Lillian Hellman follows a somewhat loose structure of the
well-made play. There are moments
where Hellman veers away from the well-made play, which create very important
dramaturgical choices. The play
adheres to the well-made play structure because it has three acts, suspense
around a secret, rising climaxes in each act, secrets revealed, and dramatic
irony. The play revolves around
one secret: the truth about Karen
and Martha. The secret is finally
revealed, not how it would normally in a well-made play, but it still
counts. It veers away from the
well-made play structure because all of the loose ends are not tied up at the
end, there are no just-in-time revelations, and no specific obligatory scene. At the end of a well-made play,
everything is tied up into a nice bow, but in The Children’s Hour, things seem to unravel. Everything goes differently then what
is expected: Karen and Joe
break-up, Martha kills herself, and Rosalyn does not get in trouble. The revelations are too late. By the time the truth comes out, Karen and
Martha’s lives are already destroyed.
There is no specific obligatory scene that makes everything better. The truth is revealed, but not in the
way the audience is expecting.
I agree with what Morgan is saying here. For the most part The Children's Hour definitely sticks to the conventions of a well made play...it's in three acts, and there's a capital T truth. However, the ending definitely isn't tidy. The revelation comes too late, NOT just in time. The truth comes out too late after Martha has always committed suicide. This is the main place where the play completely breaks out of well made play structure.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about everything "unraveling" at the end as opposed to being tied up in a bow stuck with me. I like the imagery of it, and I couldn't agree more. It sounds almost like it could be the start of a UP for this play. I also agree with what you said about the secret being different than that of a typical Well Made Play. It's sort of a secret within a secret... it just got meta.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your examples of defying concepts in Hellman's play. Your example of the lack of a obligatory scene that tidy's the play all up and reveals the secret, is one I want to challenge with an idea. What was the revelation and who was it for? Or, did each character have their own?
ReplyDeleteFor me the ultimate revelation was Tilford's understanding that Mary was manipulative, lying, child who should be disciplined endlessly by being forced to listen to "Come on, Eileen" non-stop for a year. Did it come too late? What was it late for? Martha's suicide? Martha believed her feelings were because she was "ill" and maybe they were there all along. If so, she must have been contemplating suicide prior to Act 3. I suppose what I'm provoking are thoughts that maybe in that one scene each character received their own revelation and conclusion.