Theatre and acting fundamentally allow people to become something else, to transcend the boundaries of their identity and to present, or to see presented, a different reality. The process of writing, a particularly important theme in "Atonement", is arguably comparable to acting: they both allow a person to gain new control over themselves and their environment, creating a kingdom imagined. Drama is overtly used in "Atonement", the novel being framed by Briony's "The Trials of Arabella", and in "The Go-Between" it can be seen more implicitly, through Leo playing himself in different roles while throughout the novel, as well as imposing them on others. The theater reveals a large part of the two narrators, either through their reflections or through the changes they undergo there. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay First, by beginning his novel with the words "the play," McEwan immediately signals the emphasis on literature in the text and invites the The reader should be very aware, from the outset, that he reads fiction – a common quality of post-postmodernist texts. This helps make the reader a “judge” in later parts of the novel. Equally important is the vision of Briony as a character, revealed to us by McEwan's descriptions of the play. Indeed, the story of the play demonstrates the values ​​and areas of life that young Briony considers important. For example, the dangers of "love that does not rely on common sense", the perfection of reconciliation and happy endings, and the romanticized notion of "savior" - notions which remain precious to him until his old age. days. Under the influence of the fairy tales and folk tales that Briony read voraciously, the importance of a happy ending is great to her and reflects the intention of "her controlling demon" and "her desire for the world to be that way." ". Appropriately, by beginning and ending the novel with descriptions of the “Trials of Arabella,” an appropriate cyclicality is created, complementing Briony's characteristic penchant for control and order. Furthermore, the play demonstrates his attempts to influence in real life and to control in an imaginary world the actions of those around him, in this case those of his brother Léon: "it was up to his brother to ( …) provoke his admiration and distance him from his carefree succession of girlfriends. The powerful verbs "to provoke" and "to guide" certainly convey the force and influence that Briony intended her writings to have on the activity of others in real life, particularly through the more tangible and active form of theater. It could also be considered that the character of the "prince" in the play was intended by Briony to be representative of Robbie as an "impoverished doctor", channeling the childhood crush which is later revealed to the reader - seen as vital to his actions by Robbie, and almost entirely denied by Briony herself. The display and ticketing being “the culmination of the project’s accomplishment” could therefore harbor a subtle irony; his romanticized idea that Robbie is his savior is quickly reversed, as in his mind he transforms into an evil villain. Briony's intended role for him is never translated into reality, just as the play never is. Indeed, his wish for “the beginning of love at the end of our work” fails. Although she attempts to reconstruct this love between Robbie and Cecelia through her writing, the epilogue shows Briony's inability to make the world conform to her imagination and her "love". of the (…)principles of justice.” Furthermore, the collapse of Briony's play, and her consequent rejection of this literary form, allows McEwan to highlight the disorder that Briony perceives in it, even though she initially considered it "effectively order." In writing, the play is controlled and direct, as Briony considers it, "a world reduced to what is said in it" - but when rehearsals begin, the interpretation of other minds causes the "disfigurement" of his play and of her world, creating a barrier between Briony's perfect vision and her communication to the audience. The "telepathy" she values ​​in story writing cannot be achieved, perhaps alluding to McEwan's ideas about the impossibility of finding "truth" in a novel: the intentions of the The author cannot always be communicated transparently from one mind to another. Arguably, in reality novels are closer to theater than Briony believes: truth is distorted and disordered by interpretation, and opinions and perceptions clash between author and reader. Perhaps this prevents Briony from achieving atonement in a new form - she will never be able to purge herself, because the events cannot be relayed transparently. Like theater, fiction forms a translucent layer between the writer and the receiver - the actors and the play, just as the point of view from which the reader views the text blurs the author's original meanings. In “The Go-Between,” the idea of ​​playing and assuming different roles also reveals a lot about the narrator, Leo. Stemming from his fixation on the gods of the zodiac, Leo essentially rejects his own identity when he rejects his star sign, stating, "I couldn't relate to him." At Brandham, Leo rises by taking on the role of "Mercury" - although he still only serves "the Gods", he sees