which concerns their existence in a spiritual context • much modern drama underlies the futility of man’s quest for self-validation in the face of devalued systems of absolute belief, there are elements in modern plays which militate against this nihilism • man’s impotent endeavours to pit himself against ‘a world in dissolution’ are revealed, • Boesman & Lena a modern tragedy, not concerned with nobles or intellectuals who are free to make choices • B & L deals with the common man, not acting but rather acted upon by forces beyond his control or ultimate comprehension • B & L social outcasts - representing the downtrodden, ostracised members of an oppressed race • B & L depicts a situation in which there is very limited development as Fugard essentially wished to communicate a complex vision of dissolution in a concentric plot without a solution • ACT 1: • opens on an empty stage in semi-darkness • no recognisable frame of reference - atmosphere of bleakness, barrenness • B enters ‘heavily burdened’ (239) & slumps down exhausted • L appears, ‘similarly burdened’ (239) • descriptions of B & L significant - defined only as ‘ciphers of poverty’ (239) whose ages have been obscured by a ‘lifetime of hardships & dissipation’ (239) • B & L further depersonalised as they are known by first names only • exact nature of their relationship is nebulous but one might infer they have been living together for some time as L is described as having been ‘reduced to dumb animal submission’ (239) • stage directions crucial - furnish details which assist the audience in deriving an understanding of the characters within their social & psychological contexts • B & L are shoeless, L wears a ‘sad’ dress, & Boesman’s faded, torn sports blazer has a particular ring of irony as it denotes membership of a privileged fraternity: his ‘membership’ extends only to being part of the human race • a sense of despair at their deplorable situation is introduced by the first words spoken in the play: ‘Here’ (239) 2 • for L, the world seems to be divided into ‘here’ and the intractable, unattainable ‘there’ - she defines ‘here’ as ‘this’ and ‘now’ which amounts to mud & misery - ‘tomorrow’ might be unknown with regard to geographic location, but not its nature: ‘and that will be like this. Vrot’ (240) • ragged Lena with her feet in the mud cursing and shaking her fist at the liberty of the bird is a dramatic image, particularly of their plight as members of a cast-out race - yet in her frustration & anger, longing & envy of the bird, she literally & figuratively rises above her physical exhaustion - defiance • L’s subsequent dialogue highlights other aspects of their predicament such as her remoteness from Boesman & the feeling of disharmony between the couple & their surroundings • B undisguisedly belligerent & violent toward L • L perceives the world as an alien force, believing the elements seem to oppose them, daunted by the vast emptiness of the surrounding wasteland • B & L are rejected by society because they are poverty-stricken coloured people, classified as 2nd class citizens - locked into a situation in which they have no choice - ‘determinism’ (individuals have no free will & cannot be held morally responsible for their actions) • as the play develops however, we discover there are possibly limited, yet important areas in which they are able to make choices • B & L’s state of disharmony is conveyed through the progression of Act 1 - L sustains the illusion of a conversation as Boesman remains mute - morose & aggressive • L’s desire to make sense of life is fundamentally a quest for identity, a ploy to validate her existence. Her tentative unravelling & ordering of places and events lead her to discovering when & how she got where she is. When B tauntingly challenges her to ‘find herself’ (252) that is declare who she is, she rises to the occasion: (252). L’s words, ‘I want to be Mary’ (253) take on biblical connotations - her implied bitter comparison of B with Christ, ‘Wie’s die man’ echoes the biblical ‘Ecce homo - Behold the man’ • upon reflection, we become aware of L’s inner journey & its implication regarding the discovery of identity in this scene (253) • the physical & spiritual activities of the 2 characters are mutually reflexive - B is rather inactive, occupying himself with the erection of another shelter - made no positive spiritual progress - as withdrawn & belligerent as he was at the beginning of the play, answering L’s questions with taunts & threats of ‘a bloody good hiding’ (253) - in contrast, L is hyperactive even if only circular - she makes tentative, yet positive progress • a steady build up of tension between B & L - L feels isolated & betrayed by B who openly rejects her: ‘You think I want you?’ (244) • as the impassive witness to B & L’s bitter battle, Outa is more than a mere catalyst in the dramatic action his arrival unlocks contrasting reactions in the couple which in turn reveal the complexity of their frustrated desires - L’s impassioned plea for the company of ‘another person’ (258) endorses her humaneness, ‘To hell with you! I want him’ (256) - B characteristically hostile, showing that he himself is not above the very philosophy which has caused his own misery, namely racial discrimination ‘…Kaffer …’(256) on another level his reaction confirms his remoteness from mankind • despite the fact that the characters interact, they remain completely isolated & removed from each other, as there is no comprehension of each other’s needs. • L’s loneliness & desire to have her life witnessed goad her into insisting on Outa’s presence - yet she also suggests he might require help (256) - is her assistance of Outa an act of altruism or an almost aggressive attempt into forcing him to lend ‘a pair of eyes’ (262) or both? • outa’s silence does not inhibit L’s urge to describe her life to give it form & therefore