Curse of the Starving Class Script Analysis

Curse of the Starving Class Script Analysis

Core Action: The Core Action of Curse of the Starving Class is the want to escape. The entire family is trying to escape something, and all of those things can be described best as a whole by the title of the play. Ella wants to escape her life as it is currently and start over with Taylor. Weston needs to escape his debts and wrongdoings to his family. Emma wants to escape her family and their lifestyle and ultimately decides that the best way to escape her poor life is to go into a life of crime. Wesley wants to escape from his family as well, but fails which is seen at the end of the play when he puts his fathers clothes on and "becomes" his father. The idea of escape can also be seen when Weston tells the story of the eagle trying to get away with the animal remains, and also when Ella continues the story and tells about the cat trying to get away. They are all trying to escape the "Curse of the Starving Class," but fail to achieve this goal. This can be seen in my scene by looking at Weston’s sudden change in character as a way to escape the things he has done in the past to his family. He attempts to make good and escape his past by shedding his old clothing and trying to be a new person, but ultimately fails after this scene, and has to actually escape from men looking for him.

Structure: Time is very fluid in this play. No major periods of time pass in between scenes. This play is climactic because it occurs in a restricted locale, one room or one house, covers a short space of time, perhaps a few hours, or at most a few days, number of characters is severely limited, usually not more than six or eight.

Unit Breakdown:

Act III: Pg. 187 on Ella’s entrance:

1: Lambs and Maggots

The first unit is from the moment Ella walks in, until Weston asks Ella if she wants some breakfast. The first unit the two characters are just addressing non-important topics. It is like small-talk to fill the silence. Ella comes into the scene and has a lot to take it, i.e. Weston’s new appearance and him cooking. The next line moves from small-talk to Ella asking Weston questions, which is the cause for the change in unit.

2: 20 Questions

The second unit is from Ella’s line, “You’re cooking?” to her line, “I’m very grateful.” In this unit, Ella is questioning Weston on why he is actually doing things around the house. She questions his intentions until he turns the conversation on her, and begins to question her, starting the next unit.

3: Fireball for a Daughter

This unit begins when Weston asks Ella where she has been, and ends when Ella changes the subject back to why Weston is acting the way he is. In this unit, Ella shows her disapproval of her daughter’s actions, and Weston stands up for her, saying it is part of the family genes.

4: Let’s Get Down to Business

This unit begins with Ella questioning Weston’s new attitude and telling him she doesn’t believe it. In this unit Ella lets out much of her anger towards her husband now that he has decided to actually do things around the house after years of neglect. Weston basically takes it, and tries to lighten her mood, and get her to calm down by staying calm himself, and getting her to change the subject.

5: Deliverance

The last unit in this scene begins with Ella’s line, “Oh, knock it off, would you?” She relents in her questioning of her husbands new attitude and actions. Weston seems to want to help her have the same type of change in character by telling her to lay on the table, like he did, to feel better. The unit, and scene, ends with Weston’s line, “That table will deliver you.”

Character Analysis: Ella Tate, 40’s, is the wife of Weston and mother of Emma and Wesley. She tries to look put-together, but it is clear that she is not wealthy or able to really look good anymore. Her hair is done, but frizzy. Her makeup is done, but not done well. In this scene she comes home looking like she is still in her clothing from the day before. She seems to be oblivious to other people and their lives. This includes her children. Ella cares very deeply about herself, and about the life that she wants to have as opposed to the life she has. She tries to achieve this ideal life by selling their family home in order to move away and start a new life. She has hopes for her future life because of Taylor, but seems to only think of her children’s future as a second thought. Ella seems as if she was one time a caring mother who wanted a great life for her children, but her husband’s anger and alcoholic ways wore her down to basically nothing. She acts as if nothing bothers her, and basically ignores anyone’s feelings or interests but her own. Her emotions are all over the place, and she is always trying to counter act these emotions by changing the subject to something less emotionally stimulating. In this scene it is very apparent that she is not all there anymore, and that her husband’s abuse is the stem of this.

Weston Tate, 40’s, is Ella’s husband and the father of Wesley and Emma. His clothing is dirty in the beginning of the play, but in this scene he is wearing clean clothes, has shaved his face, and doesn’t look dirty anymore. In this scene, he could almost look like a “normal American dad” cooking for his family. He is an abusive alcoholic. His abusive ways have caused so many problems for his family; the main one seen in this scene is Ella’s mental deterioration. He has obviously affected his children, Emma runs away and Wesley ends up being just like his father. His alcoholic ways have caused him to borrow money from tough guys, and this puts his family in danger. However, he doesn’t seem to think that this is a problem because he says he has changed in this scene. He now seems to have hope for their family, and wants to make things better for them. His sudden hope and change in character seems to be him grasping at straws to keep his family together, but the change doesn’t seem like it will last.

Language: The language of this play reveals a lot about the world these characters live in. They do not sound completely uneducated, but they definitely are not refined-individuals. Weston has the worst grammar and use of language, while Taylor has more of a refined language. Overall, the language reveals that the characters are from a poor, downtrodden area. Wesley and Emma seem to have a better handle on correct dictation and language than their parents do.

Ground plan:

My ground plan is quite simple because I want the audience to be able to focus on what is going on, and not be distracted with a messy set. The larger purple box along the back wall represents the refrigerator that is used very often in the play. The smaller boxes around it represent countertops and cabinets. The stove is the small red box. The table, which is also used very often in the play, is center stage right. It has four chairs around the table. I chose to have the table CSL because I wanted there to be plenty of space for action to happen in front of the table, and CSR and DSR. I also did not want the table to block action happening at the fridge. The door is ULS and the rubble from the door would be right there in that area.

Sound: For my scene there is not any sounds called for in the script. I would, however, choose to have music that is somber and quiet in between scenes. I would look for music that sounded like winds and sounds that you would hear on a farm. Any sounds that I would want to be played during the show would have to have an underlying tone of sadness or despair. I think the characters in this play are trapped in a life they hate, and this causes them to drink in Weston’s case, give-up in Ella’s case, accept it in Wesley’s case, and try to run away in Emma’s case. The music should reflect these things.

Environment & Style: This play is set on a farm in California. There is an orchard on the farm, as Weston says in the third act. The world they live in is dominated by the characters trying their hardest to escape the farm, and the condition of their property shows this. It is not well taken care of, and until Weston fixes the door and does some cooking and cleaning, the house looks the same way. As told by the title of the play, the family is a part of the lower class, and is not well off by any means. So, the world they live in is one that is full of other people of their same status.