4.1 NON-AFRICAN DRAMA – LOOK BACK IN ANGER BY JOHN OSBORNE
To get your E-Book PDF Download(92 pages) of the entire Literature Key Points to quickly prep for JAMB & WAEC purchase here for N500 – https://dtwedustore.com/shop/literature-key-points-by-dtw-tutorials-e-book-92-pages
PLOT SUMMARY
ACT 1 – Jimmy and Alison live in a cramped attic with Cliff.
– Jimmy’s anger stems from feeling trapped in a dead-end job and societal expectations.
– Alison, pregnant, struggles with Jimmy’s emotional abuse.”
ACT 2 – Helena arrives, and Jimmy becomes infatuated, directing his anger towards her.
– Alison miscarries, and Jimmy’s emotions intensify.
– Cliff stands up to Jimmy, defending Alison.”
ACT 3 – Jimmy’s affair with Helena ends.
– Alison returns, and Jimmy’s anger subsides, revealing vulnerability.”
THEMES OF THE PLAY LOOK BACK IN ANGER
- Disillusionment with post-war British society
- Class struggle and social inequality
- Male angst and emotional vulnerability
- Relationship dynamics and communication breakdown
CHARACTERIZATION IN THE PLAY LOOK BACK IN ANGER
- Jimmy Porter – protagonist, intelligent but frustrated and angry
- Alison Porter – Jimmy’s wife, from a middle-class background
- Cliff Lewis – Jimmy’s friend and roommate
- Helena Charles – Alison’s actress friend
SETTINGS OF THE PLAY LOOK BACK IN ANGER
- Attic flat in a Midlands town (likely Nottingham or Derby), England
- 1950s British working-class neighborhood
- Small, cramped rooms symbolizing confinement
4.2 FENCES BY AUGUST WILSON
SUMMARY OF THE PLAY FENCES
The play begins in 1957. Troy Maxson and his friend Jim Bono share stories and a bottle of whiskey on a Friday night. Troy’s wife, Rose, tells Troy that their son Cory is being recruited to play college football. Troy is disgusted with the idea. Troy had once been a star in the Negro Leagues, but he was heartbroken by his barrier from the majors. He sees no better future in sports for his son. His older son Lyons stops by to ask his father for money; Troy is not pleased that Lyons is a struggling musician, but he accepts that Lyons is his own man and is making his own way in life.he next day Troy and Rose get into an argument over his son’s apparent laziness. Rose tells him that he has gone to football practice. Gabriel Maxson enters. He is Troy’s brother. Gabe suffered a head injury in World War II and now believes he is the angel Gabriel. He carries a trumpet around his neck to blow and open the gates of heaven. Gabe has recently moved out of Troy’s house and into his own apartment, something he is very proud of. It is soon learned that Troy used Gabe’s disability wages from the Army to buy his house.
A few hours later, Cory returns from football practice. Rose tells him that Troy is furious that he did not help him build the fence in the yard. Their conversation turns contentious after Troy asks Cory about his football scholarship and his job at the A&P. Troy demands that he quit the team and get back his job at the grocery store. After Cory leaves, Troy tells Rose that he doesn’t want his son to be like him in any way. She tells Troy that Cory just wants to hear that he has done a good job, but Troy says he can give no more than he already does to his family.
Two weeks later, Troy and Bono come home from work and report how Troy confronted his boss and received a promotion to be the driver of the garbage truck. Troy tells the story of his own father, and how his father beat him and kicked him out of the house at fourteen years old. Troy hates his father but respects his sense of responsibility to his family. After coming to Pittsburgh as a young man, Troy killed a man while trying to rob him and went to prison for fifteen years. This is when Lyons was born. Cory returns from his football practice and is upset because his coach told him he couldn’t play. Cory knows that Troy went to the coach to have him kicked off the team. He and his father argue, and Troy tells him that he shouldn’t strike out with him.
