In Act 1, Scene 1, the mother argues with her son after he uses a knife to cut some grapes. She states that weapons can "split the body of a man apart", which seems to be a very bold statement in context to such a mild action.
Class Discussion: How are weapons introduced in the first act? What does the mother's seeming overreaction to her son's using a weapon tell the reader? Is there a possibility that weapons have hurt the mother or someone close to her in the past? Do the weapons in this scene seem to take on a life themselves? How does the son react to his mother's reprimands from his use of a weapon? What does his reaction say about his feelings towards weapons?
Does the mother have reason to react to her son's use of weapons so negatively.
Foreshadowing: Discuss the author's possible intent to foreshadow the negative impact that weapons might have on the mother and son in the future. What could have happened in the mother's past that would have caused her to act so negatively towards weapons?
ISOLATION
In Act 1, Scene 1, it becomes clear that the mother has not left her home in 20 years due to a tragedy in the past. In this time the mother has lost all sense of the outside world and is fully consumed with her home life.
Class Discussion: How has being isolated from outsiders for 20 years affected the mother? Does she seem to have a grasp on reality, or has she lost her ability to see what is real? Does the mother seem consumed by something? If so, is that consumption her reason for not leaving her home? What has the mother lost due to her isolation? Has she created more misery by isolating herself from the rest of the world?
Discuss the mother's possible motivations for living in isolation.
MOURNING
In Act 1, Scene 1, the mother and son's ways of mourning is shown. While the mother seems very loyal in her mourning, the son seems to be more distant and has almost seemed to have moved on from his past.
Group Discussion: Discuss the differences in the mother and son's ability to mourn.
Compare/Contrast: Compare and contrast how the mother and son chose to mourn the deaths of their loved ones. How are they different and how are they the same? What do the differences in their mourning tell the reader about these characters? Does one character seem ungrateful while the other more loyal?
DEATH
Act 1, Scene 1-This first scene shows the mother's inability to move on from her family's death, while her son has since moved away from home and has begun to start a new life. While both characters have experienced the same loss, they react in completely different ways.
Class Discussion: How does the mother grieve the loss of her husband and son? How does the son grieve the loss of his father and brother? Have both the mother and son moved on from their losses? Has the mother replaced her grief with anger and bitterness? Has the son seemed to have completely stopped grieving the loss of his loved ones?
LOVE
Act 1, Scene 1-In the first scene, both the mother and son show signs of love. For the mother, she shows her love for her family through devotion and painstaking rituals. For the son, he shows his love for his family and his new fiancee, but does not seem as devoted to his love.
Class Discussion: Does the mother seem to have more love for her dead husband and son than her living son? In what ways does the son exhibit love for his mother? How does the mother express her love for her son? Is the mother's love for her dead loved ones driving her towards a certain purpose? Is this purpose hindering her ability to love her own life fully?
Leonardo
Act 1, Scene 2-In the second scene, the character of Leonardo is introduced. Immediately, the reader can see how strained Leonardo's relationship is with his wife from his harsh tone and inability to communicate. This lesson will discuss the strained relationship between Leonardo and his wife.
Class Discussion: What are some clues that tell the reader the relationship between Leonardo and his wife is strained? Does there appear to be a certain trigger that causes more anger and disdain from Leonardo or his wife? Is Leonardo's speech towards his wife harsher than her speech towards him? If so, what does this tell the reader about the nature of these characters?
Foreshadowing: Discuss the possibility of the author foreshadowing what is to come in Leonardo and his wife's relationship. Is he trying to hint at deep-seated issues that are still unresolved? Just at first glance, what could the reader predict might happen in the couple's relationship in the future?
Control
Objective: Act 1, Scene 2-In this scene, the reader sees how controlling Leonardo is over his wife and mother-in-law. Throughout the scene he is often short tempered with both women over seemingly little things and will often yell at them for questioning his motives. .
Group Discussion: Discuss the different instances where Leonardo reacted negatively towards his wife and mother-in-law. Are there any commonalities in these triggers? If so, what might this tell the reader about Leonardo's motives for becoming angry and showing control over the women?
Defensiveness
Objective: Act 1, Scene 2-In this scene, the reader has already seen the controlling nature of Leonardo; however, one might make the argument that his control was a defense mechanism to hide something larger.
Class Discussion: What motivations does Leonardo have for acting so defensively towards his wife and mother-in-law? Is there a common theme brought up by the women that triggers his defensive nature? In what ways does Leonardo's defending himself suggest that he might be hiding something from these women?
Foreshadowing: Discuss the possibility of the author portraying Leonardo's defensive nature in order to foreshadow events to come.
Where might the relationship with his wife be heading? Is his treatment of these two women telling the reader that there could be significant problems in the future? Could the defensiveness suggest that the couple have had problems similar to this in the past?
Discuss Leonardo's defensive nature. Is he hiding something larger or is simply annoyed by their constant questioning.
Consider how Leonardo reacted towards the messenger girl. How does his defensive nature escalate towards anger so quickly after the girl delivers seemingly innocent news? What might this tell you about Leonardo's feelings towards his wife's cousin?
Lullaby
Act 1, Scene 2-In this scene, the lullaby plays a significant role by showing it at the beginning and end of the scene. While Leonardo is absent for the reciting of the lullaby, its words have a foreshadowing tone that hints at events to come that could involve him.
