Berto_Tony_201307_PhD .pdf - University of Guelph

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teaching 'cause that's where the money really comes from" (72). Assistant's compensation
for his efforts appears to have been minimal. When Playwright references their funds he
says "We have money." Assistant, who handles their finances, refutes this statement
replying "Not according to the bank" (71). Through the use of the plural "we," this
exchange infers that finances are considered shared between them. Assistant's despair over
Playwright's spending on drugs, aside from indicating a concern for Playwright's wellbeing,
seems to suggest that Assistant doesn't have his own means or finances outside their
mutual penury (71). After putting fourteen years of his life into his relationship with
Playwright, he is now in his forties and cannot likely return to his previous work as an
“escort”, his youth now faded. In sum, the Assistant’s investment in Playwright's career has
cost him his youth, and while allowing him a meagre existence his situation has left him
with seemingly little security or apparent earnings. Moreover, his partner refuses to
acknowledge their relationship at times, or the apparent emotional connections they share.
Assistant's position at this time promotes the play's reader to consider the fairness of their
relationship and other, similar relationships where power is predicated by the generation of
income by only one partner.
References to Marriage
Assistant's question "What the hell am I then?" makes plain that he needs some kind
of acknowledgement of their relationship in terms other than that of an employee. When
Playwright' states "You are not my wife" and Assistant replies "I'm not?" it is clear that the
two men have differing ways of framing their relationship. Their conflict opens possibilities
for the reader to look into and reflect upon partnering relationships between gay men, as the
text suggests the role of "wife" as a frame to consider Assistant's place. The conflict also