Judith! O, Judith.

As stated it is clear and obvious that the Major Dramatic Question is, "Will Judith kill Holofernes?" I read over and over trying to come up with another great choice for the MDQ. I even thought there was none because a lot of small different questions came to mind. However, one question that stuck to mind was, "Does Judith has what it takes to kill Holofernes?" I believe this is a better question than just asking "Will she kill him?" Judith goes through many changes especially emotionally throughout the play. She is very different from the start of the play to the end. However, throughout the play it is evident that Judith just wants to be loved. Any being in search for love, could never be harmful right? Judith makes me retract that thought. She tows on rather she should go through with killing him and the servant has to remind her of the importance that it is to kill him. In the end, Judith does have what it takes to kill him. Then, I asked myself, is this fully true? Because after she kills him, she wants to have sex with the corpse. Its safe to say Judith was torn in the decision to kill Holofernes, but she decided to kill him and ultimately had what it took to do so.

Farewell Jessie

As dramaturge, I agree with the director about the major dramatic question. The director believes the major dramatic question is "Will Jesse kill herself?" I agree because after we hear the shot, the play is over. It is argued that if that is the major dramatic question why isn't the play like this:

The lights come up. Jesse goes into a back room while Mama putters around. We hear a shot. Mama jumps, startled. She asks, "What was that?" End of play.

Honestly, who wants to watch (or in our case read a play) that only contains that much in the script? It is short, direct, and does not have anything to build on. A play in that matter will leave the audience with more questions than answers. The audience would not know for sure that Jessie shot herself, she could have been shooting at something else. In this script the audience can ask "Will Jesse kill herself" in the beginning of the play after Jessie says she is going to kill herself. Throughout the play, the question is being pondered on, "Will Jessie do it?" "Can mama prevent Jessie from killing herself?" All these questions which generally have the same answer/conclusion gets answered and then after that the play ends. I thought of rather the major dramatic question should be, "Why does Jessie want to kill herself?" But that question seems to get answered several times throughout the play without it closing. The audience learns so much from the dialogue between Jessie and Mama. They see what drove Jessie to the point of no return and it builds the story for the ending. The script answers and supports the major dramatic question, which is there to help the script unravel.

Women's Wrights vs. Men's Wrights

     When reading Trifles, one thing I noticed that stuck with me was the battle of the sexes. As the men roamed the house looking for motives and evidence, the County attorney makes several sexists comments.  The first comment he makes that startles me is when he refers to the dirty towels in the house. He says, "Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?" I was startled by this because he referred to Mrs. Wright as a housekeeper, rather than a wife. I believe there is a difference in that. Being a housekeeper is a job, one that is being paid of and usually is done at someone else's home. However, a wife has many duties that one may think goes without pay. A wife gets paid in love and appreciation. She is more than a housekeeper, she's a companion, a partner. I loved Mrs. Hale's response to him. She said, "Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men's hands aren't always as clean as they might be." Mrs. Hale threw that one back in the county attorney's face so quick, it was golden. Another aspect of the play that seemed to throw focus on women was taunt on the discussion of Mrs. Wright's knitting. The ladies found a quilt she was making and wondered if she was going to quilt it or knot it. The men walked in on their discussion and marked them as if they had nothing better to discuss besides knitting. It was funny that the ladies used that to reference that she was going to knot which means she put a knot in the rope that she used to kill her husband. I loved the irony in that.

Over the hills, tone down just a little.

      I really enjoyed reading Overtones. It reminded me of myself and my friends. Overtones is funny and makes a very accurate theory of women. Even though it is set in 18th century, it still resembles every woman, especially in today's society. Women were taught to be in competition with one another. So when the opportunity arises, we as women can't help but take the first chance we get to make another women feel defeated or jealous. In Overtones, Harriet and Margaret both wanted John to paint a portrait of Harriet. They wanted the same thing but instead of going in and just saying what they wanted they had to make each other feel like they needed the other. The funny part of the play was the dialogue between Hetty and Maggie. They were the undertones (Harriet and Margaret's true feelings) but because they wanted to gain something from another they both put on a front and hid their true selves. I believe everyone including men have a undertone. My undertone is critiquing my blog post, but I'm not entertaining her. :) Everyone has rude thoughts but we don't actually tell people our thoughts because that will be hurtful and can cause confrontation. Both Harriet and Margaret love John and it seems like they would both do anything for him. I wish the play was longer to see what happens when Harriet goes to let John paint her. Does he still have feelings for her? Will you try to win over his love? Where is Charles when all this is going on? All those questions ran through my head as I finished reading the play. Overall, I rate this play a 4.5 out of 5 stars.