Power Relations in Summer of the 17th Doll :: Ray Lawler

Dramatic conflict consists of a struggle for power among characters, and dramatic resolution consists of a shift of power among them. Discuss the conflict and resolution in "Summer of The 17th Doll" in terms of the power relations in the play. The play summer of the 17th doll consists of many conflicts, some internal and some external. Some of these conflicts are resolved and some not. This essay will explore some of the internal conflicts as well as some of the external conflicts and elaborate on their importance to the play. There are a few themes in the play The Summer Of the 17th Doll. Some of these themes are Maturity, Gender stereo types, aging and time, ideals dreams vs. reality, loyalty and least expectation. I believe one of the strongest themes in the play is dreams vs. reality. Ray Lawler gives us a very big hint about what is going to happen in the play at the beginning of the play. Ray Lawler explains how the patio has some plants evading the walls. The patio symbolizes the layoff dream and the plans symbolize reality slowly but surely creeping up on them. There are many internal conflicts in the play. One internal conflict in the play is pride. This is best illustrated by Roo. Roos struggle with his pride is evident through out the play. It is so obvious that even other characters in the play can see it and comment on it. An example of this from the play is when Emma says to roo that his ?dirty lousy rotten pride? is changing the man she used to know. It is the reason for him getting in a tiff with John Dowd. But most of all his pride is the reason he is a broken man. His pride has made him stubborn and ignorant to help from other people. Fortunately, he is able to swallow his pride and work as a painter. His pride was the reason for his fall from the cane cutting gang and the reason he left them. In other words, we see the essentially good person (Roo) brought down by their fatal flaw pride. One external conflict that gives us great insight to the theme of the play is between Olive and Pearl. You could say that olive represents the illusion of the Dream that is known as the layoff season, whereas Pearl symbolizes reality.