Marina Carr's Hester is good material for studying deep execution of a character. The playwright reveals character not merely through the character alone, but also through her actions and through other elements at play in the environment. For example, the time of day, the landscape of ice and snow in a bog, and the mood set by music (a lone violin) all contribute to the developing portrait of Hester. When Hester drags the corpse of the bleeding black swan through the snow, colors contrast as well: the white snow, the black swan, and the red blood. The scene paints a picture of Hester and her determination. Also, note that the swan is not just any swan, but a named one – Black Wing – one known from childhood, one that had stopped her from leaving the bog before, and one that she discovered dead in the bog. Also revealed is a superstition about interfering with black swans. The fact that Hester has indeed interfered also reveals dimensions of her character.
Please think about the arrival of the Ghost Fancier as well and what it may tell you about Hester’s character given her interactions with him. The Ghost Fancier intimates that swan is Hester’s shadow. Furthermore, he has been following her for a long time and is surprised she is alive, since he only trails ghosts. He’s mistaken the time; it’s dawn and he meant to come at dusk – so we know right away that the events of the play will take place in less than a day.
The playwright establishes what is at stake for Hester early: the most important thing with regard to her potentially imminent death is her daughter, Josie. At that moment, the spectator (particularly if that spectator is a playwright) should consider the significance of the mother-daughter relationship and its centrality to the heart of the play.
Monica arrives and makes another connection between Hester and swan: that she, like the swan, is half frozen. She also tells us climate is going to get even colder. Hester wishes the ice age would return and swallow up humanity – a sign of her desperation and despair (over what Carthage has done), what Monica calls “brooding.” The women’s dialogue reveals that the entire parish knows what Carthage has done. How might that make Hester feel?
Certain conflicts that are central to the play are clear by the end of the play’s very first scene: Hester vs. Fate, Hester vs. Self, Hester vs. Carthage, Hester vs. Caroline, and Hester vs. Society (the parish).
Given this writing and the rest of the play, reflect upon one of the characters – preferably Hester – and what you learn about execution of character due to Marina Carr’s writing.
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The Ghost Fancier is something. At first, I was trying to figure out what atmosphere this is for the play and I was not expecting characters talking about ghosts on the fist page thru. But then I after, I was just reflecting on how funny it was like with the Ghost Fancier basically in that oh shit moment when he's to come for Hester only to find out she's still alive and saying (I'm summing it up), "Oops. My bad. You're not supposed to see me. I'll just disappear now and come back at dusk." On that note, I knew that Hester was going to be set up. She's bound to everything she touches and can't let go. She always waiting for something like for her mother, the return of Carthege, her revenge, her death. But she is decisive and not afraid of her actions, even though they make her wail and scream. She is that black swan, the "Black Wing" her of society that would rather pretend to be white and pure. But as this play reveals, Hester is not the only one who is holds darkness in her heart. Xavier doesn't even want to think twice on his children that died, Olive and James. It's as if he's sacrificed them to preserve his pride and "clear his conscience." Or Monica defeated by her son's death, even though she was forewarned by Catwoman. The past is alive in the Bog of Cats and keeps everyone imprisoned. The only character that seen the past as the ghost it is, is the Catwoman. But the most darkest witch of all Award goes to Hester. Hell has no wrath like a woman's fury..especially with Medea. And what did Carthage expect, he did take everything from her. I did enjoy the play, because of its mythical imagery and druidlike qualities of it. They are strong and lasting for the stage and indeed still on my mind.
ReplyDeleteHester is a very interesting character. From the beginning I was surprised by her level of familiarity and casualness with spirits and prophets, ie. the Ghost Fancier and the Catwoman. Based on Hester's reaction to the two of them it seems like she is a woman who faces destiny without turning back. The reason for this is debatable, is she brave or does she just not care. Part of her seems afraid to abandon what is familiar.
