Handout #4:

First, an online example of a scene which incorporates a lot of the ideas discussed in the last toot on scene writing. It's from Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' which means, of course, that you can find it in your library (personal or civic) as well.

Go to <http://www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Wilde/earnest/act1-4.html> for the scene early in the first act between Jack and Gwendolen. (If you're using a printed text, it's the one beginning 'Charming day it has been, Ms. Fairfax.')

Note how Jack is clearly the scene's 'engine' (though it could be argued that Gwendolen takes over later), and that what he wants in the scene is quite clear. And note that he gets it and that this moves the play forward in a clear way; a great deal has changed between these two people by the scene's end. Of course, the same could be true if he wasn't successful, though then the play would probably take a different course.

I think once you read the scene you'll see clearly what I mean -- but if you want me to elaborate, just ask.

It's important to note that not every scene in a play is going to move it forward in such a plain or forthright or significant way -- sometimes the movement forward is subtle, and, as I said, sometime the scene simply deepens our understanding instead.

Here's an example of the latter, from Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt.' (Again, you could almost certainly find it at a local library, too.) Go to <http://www.archive.org/stream/peergyntdramatic00ibseuoft#page/87/mode/2up> where you'll find the first scene in Act Three. The scene is a monologue for Peer. It has activity (he's chopping down a tree, for one thing), but no real overall dramatic action; the plot hasn't advanced by the end of it. Instead, our understanding of Peer has. But Ibsen does use the scene to present us with a very specific aspect of Peer's character -- ie., he knows the scene's purpose.

A favourite saying of mine (not surprisingly, since I made it up): 'A play is like a shark; if it stops moving forward, it dies.' A bit extreme, maybe, and maybe it should be amended to read, 'if it stops moving forward (or plunging deeper), it dies.' But I find something useful in the concept. If you think it might be useful for you, too, here's a little picture of a shark:



Print it out and stick it on the corner of your monitor as an aide-de-memoire.

To Toot 5