These notes include character analyses, as well as a look at all of the themes discussed throughout the play. It also includes summarised versions of reviews of the play, highlighting elements that can be used in essays. It is broken up into sections.
Disclaimer: these are summarized notes from my lecturer & the notes / reviews provided to us by her
Table of Contents
Information..................................................................................................................................2
Characters....................................................................................................................................2
1. Dr Lorna James............................................................................................................................................2
2. Connie.........................................................................................................................................................2
3. Tristan.........................................................................................................................................................3
4. Toby............................................................................................................................................................3
Themes.........................................................................................................................................3
Mind vs Body..................................................................................................................................................3
Reality and perception....................................................................................................................................3
Depression......................................................................................................................................................4
Love and desire...............................................................................................................................................4
Psychiatry + psychology..................................................................................................................................4
Biology + soul..................................................................................................................................................5
Patterns of Meaning.....................................................................................................................5
Plot structure..................................................................................................................................................5
Time................................................................................................................................................................5
Setting.............................................................................................................................................................5
Emotion...........................................................................................................................................................5
Patterns of Form...........................................................................................................................5
Characterisation..............................................................................................................................................5
Dialogue..........................................................................................................................................................5
Stage directions..............................................................................................................................................5
Mirroring.........................................................................................................................................................6
Consciousness..............................................................................................................................6
Reviews........................................................................................................................................6
Sequence of events......................................................................................................................7
Mariska Bester 2019
, Information
- Phase 1 trail: after testing on rats etc. in lab, this is when they administer the drug to
people who do not suffer from the thing they are trying to cure
- Can we trust big pharmaceutical companies? Can we trust their advice on which
drugs to take? Can we trust the results that are published? What is love? How do we
distinguish between love and lust? What is depression?
- Reading a play:
o all dialogue + very few stage directions
o characters speak simultaneously
- effect: responses to stimuli in particular setting
Characters
1. Dr Lorna James
- History of depression
- “Every study, every test shows that so-called ‘depressed’ people have a more
accurate view of the world, a more realistic view of themselves and the future – …
we’re not deluded, we’ve just lost a delusion that makes us ‘normal’! Millions of
people believing they have a disease of the brain that can be cured. And no one’s
allowed to say different because of your lot [Toby’s chemical view].” (80-81)
- “Biggest disaster in the history of medicine!” (79) vs Toby’s view
- She is told Tristan is on the placebo – yet neither are. Connie gives Tristan her
dosage, and then he overdoses. She doesn’t understand why he is being affected so
deeply merely because of placebo. She thinks she is the reason, because she has
depression (referring to dry cleaning example).
- Humanism + knowing the human: ties into her views of love & depression (in
contrast with Toby). Different ideas about whether or not the human is knowable
and if we are, if science can help us understand
2. Connie
- Does not suffer from depression; “healthy”
- Signs up for money / self-discovery – psychology student
- Logical + rational explanation for her thoughts + feelings
- Begins play with another boyfriend – think he’s older, has a kid – but does not feel
obligated to tell him about the study even though she’s not accessible for a couple of
weeks
- Much more cautious + reserved + stickler for details
- “Why? We are our bodies, our bodies are us… there’s not something more… and
that’s fine. That’s enough.” (34)
- “I’ve felt depressed… Sad… I just mean I haven’t got an abnormal amount of
chemical – in the brain or anything...” (5)
- Does it proves she loves him as she goes to the hospital, despite knowing Tristan
would not know either way? Or is she feeling guilty?
- “I don’t care what it was, I see that now.” (97) she doesn’t actually care if it was the
drugs or her, she just knows this is love
- “I would rather get old and argue with you every day than ever love anyone else.”
(97)
Mariska Bester 2019
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