The next morning, Cory stands by the tree in the yard and practices his baseball swing, but he is more awkward than his father. Troy returns from the police station after having been called to bail out Gabe for disorderly conduct. Bono and Troy begin to build the fence and Bono chides Troy for his scandalous relationship with a woman named Alberta. Bono implores Troy to hang onto Rose. When Bono leaves, Troy admits to Rose that he is having an affair and that he is fathering an illegitimate child. Rose tries to explain how she worked to be a good wife and mother to him and his child. Troy insists that he has done nothing wrong except follow his own desire. She tells Troy that he takes a lot from her and this makes him angry. He goes towards Rose and Cory steps in and shoves Troy. Troy almost retaliates violently before Rose stops him and Troy tells Cory not to strike out.
Six months pass by. Troy is going to see his newborn child when the hospital calls – Alberta has died in childbirth. Troy is enraged and begins engaging a personified Death in conversation. He assures death that he will closely guard everything that belongs to him. A few days later, Troy comes home with his baby in his arms. He pleads with Rose to care for the child even while he remains unapologetic for his infidelity. Rose accepts the child but rejects Troy.
Two more months pass by. Cory has graduated and is now looking for a job. Troy initiates a confrontation with him. Cory tells Troy that he doesn’t count in the house anymore. They have a physical fight and Troy wrestles the baseball bat away from Cory. Instead of hitting him, Troy kicks him out of the house. As Cory leaves, Troy again taunts death. Eight years have passed. It is 1965 and Rose, Lyons, and Bono gather in the Maxson home for Troy’s funeral. Rose has been raising Raynell, Troy’s daughter. Cory comes into the yard dressed in a Marine’s uniform. It is the first time he has been home in eight years. He and Raynell sit on the front porch and sing Troy’s old blues song about his dog, Blue. Cory tells Rose that he is not going to Troy’s funeral but Rose tells him he must make peace with his father now.
Gabe enters the yard. It had been uncertain as to whether the mental institution where he lives would let him come, but he arrives with his trumpet, ready to blow Troy into heaven. He tries to blow the trumpet but no sound comes out. Undeterred, Gabe starts to dance, pushing Lyons away from him. As he dances, the gates of heaven open for Troy and Gabe tells them all, “That’s the way that goes!”
To get your E-Book PDF Download(92 pages) of the entire Literature Key Points to quickly prep for JAMB & WAEC purchase here for N500 – https://dtwedustore.com/shop/literature-key-points-by-dtw-tutorials-e-book-92-pages
CHARACTERIZATION IN THE PLAY FENCES
- Troy Maxson – Troy is the protagonist of Fences. He is a working class African American man who lives with his wife, Rose, and son, Corey, in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. He works for the Sanitation Department as a garbage collector. Troy is a tragic-hero; he is dedicated to a fault, to providing for his family and to making sure his sons have better lives than he has had.
- Rose Maxson – Rose is Troy’s second wife, who he married after being released from prison. Troy maintains an affectionate patriarchal relationship with Rose, demanding respect from her as the head of the household and primary breadwinner, though he is greatly influenced by her realistic take on the changing world.
- Gabriel Maxson – Gabriel, or Gabe, is Troy’s brother. He suffered a traumatic head injury in World War II that left a metal plate in his head. Because of his diminished mental capacity, he acts in a childlike manner and believes that he is the Angel Gabriel, waiting for St. Peter to open the gates of Heaven for all of the saved.
- Jim Bono – Bono is Troy’s best friend and drinking buddy. Several scenes of the play revolve around Troy and Bono’s conversations in Troy’s backyard while drinking on Friday nights. Troy met Bono while in prison.
- Lyons Maxson – Lyons is Troy’s eldest son, fathered with his first wife. Lyons works as a jazz musician in Pittsburgh but often has a hard time making ends meet. Lyons often appears on Fridays, Troy’s payday, to ask for money. Troy’s complicated relationship with Lyons encompasses his admiration for his son’s attempt to do something he loves with his life, but contempt for his refusal to be a breadwinner and responsible head of household
- Cory Maxson – Cory is the son of Troy and Rose. Cory has a relationship of conflict and violence with Troy. He believes that Troy is trying to hold him back in life by refusing to sign papers that would allow him to go to college on a football scholarship. Troy insists that Cory get a real job and be responsible. In the play’s final scenes, Cory is kicked out of Troy’s house after a violent struggle, only reluctantly returning eight years later for Troy’s funeral.
