The Question of a Protagonist in Fefu and Her Friends, Theater, College Term Papers.com


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The Question of a Protagonist in Fefu and Her Friends

The Question of a Protagonist in Fefu and Her Friends Fefu and her Friends: An Exploration into the Concept of a Single Protagonist The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary traces the origins of the word protagonist to the Greek, an ancient term describing an individual who struggled against anguish, one who competed in games, one who leads. The rest of the definition, one more contemporary, asserted that a protagonist was the principal character in a literary work (as a drama or story) or a leader, proponent, or supporter of a cause, a champion. The dictionary suggests that the word agony correlated with the word protagonist, and supports and expands its definition. Mirriam-Webster explains that agony is an intense pain of mind or body, a violent struggle or contest that precedes death. The etymology of the word agony is directly linked with the word protagonist, each being linked with the idea of a contest, a gathering, and leadership. By this definition, Maria Irene Fornes has created a single entity as protagonist in her play Fefu and her Friends. However, many dramas tend to follow the action and leadership of two people, if not more. The central ideas and actions in theatre do not always revolve around a single entity, and the struggle is not always limited to one person. This much is evident in plays such as Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart, when three sisters struggle against personal demons as well as societal ones. Brazilian dramatic theorist Augusto Boal argues that everyone is a protagonist, that art is not separate of life, but theatre is an expression and an exchange of ideas. To act and to take action are not separate from each other, ideas which are expressed in Fefu and her Friends when Emma says "Life is theatre. Theatre is life. If we're showing what life is, can be, we must do theatre... It's not acting. It's being." (Fornes, p.22). Boal's political theatre supports the idea of a single protagonist, but not entirely on the terms of the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. Political theatre, in the basest of meanings, contends with the issues of a particular group of people, such as Natives, gays and lesbians, minorities, and perhaps while Fefu and her Friends was not written with the intent of being performed a la Augusto Boal and his Theatre of the Oppressed, the play does deal with a collective protagonist and their struggles: women. This paper intends to prove that Maria Irene Fornes has created a single protagonist on both these terms. In Julia, Maria Irene Fornes has created a literal protagonist. She arrives, in some kind of physical distress, in a wheelchair. Much mystery surrounds the condition of Julia, and her friends speculate and gossip about her physical and her mental/emotional condition. Cindy explains to Christina, He shot. Julia and the deer fell. The deer was dead... dying. Julia was unconscious... like the deer. He died and she didn't. I screamed for help and the hunter came and examined Julia. He said, "She is not hurt." Julia's forehead was bleeding. He said, "It is a surface wound. I didn't hurt her." I know it wasn't he who hurt her. It was someone else. He went for help and Julia started talking. She was delirious.--Apparently there was a spinal nerve injury. She hit her head and she suffered a concussion. She blanks out and that is caused by the blow on the head. It's a scar on the brain. It's called the petit mal. (Fornes, p.17) It is quickly disclosed that Julia feels she is "persecuted" (Fornes, p. 18). We see physical evidence of her supposed physical and mental distress when Julia seems to go into a trance, looking blank and motionless (p.22) and whimpers strangely. However, Julia does not speak of her own distress and agony until she is alone and hallucinates. She speaks of persecution in relation to her agony. She believes she is being judged. She says, "They clubbed me. They broke my head. They broke my will." (Fornes, p. 33) Julia speaks of being punished "because [she] was getting too smart." (Fornes, p. 34) Does Julia face death? Does she participate in a contest? Julia believes she is hunted, like the deer, by unseen judges. She says to Emma "I'm game." (Fornes, p.22) which coyly refers to the chase between hunter and prey, between Julia and her judges. Julia is participating in a game for her life, she believes she is dying. She confides to Fefu, " I feel I am perishing. " (Fornes, p.44) and says, more poignantly, I feel we are constantly threatened by death, every second, every instant, it's there. And every moment something rescues us. Something rescues us from death every moment of our lives. For every moment we live we have to thank something. We have to be grateful to something that fights for us and saves us... I will die, for no apparent reason. (Fornes, p. 52) Julia is undoubtedly a protagonist in the classical sense. She suffers mental and physical anguish, and competes in a lurid game for her life. In a more contemporary sense, can she be seen as a leader? As a champion? Yes. Julia has a talent for insight, for anticipation. She recognizes in Fefu a kindred spirit, someone who has the potential to ultimately be in the same condition of persecution, of judgment, of torture. Holding the gun in Fefu's living room, she says, " She's hurting herself." (Fornes, p.22) and immediately becomes distressed. This is a direct connection between the shooting incident of the deer that caused Julia's condition, and the possibility of a similar future for Fefu. Fefu describes to Emma an anguish that seems akin to Julia's, confirming any suspicion that she might be on the same path, I am in constant pain. I don't want to give in to it. If I do I'm afraid I will never recover... It's not physical, and it's not sorrow. It's very strange Emma, I can't describe it, and it's very frightening... It is as if normally there is a lubricant... not in the body... a spiritual lubricant, and everything is distorted. (Fornes, p.29) During her first hallucination, Julia discovers that the judges are going after Fefu as well, "I'm not smart. I never was. Neither is Fefu smart. They are after her too." (Fornes, p.34) The audience/reader is convinced that Fefu is following Julia's path when she is seen hallucinating herself (Fornes, p.55). She accuses Julia of being contagious, of spreading her madness, " And