Scene 2 begins the actual story of the Chalk Circle as presented by the “singer.” The characters are presented as ‘one dimensional’ very shallow, uncomplicated people. This requires more effort from the audience to understand the charachter. For example, the majority of the class viewed the Governor’s Wife, Natella, as being more interested in saving her possessions than her baby as the city was being overrun by an invading army with riots in the streets. They saw her as a bad mother who quickly abandoned her own child.
On closer reading, one sees that it was the custom in those days to leave child rearing to others. In this case the Governor and his Wife had hired two doctors and a nurse, Maro, to look after their child’s wellbeing. They even went so far as to hold the doctors accountable if the child even had a runny nose.
In the confusion of the Governor’s Wife preparation to leave the city, the Nurse hands the child to Grusha. It was the Nurse who ran away leaving Grusha in charge of the child. After spending the night in the empty house with the child, Grusha finally takes it and leaves.
As Grusha leaves with the child, the Singer describes her:
“Like booty she took it for herself – Like a thief she sneaked away.”
Here is a link to a song by Mark Nichols for the end of Scene 2, titled “And the Child Called to Her”:
http://www.thereallybig.com/ccc/09%20And%20the%20Child%20Called%20to%20Her.mp3 (patience. It takes a minute or so to load. And, oh yes, this music is not nearly as pretty or enjoyable to listen to as the soundtrack from “Elisabeth”.)
No comments:
Post a Comment