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  • Essay / The effectiveness of the opening of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

    The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is in many ways a "well-made play" (translated as "well-made play"), which consists in a four-point structure: an exhibition; a complication and a climax followed by a denouement. Certainly, the exposition can be identified as the first scene, where the audience is introduced to the actors and the main themes of the play. Indeed, Little Voice's inevitable tragic downfall can be inferred from the title, but the exposition suggests that she does not possess Greek hubris, since Mari mentions that she "almost never speaks." Additionally, Cartwright uses realism, using colloquial diction, such as "fucking stench" to emphasize the ordinariness of Little Voice's life before her fleeting fame. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The play opens in complete "darkness", which is usually used to symbolize escape from truth and reality. Maybe Little Voice causes blackouts because they allow her to escape her reality, where Mari considers her records to be "fucking shit" and lives in a world where music is everything . Additionally, the repetition of "Darkness" suggests the regularity of blackouts, which is corroborated by Little Voice's comment "not again" when the volume of its records blows the fuse. However, the unstable fuse could simply represent the poor, "lower class living" setting of the play. Furthermore, Cartwright belonged to the genre of "new writing" in British theatre, which experimented with dramatic structure in order to be confrontational and provocative towards the social policies of Thatcherism. Therefore, an opening in total darkness would have kept its audience in suspense and contrasted with the standard opening of past British plays, where the rising of the curtain was greeted with light and action. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad determines that darkness represents the evil that lies dormant within humans. Therefore, Cartwright opening the play in “darkness” could suggest that the play is didactic and focuses on the idea of ​​morality. Furthermore, the play is a melodrama, where morality is in black and white, and therefore the "darkness" could symbolize the immorality, and therefore the irresponsibility of Mari's drunkenness, which seems usual, since Little Voice can instantly identify that she is “drunk”. While Mari is drunk, she "screams" and orders Little Voice to do the same. Thus, the dominance she exerts proves that she is the mother, despite her immature demands. Additionally, Cartwright uses violent verbs in reference to Mari's actions, such as "crushing" to describe her drunken state, creating pathos towards Little Voice. The ambivalence exhibited by Mari and Little Voice toward screaming emphasizes their contrasting characters, as well as Mari's habitual undermining of Little Voice's shy and repressed attitude. Mari's dominance is best presented through "Shut up!" »Stop it! Take it off! Get it!' to which Little Voice “quickly runs upstairs,” demonstrating her obedience. Furthermore, the circular structure of the scene, which begins with "darkness" and ends with a "black-out", symbolizes the repetitive nature of Little Voice's life, even its emptiness. Therefore, intensive enactments are provided in which Little Voice takes on the responsibility of caring for her mother: "She turns her over on the couch and puts Mari's coat around her, takes off Mari's shoes, places them thoroughly. Covering Mari's ears with pillows promotes a routine. Throughout The Rise.