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Master Harold
Summary:
St George’sTea Shop in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 1950.
Main characters: Willie and Sam, two black waiters.
Harold or “Hally” seventeen, parents own shop.
Hally’s father is in the hospital, alcoholism.
Hally used to tutor Sam and Willie, they were like parents.
Sam taught Hally to fly a kite.
Hally gets a call from mother, father is coming home.
Hally doesn’t think father is ready.
Hally continues to turn his anger out on Sam and Willie.
Sam and Willie talk about the beauty and perfection achieved in dancing and how it doesn’t exist between people of different nations, beliefs, and economic status’.
Hally thinks the topic is good for paper at school, joins discussion.
Mom calls Hally, asks for him to come home and greet his father. Hally says no but is forced to speak to father on the phone. Hally pretends to be happy to come home when talking to father.
Hally gets off the phone and is angry but sam stops from saying bad things about father.
Hally lashes out against Sam as he never has before, reminding Sam of his status as a servant, not a friend or father. In an effort to hurt sam, hally sides with father and makes a racist joke about sam. he tells Sam to refer to him as “Master Harold” and not as familiar as Hally.
Sam informs Hally that if he is to say Master, he will do so, but their relationship is forever changed.
They to to reconcile by realize that nothing can go back to way it was.
Characters:
Sam
Sam has spent lot of time help the boy, make him less like his father.
Sam functions as Hally’s friend, father, servant, teacher and student.
Hally is somewhat unaware that Sam is such an integral part of his life.
Sam knows that after what Hally did, they can never be the same, he knows a lot about racism.
Willie
He is the one preparing for the ballroom dance.
Dancing serves as a metaphor for a perfect society. A world in whcih people cannot be hurt or abuse one another.
willie uses his girlfriend’s inability to keep time wil dancing an excuse to beat her.
Willie has been denied ownership by Hally’s family, so he needs to win competition.
The way he abuses Hilda reflects a cycle of abuse that social and political climate has helped keep going.
Wille has been abused an takes it out on Hilda.
Hally
Under racist influence
A Raisin in the Sun
Summary:
Youngers receive $10,000 insurance. African american family, south side chicago 1950s.
Mr. Younger died.
Each character wants to do something different with the money.
Mama wants to buy a house.
Walter wants to invest in a liquor store with friends, believes it will keep money coming in.
Ruth agrees with mama, although hopes walter can provide space and opportunity for son: Travis.
Beneatha, Walter’s sister, wants money for med school tuition.
Beneatha doesn’t want to assimilate int to the white culture.
Beneatha looks for identity by looking to past in Africa.
Ruth discovers she is pregnant. More financial pressure.
Walter doesn’t object, or is silent to Ruth saying she is considering an abortion, Mama puts a down payment on a house for the family.
House is in Clybourne Park, entirely white neighborhood.
Mr Lindner, from Park Improvement Association offers youngers money in return for staying away.
They refuse, even after Walter loses the rest of the money (6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and runs off with the money.
Beneatha rejects her pursuer, George Murchison, whom she thinks is shallow and blind to problems of race.
She receives a marriage proposal from Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants her to get med degree and go to africa. Play ends before she decies.
Doll’s House
Summary:
Opens Christmas Eve.
Entire play is in living room.
Nora Helmer has several packages.
Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, comes out of his study when he hears her.
He scolds her for spending so much money on Christmas gifts.
Helmers have had to be careful with money. Torvald has recently new position bank afford more.
Helene is the maid.
Helmer’s friend Dr. Rank has come to visit.
Kristine Linde comes too, a former school friend of Nora.
Two have not seen each other for a very long time, Ms Linde’s husband died. LEft with no money or children.
At start marriage, Nora and Torvald worked a lot and were very poor. Torbald became sick, travel to Italy so he could recover.
Linde care for two brothers and mother, she feels empty and sad because she has nothing to do. She asks for a job at torvald’s bank.
Nora says she’ll try, and reveals big secret, NORA ILLEGALLY BORROWED MONEY FOR THE TRIP THAT SHE AND TORVALD TOOK TO ITALY; SHE TOLD TORVALT THAT THE MONEY HAD COME FROM HER FATHER. For years, Nora has worked and saved in secret, repaying the debt.
Krogstad, low lvl employee at bank, goes to work in house with torvald.