you're contagious. I'm going mad too." (Fornes, p. 59) Julia has already acknowledged that she is going to die, and knows that no one is going to save Fefu because no one understands Fefu, Cindy says of her "She's unique" and Christina says "She's crazy" (Fornes, p.11). No one understands Julia either, and therefore can't help either of them. Julia becomes Fefu's hero, her champion. Julia sacrifices herself to preserve Fefu. She gives in to the judges as she says what seems to be a ritualistic prayer for Fefu, a spell to save her: Julia: May no harm come to your head. Julia: May no harm come to your will. Julia: May no harm come to your hands. Julia: May no harm come to your eyes. Julia: May no harm come to your voice. Julia: May no harm come to your heart. (Fornes, p.60) The implication is that Julia dies so that Fefu would not become like her, persecuted, judged, in further agony. She saves Fefu's life by giving up her own, becoming her champion. In this sense, Julia is a tragic hero, a martyr. She lost the contest against the judges, let them kill her, but let a friend live. This makes Julia the sole protagonist in the classical Mirriam-Webster definition. In a broader sense, collectively, women are the protagonists of Fefu and her Friends. Grammatically, a collective is a singular noun, encompassing a larger number. Therefore, when this paper speaks of a collective of women, it does not separate the individual entities within the collective (therefore recognizing multiple protagonists) but places women in one group and discusses their problems/issues/struggles as a group, not as separate individuals. in Fefu and her Friends, Fornes touches upon issues of marriage, love, art, sexuality, education and the relationship/sisterhood of women. Fefu's first line is, "My husband married me to have a constant reminder of how loathsome women are." (Fornes, p.7) Fefu's friends, Cindy and Christina, are offended, but Fefu explains that she isn't talking about them specifically, she is speaking of women in general, Fefu: Cindy, I'm not talking about anyone in particular. It's something to think about. Cindy: No one in particular, just women. This introduces immediately the idea of a collective protagonist, "No one in particular, just women." (Fornes, p.9) Fefu's marriage to Phillip is important in that if affects Fefu mentally, "They drive each other crazy" but "they love each other." (Fornes, p.12) The relationship isn't dwelled upon, but the effect that the marriage is having on Fefu is later discussed. And still, there isn't the impression that the marriage is unique to Fefu and Phillip, but that Fornes could be talking about any woman's relationship with her husband: "A lot is wrong... he can't stand me... He's left me. His body is here but the rest is gone. I exhaust him. I torment him and I torment myself. I need him, Julia." (Fornes, p.58) Just as Fefu briefly touches upon marriage, Paula speaks out on relationships. Her relationship with Cecilia is reminiscent of many affairs, whether it is with a man or a woman, and their suffering for each other is universal. When Paula speaks of her relationship and consequential break up with Cecilia, she could be any woman speaking of any lost relationship, 3 months of love. 1 year saying: It's all right. This is just a passing disturbance. 1 year trying to understand what's wrong. 2 years knowing the end had come. 1 year finding the way to end it. After the separation, 2 years trying to understand what happened. 7 years, 3 months. At any point the sequence might be interrupted by another love affair that has the same sequence. That is, it's not really interrupted, the new love affair regulates the first one to a second plane and both continue their sequence at the same time. (Fornes, p.37) Not only does this passage indicate the universality of broken relationships, but the impression is given that Cecilia and Paula are a generic pair of lovers representing all ex lovers, complete with awkward moments, instants of attempted reconciliation, apathy, anger, and regret. On sexuality, Fornes comments on the woman's opposition to man, her struggle for sexuality and identity in a male society. There is something unnatural about a woman, is what Fefu and her Friends iterates. Fefu comments that Men have natural strength. Women have to find their strength, and when they do find it, it comes forth with bitterness and it's erratic... Women are restless with each other... They are always eager for the men to arrive. When they do, they can put themselves at rest, tranquilized ad in a mild stupor. With the men they feel safe. The danger is gone. That's the closest they can be to feeling wholesome. (Fornes, p.15) The human being is of the masculine gender... Everything on earth is for the human being, which is man. To nourish him.-- There are evil things on earth... For him to fight with, and conquer and turn its evil into good... and Women are Evil. Woman is not a human being... therefore, wicked and gentle and evil and good which is evil... Woman generates the evil herself... Woman's spirit is sexual. That is why after coitus they dwell in nefarious feelings. Because that is their natural habitat. That Is why it is difficult for them to return to the human world. (Fornes, p.35) Both women speak of feminine duality, their unwholesomeness, the need to be fulfilled by man. They comment on the unnatural state of womankind and how they oppose men. Fornes doesn't make any statements as to whether she believes this to be true or not, but the information is presented nonetheless as an issue with which women contend. Fornes further links the minds of the eight women (to create a sort of collective mind) by linking their educational backgrounds. They all went to the same college, except Christina, yet the implication is that she is of a similar educational past. Furthermore, their minds are linked when they share dream experiences. Throughout the play, the women touch upon different ideas, experiences, feelings that are not really individual but universal to women as a whole. The experiences are broken up among the characters, the relationship between Cecilia and Paula, the persecution of Julia, the desire to be masculine to Fefu, etc., so that the experience is shared, not individual. Women as a whole then are the protagonist of Fefu and her Friends, identifying no one individual or problem as the principal problem or leader. Fornes, Maria Irene; Fefu and her Friends; John Hopkins University Press, Maryland, 1978 Bibliography:

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