Read the lullaby aloud in class. As it is being read make notes of lines that might be foreshadowing events to come in the play. How does the horse in the lullaby signify Leonardo's absence in his home?
Class Discussion: What symbolism does the lullaby have? What are some common themes in the lullaby that are portrayed later in the scene? What might the lullaby's lyrics be telling the reader of events to come? What conclusions might be made on what will happen in the next scene?
Anger
Objective: Act 1, Scene 2-In this scene, Leonardo acts with much anger towards all of the other characters he comes into contact with that include his wife, mother-in-law, and the messenger girl; however, these characters do not show anger back towards him.
Class Discussion: In what ways does Leonardo show anger towards each of the women in his home? How is his anger received by the women? Is there a clear sense of status in Leonardo's home? Is Leonardo ever held accountable for his negative actions by these women? Do the women appear weak in this scene?
The False Portrayal of Happiness
Objective: Act 1, Scene 3- In this scene, many of the characters act happy while there seems to be an underlying sense of unhappiness, namely in the mother and bride. While the mother appears happy that her son is being married, she still fears being alone. The bride, on the other hand, does not show outward appearances of happiness, yet when questioned about her upcoming marriage she says she is happy and ready to be wed.
Class Discussion: What are some of the ways the mother falsely portrays happiness for her son's upcoming marriage? How does the reader know that these acts of happiness might not be genuine? Are there clues from past scenes that might suggest the mother isn't happy her son is getting married? What physical actions from the bride suggest that she is not happy about getting married to the son?
Does the tone of her speech suggest she is unhappy about something? What does the bride's limited talk to the son and his mother suggest about her feelings toward them?
Foreshadowing: By showing this false portrayal of happiness from the mother and bride, what is the author possibly hinting at of what is to come for this marriage? At this point, do you think the marriage will actually happen? Which character seems more likely to cause problems with the marriage occurring, the mother or the bride? Read the interaction between the mother and her neighbor from Act 1, Scene 1 concerning her son's bride. How does she react after learning more about the bride's family and past? How do you think this might affect her ability to be happy when she meets the bride in this scene?
The male character's view of marriage
Objective: Act 1, Scene 3-In the previous lesson, the stark contrast in the female character's view of the upcoming marriage to that of the male characters was discussed. The men seem to either ignore or overlook the fact that the mother and bride seem unhappy about the marriage, and fail to take their feelings into account.
Class Discussion: How do the bride's father and the son react towards the upcoming marriage? How does each man react when the mother and bride act unhappy? Do the men seem to realize that the women might be unhappy about something? Do the men show any compassion towards the women's complaints about the wedding or their other negative behavior?
Class Discussion: Discuss gender and views on marriage.
In this scene, the women seem unhappy while the men are genuinely excited for the upcoming marriage. Take time to analyze the reasoning for the author presenting the men and women in this scene in such stark contrast. What does this say about the men's view of this marriage, or the concept of marriage in general? Do they have any regard for the women's true happiness? Do you think the men are deliberately ignoring the women's unhappiness? If so, why do you think that is?
Portrayal of woman's roles in society in the play
Objective: Act 1, Scene 3-In this scene, the women of the play are shown as confined to their homes and controlled by the men around them. In fact, the positive attributes given to the bride by her father clearly show a gender-biased representation by claiming that she is only good at women's work.
Class Discussion: In what ways does the bride seem confined in her life? Is the bride confined by responsibility to her father or something larger? Does the mother play into society's view that the true role of women is to stay home and take care of her family or does she choose this path for other reasons? In what ways are the mother and bride similarly confined? How does the bride show her distaste in society's views of women? Is the bride treated as a possession by the men in the play?
Compare/Contrast: Both the bride and the mother seem to be following a certain role that is expected of them in society, yet they are not genuine in their actions. Compare how the bride and mother are following the traditional role of women in their society, and discuss their contrasting motivations. Does the mother fear loneliness while the bride wishes for a truer love? Do the characters play their roles in society similarly but are driven by a different purpose?
Class Discussion: Which female character is not conforming to the traditional role of women in their society. Is it the mother who is hiding information from her son and refusing to move away with him? Or is it the bride who refuses to feign happiness towards her upcoming marriage because she might love another man? Analyze the differences between the mother and bride and how they treat their roles in society as a female. Be sure to give at least two examples for each character's different treatment of their roles as a woman, and discuss the possible motivations these characters had for reacting this way.
Confinement
Objective: Act 1, Scene 3-In this scene, we see several issues dealing with the confinement of the characters. With the mother, she is dealing with escaping confinement for the first time in ages, while still maintaining a deep desire to remain in isolation. The bride is also being confined, but in a less literal way, with her impending marriage binding her to a life of possible unhappiness.
Class Discussion: In what literal ways is the bride confined to her home? What are some of the more underlying ways the bride is confined to her life? How has the mother dealt with becoming unconfined and traveling to the bride's home so far away? Does the mother react in the way that you would have expected? Does the mother seem to wish to remain confined within her life in order to preserve what she's lost?
Analyze how the bride's father confines her. Be sure to examine several levels of confinement that might include him keeping her at home, diminishing her self-worth, or even persuading her into a marriage that she does not want. Pick one particular level of confinement and list at least 2-3 examples of how the father did this.