Issues Of The Play

Question 1

What is the main issue ?

Answer 1

Individual vs society
- society on various levels; machine of business and commerce or the inherent prejudice against women

Young woman faces the power of the patriarchy in: religion, law, medicine, marriage and the media
- here the individual is consumed by society

Question 2

How is the theme of duty explored ?

Answer 2

Episode 2
- duty to marry as a woman
The mother imposed this duty and societal expectation

The mother voices how it might benefit her with financial security
- Treadwell encapsulates the message in the domestic argument over dishes broken by the wife’s voice rejecting her husbands advances
- foreshadowing the life the Young Woman will later lead

Question 3

How does the play explore the theme of idealised view of life vs reality ?

Answer 3

Various characters lives contrasting
- YM sexual encounter with lover compared to honeymoon

Question 4

How is the role of women in society explored in the play ?

Answer 4

Portrayed most through the Young Woman
- it’s a pre feminist society and while WW1 had open up opportunities for women the Victorian attitude lingered
- most notably conveyed by the doctor