Repress and Surface Illustrated
An Analysis of the Figurative Language used in Itamar Moses’s “Authorial Intent”
Itamar Moses’s “Authorial Intent” is not the ordinary play anyone would watch. Unlike conventional plays that run for hours, this production goes quickly. Without the audience knowing, they have reached the end. Also, another thing that spells the uniqueness for this piece is its bare-all type of conveying its intended message. One minute, the actors would be acting realistically, having internalized their characters. Then, another minute, they would be blurting out devices, objectives, tactics, and other technical terms that are too many to digest in a short period of time. Nevertheless, it does not give away everything. In fact, …show more content…
It seems short, but Act 1 is already filled with objects that have symbolic meanings. At the beginning, A (the woman) puts on makeup, which is revealed to be the “Manifestation Of Central Metaphor” (Moses, 2.298) later in Act 2. This refers to the masking of reality to give way for immersion in a fictitious world. Although not stated in the play, it can also speak of the disguise of her non-feelings towards B (the man). Specifically, the lipstick that A uses to conceal her lips conveys a message to B. Even if she does not say a word, her action triggers him to remember that they are supposed to go out that night, as evidenced by his use of the expletive “Shit. Right. Yes.” (1.140). More than serving as a silent, but strong reminder to the man, this certain piece of makeup holds a connotation of trying to hold herself back from admitting a graver truth—her lack of love for him. In relation to this, the notebook that is used in this act is a symbol of permanence and finality. It can be remembered that B jots down the “worst thing [he has] ever heard in [his] entire life” (1.100) for a greater, emphatic feel. When one puts something on writing, it takes effect, just as how laws are written in order to be implemented. Therefore, A’s materialization of her desire to end her relationship with B is provoked by what he writes in the notebook. It is a statement about losing the special feeling towards anybody or anything one loves as a result of being too close to him/her/it, otherwise known as, “‘In order to do what I wanted to do for the rest of my life I had to learn so much about it that I ruined forever my ability to enjoy it in the way that made me want to do it in the first place.’”
An Analysis of the Figurative Language used in Itamar Moses’s “Authorial Intent”
Itamar Moses’s “Authorial Intent” is not the ordinary play anyone would watch. Unlike conventional plays that run for hours, this production goes quickly. Without the audience knowing, they have reached the end. Also, another thing that spells the uniqueness for this piece is its bare-all type of conveying its intended message. One minute, the actors would be acting realistically, having internalized their characters. Then, another minute, they would be blurting out devices, objectives, tactics, and other technical terms that are too many to digest in a short period of time. Nevertheless, it does not give away everything. In fact, …show more content…
It seems short, but Act 1 is already filled with objects that have symbolic meanings. At the beginning, A (the woman) puts on makeup, which is revealed to be the “Manifestation Of Central Metaphor” (Moses, 2.298) later in Act 2. This refers to the masking of reality to give way for immersion in a fictitious world. Although not stated in the play, it can also speak of the disguise of her non-feelings towards B (the man). Specifically, the lipstick that A uses to conceal her lips conveys a message to B. Even if she does not say a word, her action triggers him to remember that they are supposed to go out that night, as evidenced by his use of the expletive “Shit. Right. Yes.” (1.140). More than serving as a silent, but strong reminder to the man, this certain piece of makeup holds a connotation of trying to hold herself back from admitting a graver truth—her lack of love for him. In relation to this, the notebook that is used in this act is a symbol of permanence and finality. It can be remembered that B jots down the “worst thing [he has] ever heard in [his] entire life” (1.100) for a greater, emphatic feel. When one puts something on writing, it takes effect, just as how laws are written in order to be implemented. Therefore, A’s materialization of her desire to end her relationship with B is provoked by what he writes in the notebook. It is a statement about losing the special feeling towards anybody or anything one loves as a result of being too close to him/her/it, otherwise known as, “‘In order to do what I wanted to do for the rest of my life I had to learn so much about it that I ruined forever my ability to enjoy it in the way that made me want to do it in the first place.’”