PDF file: Drama - Higher - Lovers - Education Scotland

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12 OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY when they died so tragically? Although they promised each other happiness, their deaths by drowning save them from a more likely destiny. • After Joe and Mag’s deaths life in Ballymore carried on as usual. Further illustrates central themes of the play • Frustrated love: Mag and Joe die. We gain an insight into the dysfunctional marriage of the Brennans. Joe indicates that as married people get older they hardly love each other, yet stick together out of loyalty. We are made increasingly aware of the big differences between Mag and Joe. We see flashes of bitterness and doubt between them. • Uncertainty about the future: We ask ourselves if Mag and Joe would have ended up like countless couples before them – couples whose love is gradually diluted to the point where they stay together merely out of loyalty and propriety? We sense that Mag and Joe would have had marriage problems. The decisions that their family, church and community forced upon them would have come back to haunt them. Joe’s bitterness at the sacrifices he would have had to make coupled with his lack of intellectual fulfilment would have been further sources of conflict. • The inevitability of repression: Joe is forced to leave school by Father Kelly. Joe’s mimicry of Father Kelly’s rebuke emphasises the shame and dishonour that he and Mag must have endured. However, despite the fact that Father Kelly asked Joe to leave school, he was still prepared to let Joe sit his exams. The impression is that he was very annoyed at Joe for being in this situation. The strength of character of Joe’s mother is shown: ‘Because of your mother’s pleadings on your behalf we have decided to allow you to return to sit for your examinations.’ It must have taken a lot for a woman in her position to do that. This dramatic situation emphasises the power of the priest in the community. • Moral responsibility: Joe forsakes his career and ambitions to stay in Ballymore and marry Mag. • Overbearing rigidity and domination of a restrictive environment: Joe’s stories of Skinny Skeehan, Mr O’Hara and his own parents further reveal his frustrations at living in such a restrictive environment. • The influence of the Catholic religion: Father Kelly is depicted as dogmatic, authoritarian and inflexible. • Hope: Joe’s ambition is to be a Bachelor of Science. He is determined that his ‘daughter’ will be a prodigy. He wants to emulate Mr Enwright. Mag’s romantic view of life in their flat also reflects the theme of hope. DRAMA
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY • Imposed divisions: The difference in class between the Brennans and the Enwrights. Mag and Joe are buried in separate graves, each in a family plot. People learn nothing from their deaths. Divisions remain, in death as in life. The families stay apart from each other. Not too many questions are asked. Why did they die? How did they die? Develops characters and relationships Joe • We are immediately reminded in Joe’s opening speech that he is a hardworking, industrious pupil who takes his studies seriously. He actually enjoys preparing for his examinations. His character is in direct contrast to Mag’s and this is clearly emphasised in this Episode. This Episode also points up fundamental differences between Joe and Mag. He has ambitions and wants to leave rural Ballymore. Mag doesn’t have the same outlook on life. • We sense his resentment at having to settle for a boring job in Skinny Skeehan’s office. • Joe uses mimicry to avoid facing the uncomfortable truth that he is willing to compromise and do what society expects him to do. • We see Joe’s naivety and lack of worldly knowledge in his second speech when he looks up the definition of ‘Caesarean’. • Joe clearly loves Mag. ‘I am crazy about Maggie Enwright . . .’ He feels guilty about his outbursts. • He also feels guilty about Mag’s predicament. His guilt forces him to conform. • We see that he is selfish, protective, caring, responsible and pragmatic. • We see that Mag’s ‘romanticism’ has infected Joe. He begins to fall into her trap of painting a rosy picture of his ‘daughter’s’ future.We see Joe’s vulnerability and sense of isolation. • We gain an insight into the dysfunctional relationship he has with his father. He is different from his father. Joe is hardworking and ambitious. We can see that he wants to be closer to his father. They are unable to communicate with each other. • By the end of this episode Joe accepts his fate. ‘A married man with a family has more important things to occupy his mind besides books.’ Mag • Mag is hurt and frightened. She is vulnerable. She loves Joe. She needs to know that he loves her. Mag cannot afford to lose Joe. She needs him to stand by her. • Mag has doubts about her future married life with a husband who feels he has been ‘trapped’. DRAMA 13
Page 1 and 2: INTRODUCTION In 1993 Scottish CCC p
Page 3 and 4: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 11: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 45 and 46: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Mag. The
Page 47 and 48: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Hannah.
Page 49 and 50: Winners, Episode One Page reference
Page 51 and 52: Losers, Extracts Two and Three Page

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