The play Footloose could have many interpretations of the overall message depending on the values of each audience member. I believe that the overall message of the play is finding freedom from the things that entrap you. We see evidence of this throughout the major plot line, and in each character’s personal fight for freedom. The title of the play, the dialogue, and the songs also support this message of freedom. The title of “Footloose” gives the audience the first clues they need to realize this message. It relates to the action in the play of letting loose and having fun, as the kids in the town eventually get to do at the dance. Even the definition of the word footloose which is “free to go or travel about; not confined by responsibilities”
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For Ren not only is he stuck under this law of the town but he has the weight of his father’s absence holding him back. Ariel is also trapped by her father, but it is his high expectations of her and the shadow of her bother’s death that stop her from her freedom. Reverend Shaw was unable to let go of his son after the accident and this is what traps him from finding freedom in the form of peace. Willard, Rusty, Ethel, and Vi also have something that is holding them back from finding their freedom, such as Willard’s fear of not being able to dance. Aside from the characters fight for freedom, the main plot centers around the law against dancing that hinders the ability of the townspeople, especially the kids, from finding freedom. The plot comes across best when Willard says, “Ren, you’re not free- you’re crazy! You know there’s a law!” near the end of the first act. This is right before the kids decide to take the ability to hold a dance into their own hands and fight the law, as up until this point, we have seen them unhappily living under the law that binds them. Ren has two lines near one another in the script where we see him address the law impeding them and his decision to fight for their freedom, “how long do you have to live in that shadow? There
For Ren not only is he stuck under this law of the town but he has the weight of his father’s absence holding him back. Ariel is also trapped by her father, but it is his high expectations of her and the shadow of her bother’s death that stop her from her freedom. Reverend Shaw was unable to let go of his son after the accident and this is what traps him from finding freedom in the form of peace. Willard, Rusty, Ethel, and Vi also have something that is holding them back from finding their freedom, such as Willard’s fear of not being able to dance. Aside from the characters fight for freedom, the main plot centers around the law against dancing that hinders the ability of the townspeople, especially the kids, from finding freedom. The plot comes across best when Willard says, “Ren, you’re not free- you’re crazy! You know there’s a law!” near the end of the first act. This is right before the kids decide to take the ability to hold a dance into their own hands and fight the law, as up until this point, we have seen them unhappily living under the law that binds them. Ren has two lines near one another in the script where we see him address the law impeding them and his decision to fight for their freedom, “how long do you have to live in that shadow? There