Characters

Characters

Milly
1. Dishevelled 50 year old landlady
2. Menopausal
3. Life symbolized by Shorty's silkworms
  1. Eventually becomes a moth, is unwanted
4. Shifts blame of unhappiness to Ahlers
5. Dressed in a threadbare nightgown
6. Constantly smoking
7. Protests against her state
  1. "I demand justice"
8. Fugardian heroine
9. Recognizes part of herself in Shorty
10. Full of innate pluck & tenacity
11. Willing to take action
  1. Ineffectual
Don
1. Cynical 20 year old student
  1. Pseudo intellectual
    1. Philosophising & glib psychoanalysis
      1. But his own neurosis isolates himself
  2. Given up his studies
    1. "Purpose is dead in me"
2. Trying to find himself
  1. But just analises others
3. Has acne, is unkept
4. Blames his problems on life
5. Secretly terrified of being happy
  1. Takes refuse in cynicism & illusion
  2. And of asserting himself & participating
6. Passive to his own life
  1. Deliberately lethargic
  2. Emotional paralysis
    1. But still wants to make his mark
      1. Terrified of being forgotten
  3. "When things happen, I watch"
7. Lacks self-confidence
8. Chief spectator of Milly's catharsis
Shorty
1. Dim-witted, naive
  1. A "gutless little whiner"
2. Keeps silkworms
  1. He's as vulnerable as they are
    1. Can't give Sissy sense of security/stability
  2. Extension of relationship with Sissy
    1. They belong to Sissy but she neglects them
      1. Likes to stick pins in them
      2. Doesn't want them, but doesn't want Shorty to have them
3. 25 year old postman
4. Dominated by Sissy
  1. Accepts it to please her
    1. But can't connect with her
5. Seeks happiness in the wrong places
6. Boxes
  1. Hopes it'll strengthen him
    1. Make him better equipped to handle life
Sissy
1. Married to Shorty (newlyweds)
  1. Unconsummated marriage
  2. Unfaithful to him
  3. Got married to escape unhappy youth
    1. "Got married - for a change"
2. Shifts blame of unhappiness to Shorty
3. 18 years old, mouse-colored hair
4. Younger version of Milly
5. Materialistic & selfish
6. Secretly insecure
  1. Shies away from Don & Milly
All lonely
1. And fear being alone
They have become strangers to their own lives
There is a possibility of their salvation
1. But they are withheld by their tragic flaws
  1. Each carrying their own Sisyphusian rock up the mountain
  2. Debilitating experiences & weaknesses
Desperate to break out of isolation
Stunted personal growth
Lifelike, psychologically drawn
1. But stereotypical in description
2. Not stock
  1. Rounded, Stanislavski
Personification of SA
1. But also universal
Operate in comic duos
1. Milly & Don
  1. Observes Sissy & Shorty
    1. See themselves as superior
2. Sissy & Shorty
3. Waiting for Godot
4. Team up against eachother
Ahlers
1. Milly's German ex-lover/boyfriend
2. Never seen
  1. But presence felt strongly
  2. References made to him
3. Catalyst of play's main action
  1. Arouses complex emotions in Milly

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	Created by field.sophie over 10 years ago