Esaay revising
Minfu Liang
TheCuriousSavageFinalround.edited1.docx“The Curious Savage”
Evidence:
I saw John Patrick's play "Curious Savage" on YouTube. The show is about a wealthy widow, Mrs. Ethil Savage. She has three stepchildren. In the plot, three of her stepchildren sent her to the private institution "The Cloisters" where full of mental patients. The root of the conflict and comedy came from the money of Mrs. Ethil Savage inhered from her late husband's property. Her three stepchildren wanted to send Mrs. Ethel Savage to the cloisters, and then take away her late husband's estate. In the Sanatorium, Mrs. Savage was acquainted with the five Cloisters. At first, Mrs. Savage was remaining wary of the five cloisters, but later they live together harmoniously. Mrs.Savage told her nurse, Miss Willie, and Dr. Emmett, that she has hidden the estate which was inherited to her husband because her stepchildren tried to take the estate from her, which was a half-million-dollar in the form of negotiable bonds. After residents of Cloisters asked Ethel about her stepchildren, they decided to help Ethel. The second time, when the stepchildren came to the Cloisters themselves, trying to inquire about the whereabouts of the heritage from Ethel. She deceived each of her stepchildren by giving fake places about where the money is, and each of them was going to find where the money is, and being teased by Ethel. When her stepchildren came back and convinced Ethel to reveal where the wealth was. Ms. Savage told her stepchildren the money was in the teddy bear she carried with. At the time when Mrs. Savage was going to hand the bonds over to her stepchildren. Mrs. Patty, who is a cloister in residence, turned off the lights. The room was suddenly dark and chaotic. When the light comes on again, the money is gone, and Mrs.Patty was disappeared.
The staff began to look for Mrs. Paddy and bonds. Finally, they found Mrs. Paddy, but she did not have bonds. Suddenly, Mrs. Paddy's bathtub caught fire and subsequently, Miss Willy brought the bundle of burnt bonds. Mrs. Savage's stepchildren saw it and left in dismay. The doctor told Ethel she could leave if she wanted. Every friend of Cloisters gave Ethel a farewell gift. Miss Willie revealed that she is Jeff's wife and works at Closter and hopes that Jeff will remember her one day. She also revealed that she took the bonds and just pretended to burn them. After hearing this sentence, Ethel was empowered and left The Cloisters with a bond, carried a final vision of happiness and satisfaction for her five new friends.
The main theme of the play is a connection between reality and illusion, and the reflection from real-life related to humanity that brought into the play. The three stepchildren can be considered rational, they were willing to sacrifice family relations, personal pride or decency for money, fame, vanity or power. On the other hand, Mrs. Savage has a strong sense of family and friendship. Like a group of travelers walk on the snowfield, they know it is best to huddle together to maintain the body-temperature and defend the cold.
The best moment in play I love is the moment that Mrs. Paddy turned off the light while Mrs. Savage was handing the bonds to her three stepchildren. And I think this is a turning point in the scenario and led the plot into the climax. It is interesting because the plot was making a foreshadowing at the begging of the comedy, which was at the first moment Mrs. Paddy turned the lights off, stepped on the stage, and introduced herself that she hates the electric to the audiences. And I believe that there will appear more people who love this comedy.
Analysis:
Comedy is not the only kind of play that could make people laugh, tragedy can also make people laugh too. In some moment in play which reflects the irony, exaggeration, and grotesque or something else that generate a kind of tension, will make the audience laugh(Chemers). So, what kind of play is good to be identified as a comedy? As Aristotle's idea which is in Poetics: Comedy may have multiple plots, different characters may encounter different disasters, but all problems would eventually be solved finally (Chemers, 2010). In the play The Curious Savage, Mrs. Savage was facing the problem that her wealth might be taken away by her stepchildren, and finally, with the help of five cloisters and Miss Willie, Mrs. Savage finally saved her fortune at the end of the play. Which reflected Aristotle's idea in Poetics, all problems between characters would be solved finally at the end of the comedy.
