'Night Mother M. Butterfly
The Piano Lesson The Shape of Things

Each of you will become part of a Speak Easy Discussion Group. The idea is for you to work as a group, brainstorming possible answers. The group discussion is to take place on a DISCUSSION BOARD reserved for the Speak Easy Project. You will be graded both for:

  • what you say in class
  • and what you said on the Speak Easy board

Your writing for the Speak Easy Project, can be very informal. The content, not the style of your writing, is what's important. This same informality, by the way, holds true for all of your FRIDAY TALK postings.

on Thursday, a "hard" copy of your postings is due.

'NIGHT MOTHER
  1. What is the significance of Jessie saying "Jesus was a suicide?"

  2. Much mention is made of candy, clocks, and pipe cleaners. How do they function as motifs and what is their significance?

  3. How do everyday events and activities mirror the deeper psychological activities such as:

    • the struggle to put on the slipcover
    • taking out the garbage
    • folding laundry
    • washing hands and attempting a manicure

M. BUTTERFLY
  1. What is the significance of Gaillimard's and Song's first meeting?

  2. At one point (p. 10) Gallimard feels he has transcended the Pinkerton image, saying for example,

    "the image sickened me, pulled me to my knees so I was crawling towards her like a worm. By the time I reached her, Pinkerton had vanished from my heart. To be replaced by something new, something unnatural, that flew in the face of all I'd learned in the world--something very close to love (p. 47)."
    Is what he says really true; has he separated himself from the Pinketon image?
  3. Where do we see evidence of the cultural bubble in M. Butterfly? Below is a brief description of what is meant by cultural bubble:
    CULTURAL BUBBLES:
    (One Form of Withdrawal)

    There are children, frail and moribund, who live inside plastic bubbles; their immune systems have not developed, and so they have to be protected from the outside world; their air specially filtered, and their nourishment passed to them through special ducts, by gloved and sterile hands. Professional expatriates live like that...They carry about with them the plastic bubble of their own culture, and nothing touches them until it has been filtered through the protective membrane of prejudice, the life support system that forms their invisible excess baggage when they move on, from one contract to the next, to another country and another set of complaints.

    —Hilary Mantel
    “Last Morning in Al Hambra”

THE PIANO LESSON
  1. What's the symbolism inherent in Wining Boy selling Lymon his old suit?

  2. What exactly does the piano in the play symbolize? Some spin-off questions are:

      • Why doesn't Berniece tell Maretha about the carvings on the piano?

      • How, in general, does Berniece go about raising her daughter?

      • Why is Boy Willie so concerned about whether Maretha can play the piano?

      • What is the significance of Wining Boy telling about his giving up the piano?

      • How does the piano symbolism relate to Doaker at one point saying, “you have to buy today's women a present” (p. 65)?

  3. Do you think Berniece will ever marry Avery? Does Wilson present Avery in a positive or negative light? Explain.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS
  1. At the end we learn that the one possibly true thing about their relationship was the whisper. What’s the significance of this? (see pp. 38, and 137).

  2. What’s up with her extreme dislike of Philip? (see pp. 43, 44, 117, and 130), and how does this possibly relate to Jenny saying, "he’s Phil…six things away from being amazing…" (p. 94). What might these six things be, and do they hint at Evelyn’s hatred of him?

  3. What if the situation revolved around a male changing a female? Would such agender reversal make for a more or less interesting story? Why?

HINT!

Given that the Speak Easy Questions are considered important enough to be singled out from the “regular” discussion questions, it’s a pretty fair guess to assume that they’re important enough to be eligible for possible exam questions. Going over the Speak Easy Questions is a great way to begin studying for an exam. The next step would be to go over the regular discussion questions and, of course, your class notes)