Context and form mould the ideas in texts. In comparing and contrasting Katherine
Thomson’s play, Diving for Pearls and Mary Wollstonecraft’s essay, A Vindication of the
Rights of Woman, it is apparent and shown in both texts that the ideas about the workforce,
education, women and parenting can be similar, on the surface, but presented through
differing forms and contexts; which shape meaning to the responder. Both texts are a
representation by women in their particular times, and in their world.
In terms of context, Thomson’s Diving for Pearls has female authorship, introducing female
values and perspectives to the play. An idea shaped by this context is her challenge to the
idea of what it is to be a mother, this is shown in Act one. Barbara, a 50 year old mother is
shown to be anything but ideal, as she has had her daughter, the mild intellectually disabled
Verge in an institution for much of her life. We, the responders only learn about Verge’s
confinement when she arrives at the house in which her mother is staying. Barbara’s reaction
is anything but positive; “Dear god in heaven what do you think you’re doing here?” (p42)
Interestingly, the attack seems to be on the poor mothering skills of Barbara, an idea and
criticism that may have been shaped quite differently without the feminine perspective behind
it.
Similarly, A Vindication (1792) is also composed by a female author; Mary Wollstonecraft.
She too brings the values and perspectives of a woman to the spotlight, and tries to bring to
life the issues relevant to other females. Wollstonecraft’s ideas and opinions on parenting are
highlighted all throughout chapter 11, where she makes a main point that parents need to be
role models for their children, particularly for girls which is clearly shown through “A great
proportion of the misery that wanders, in hideous forms around the world is allowed to rise
from the negligence of parents.” (pg 192) along with; “I wish to persuade women to
endeavour to acquire strength both of mind and body” (pg 13) this shows that similar to
Thomson; her ideas are also strongly shaped by her female context.
Contextually, in the 1980’s when Thomson composed Diving for Pearls; the world at large
was experiencing an era of tremendous population growth, and was also characterized by the
blend of conservative family values. Thomson’s social context and family situation within the
1980’s influenced and shaped her ideas within Diving for Pearls; a main idea and theme
Thomson brings to the play is the insight into the impact of “economic rationalism” on the
lives of a collection of battlers and unskilled workers. It is this insight and idea that shapes
Barbara’s pessimism and forms her battler’s determination “I don’t think it’s ever too late”
(p60); to better and further her skills and education within the workforce, by obtaining a
diploma to improve her life. The responder witnesses this in Act 2, page 60 where Barbara is
talking to Den outside at the party. Barbara’s actions and opinions may have been portrayed
quite differently without the involvement of Thomson’s social context and past.
Contrastingly, in Wollstonecraft’s historical context (188 years before Thomson’s Diving for
Pearl’s); it was the romantic’s era and a time of radical change. It was this key idea and value
that initiated Wollstonecraft to introduce the concepts of feminism and equality. Her
controversial essay; A Vindication was written as a response to Thomas Paine’s The Rights
of Man (1791). Wollstonecraft’s text did not reflect the cultural attitudes and behaviour of
society in the late 1700’s. Society in general believed men were “superior”, and that women
and children should blindly obey the domineering male and father authorities.
Wollstonecraft’s social context, (like Thomson’s) also affected her ideas and values; a key
theme and idea Wollstonecraft advocates all throughout chapter 12 is to encourage women to
work within the workforce to better and further their education and to not just participate in
the “girly” jobs; as she states “Agriculture, commerce and literature expand the mind” (p22).
This shows that similar to Thomson; her idea of women bettering themselves in the
workforce and gaining a better education, is also shaped by her social context and
background, even though there is culturally a difference of 188 years between the two texts.
Diving for Pearls is written in the form of a play; as it was the most simplistic way for
Thomson to express herself to an audience at a reasonably priced budget; as she had funding.
Play writing although not a very common form at the time; was and still is an effective way
to communicate with an audience. Diving for Pearls shapes meaning to the responder because
it provides a range of values, perspectives, ideas and characters to the audience which is open
for interpretation and meaning. For example, in Act 2 page 72 when Den decides not to take
the redundancy package “I can’t take that payout” shapes the responders meaning because it
shows Den has pride and values.
A parallel can be drawn to A Vindication. Poetry was the main form of Wollstonecraft’s era,
but like Thomson; she also did not use the most common form at the time. However, the most
effective way to be taken seriously, and to reach a large number of people, would be for her
to write an essay; so she did; A Vindication shapes meaning because Wollstonecraft is
persuading her ideas and perspectives across to the reader about a number of topics. A prime
example of this is can be seen in the introduction of A Vindication page 15, where
Wollstonecraft states her opinion that “Women are, in fact, so much degraded.”
Comparatively, Wollstonecraft and Thomson both had similar reasons for the forms and
composition of their texts; they wished to share their viewpoints, perspectives and ideas
within society to create knowledge and form meaning, and also because the form they chose
was the easiest way to get their voice out.
Diving for Pearls is a play, thus Thomson uses a variety of language features to shape
meaning and mould ideas within the text. For example in Act 2 page 69 when Barbara says
“Only very common people fuck in the afternoons” To Den is a prime example of the
expletives used within Diving for Pearls. Also in Act 1 page 34 when Ron says “Nothing
bodgie” to Den when they are discussing their jobs, highlights Thomson’s use of slang. “This
is... I must be going mad.” In Act 2 page 73 when Den makes a comment unheard by
Barbara, shows Thomson’s use of asides, and also furthermore shows her use of
colloquialisms. All language features employed by Thomson, create a mellifluous way for the
audience to relate casually to the text and also allows the audience to better understand the
meaning of the play. Diving for Pearls consists of characters, dialogue, acts, scenes, a plot
and stage and set directions; this separates itself from Wollstonecraft’s essay response.
In contrast, A Vindication has very different language features that express and mould similar
social, cultural, and historical ideas. Wollstonecraft’s essay demonstrates and depicts
persuasive techniques. “I wish to persuade women” stated in the introduction on page 13,
highlights Wollstonecraft’s use of first person and the position in which she is trying to
persuade her readers. She also makes the comment “Women are, in fact, so much degraded”
on page 15 which is an example of Wollstonecraft expressing her opinions and meaning of
society; furthermore “Grind the poor to pamper the rich” on page 179 chapter 9 highlights
Wollstonecraft’s use of emotive language. A Vindication is non fiction, where as Diving for
Pearls is fiction; this separates the two texts furthermore. Wollstonecraft’s essay is very
formal and persuasive as she is expressing her inner most thoughts and is trying to shape
meaning to her readers to think as she does and to agree with her. A Vindication additionally
does not have any characters; and it is only one person’s point of view; Wollstonecraft’s.
However Diving for Pearls has many characters and view points.
Katherine Thomson’s play Diving for Pearls and Mary Wollstonecraft’s essay A Vindication
of the Rights of Woman both encompass comparable ideas, themes and values that shape
meaning to the responder, but are presented through contrasting techniques, forms and
contexts. Both texts reveal how knowledge, context, form and content help shape our
understanding of the authors intent.