Essay Question – Discuss how Irwin and Posner’s relationship
is presented in this extract.
During this extract which is set five years after the main
body of the play we see Irwin talking to an, at the beginning of the extract,
unidentified person. During the course of the extract we learn that this man is
Posner who has come to interview Irwin, now a television celebrity. At the
start of the extract we see Posner and Irwin talking after Irwin has finished
the scene he is filming for his show. Irwin begins to speak in a simple,
fragmented sentence saying ‘Familiar?’ This suggests a sense of awkwardness
between the two characters as if they don’t know what to say to each other and
so can only speak in a very simple way. Irwin’s use of an interrogative also
suggests that he wants to find out information from Posner, suggesting that he
still somewhat cares about what he thinks of him.
During the scene we find out that Posner is ‘miked’ and is
speaking to Irwin to try and find out information to sell a story to the tabloids.
Posner tries to find out information about the relationship Irwin had with with
Dakin, and to do this asks him ‘he liked you… didn’t he?’ There is a lot of
subtext hidden in this interrogative as while Posner wants to know the answer
to this question to gain information to sell a story for the money that he
needs, he also wants to know for personal reasons. As Posner was in love with
Dakin during his time in school he wants to know if Irwin had what he
desperately wanted to have, a romantic or sexual relationship with Dakin. The
use of ellipsis could be interpreted by a director to emphasis this point,
using the pause to have Posner stare into Irwin’s eyes trying to find out the
answer to the question for personal gain rather than on mike for financial gain.
The use of vocatives in this scene, as with the whole of the
play, provides us a key insight into the different characters relationships
with each other. At the end of this scene Posner asks Irwin to sign his copy of
Irwin’s book. This comes across as strange as they have just has an argument
after Irwin finds out that Posner is taping him. The way he refers to Irwin as
‘sir’ during this encounter shows us that Posner might still be living in the
past. He is trying to recreate his school days when he was a lot happier and
care free than he is now. Irwin replies to Posner’s request to sign the book to
David, his first name, by saying ‘I never called you, David. I called you
Posner.’ Irwin still calls Posner by his last name to try and offend him. Irwin
wants to still have the authority and high status that he had over Posner while
teaching him and Posner, by calling Irwin ‘sir,’ is complying to what Irwin
wants.
Some good use of terminology - try and get multiple terms into each paragraph by identifying how the quote makes meaning e.g. just looking at the vocative "Sir" you could talk about the connotations of submission to authority and respect and contrast his choice of proper noun with the disrespect implied by calling the adult David, not by his preferred vocative, but by the one that puts him in the same asymmetrical power relationship with Irwin as before: "Posner". Bennett's juxtaposition of these signals the strain between the characters and may increase the audience's curiosity as to what has transpired between the main timeframe of the play and the flash-forward.
ReplyDeleteCheck emphasis (noun) and emphasise (verb) and work on linking paragraphs by choosing to give an overview of what is going on in the scene and how different techniques from language, form and structure contribute to it.