Plenty (Style)

Style

Setting

Plenty takes place in the European countries of England, France, and Belgium. The twelve scenes occur in seven different cities or towns during eight different years ranging from November of 1943 up through June of 1962. The setting of this play is significant because it is far from unified. Not only does the action skip from location to location, but it also travels back and forth through close to nineteen years as well. Instead of highlighting the ways in which many things change over time, the skipping through the years exposes what remains constant in the lives of the characters, namely Susan’s dissatisfaction.

The setting for Scene 1 and Scene 10 is particularly significant because it takes place on Easter. During these scenes, Susan prepares to and eventually does leave Brock. Because Easter symbolically recalls Jesus Christ’s resurrection, Susan’s leaving can perhaps be read as a rebirth of sorts. Hare concludes the play with an almost dream-like scene in which a radiant, young Susan celebrates the Resistance’s victory in France. The audience’s last impression of her is as a confident, optimistic young woman. Yet this scene evokes bittersweet emotions with the knowledge that Susan’s life will never again be this rich or fulfilling.

Allusion

Hare employs several political allusions within his play. An allusion is a reference to a person, place, or event with which the reader/viewer is supposed to be familiar (likewise, a literary allusion makes reference to a written work with which familiarity is assumed). An example of a more overt allusion occurs in Scene 7 when Susan brings up the Suez Canal. Critics such as Ted Whitehead, who wrote for the Spectator in 1978, somewhat sarcastically criticized Hare because such allusions “may mean more to those for whom Suez still rings a bell.” Whether one is familiar with the event or not, its inclusion in the text should prompt an investigation about the event, for knowing the history behind the canal will only further one’s level of understanding regarding Hare’s intent. The playwright’s allusions highlight his refusal to spoon-feed his audiences with a neatly packaged message.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity is one of the more central literary devices Hare employs in Plenty. He intended ambiguity. He gives examples of this intention in his foreword to Plenty. Hare says of Susan, “in Scene Four you may feel that the way she gets rid of her boyfriend is stylish, and almost exemplary in its lack of hurtfulness; or you may feel it is crude and dishonest.” By not clearly defining a character’s actions or motivations, Hare provokes thought in his readers and viewers. He intends to show that there are often many ways of perceiving a situation or person. Some may see Susan as heroic while others may find her crazy and unpredictable. The manner in which Hare portrays her makes it possible to view the character in both of these lights.

Unconventional

Convention in literature pertains to certain expected approaches and traditions associated with particular genres. Hare breaks with traditional approaches to drama and thus his work can be considered unconventional. In particular, Plenty’s plot is considered a departure from standard dramatic narrative. Hare’s plot does not follow a linear development that progresses from a beginning through a middle to an end. Instead, the plot is broken up and begins at the end. Scene 2 is really the first of the chronology and Scene 12 is the second in the chronology. Although Scene 3 through Scene 11 follow in a linear fashion, they are separated by many years. In addition the setting for these scenes span the globe, taking place in different countries and cities throughout Europe. Rather than adhering to the unities of theater (place, time, and action as defined by Aristotle’s Poetics), Hare jumbles the events of Susan’s life to illustrate his themes; while time does not unfold in a typical fashion, the play’s structure allows the playwright to build a “linear” concept of thematic unity.

Plenty is also considered unconventional in its liberal use of cinematic techniques such as flashbacks, quick scene changes that approximate film editing styles, and concise dialogue. While the play earned its share of criticism for appropriating such methods (many theater critics looked down on film as a bastardization of traditional drama), it also made Plenty appealing to a generation of theater goers who had become familiar with cinematic vocabulary.

Symbolism

One of the most blatant symbols in Plenty is Susan’s gun. According to Joan Fitzpatrick Dean in David Hare, Susan’s gun symbolizes her “destructive powers that are intended to exact respect and submission.” Often guns suggest a certain phallic presence in literature. Read in this way, Susan’s gun could also be understood to symbolize the ways in which she controls, manipulates, and destroys the men in her life.

Hare also employs symbolism by linking Darwin (through the character’s name) to noted scientist Charles Darwin, who, like the diplomat, sought to spread the truth despite harsh criticism. On a larger scale, the character of Susan can be seen to symbolize the unfulfilled promise of England in the postwar era. Like Susan at the end of World War II, the British empire is strong and confident, believing that it has the power to change the world for the better. Susan’s disillusionment and growing unhap-piness mirror the dissolution of the British empire and the country’s increasing hardships with unemployment and domestic unrest.