significance - she relates to him matters which she cannot share with B: the history of a failed relationship & failed motherhood through the squalid details of several still-births, the fruits of which they buried ‘behind us 3 somewhere. Our rubbish’ (260) - it is more the pain of estrangement in ‘here’ and ‘now’ which L communicates (265-266) • this need to share causes L to barter their 2 bottles of wine for Outa’s company an event which appals B unlike L who derives comfort from human warmth & closeness, B craves the oblivion caused by alcohol (at the beginning of the play, Fugard gives the underlying reason for B’s violent reactions as well as his fear & loneliness when L chooses the old man at the end of Act 1: ‘Boesman’s greatest fear is discovering his has value (xxiii) • ACT 2: • opens in pantomime - dramatic device (in the play itself B & L live their parts, whereas the play roles in the pantomimes - they slip into personae and become part of a world of play-acting in which they control the action - by watching characters perform on these 2 different levels of dramatic action another layer of meaning is revealed to the audience - consequently, the reactions of the characters to their dilemma take on multiple dimensions - first 2 pages of Act 2, B plays at least 4 different roles, each illustrating another aspect of his character) • B jealous of the old man • while the alcohol has stimulated B it has also broken down his reserves in the same way a bulldozer flattened his shack earlier - mortified by humiliation & disgust he now forces L to enact the morning’s events, except that her gestures are now grotesquely inflated as B commands (272) • his adoption of the role of the authoritarian white man who gives instructions & directs the lives of other human beings sublimates his desire to control his fate • in the same way, his bullying of L & the defenceless Outa momentarily purges his devastating emotions because he sub-consciously despises himself for simpering & cringing before the power of the white man, symbolised by the bulldozer ‘big yellow donner with its jawbone on the ground’ (273) he forces L into playing her exaggerated role & she thus becomes his proxy - by watching her beg & plead he relives & come to terms with his own shame - his punishment & derision of L therefore amount to self-effacement which is a symptom of self-contempt • L’s refusal to continue with the ridiculous game prompts him into vulgarly parodying her behaviour (275) while he launches into a caustic description of the squatters, ludicrously scuttling for their pathetic trash his fear of positive identification causes him to dissociate from the rest of the squatters (‘rotten dronkies’ 273) - he seems to stand outside of the action for the moment referring to his people as ‘you’ and ‘they’ as though he were not one of them while L identifies completely with her people & the human race - in them she sees her past and her future ‘I saw … me’ (274) • B’s playacting & clowning is an escape routine into illusion - his conception of ‘Freedom’ as a gift which the white man so generously bestowed on him is another illusion - he later acknowledges (275) - his freedom is entrapment in yet another situation in which will find himself powerless - ultimately he & L will always be just a ‘vlenterbroek and his meid in the backyard of the world’ (276) - he will snatch the first piece of corrugated iron to build the next shack with the result that the vicious cycle of squatting & scurrying will be repeated • L’s rejection of him in favour of Outa is completely beyond B’s comprehension: ‘Nee God! She’s gone mad. Lena’s gone mad on the mudflats’ (277) even though she repeatedly imparts her need for a ‘pair of eyes’ (262) & not just ‘Boesman’s back’ (243-244) • incensed & bewildered by the knowledge that he is not longer in control of L’s behaviour, B reverts to the only defence he knows - that of inflicting pain - his confession to her that he dropped the empties for which he beat her evokes in her a mute incredulity - as they face one another in numb exasperation, each in turn, defines and confronts the tragic mystery at the heart of life itself: ‘WHY’, which is answered with silence 4 • ultimately silence is Fugard’s metaphoric expression of despair & of the inexplicable - it is this void, the absence of any comprehension or solution that B condemns existence: ‘SIES! …(283-284) - the dark secret to which he alludes is revulsion for their lives & what they have been reduced to ‘We’re not people anymore. Freedom’s not for us’ (284) - retrospectively he is horrified by the bleakness of what he perceives as being the true reflection of their lives • B’s life is existing on discards (cigarette butts) because he is one himself - L begs not for grace, but for bruises so that she may show another reject what the texture of her existence is • considering the structure & elements of tragedy, does B’s emotional diatribe regarding his feelings (282) & his parodying of himself (284) after all the digressions & self-delusions a moment of insight & discovery of truth leading to a turning point? Has B developed as a tragic hero? • Outa’s death - L experiences a sense of intense loss ‘I’m alone’ (284) - her desolation however, is rooted not so much in Outa’s inability to hear as in B’s refusal to listen, which signifies the fundamental difference between them - she craves human contact, B combats it • L’s sense of injustice regarding B’s spiteful victimisation of her confirms her awareness of her human right a reversal of roles - from now on L will direct events - B’s behaviour is completely predictable to the shrewdly perceptive L - apart from feeling perpetually persecuted, he is essentially emotional & therefore, irrational - for her power game, L constructs a taut ‘script’ which she directs with astute resoluteness 287-288 • L’s pantomime is both cathartic & triumphant as she asserts herself ‘for the first time’ (290) - from this point she will continue to control the action until the end - Fugard describes the dramatic process which has developed as the emotional crisis leading to the leap (xv) - having begged for closeness & understanding all her life, she now tells B, ‘I want boggerall …’ (291) • in the face of B’s perplexed motionlessness she articulates the ultimatum: ‘Go! Walk!’ (292) - when she finally does take up her burden to follow B, L does so because she has chosen to do so - deciding to lock herself into a relationship with B, she has exercised her personal freedom of choice, however limited • there is still an awful sense of defeat in both of them - it does seem as though B & L’s tragic lives have been written - condemned so to speak to the movement of the great machine of social determinism which grinds on - they fail to respond positively to their adversity both as social & as political beings - socially in their relationship, they are unable to communicate or co-habit in harmony - politically, they desert their own community & resist positive identity & fail to resist oppression- become socially & politically estranged • does this imply total defeat for them or is L’s tentative discovery of self-validity & B’s realisation of his loneliness a measure of triumph over their predicament? Unlike Macbeth which culminates in restored balance, Boesman & Lena can only be partially resolved • by the end of the 2nd Act, we perceive that very little has changed with regard to B & L’s circumstances except they have left another corpse behind & will walk further - but there has been a progression in their personal relationship in the sense that they have come to a realisation of their bondage - they are & share each other’s fate • L’s irrepressible desire to be seen,heard, loved has been verbalised & demonstrated - yet it is only in the very last moments that B communicates without sarcasm, invective or a perverse desire to confuse L: ‘Redhouse to Missionvale …’ (292) • L’s response that knowing how she got where she is ‘does not explain anything’ (292) suggests that the reality of their journey does not imply it purpose - they have come back to the mud full circle - on another level they have made significant discoveries in the course of their metaphysical journey, although these are not fully understood either • essentially they are still the victims of the physical & spiritual aspects of their dilemma - L’s affirmation of existence, ‘I’m alive Boesman. There’s daylights left in me’ (293) - both B & L frequently express the words ‘I am’, ‘I am Boesman’, ‘I am Lena’ - if their quest is for the elusive fundamental ‘I’, L perceives that 5 freedom is an awareness of untrammelled being - the implication is that a sense of freedom is not related to a physical situation - freedom is to be found within the ‘I’ - possibly the only ‘freedom’ that L discovers is that of her own troubled identity, one which nevertheless goads her into moving - however immured from the external world of squalor & suffering to the internal world of warmth & a sense of wholeness of being • no guarantee that B & L’s lives will be any different from what they were before this traumatic night • the open-ended conclusion of the play might accordingly be seen as a paradigm for the unresolved mysteries in existence, both with regard to the material world, which encompasses the highly complex socio-political forces by which the couple’s lives have been implacably determined, and the spiritual existence of man • Elements of comedy in Boesman and Lena: • throughout the play we are aware of humour within the grim context of tragedy • Fugard’s use of comical incidents serves several purposes • comedy breaks the tension created by a serious alternation or the build-up of a conflict situation - the brand of wry humour which we encounter in the play illuminates the types of characters, the nature of their predicament & their reactions to it • most obvious are the jokes which B & L make on occasion - while these might evoke laughter from the audience & alleviate the tension inherent in the situation, the fun is never shared by the other character, therefore the alienation & disharmony between the couple are reinforced (241) • accordingly, the comedy serves to highlight a tragic aspect - at the end of Act 1, L tries to justify Outa’s presence by telling B that Outa will buy wine for them the following day because he has a ‘garden job in Swartkops’ - B responds with his usual animosity & uncouthness, ‘Who’s going to give that a job?’ (267) while B has made a course, cruel joke it is not really meant to entertain anybody, even if it is enthusiastically applauded by L; she laughs in order to mollify B - what is more B’s damning assessment of Outa’s vitality endorses the pathos in the situation because his observation is accurate • another aspect of humour appears in the songs which L sings - they deal with very prosaic subjects, such as a can of condensed milk & the dismal places where they have been • although these songs are sung in an attempt to lift the sombre atmosphere they accurately describe the appalling quality of B & L’s existence, ‘Ou blikkie kondens melk …’ (280) • L likens her life to brown bread, bitter black tea and bruises and therefore she craves ‘real sweetness’ (249) - while she describes the luxury of enjoying something which is ‘better than sugar’, the implication is that what she desires is a feeling of emotional well-being - the fact that they will remain exactly what they are irrespective of what they do or wear emphasises their dilemma - they are deadlocked by their ethnic heritage & their poverty • the overall crudeness of their diction (vividly descriptive as their expressions might be at times) ultimately emphasises their lack of education and their cultural deprivation.
