As I was reading Sophie Treadwell's Machinal for the second time I couldn't help but draw several familar qualites that it shares with The Adding Machine. Moira also seems to have felt this way.
In both stories the main characters are suppressed to the point that they feel lost and are driven by their everyday lives. They are never able to think for themselves, they are always involved in what their significant other or lack thereof wants them to do, and are hindered in some way to the present.
However of the two I would think that Young Woman is my favorite. She just seems so much more real than Zero does to me. You see I have to feel a connection with a character before I can get into a story and plays are even harder for me to read.
I also couldn't help but think what a fun play sticking these two works together would make. Could you maybe have a twist in the plot so that they worked in the same office, or maybe even a way for the two to meet before Zero kills himself. OH! Or what about an interesting curve ball where Young Woman took the blame for killing the boss to get away from her sick mother?!
I must pose my apologies at this time. My head is not exactly on straight. Hopefully it will replace itself before class takes place tomorrow, and if not I, once again, apologize in advance.
Posted by Tiffany Brattina at February 24, 2005 2:14 AMTiffany,
Yeah, the Young Woman is definitely more alive of a character than Zero. In the Zero vs. his wife scene, she does basically all the talking, but in the Young Woman vs. her mother scene, the Young Woman seems to have a personality and respond intelligently. I agree I'd be neat to meld these two works together. Perhaps if Treadwell and Rice combined their literary efforts and worked on one play together or some such thing, the result would be an even more powerful play. Then again, perhaps we are not really supposed to connect with Zero in the way we connect with the Young Woman. Sure, the Young Woman is an adulterous murderer, but... Zero, goes out of his way to offend everybody! I think the similarity of the plays is obvious enough but I'm interested to see what everyone thought the differences were.
Posted by: John Haddad at February 24, 2005 5:07 PMI love Machinal. That was my favorite book that we read in Intro to Lit class last semester. Is the Adding Machine another novel by Sophie Treadwell?
Posted by: Firefighter Chica at February 24, 2005 9:48 PMActually The Adding Machine, though very similar to Machinal, was written by Elmer Rice. We learned tonight that although Machinal is known today among the feminist culture, it was originally thought of as a knock off of The Adding Machine because of it's similarities.
Posted by: Tiffany at February 24, 2005 10:00 PM