ReplyDeleteThis fear leads to another issue. She does not want to leave the bog for fear that she might never see her mother again. Her mother seems to be the biggest source of pain for Hester. It drove her to murder and also gave her a reason to defy the parish. Despite her mother's faults, it is possible that she did care for her daughter, based on Xavier's statements. He claims to have driven her mother away, although we do not learn the specifics. Maybe she left to protect her daughter, but maybe I am over analyzing the situation. Hester's respect for her mother is apparent too, as she named her own daughter after her and also keeps the caravan where they lived together.
Hester's final actions are extreme, and the fault does seem to lie with her and the parish. Xavier was for the most part the mastermind behind the events: stealing Carthage, buying the land, even desiring Josie. But, the individual townspeople have their effect too. Carthage is unsympathetic, his mother is cruel and hypocritical. The rest of the parish support her, but they offer no real help. It was interesting to see that at the end, Hester and Caroline formed a sort of bond. In the end, Hester's own choices drove her into her rough position though, and she never tried to escape. Perhaps in the end, the Ghost Fancier helped her to find some peace.
After our discussion in class, I kept thinking about the way in which our society views death. I've never sympathized with the character of Medea and yet I found myself very connected to Hester. I don't agree with her actions and yet I don't find them as condemnable as I would if she was a more traditional, "Western" woman. This is simply because I don't think death has the same significance to Hester that it does to many of us in the West. She can see ghosts, she can hear them talk about death and so she knows what it is that she is sending both herself and her daughter into. It reminds me a little of the abortion debate. The question is now "Does a woman have a right to choose?" It's not, as it was previously, "Does a woman have a right to kill her baby?" Well isn't the same true of Hester--it doesn't have to be "Does Hester have a right to kill her child?" but how about, "Does Hester have a right to choose?" I wonder if this difference in phrasing would cause those who would otherwise condemn Hester's actions to think differently.
ReplyDeleteThe other interesting parallel that I can't quite seem to let go of is that of Hester Swane and Hester Prynne. I have to say, Hester is a pretty distinctive name and I wonder if the thought didn't cross Marina Carr's mind that Hester Swane is amrked woman just like Hester Prynne. Because of Hester Swane's actions (the murder of ehr brother) she becomes "marked" for life. Everything begins to unravel as a result of her actions. Similarly, Hester Prynne's life becomes "marked" (literally by the scarlet letter) b/c of her affair.
While I have to say that I liked use of metaphor in this play in theory... it was a bit too literal for my taste. Maybe when performed, "Swane" is a subtle enough hint at the parallel between Hester and the black swan, but as I was reading, all I could see was the word "swan" over and over in her name until I felt like the metaphor was being shoved down my throat.
ReplyDeleteI also had a bit of trouble getting into the play because of the way the accent was written into the dialogue. I think it was because I'm not very familiar with the Midland accent--honestly, accents are really hard for me to differentiate in the first place--so I couldn't hear the words in my head. I felt my reading went more like this: "I don't want anywan... anywan? oh, yeah, anyone. I don't want anyone to..." and it really hurt the flow of the dialogue for me.
That being said, I don't want to be completely negative about the play. There were several things that Carr did that I really did like. I didn't know the Medea myth well enough to be thinking about it as I read, so I pretty much just took the plot at face value. That made the end hit me a lot harder. I don't think that Hester gave her daughter fair warning as to where the place from which she would never come back from was. It's one thing to get consent, but INFORMED consent is a whole other concept, and Hester definitely did not have that. So was she acting in the best interest of the child? It's hard to say. For me, the whole play drove home the idea that a child is NOT an adult. In addition to the part at the end, there was the whole relationship between Hester and Carthage. Carr must have purposely decided to make their ages so different; she could have just left ages off the character descriptions entirely. Because Carthage is so much younger than Hester, I was able to relate to him as a victim, rather than as a predator and condone his actions. After all, was HE even able to give informed consent to his relationship to Hester? So there we have developing a pattern... before Hester commits a questionable deed, she clears her action with the other involved party. To me, that doesn't make it right. It's comparable to a doctor saying, "We have to biopsy your brain, is that okay?" without mentioning, "oh, and, by the way, you might die in the process."