himself as being of the same transcendent nature. Hartley furthered this idea of ​​role-playing with the introduction of Leo's green costume, which, like a theatrical costume, helped "alter [his] view of the world." It is clear that Leo feels compelled to adapt and improve in this way, when he states, "I have to increase my stature, I have to act on a larger scale" in order to "be in tune with everything that Brandham Hall meant.” '. The forceful repetition of "must" emphasizes how Leo feels compelled to acclimatize, and when he pairs with "Mercury," he feels like he has undergone "a spiritual transformation" after being " chosen for a new role. In the same way that Briony finds control by assigning roles to others, like Leon and Robbie, Leo seems to find order and control in his foreign environment by giving himself the ennobling role of "Mercury": Briony, like reflects its role. in "The Trials of Arabella", directs, while Leo plays. Furthermore, Leo's transformation into this new character only pushes him to continue readjusting and imagining different versions of himself, for example, "a Robin Hood in Lincoln green", a role that rightly emphasizes titles his position of servitude towards Marian, while paradoxically enlarging his position. Leo's view of himself. In this way, Hartley demonstrates the power that imagination brings by allowing Leo to "act" in this way, for later in the text, Leo realizes that this duality gives him "a feeling of power" - just as his role as a magician, before he comes to Brandham. Likewise, Briony's penchant for imposing roles on others inspires in him such power that he "dispels his own insignificance", as is also the case for Leo. It is interesting to note that in both texts the heat of their surroundings is stronglyunderlined and seems to be linked to Leo's. ideas of theatricality. Particularly in “The Go-Between,” temperature appears as an evolving and theatrical medium that allows Léo to assume his new role: “heat was a medium that made this change of perspective possible.” Heat adds another dimension to Leo's reality, just as theater seems to be a level above reality: it allows, in both cases, to cross "the rainbow bridge from reality to dream ". It is a filter that gives Leo the ability to live up to their zodiac ideals, leading them to assert that "one felt another person, the other was another person." The linguistic movement from "felt" to "was" shows the transition from virtuality to reality, dramatizing the effect that the heat filter has on the ideals in Leo's mind: their transfer from imagination, to his perception of reality. In “Atonement,” the heat, no doubt symbolic of Robbie and Cecelia’s acknowledged passion, accentuates everything; as in “The Go-Between,” it adds another layer to reality, acting as a theatrical medium that makes events more pointed, intense and urgent – ​​as Leon says, it becomes “a different country.” All the rules change. Heat therefore allows one to transgress social and personal boundaries, just as theater allows a person to rise above themselves and their environment. These transformative powers of heat allow Briony to further elevate her imagination and develop a more dramatic and exaggerated imagined scene, both at the fountain and concerning Robbie's supposed "attack" on Cecilia and Lola's rape. Both McEwan and Hartley certainly seem to employ ideas of theatricality, such as role-playing and the environmental mediums that enable this, in order to emphasize their respective narrators' imaginative goals for controlling and shaping the world around them. Additionally, in both texts, the authors' use of the idea of ​​acting has implications for social order and conformity, particularly in "The Go-Between." The narrative is interspersed with scenes depicting mostly anonymous house guests sitting around the table and engaging in polite conversation. The last of these scenes, the most pointed, precedes the dramatic destruction of Marian and Ted's love, and is full of tension over unspoken doubts about Marian's whereabouts. Throughout, guests and family members appear to follow a social script, involving measured and courteous conversations about the rain or Marian's affection for "Nanny Robson." This is particularly true for the anonymous characters, whose presence seems to form a Greek chorus; their speech accumulates in the dramatic unfolding of the truth. Their repetitive, repetitive words such as, “Where can she be?” followed by: “Yes, where can she be?” ” certainly shows that they are respecting the appropriate social script, phrasing non-committal and casual questions in order to tiptoe around an already unstable social situation. Details such as “every action and almost every remark” being “followed by a pause” reinforce the feeling of repeated theatricality of the situation. Interestingly, Hartley interrupts these moments with an explosion of firecrackers and smoke, which could be seen as evocative of the special effects used in the theater: "the bangs, the torn paper, the smoke, the acrid fumes." This obvious theatricality appears to be used by Hartley to cover up the truth of the situation before the smoke and noise disappears, and reveal the butler's assertion regarding Marian's unexplained absence. This creates a sudden change.