The Shape Of A Girl Play Analysis

In the play The Shape of a Girl by Joan Macleod, Braidie, a sixteen-year-old girl is talking to her absent brother about growing up with her small group of friends who have committed acts of violence and bullying in the past. In The Shape of a Girl, Braidie jumps back in her past several times from the age of eight to a few weeks ago at sixteen. In the play, they discuss very real and very important issues to young people in our society. It exposes the lives and inner workings of female social groups, the effects of bullying on children and teens, and the complex roles of bystanders. Braidie belongs to a group of friends made up of Adrienne, the leader, herself, a follower and close friend of Adrienne’s, Amber, another follower, and Sofie, the punching bag. The group has been together since the age of eight but when a “game” they play where they pick on a member of the group for the whole day is taken too far, Adrienne ends up terrorizing Sofie for years later. As the girls get older Adrienne’s bullying tactics move further and further into a violent territory. Adrienne goes as far as trying to make …show more content…
Bystanders often are overlooked in bullying and violent situations, they are viewed as being innocent almost all the time when really how innocent could they be, sitting on the sidelines just watching everything happen. Braidie is a bystander and although she never physically hurt Sofie like Adrienne did, she made a lasting effect on her none the less. Braidie cannot truly be written off as innocent or guilty, in some instances she is both, and in some, she is one. Her redeeming moment at the end of the play brings her out of her role as the bystander and into the role of someone who stands up to