Essay On Plays Essay, Research Paper
Sometimes a situation in a play can be repeated in another play can be repeated in another play but receive a different reaction and/or outcome. In the short plays “Your Handsome Captain” and “The Vise” the two lead characters experience pretty much the same situation, but get different outcomes at the end.
In “Your Handsome Captain” Wilnor is in Guadeloupe and his wife is in Haiti. Wilnor is there because he is trying to make money for his family. He sends money periodically with a messenger. Marie Ange is at home and very lonely so she sleeps with the messenger. she reveals this to her husband on a tape. His reaction is unexpected, Wilnor forgives his wife claiming that he has had the same urges she has had.
In the play “The Vise” the situation and reactions are a bit different. In the play Andrea is also betrayed by his wife but he isn’t living far from his wife. He has just worked too hard (in order to provide a life for his family). Being constantly alone in her house his wife feels neglected and sleeps with one of Andrea’s friends/co-workers. Unlike in “Your Handsome Captain” Andrea doesn’t forgive his wife. Instead he forces her into a suicide. A completely different ending as compared to “Your Handsome Captain.”
A character’s morals are also put into glance in these play. Andrea may be at first the stronger of the two lead (him and Wilnor), not tolerating his wife’s adultery. But he is in fact the weaker, unable to sympathize with her wives loneliness. Wilnor, on the other hand is perceived as weak at first but is revealed to be much more reasonable than Andrea. His forgiving by nature gives him higher morals than that of the twisted Andrea.
In the end they reacted differently to the same situation because they were different, as simple as that may seem. Both of these men were lonely, distant from their wives in one way or another. They were thrown into a situation where each handled it completely different. Simply because they were different people.