The Zoo Story: Props, Costume & Setting

The Zoo Story: Props, Costume & Setting

1. The Bench

   • Themes
     • Social Divisions
     • Class Systems
   • Ideas
     • The class system is an arbitrary concept
     • Everyone is actually equal - they have just had different opportunities
   • Quotes
     • P: I see no reason why I should give up this bench...there's never anyone sitting here, so I have it all to myself.
       • unaware
     • J: I said I want this bench, and I'm going to have it.
       • Assertive, powerful
     • P: People can't have some of the things they want, they can't have everything
       • hypocritical
       • ignorant
       • ironic
     • P: I just came here to read, and now you want me to give up the bench. You're mad.
       • never been challenged before
     • J: I'm on your precious bench, and you're never going to have it for yourself again.
     • J: You have everything, and now you want this bench.
     • J: Don't you have any idea...what other people need? P: You don't need this bench.
     • J: Fight for that bench/ fight for your manhood/ fight for your self-respect.
   • Significance
     • Jerry easily sits and pushes off Peter - threatening Pete's sense of privilege
     • One of the only constants throughout the play, even after all of the dramatic events towards the end: the social division remains despite all the seemingly significant events.
     • Shows Peter's more base emotions, making him seem more human, underneath it all we are all the same.
     • Watching them fight over the meaningless object is like watching to animals (Zoo story)
     • In reality what Jerry is asking for is not much, however the slur to Peter's manhood and implication that the bench is a symbol of their respective manhoods makes it seem like whoever has the bench is the "winner"
     • Jerry is leading up to his suicide/death
   • Perspective
     • Peter
       • Part of his daily routine, a constant
       • a symbol of his power/manhood ( an idea created by J)
       • He is entitled to it because it has 'always' been his.
       • Safety
     • Jerry
       • Unattainable goal
       • Physical representation of everything he'll never have
       • resentful
       • A means through which he can prove to himself that he is better than Peter
     • E. Albee
       • A barrier between their two worlds

2. The Knife

   • Significance
     • By being the one to commit the murder P fits the stereotype he originally had of J, they are the same
     • J found P's weak spot- manhood&power, when he threatened P reacted on instinct
     • P's idea of himself and what he stands for is built on ignorance and a lack of self-awarenesss
     • Jerry has found peace - he has seen now that he is not the odd one out/ an animal, everyone in all the classes are the same deep down.
     • J's last/only victory in life
   • Ideas
     • Prejudices never show the full picture, pre-concieved notions are usually wrong
     • It does not take a lot for a person to show their true nature
     • In death everyone is equal - regardless of their material wealth
   • Perspective
     • Jerry
       • His last victory
       • A test for P
       • Evidence that to some extent he is who P thought he was
     • Peter
       • His stereotype has been confirmed
       • Finally realises how far ridiculous their argument is
       • Loses his veneer/facade in his own perspective - realises he is the same as Jerry
     • E. Albee
       • The link between the two classes
       • A tool to show P's true nature
   • Quotes
     • J: You have the knife and we'll be evenly matched
       • Even now J is still goading P
     • P: (suddenly awakening to the reality of the situation)
     • P: You are raving mad! You're going to kill me!
       • Believes his original judgement has been proven correct
       • ironic - he kills J
     • P: (holds with a firm arm...far in front...not to attack, but to defend)
       • Detached from the reality of what he is actually doing
       • Whether to attack or defend, he is still holding/still uses the knife
     • J: (wipes the knife handle clean of fingerprints)
       • Was only trying to prove a point (?)
       • Looking out for Peter - cared for him in some respect.
     • J: You're an animal too
   • Themes
     • Prejudice/ Stereotypes
     • Human nature

3. Costume

   • Quotes
     • P: (Rushes to the bench, grabs the book and retreats)
       • return to normalcy
     • P: His dress and manner would suggest a man younger
     • P: He wears tweed, smokes a pipe...horn-rimmed glasses
     • J: Not poorly dressed but carelessly
   • Signficance
     • It is important in indicating straight away to the audience that the two characters are not from the same class.
     • Albee highlights how the reader automatically made assumptions about J&P because of their dress.
     • By returning to grab his book P is attempting to return to normalcy, go home looking exactly the same as he did when he left: J left a mental mark but not a physical one.
     • Jerry has his pride - he wouldn't actively want to look messy, but just bad enough that he couldn't be said to care about his appearance or what others thought of him.
   • Perspective
     • E. Albee
       • A way to physically divide the two characters
       • Gives the audience the means (?) to have their own preconceptions and stereotypes about J&P
     • Jerry
       • He decided P was rich, how he decided to target him
       • Aware of the image he portrays - how other people will perceive him.
     • Peter
       • Immediately aware that J isn't the same class
   • Themes
     • Wealth & Class
     • Stereotypes
     • Entitlement
   • Ideas
     • Jerry knows the effect he has on people and plays up to it
     • P feels that he has the right to remain ignorant of other people's reality: he is willfully ignorant
       • P: I don't understand you, or your landlady, or her dog
       • P: I find it hard to believe that such people as that really are
       • P: I don't want to hear it!
       • P: I sit on this bench every Sunday...there's never anyone sitting here
       • P: I'll have you arrested.
     • Albee wants the audience to reflect

4. Setting

   • Ideas
     • The link between absurdity and normalcy, and how easily the two can switch
     • Equal ground for P&J it is only within their minds that they are not equal
   • Perspective
     • Jerry
       • A place where he is equal to everyone around him
     • Peter
       • A place for relaxation and peace that he deserves
       • normalcy
     • E. Albee
       • A plain and calm backdrop to contrast the violence and absurdity of the play
   • Significance
     • Even though it is a public park P still thinks it's his right to have what he wants.
     • By setting it in a normal park there is an indication that these sorts of struggle of class ( perhaps not to this extreme) happen everyday.
     • The respective perceptions of the setting give an indication of the struggle that must occur - both think they are entitled to something that the other isn't
   • Central Park, New York, on a Sunday afternoon in summer
   • Themes
     • The absurd
     • Class