The Piano Lesson
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- Category: English: Plays
- Date Submitted: 03/30/2015 01:45 PM
- Pages: 6
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The Piano Lesson: Vengeance, Family Ties, Religion and Spirits
August Wilson “The Piano Lesson “is a play that presents suspenseful and dramatic family ties, According to the Los Angelas Times the play is "Feisty, ebullient, and exuberant ... Wilson is a consummate storyteller” (Los Angelas Times). The dialogue between the characters gives a feeling of relation , for instance the bickering and upfront attitude, revealed by the actors “ The piano lesson have hovered in the American psyche for centuries now “ quotes Wilborn Hampton ( Wilborn Hampton) . August Wilson provides the narrative of the Charles family as they encounter both the challenges of the past and present struggles to come to terms with the grief and suffering of their family’s past.
Throughout the play, the family’s piano is a symbol that comes to embody the family legacy, as well as the impact of music; with its deep-rooted meaning and connections to its dark past. It is also a source of conflict between the siblings, Berniece and Boy Willie. As Wilson portrays the topics of vengeance, family spirits and slavery through family history and retribution through the use of dialogue and the actions of each character, the story unfolds and becomes a life relating stage play of decision making and value.
Engaging the topic of vengeance, Wilson uses the past struggle of the family’s history of legacy and the association of agony, debt, and reassurance through the generations. Berniece and Boy Willie's great-grandfather, a slave with a gift for woodworking, decorated it at his owners' request. , the owner Mr.Sutter’s wife loved to hear music , and for her he traded his slaves for a piano , but once her slaves were traded she wanted them back in return of the piano , unfortunately the seller did not agree and she requested Boy Willies great-grandfather to make carvings in the piano . He did so by carving on it his family history, including portraits of his wife and son, who had been traded...
August Wilson “The Piano Lesson “is a play that presents suspenseful and dramatic family ties, According to the Los Angelas Times the play is "Feisty, ebullient, and exuberant ... Wilson is a consummate storyteller” (Los Angelas Times). The dialogue between the characters gives a feeling of relation , for instance the bickering and upfront attitude, revealed by the actors “ The piano lesson have hovered in the American psyche for centuries now “ quotes Wilborn Hampton ( Wilborn Hampton) . August Wilson provides the narrative of the Charles family as they encounter both the challenges of the past and present struggles to come to terms with the grief and suffering of their family’s past.
Throughout the play, the family’s piano is a symbol that comes to embody the family legacy, as well as the impact of music; with its deep-rooted meaning and connections to its dark past. It is also a source of conflict between the siblings, Berniece and Boy Willie. As Wilson portrays the topics of vengeance, family spirits and slavery through family history and retribution through the use of dialogue and the actions of each character, the story unfolds and becomes a life relating stage play of decision making and value.
Engaging the topic of vengeance, Wilson uses the past struggle of the family’s history of legacy and the association of agony, debt, and reassurance through the generations. Berniece and Boy Willie's great-grandfather, a slave with a gift for woodworking, decorated it at his owners' request. , the owner Mr.Sutter’s wife loved to hear music , and for her he traded his slaves for a piano , but once her slaves were traded she wanted them back in return of the piano , unfortunately the seller did not agree and she requested Boy Willies great-grandfather to make carvings in the piano . He did so by carving on it his family history, including portraits of his wife and son, who had been traded...