However, I don't agree with all of the ideas from Aristotle even though he was famous and professional at comic play, he somehow made the comedy too rigid. As quoted Aristotle's idea by Chemers, he said: The joy of comedy comes from watching the character violating the important rules after succumbing from ignorance, desire, greed, or certain human weaknesses(Chemers, 2010). This conclusion might conform to some kind of comedy like Modern Times in 1936, The audience will never forget how that little tramp (Charlie Chaplin) goes crazy and break the social rules in play. But in the play The Curious Savage, the situation was totally twisted, which can never conform to the conclusion by Aristotle. The three stepchildren of Mrs. Savage was succumbing from desire and greed, but they did not look like they will break any rules in society. On the other hand, the five cloisters are ardent and kind, but they were breaking the rules in society that were all imprisoned in that hospice without freedom.
David ball had a viewpoint that every scene in the play is connected with the following one. As described in the book and illustrated by Chemers: Each beat describes an action, and the result is actually the beginning of the next action (David, 1983) can certify his viewpoint of the play. On the other hand, his viewpoint can apply in any kind of drama including The Curious Savage. An example of this kind of overlapping in The Curious Savage: The stepchildren wanted to have heritage, so they sent Mrs.Savage into the cloister; Mrs. Savage was sent into the hospital, so she met the five cloisters; The five Cloisters met Mrs. Savage, so they decided to help her; That finally with the help of cloisters, Mrs. Savage finally kept her heritage. Each movement inspires the next movement seamlessly and smoothly, which form a fascinating drama.
Chemers also introduced the complete structure of a comedy, which are protasis, epitasis, and catastasis including the climax(Chemers, 2010). I personally agree with this description because in the drama The Curious Savage was adapted to this structure. In action one of the play, every character showed their characteristics to the audience. For example, Jeffery always covers his face because he thought there had a wound on his face, and Mrs. Paddy turned the light off because she hates the electricity, which was the protasis part in play The Curious Savage. On the epitasis part, the five cloisters decided to help Mrs. Savage, and lead to the scenario that Mrs. Paddy turned off the light and made a false appearance that the bounds were burned out which can be seen as a climax of the play.
Irony is an important factor in comedy because a good irony can make the audience laugh(Chemers, 2010). I personally agree with this opinion and I can say the scenario of The Curious Savage a good irony. The three stepchildren of Mrs. Savage were reflecting the authority or nobility in real life, who did something shameless under their bright and beautiful appearance; The five Cloisters represented the civilians in society, who were under the control of nobility and took characteristics of goodness and bravery. It must have a reason why a good comedy will make people laugh, and this is the reason why people laugh while they are watching The Curious Savage.
Evaluation:
From the absurd comedy to the tearful tenderness, "The Curious Savage" uses a series of characters to cover every aspect of the mood. If readers use Ethel’s viewpoint to analyze The Curious Savage, they would see two different entities, which are Ethel’s parents and guys who live in The Cloisters. Five guys in The Cloister showed their kindness and generosity in their strange way, while her children are selfish and conceited in comparison. I guess John Patrick was creating this plot that foreshadowed people in real life. Mrs. Savage's hopes for a family were soon disappeared after her husband was gone. She was never accepted for who she was by them, but for what she could give in money. These stepchildren are "connected" in the plot and have a kinship with Mrs.Savage. Clearly, at the beginning of the play those stepchildren were protecting themself by fear of losing "status," but their greed eventually appeared when Mrs. Savage told them where she was hiding her inheritance. She didn't tell her stepchildren the truth, because she was trying to protect the estate for her dead husband.
In real life, property controversy in families is common, not only in the United States, but also in China. In China, people were influenced by Confucianism that they usually put a lot of value in "family-connection", which is similar as the paternalism. A lot of Chinese younger generations are depending on their parents for financial support even when they become adults. Some of those young generations have no true love and respect for their parents but they show their "fake love" to them in purpose. Just like these three stepchildren in plot, they sent Mrs.Savage into The Cloister to pretend they "love" their step-mother, but in fact they just want to inherit the property.
Finally, the three stepchildren did not find the bonds that made the audience laugh, and made the drama as a comedy. However, the funniest thing in the drama The Curious Savage is the sarcasm, and made this drama unique. The sarcasm is important in this drama because it illustrates a deeper meaning, helping John foreshadow people and problems in real life in his arts. In my opinion, John Partick uses The Curious Savage to sarcasm the problems in current society, that made his drama as a sword, pierced the beautiful wrap of society and showed us shadow inside. He is an artist because he made his comedy insightful. As I learned in class, drama can be a weapon that values more than the drama itself (Chemers, 2020).
Reference
John, P. (1979). The Curious Savage. Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Charlie, C. (1936). Modern times. Production company. United Artists.
