the pointers written below are a mix of my lecture notetaking and personal opinions. i believe there are many ways to interpret the events of the play and the intentions of the characters. this is not absolute, so take it with a pinch of salt. i hope that this is a worthy supplement to your revision. literature is a killer for me as it's an alien discipline. but it doesn't stop me from loving what i study. all the best with your lit journey :-)
Covering...
- General Outline
- Major Themes + General Claims
- Character Outlines
- Significant Scenes/Quotes
Time Frame: 1947, 2 years after WW2
August: High point of Summer, before the arrival of FALL; demise of Keller
Physical Setting:
Act I - Sunday Morning
Act II - Sunday Evening
Act III - Monday 2am
Sunday: A rest day. (consider: sunday christians - claim to be religious but act immorally)
- The progressive physical directions in ominous, signalling downfall.
Themes
- The Personal against The Universal
The Family against All + Humanity (consider: is Keller interested in protecting Family or Humanity?)
- Self Interest against Social Responsibility (consider: do they coexist or can they exist independently?)
- Materialism against Morality/Virtue (consider: sue/joe vs chris/larry)
- Capitalism (consider: what does war advocate?)
- Practicality against Naivete/Idealism (consider: between which characters?)
- Pragmatism (consider: who exhibits it and in what form?)
- Law and Justice (consider: culpability vs responsibility, has justice been served?, what is necessary for forgiveness?)
Nomenclature:
Keller Family as The Holy Family
Joe Keller - Joseph, Jesus's Earthly Father OR Average Joe
Kate Keller/Mother - Mother Mary
Chris Keller - Christ (does chris really exhibit christlike values? do people think he exhibits them?)
Characters
Joe Keller - Comes across as likeable and friendly (consider: how to the neighbours really feel about it), willing to threaten/bully others to get his way (consider: what/who is he doing things for?), greedy and selfish, pragmatist (prioritizes money and family), lacks an understanding of his responsibility to the society.
Kate Keller/Mother - Ruling power of the family, manipulative/calculative, controlling, motherly side (consider: how she treats george), delusional/superstitious
Chris Keller - Believes in social responsibility, desires for a larger life outside of the Keller business (consider: does he take into account the practical side to 'having a good life'), has a sense of ethical righteousness, idealistic, uncertain about Joe's role in the shop incident
Ann Deever - Principle overrules familial relations (consider: opposite of joe?), places greater value on her own life than a principled concept of justice, idealistic without using brains, naive (yet she has an idea of what she wants = a life with Chris), lacks individuality or is she independent, staunch believer in Chris, holds the truth, non-confrontational
George Deever - prioritizes saving Ann over revenge at Joe, scarred by war (more than Chris), believer in Chris, easy manipulated/distracted, impulsive
Sue Bayliss - pragmatic (prioritizes financial gain), little emphasis on caring for family, has a COMPLETE grip on reality, insecure, confrontational (consider: does she always actively seek the truth?), aware of Joe's guilt
Jim Bayliss - has ideals but abandons them for family (consider: he has the same choices as chris. do they compromise the same things?), repressed, cynical (consider: possibly due to his failed idealism) inadequate (consider: this is thrown into sharper focus in the way he views chris as a war hero/man of noble principles), treats wealthy patients (consider: he is similar to joe in the way that he puts familial responsibility before social responsibility), aware of Joe's guilt
Lydia Lubey - laughs easily (consider: is her laughter a veneer?), longtime girlfriend of George (consider: what do they remind each other of? has she settled for less than the ideal - frank?)
Frank Lubey - idealist/naive, superstitious (consider: significance of a character that believes in fate & stars), convinced that Larry may be alive
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