Nora is uneasy with Krogstad around,
Dr. Rank says Krogstad is “morally sick.”
Torvald says he can prop hire ms linde,
Nora’s children return to nanny Anne-Marie.
Krogstad is the source of the loan.
Krog asks nora to keep krog employeed, blackmails her with revealing the loan.
Nora tries to convince not to fire krog,
Torvald says krog is an immoral person. Says he is physically ill when he is around such people.
Next day, christmas. Following evening, a dancing ball at neighbors.
Nora tells mrs linde that DR rank has inhereted mortal illness from father, linde thinks dr rank is source of loan.
Nora again begs torvald to keep krog employeed.
Torvald dislikes Krogstad’s overly familiar attitude.
Torvald sends the maid to deliver krogs letter of dismissal.
Dr Ranks says he is going to die soon.
She flirts with him to cheer him up, she could be preping to ask to help with the situation.
Dr. Rank reveals to Nora he is in love with her. Nora doesn’t ask anything from DR because of this.
Krogstad arrives and wants to know why he is fired. He wants nora to get him rehired to a higher position now. He then puts a letter detailing Nora’s debt and forgery in the Helmers’ letterbox.
Nora tells mrs. Linde everything, Linde tells Nora to delay Torvald from opening the letter as long as possible while Linde talks to Krogstad.
Nora practices the tarantella to distract torvald.
She is distressed and dances wildy and violently. Which makes torvald upset.
Nora makes torvald promise not to open mail until after the party. Linde says she left krog a note but that we will be gone until the following evening.
Krog and linde were once in deep love, but linde left krog for a wealthier man. Linde says that she now wants to be with him and care for his children, and krog says he will get the letter back before torv can read it. MS LINDE SAYS THAT THE LETTER MUST BE LEFT ALONE, IT WILL BE BETTER IF THE TRUTH IS REVEALED.
Dr Rank came to say goodnight, and interupts Nora and Torvald.
After Dr. Rank leaves, Torvald finds in his letterbox two of Dr. Rank’s visiting cards, each with a black cross above the name. Nora knows Dr. Rank’s cards constitute his announcement that he will soon die, and she informs Torvald of this fact. She then insists that Torvald read Krogstad’s letter.
Torvald reads the letter and is outraged. He calls Nora a hypocrite and a liar and complains that she has ruined his happiness. He declares that she will not be allowed to raise their children. Helene then brings in a letter. Torvald opens it and discovers that Krogstad has returned Nora’s contract (which contains the forged signature). Overjoyed, Torvald attempts to dismiss his past insults, but his harsh words have triggered something in Nora. She declares that despite their eight years of marriage, they do not understand one another. Torvald, Nora asserts, has treated her like a “doll” to be played with and admired. She decides to leave Torvald, declaring that she must “make sense of [her]self and everything around her.” She walks out, slamming the door behind her.
Nectar in a Sieve
Rukmani---Nathan
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Ira Arjun Thambi Murugan Raja Sevlam Kuti
Rukmani old women reflects on her life.
Educated daughter of a village headman fallen on hard times.
Rukmani is married at age 12 to Nathan, a tenant farmer.
Nathan is nice, within a year they have a daughter IRA, and good rice harvests.
six years, no more babies.
troubled, she meets Kenny, a foreign doctor. He treats her infertility without Nathan’s knowledge.
She bears five sons. They have less to eat, a tannery is built nearby, and they don’t like it.
Arjun and Thambi sons go work at tannery.
Wages help family, they have a laborstrike and get fired.
The parents arrange a marriage for Ira, monsoon rains destroy all their crops.
Rukmani sacrifices her savings to buy food for family.
Ira’s husband givers Ira up because she cannot have babies.
Kenny tries to help Ira conceive, but Ira’s husband takes another woman.
Have last son, Kuti.
They go hungry again, sell possesions. pay landowner. Kenny gets murugan a job in the city.
Raja is killed trying to get a calfskin.
Ira prostitutes herself to feed Kuti.
Kuti dies.
Selvam is trained as kenny’s assistant.
Kunthi had two of nathans sons, but rukmani forgave him.
Ira has an albino baby conceived in prostitution.
Their land is sold to the tannery.
They try to find murugan in the city and meet Puli. he helps them. Murugan has left his wife.