Afternoon stroll
The abstract notion of Beauty
CHARACTERS
LADY HIGGINS
LADY CONROY
Act 1
Gardens of a large country house.
Afternoon.
[Two ladies walk arm in arm, they walk past a Gartner who is trimming a tree into a square shape]
LADY HIGGINS [stops and looks at the tree] Oh dear, what is he doing to that poor tree? It isquite ruined.
LADY CONROY Oh no all the trees are cut like that, look, don't they look lovely?
LADY HIGGINS But surely the only true beauty is natural beauty.
LADY CONROY You are being silly my dear, beauty is not ruined by small adjustments, they only serve to
bring out the true potential of these otherwise dull things.
LADY HIGGINS Must everything be tampered with in order to be beautiful? Can a forest or a mountain which is left
wild and untamed not be beautiful?
LADY CONROY I suppose so.
LADY HIGGINS You see my dear, real beauty it not obtained by flawless trimming or making one look exactly
like the next, true beauty is wild and free…
LADY CONROY [Interrupts] Of course, of course dearest, come now, it’s time for tea.
[LADY CONROY rolls her eyes as the two Ladies walk quickly back towards the house]
Reflection: This piece would have been different if it was written by a poet. A poet would not have needed characters to have a dialogue in order to express his/her views, also the form would be different as poems do not need lines or stage directions but would instead have conventions such as rhythm and rhyme, verses, and perhaps a more imaginative use of language.
the play is very simple and yet so deep (and lovely!). I love how you have combined a play with an almost philosophical discussion on what beauty is, and you have really captured the essence of the question of beauty. My raging inner feminist cannot help but to see the garden as a metaphor for the female body and the play as a comment on the unfairness of society's (lady Conroy's) opinion of beauty standards.
ReplyDeleteHow intriguing and inventive; a dramatic play! Albeit this has already been brought up by Sabina, I would also like to subscribe to the approval of the philosophical aspect conveyed in the text. I would personally agree with the sentiment expressed by Lady Higgins, as the work of nature is quite peerless even without the intervention of humanity.
ReplyDeleteVery illustrative of how characterization can be done by a playwright. The stage direction at the end, of course does the job of a narrator in prose. The comparison to how a poet would have dealt with the notion of beauty is too vague - and many poems do use speakers to bring out conflicting emotions.
ReplyDeleteI really like your play, it is a different and creative way to talk about an abstract notion and you really took up the challenge!
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