Sure Thing, a play written by David Ives, illustrates two characters, Betty and Bill, who every time they say something that the other doesn’t like, a bell rings to restart the conversation. In the play, the effectiveness of humor plays a major role which helps create the main theme of the play; it shows the importance of first impressions, and how a person initially presents themselves through dialogue could either create or destroy a friendship. The humor in the conversations between Bill and Betty help the reader understand the message Ives wants to point out and is demonstrated through different varieties of a conversation that end in a ringing bell that symbolizes a fresh start and a second chance to make a good impression. The ringing
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The play’s entire script is written in dialogue, and the author writes, “BILL: Great place for reading. BETTY: Yes, I like it. BILL: What's the book? BETTY: The Sound and the Fury. BILL: Oh. Hemingway. (Bell.) ” (Ives) The conversation is ended with the bell because Bill told Betty that the author of the book she was reading was Hemingway, but is written by Faulkner. Every time one or the other says something that is wrong or negative, the bell rings once again which allows Bill to try unlimited amount of times to finally keep Betty in becoming interested. He fails various times, and again in the play, Ives writes, “BILL: What's a sort-of boyfriend? BETTY: My lover. Here she comes right now! (Bell.)” (Ives) The humor in this part of the dialogue is that when Bill realized that Betty was …show more content…
Though in reality, we don’t have those unlimited amounts of chances to say the right thing to the other person; we must be careful and cautious to what we say. We won’t have that bell to help us out when something goes wrong, but the author of the play creates the illusion that we can have many chances to finally get to say the correct thing. In the play, Trifles, Mrs. Wright has murdered her husband, and instead of the sheriff and attorney figuring out the reason behind her killing, the women find the clues that allows them to crack the case. The irony throughout the play helps effectively deliver the message of how the women in the play were mistreated, ignored, and put down by the men. Situational and verbal irony are two types of irony that are portrayed in the play that help it effectively deliver the message
The play’s entire script is written in dialogue, and the author writes, “BILL: Great place for reading. BETTY: Yes, I like it. BILL: What's the book? BETTY: The Sound and the Fury. BILL: Oh. Hemingway. (Bell.) ” (Ives) The conversation is ended with the bell because Bill told Betty that the author of the book she was reading was Hemingway, but is written by Faulkner. Every time one or the other says something that is wrong or negative, the bell rings once again which allows Bill to try unlimited amount of times to finally keep Betty in becoming interested. He fails various times, and again in the play, Ives writes, “BILL: What's a sort-of boyfriend? BETTY: My lover. Here she comes right now! (Bell.)” (Ives) The humor in this part of the dialogue is that when Bill realized that Betty was …show more content…
Though in reality, we don’t have those unlimited amounts of chances to say the right thing to the other person; we must be careful and cautious to what we say. We won’t have that bell to help us out when something goes wrong, but the author of the play creates the illusion that we can have many chances to finally get to say the correct thing. In the play, Trifles, Mrs. Wright has murdered her husband, and instead of the sheriff and attorney figuring out the reason behind her killing, the women find the clues that allows them to crack the case. The irony throughout the play helps effectively deliver the message of how the women in the play were mistreated, ignored, and put down by the men. Situational and verbal irony are two types of irony that are portrayed in the play that help it effectively deliver the message