- Raynell Maxson – Raynell is Troy’s daughter, fathered out of wedlock with Alberta, Troy’s mistress. Alberta dies in childbirth and leaves Troy to raise Raynell. Rose agrees to raise his husband’s daughter for her sake, not for his. The audience only sees Raynell as an infant and then as a small girl just before Troy’s funeral.
THEMES IN THE PLAY FENCES
- The Creation of Order – The overarching theme of the play, alluded to in the title, is the idea of the creation of order – a fence is not a barrier in this reading, but a way to compartmentalize the world into understandable, manageable chunks. Troy Maxson is chiefly responsible for this desire for order, though for a different reason his wife Rose also craves it. Troy is caught in a world in which he feels he does not belong. He carries with him the scars, oppression, and disorder of his Southern childhood, the abuse of his father, and an unwelcome Pittsburgh. On the other hand, he is also a part of the growing African American middle class. He is promoted for a job he feels he does not deserve and he is unable to accept the idea that his children might have the freedom to create their own lives.
- The American Dream – Troy Maxson is the embodiment of an African-American generation, growing up in the post-World War II era, that finds itself finally able to realize the American ideal of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Troy has become more successful than his father, who remained a poor sharecropper and never owned his own land or property but, instead, paid all his wages and his life to an unjust land owner. Troy has bought his own house (though he feels guilty about the methods of payment). And in his sexual relationships he has embodied the freedom of a man to follow his own desires in a pursuit of happiness.
- African American Difference – In Fences, as well in his other plays, August Wilson seeks to point out the idea of difference between races and culture more than the monocultural ideal of sameness. The Civil Rights era of the 1960’s and ’70’s can be broadly construed as African Americans struggle for the same rights as whites. By the 1980’s, Wilson saw this struggle for equality morphing into a culture that was attempting to erase the differences between races and peoples. African Americans, according to Wilson, were different from whites or any other races. They have their own distinct culture, history, and society.
- The Ideal of Responsibility – Troy Maxson is a man who takes his responsibility for his family. His seriousness also becomes his greatest liability. Troy is a man caught between his own desire for freedom, embodied in his affair with Alberta and his fathering of an illegitimate child, and his fierce sense of loyalty to his wife, children, and brother.
- Freedom vs. Protection – The fence in August Wilson’s play serves as a symbol of conflicting desires. In one sense, Troy and Rose seek to build a fence to keep the world out of their lives. Rose’s desire for a fence symbolizes the way in which she seeks to protect her family. She knows that Troy’s checkered past is always there and that he is, perhaps, only moments away from making decisions that forever affect her and her child. Rose’s fence seeks to keep the family in and the dangerous world out. It is a symbol of protection.
DTW Tutorials Study Resource Links;
First of All to obtain high JAMB &WAEC Scores, YOU HAVE TO Practice! Practice!! Practice!!
Use DTW JAMB & WAEC 2025 CBT Practice App!!!
