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Soliloquy and Character Sketch- Tracy Letts
Part 1
Introduction
Characterization is a key stylistic device that every author in every work of art employs. Characters play a major role in the story; it is through their actions that themes are recognized. The author brings up characters in various ways based on their behavior and personality; therefore, specific characters’ character traits are shown. Tracy Letts, in her book, August: Osage County, has used several characters from the Weston family, they include; violet, Ivy, Karen, Barbara, and Mattie Fae, among others. Violet is one of his major characters that exploits several traits in the play. Violet has been brought up as a caring, cruel, arrogant, abusive, and independent character, among other traits. Through her, Tracy portrays soliloquy as a literary device in the play, where the character exhibits an intra-communication on stage.
My Thoughts About Violet’s Character
From the story, violet is a ruthless and emotionally abusive character; she manipulates the doctors to prescribe her pills despite her sickness. As a sick person, the doctor is always the one to prescribe the medicines to the patient since he/she knows how the patient should be attended to but not vice versa. Therefore, her cruelty made the doctors prescribe the pills for her. According to Letts (pg., 70), Violet mishandled her doctors and her sister, Mattie Fae, Johnna, who is her houseboy, together with her second born daughter, Ivy. She forced them to be submissive to them; for example, Johnna was forced to attend to all house chores and ensure that he obeys orders given by her boss-lady, Violet. She abuses Ivy by accusing her of not having a romantic life based on her dressing code. She abused Barbara by abandoning them and terms the scenario to have been the cause of her husband’s heartbreak. She heartlessly exposes Barbara’s separation from her husband, Bill, in front of all the family members, which was against Barbara herself’s wishes. She blamed Barbara for Beverly’s suicide following the stress he might have suffered from following her disappearance.
Tracy also brings out violet as a drug addict; from the beginning of the play, violet has been sick. She is said to be suffering from mouth cancer, which has likely been caused by drug consumption. She is an example of the rest of the Weston family, who are misusing drugs throughout the play. She introduced Jean, her granddaughter, to drugs by allowing her to smoke marijuana in her room. The drugs that she has long been using were even suspected of having tampered with her cognitive knowledge, thus behaving awkwardly. After learning about Beverly’s death, her husband, she spends her time in Beverly’s office taking pills. Through her manipulating the doctors to prescribe her drugs, the reality of her being addicted is shown. She feels she cannot do without the drugs.
Violet is also very arrogant; in the process of her exposing Barbara’s breakup with her husband, Barbra was unable to control her temper and found herself physically confronting her mother. Violet did not hesitate but rather engaged in a physical fight with her daughter. The family members came to their rescue. The choice of her words exhibited her arrogant behavior.
Violet is as well a forgiving character. Tracy brings out violet as a forgiving character when she reunited with her elder daughter, Barbara. After the physical fight between the two in the dining room, they sorted out the differences the next day, and each one of them apologized for what had happened. The apology from violet exhibits her personality as a forgiving woman.
- Who Violet Believes Herself To Be
Violet believes to be an intelligent character; she engages in a conversation with her daughters, Ivy, and Barbara, after the dinner fight, where she shares her childhood story that she has never shared with them before. Reynolds (pg. 81) opined that her daughters became remorseful, leading them to feel the story shared by their mother. Through her intelligence, the previous awkward scenarios are forgotten, and unity between her daughters and her is recognized, and they now focus on their better future. Because of her intelligence, she deliberately destroys the relation between Ivy and Charles, terming to be knowing about the entire time.
According to Gul (pg., 104), Violet believes to be a strong woman; following her sickness; her husband offered to hire a house-help, Johnna, to help her with the hose chores. Her daughters, after the passing on of their daughter as well offered to assist in cleaning her. Because she believed that she was strong, she proposed to clean herself without the aid of anyone. At the end of the play, she is left alone with her house-help, Johnna, because Barbara felt that her mother had slipped beyond her help.
Part 2
Soliloquy
“This woman rescued me when one of my mother’s gentlemen friends attacked me, using a claw hammer! I have damage in my skull caused by hammer blows! Do you feel you are attacked?! What do you understand about life and difficulties in this land?
You DON’T know ever! Accept your father, and I knows! Barbara, my sweet girl, my heart breaks for every time you ever felt pain. I wish I could have saved you from it. Are you aware of the residents of your father from his childhood? They lived in a Pontiac Sedan with his parents. What else can I tell you about your immoral childhood? Remember that we lived too hard and then rose higher as we sacrificed everything for you. As your parents, we were the first to graduate from high school, and your father won the poet award. My girls having been educated, taken for nothing for granted, and where’d you wind up? Who are you? Jesus, you worked hard as your parents; you’d all be presidents. You never had real problems, so you got to make all your problems yourselves (Letts pg., 82).”
Conclusion
Tracy Letts makes the best author following her characters’ choice in the play; violet exhibits characters worth to be regarded as the major character. She dominates the play, following her strength and relevance despite her sickness. Through her, several themes have been recognized in the play, making the author clearly enlighten her audiences through the successful delivery of the play’s intended purpose. Through Violet, Tracy has also brought out monologue as a literary device used by characters while on stage. Violet had an intra-communication based on her family life from her childhood. She was imagining the kind of life her children are living as compared to theirs.