Q. Paying close attention to language, tone, imagery, and atmosphere, write a critical appreciation of the following extract, showing its significance to the play as a whole.
'Philadelphia Here I Come' by Brian Friel RTC. Extract linked as a picture.
Brian Friel is an Irish playwright. This drama reflects his perhaps harsh critical thoughts towards Irish society. He also explores themes and issues that are unique and that are less talked about., the most prominent one probably being the idea of an altered presented through Gar Private who plays a big role in this extract by acting as a bridge between Gar and his past with Kate.
The following extract is set while Gar Public is celebrating his move to Philadelphia while Gar Private is contemplating over what will come next, mostly the negative aspects of his departure such as the obstacles that Gar will face both while moving and after moving to Philadelphia, one of these is shown to be letting go of Kate Doogan. The music plays throughout Private's lecture but is shown to be stopped by Gar Public as soon as Katy is mentioned.
The absence of music signifies seriousness of the situation, that perhaps Kate is a sensitive subject. When Public is shown to pull out 'a snap' of Kat from his wallet it signifies that although they have had to move on from each other, Gar still manifests feelings for her and probably even keeps memories of her fossilised in his brain. His affection for Kate is shown as such that he takes the blame for their failed relationship '-all my fault-' instead of blaming her directly like he is shown to blame his father and the rest of his town. We are shown that Public perhaps felt very close to Kate as he 'blabbed about your secret egg deals that nobody knew anything about-not even Madge!' to Kate to reassure her that he did have plans for their future although none were perhaps that practical. He is shown to have planned that they get 'married at Easter' which is a symbol of new beginnings and chances. He perhaps hoped that starting with a new leaf would give him a better chance at over coming the financial and social difficulties they may face. Thus Friel succeeds in filling the audience with awe over the concept of young love and by presenting symbols such as Easter he manifests hope within the audience who expect the play to end differently now.
The greatest contrast is perhaps shown through the difference in the tone of Gar Public and Gar Private. Gar Public speaks of Kate with love and longing, '..my darling Kathy Doogan..' while Private seeks of her harshly, 'Aul bitch. Rotten and snobby bitch!' and speaks of her parents in an even harsher tone 'Just like her stinking rotten father and mother-'. Although Public is shown to sound genuine the audience realise, due to this contrast, that since Private speaks Public's mind he may not be sincere about his feeling for Kate. Thus the audience are shown that Gar is probably still bitter not only over his own mistake but also over Kate and her family for not accepting him and allowing him a chance. The audience also note through Gar Private that Gar Public may regret sharing his plans with Kate. Until the end Private is shown to have no respect for Kate as he mocks her, 'Private(imitating): How will we live?' Even though she is making a sensible statement regarding their future. This shows the audience that maybe Gar did not actually hold Kate at such a high regard as he shows through Gar Public. Due to the consistent contrasting Friel adds flavour to this play and succeeds in keeping his audience's attention.
In this text Friel not only represents the double standards most people have through Gar Public and Private but also represents how society breaks people apart by presenting how Kate and Gar's relationship falls apart due to class and financial difference and straight forward standards of Kate's father. This allows the audience to sympathise with the characters and also contemplate over society's injustice and double standards issue ad well thank about oneself's hypocrisy when telling the public something while thinking something something else as shown through Gar Public and Gar Private illustrating different perspectives of the same woman.
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English Literature 9695
Non-fictieThis is a compilation of all the essays and notes I wrote while I was in ALevels. It must be noted that not all of of these are A* material (though none goes lower than a grade B) so they aren't meant to be copy pasted for your school assignments. U...
