Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher describes change as “the only constant in life”. It is an unavoidable process of life and failure to constantly adapt and amend to inevitable change has negative effects. In the 1955 play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Australian playwright Ray Lawler, depicts how changes to our everyday life force us to re-evaluate who we are and what our future holds. Whether that change comes to group dynamics; or with age, we have to reconsider our dreams, our aspirations and relationships. Similarly, Robert Frost in his poem Nothing Gold Can Stay explores the concept of trying to grasp the brevity of beauty and the inevitability of change, and how it only brings misery to those who refuse to accept change.
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In Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, the aging group of migrant cane cutters and Carlton bar-maids must come to terms with their ever-changing circumstances. They have to re-evaluate their expectations, and dreams. From beginning of the play, it is prevalent that things are no longer what they once were. Bubba establishes at the start of the play that Nancy, a key character in the layoff cycle has left and gotten married. With the opening line “so—I was the only one who went to the wedding” (act 1, scene 1, pg.1), it is established that a change has come to those participating in the layoff season with Nancy’s marriage symbolising the inevitability of change. Accordingly, Lawler also uses the seventeen kewpie dolls Olive receives from Roo each summer, to symbolically represent the constant cycle their lives have become; and the idealistic visions and aspirations of Olive. However, in Act 3 when Roo takes down the seventeenth doll from the piano and smashes it “again and again… then tearing at its fabric until it is nothing but a litter of split cane, shredded material and broken celluloid” (act 3, scene 3, pg.97) their layoff tradition has been destroyed. The smashing of the final kewpie doll is symbolic of the ever-present reality of change that everyone faces in life. Similarly, Nothing Gold Can Stay employ’s this notion of change’s unavoidable nature. The poem is an extended metaphor for the inevitability of …show more content…
However, the harder you lust over the brevity of a fleeting moment, instead of accepting the ever-present change, life becomes increasingly difficult. Lawler suggests that the resisting change will inevitably lead to disappointment and sadness through the character of Olive. She is depicted as hopeless and by clinging to the past, her eventual despair is exacerbated. This is exemplified through the dialogue and stage directions of Emma. “[She] rummages through the cupboard underneath to drag out the seventeenth doll… you see this? Middle of the night, Olive sat here on the floor huggin’ this and howling. A grown-up woman, howlin’ over a silly old kewpie doll. That’s Olive for you” (act 3, scene 3, pg. 86). The juxtaposition of “grown up woman” and the “kewpie doll” encapsulate Olive’s desperation to hold onto something that is disintegrating. Emma highlights her daughter’s inability to accept change, leaving her vulnerable to loneliness, and disappointment; grappling to keep hold onto her lifestyle. Her disappointment is prevalent during Roo’s proposal. Olive’s dreams are shattered and the difficulty she faces in accepting this is portrayed through the stage directions “she gives a rasping cry, doubling on over herself as if cradling some inner pain; grief stricken, almost an animal in her sense of loss.” Lawler’s zoomorphic description of Olive
In Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, the aging group of migrant cane cutters and Carlton bar-maids must come to terms with their ever-changing circumstances. They have to re-evaluate their expectations, and dreams. From beginning of the play, it is prevalent that things are no longer what they once were. Bubba establishes at the start of the play that Nancy, a key character in the layoff cycle has left and gotten married. With the opening line “so—I was the only one who went to the wedding” (act 1, scene 1, pg.1), it is established that a change has come to those participating in the layoff season with Nancy’s marriage symbolising the inevitability of change. Accordingly, Lawler also uses the seventeen kewpie dolls Olive receives from Roo each summer, to symbolically represent the constant cycle their lives have become; and the idealistic visions and aspirations of Olive. However, in Act 3 when Roo takes down the seventeenth doll from the piano and smashes it “again and again… then tearing at its fabric until it is nothing but a litter of split cane, shredded material and broken celluloid” (act 3, scene 3, pg.97) their layoff tradition has been destroyed. The smashing of the final kewpie doll is symbolic of the ever-present reality of change that everyone faces in life. Similarly, Nothing Gold Can Stay employ’s this notion of change’s unavoidable nature. The poem is an extended metaphor for the inevitability of …show more content…
However, the harder you lust over the brevity of a fleeting moment, instead of accepting the ever-present change, life becomes increasingly difficult. Lawler suggests that the resisting change will inevitably lead to disappointment and sadness through the character of Olive. She is depicted as hopeless and by clinging to the past, her eventual despair is exacerbated. This is exemplified through the dialogue and stage directions of Emma. “[She] rummages through the cupboard underneath to drag out the seventeenth doll… you see this? Middle of the night, Olive sat here on the floor huggin’ this and howling. A grown-up woman, howlin’ over a silly old kewpie doll. That’s Olive for you” (act 3, scene 3, pg. 86). The juxtaposition of “grown up woman” and the “kewpie doll” encapsulate Olive’s desperation to hold onto something that is disintegrating. Emma highlights her daughter’s inability to accept change, leaving her vulnerable to loneliness, and disappointment; grappling to keep hold onto her lifestyle. Her disappointment is prevalent during Roo’s proposal. Olive’s dreams are shattered and the difficulty she faces in accepting this is portrayed through the stage directions “she gives a rasping cry, doubling on over herself as if cradling some inner pain; grief stricken, almost an animal in her sense of loss.” Lawler’s zoomorphic description of Olive