– GET DTW TUTORIALS JAMB & WAEC 2025 CBT EXAM PRACTICE APP for all Subjects with over 31,000 Past Questions and Correct Solutions to Practice with offline! (Activation cost is N4000 for 1 year) Download Links Below for Mobile Phones & Laptop Computer;
DTW TUTORIALS JAMB 2025 APP For MOBILE Phone Direct Download link;
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iafsawii.dtw.jamb
DTW TUTORIALS JAMB 2025 APP For DESKTOP Laptop Computer Direct Download link; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iIHBoWjEeJeCFyTO9nt-9kAveH2FqjrT/view?usp=sharing
Download Links for WAEC 2025 App;
JAMB RESOURCE LINKS BELOW;
– JAMB Past Questions Solved Playlists on Math, Phy, Chem; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLgYU6fS5143-p4dfWIFL7keuB1SBgT2b
– THE LEKKI HEADMASTER – Summary, Questions And Answers (JAMB 2025 NOVEL); https://dtwtutorials.com/the-lekki-headmaster-jamb-2025-novel-summary-questions-and-answers-pdf-download/
– JAMB 2025 Recommended Text Books – https://dtwtutorials.com/jamb-2025-recommended-text-books-for-all-subjects/
– JAMB 2025 Syllabus all Subjects – https://dtwtutorials.com/jamb-2025-syllabus-free-download/
– JAMB 2025 Syllabus in 30 Days Timetable Challenge by DTW Tutorials for Science, Art & Commercial Subject Combinations – Cover Your JAMB Syllabus in 30 Days Challenge; https://dtwtutorials.com/jamb-2025-syllabus-in-30-days-timetable-challenge-by-dtw-tutorials-cover-your-jamb-syllabus-in-30-days-challenge/
– How to Manage Your Jamb Exam Time for High Scores; https://youtu.be/Tp4Va8haib8
– Physics Notes and Questions on All topics; https://dtwtutorials.com/category/tutorials/physics-tutorials/
– Chemistry Notes and Questions on All topics; https://dtwtutorials.com/category/tutorials/chemistry/
– How to Read, Understand and Remember Always- https://youtu.be/kL8BpRePudA
– How to Cover Your JAMB Syllabus Fast in 30 Days!!; https://youtu.be/RVgyn01Ptd0
– What to do a night before your Jamb Exam (+Exam Prayers); https://youtu.be/njbAx4Oz5Rw
– How to Manage Your Jamb Exam Time for High Scores; https://youtu.be/Tp4Va8haib8
– Overcoming Exam Fear/Anxiety– https://youtu.be/Uvf81rvd0ls
You can also join our online groups below for instant JAMB 2025 Updates;
Join DTW JAMB 2025 Intensive Tutorials Study Groups on Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp Group;
Facebook Group – https://web.facebook.com/groups/dtwtutorialsgroup/
WhatsApp Group – https://chat.whatsapp.com/E8pprCQYtahKfpQN9UB0aU
Telegram Group – https://t.me/+AcXfhJPSIiI2ZTY0
WhatsApp Channel – https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAWvTmDDmFT9o25dV3u
DTW JAMB 2025 Intensive Online Lessons/Tutorials
Online JAMB 2025 Tutorials – Your Path to Jamb Success!
Are you preparing for the JAMB 2025 Exam and aiming for excellence? Look no further than Online Jamb Tutorial by DTW Consult. We’re dedicated to helping you ace your Jamb with confidence.
- Why Choose DTW Online JAMB Intensive Tutorials?
• Engaging, Clear and Interactive Online Lectures
• Completion of JAMB Syllabus
• Weekly Quiz Assessments
• Continuous Brainstorming and Competitions
• Membership in an Active Learning Community
• Consistent Solving of JAMB Past Questions-
• Expert Jamb Instructors
• Comprehensive Study Materials - All Classes are Recorded!! In case you miss any class, and when you join us you will have access to all the previous class recorded videos!!!
• Subjects;
English
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Math
Economics
Literature
Crs
Government
• Affordable Tuition – N7000 monthly (6pm – 10pm, Mon to Fri)
Lectures Ongoing! Register Now!!
Bank Details:
Account Name: DTW Consult
Account Number: 6414330770
Bank: Moniepoint
Amount – N7000
For easy payment and enrollment.
Proof of payment should be sent by WhatsApp.
Contact Us:
WhatsApp: 09085099582, 08038732879
Email: dtwconsultng@gmail.com
Take a step closer to your Jamb success with DTW Online Jamb 2025 Intensive Tutorials.
Let’s work together to unlock your full potential!
https://youtu.be/P7wtBH46ZMMnsive Tutorials. Let’s work together to unlock your full potential! #JambPrep #OnlineTutorial #DTWConsult #JambSuccess #jamb2025 #utme2025
No Comments