Trifles
With this first short play, we’ll try to get an overview of aspects of drama.
As we move from fiction to plays, consider how their “tools” compare. Which of the
terms we use to analyze stories are still useful? Which ones seem less relevant? What
can plays do that stories can’t, and vice versa? (If you have time, take a look at pages
1380-1382, which offer a section of the short story written by the same author,
essentially a “translation” of the play from one medium to another.)
There are also many things we may want to talk about that are specific to this play,
including its themes and its historical context. The questions at the end of the play
(pages 1377-78) are worth considering.
Antigone
Like most Greek plays, Antigone is based on stories from mythology that would have
been familiar to the original audience but are often unfamiliar today. You may find it
helpful to read the introduction to another play, Oedipus the King (bottom of 14251426), as well as the introduction to Antigone (1469), to get some sense of the
backstory. Think about the conflict in this play, and what events lead to the tragic
outcomes. Is anyone to blame, or is this primarily a matter of bad luck, or fate?
Fences
This play presents a good opportunity to think about imagery and symbolism. What
meaning does baseball have to Troy, and how does it relate to other issues in the play?
What significance does the fence have? Why is the word plural in the title of the play?
There are some important themes here, too, including family relationships, and racism
and its effects.
Also consider how this modern play compares to the ancient Greek play we just read.
Could you call Troy’s story a tragedy? In what sense? Is he a tragic hero in the Greek
understanding of that term, or is he a different kind of protagonist?
For this play, I don’t know of any complete performances available online or in the
library. There are a number of short excerpts on YouTube.
A Doll House
This play is not difficult to read, but a little information about women’s rights in the time
when it is set (the nineteenth century) may help clarify an important part of the plot.
This era saw increasing rights for women, but there were still many restrictions, legal
and conventional. Married women were not legally able to borrow money on their own.
Middle-class women like Nora rarely worked outside the home. (There were some,
though not many, options for work for lower-class women.) Divorce was legal but only if
both parties agree, and it was not well-accepted socially.
For most readers/viewers the issues surrounding gender roles and marriage are major
areas of interest in this play. There are also ethical questions that are worth
considering.
Performances
This is a Norwegian play, so be prepared for some differences in the translations used
in these performances.
There is a DVD of a film adaptation with the title A Doll’s House in the Instructional
Materials Center (IMC, 3rd floor) of the library, call # PN1997 .D642 2003.
This is a video of a stage performance of the play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NLhOyGBs6c
(This was posted in two parts, Acts 1 & 2 together and Act 3 separately. Here is the link
to Act 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLHYjHqQTA )
This is the first of a 10-part video version of the play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m81oiq5yvCc
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
This is our one comedy to read together this semester. It’s from the 16th century, so the
language can present a challenge. It’s also somewhat more complicated in structure
than the plays we have read so far, with more characters and plot threads and a playwithin the play.
Resources:
This summary of the plot may be useful (as an aid to reading, not a replacement!):
http://www.bardweb.net/plays/dream.html This site also has a plot summary, plus a
glossary of less-familiar words (starting on p. 7) and the mythological references
(starting on p. 11): http://www.mccarter.org/Education/midsummer-nightsdream/html/midsummerprint.pdf
The study questions at the end of the play (p. 1587) are useful, as are these:
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/mnd.html
Videos:
There are several video versions on the play on YouTube, most of which I haven’t seen.
Here is one that looks good (the play gets started about three minutes into the video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQvgZRBvq8
There is also a 1935 film version available on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P39Fh8JwqPw
There are a few videos of the play in the IMC, of which these are most likely to be
useful:
 Call Number PR2827.A2 M57 2000 (a BBC production)
 Call Number PN1997 .M53 1999 (a film adaptation)
These videos, available through the library website, may be interesting:
A video about actors preparing to perform the play:
http://digital.films.com.ezproxy.uwsp.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=7768&xtid=43365
A freer modern adaptation of the play:
http://digital.films.com.ezproxy.uwsp.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=7768&xtid=41154