Initial Monologue Exercises


Exercise 110

What is the play about? - The play is about a group of prisoners, most of whom are used to their situation. However there is a character with more memory and more longing to escape, and they try to rally the others to their side.

What is the character like? - They have a vast imagination and a joy for living that they cannot contain. At first they believe that just their enthusiasm will be enough to bring back memories, but they grow more desperate as the scene progresses and they realize that all memories of the outside, both the bad and good, have been lost for their fellow prisoners.

What is it trying to convey to an audience? - Through this play, the playwright wanted to tell an audience that you cannot accept oppression, no matter how comfortable it is inside or how frightening the word outside is. He believed that it was better to live a life of hardship than compliance, because the former makes the rewards and successes of life much more valuable.


Exercise 111

Who is the Wild One?

  • age - None of the characters are given human ages, but it’s likely that the Wild One is younger than the other Ladies based on her initial reverence towards them, her brash nature, and her unfamiliarity with the idea of being “caged”. It seems as if she is the first new bird to have come in for quite a while and contrasts the sterner Ladies by constantly calling for action with high amounts of energy.
  • family details - The Wild One doesn’t mention any immediate family that would be looking for her after her capture. However, in adaptations where the characters are played as more literal birds, it could be said that the many animals she knows of are like a community to her.
  • where your character grew up - One of the things that frustrates the Wild One most about being captured is how different the environment of a cage is to the outside she was living in. In the outside world, she has had to evade predators and cold to survive, but freedom was always worth it in her eyes. She struggles to see how the ladies can even survive indoors without natural wind, the sight of clouds and the feeling of winter.
  • main influence on your character from people, places and experiences - As mentioned before, the Wild One has lived in a world where survival was a difficult but necessary chore each day. She finds this exhilarating and has in some sense been influenced by the idea of independence. During one of her first attempts to reach out to the Ladies, she begins to shout slogans from the Suffrage and other movements. Her experiences have taught her that everyone deserves a chance to live for themselves, in whatever manner they please.
  • financial status - In most interpretations of the play, financial status is a topic that can’t be fully discussed because of the nature of the characters. Yet we know that the Ladies have lived very comfortably under the watch of the Mistress. Their cage has central heating, electric lamps, and air conditioning, and the Ladies themselves each have unique items that connect with their personalities. The Wild One does not come in carrying any possessions, and although she can recognize the many mechanical systems inside, it does not seem that she has experienced them much herself. 

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