Tughlaq

 Tughlaq - Play by Girish Karnad 

Welcome readers! As a Part of my Bachelor's studies at shamaldas Arts college, affiliated with MK Bhavnagar university. In this Particular blog, I will discuss Girish Karnad's Play - 'Tughlaq'  offering a comprehensive analysis enriched with additional insights. 

Tughlaq is a 1964 Indian kannada language play written by Girish karnad. The thirteen - scene play is set during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. It was first staged in urdu in 1966, as a student production at National school of Drama. Most famously, it was staged at purana Qila, Delhi in 1972. In 1970, it was enacted in English in Mumbai. Tughlaq , a 13 - scene play by Girish karnad, focuses on the 14th century Turko - Indian ruler. It is both a historical play as well as a commentary on the contemporary politics of the 1960s. The Times of india comments that ; 

 'In the play, the protagonist, Tughlaq, is portrayed as having great ideas and a grand vision, but his reign was an abject failure. He started his rule with great ideals of a unified india, but his degenerated into anarchy and his kingdom.' 

 Girish Karnad’s second play Tughlaq published in 1965 which reflects existentialism in the character of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. Girish Karnad’s play Tughlaq tells the tragic story of an ideal, but overambitious king Muhammad Bin Tughlaq who is a complex character. He emphasizes his existence in magnificence and immorality but that leads him to disappointment, frustration, and alienation from society. Tughlaq is seen as alienated from his society, primarily because he is a man of head of his age not understood by the society around him the reason his ideas and his idealism above the understanding of his contemporaries. In an age of religious fanaticism and holistic between Hindus and Muslims, his broad minded religious tolerance seems foolish to the Muslims and cunning to the Hindus who suspect his motives. He takes a lot of foolish decision which makes him alienated and frustrated and force him to think about his existence. 

The overall idea of the play revolves around the complex character of Tughlaq and socio political milieu of his time. This play is a nuanced exploration of power, idealism, and the complexities of governance, set against the backdrop of medieval india. Girish karnad skillfully blends historical events with imaginative storytelling to create a thought provoking drama that resonates with audiences across time and space. 

About Girish Karnad :- 

Girish karnad was one of India's most prominent intellectuals. He is difficult to categorize because he was active in numerous cultural arenas - he was a writer and a playwright, an actor, a screenwriter and a director.  

Karnad was born on May 19, 1938 in Matheran, Bombay Presidency (now Maharashtra), India to middle-class parents. When he was fourteen, the family moved to Dharwad in Karnataka, south India. There he attended Karnataka University and began studying Yakshagana theater.

Karnad then attended Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar studying politics, economics, and philosophy. While at Oxford he wrote his first play, Yayati (1961). His second play was Tughlaq (1964), one of his best-known works. His plays were written in the south Indian language of Kannada, and translated into English and other Indian languages. Karnad often did the translations into English himself.

Having since moved back to India from England, Karnad made his foray into the film world in 1970 with Samskara, writing the screenplay and playing the lead role. That film won the Golden Lotus Award, the national prize for Kannada cinema. Even as he worked in film, he kept writing plays, such as Hayavadana (1971), Nagamandala (1988), and Agni Mattu Male (1995), and created a one-act radio drama, Ma Nisada (1964).

Karnad received numerous awards during his lifetime. In 1974, he was awarded the Padma Shri, a top civilian honor. In 1992, he won the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to the arts. And in 1998, he was awarded the Jnanpith Award, which is India’s most prestigious literary award.

In the late 1990s and 2000s, he primarily focused on film, directing movies like Kanooru Heggadithi (1999) and acting in Iqbal (2005) and Life Goes On (2009). His final literary work, Rakshasa-Tangadi, was published in 2018.

His other positions included: Director of the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune (1974-5), President of the Karnataka Nataka Akademi (1976-8), Visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Chicago (1987-8), Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in New Delhi (1988-93), Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1994), and Director of the Nehru Centre, High Commission of India, in London. Karnad died on June 10, 2019. His Guardian obituary states, “A secularist who condemned the rise of nationalism in India, he took advantage of his position to campaign for the rights of the LGBT community, women, the Dalit caste and religious minorities. He was critical of the 2002 Gujarat riots which saw the murder of many Muslims by Hindus when the current prime minister, Narendra Modi, was chief minister of Gujarat. Karnad continued to be critical of Modi after his election and in recent years had spoken out against the house arrests of activists by the government across the country, and of the murders of prominent journalists.”

The Plot of Tughlaq :-

The play centres on the historical figure of Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq, a Muslim king of the Tughlaq dynasty who ruled from Delhi over large parts of Northern and Central India during the period 1325 to 1351. The play aptly fuses history and fiction. History, in the form of the political career of Tughlaq, forms the main plot; fiction forms the subplot of the play in the creation of the pair Aziz and Azam, a dhobi (washerman), and a pickpocket, respectively. If the main plot enacts the fall of an ambitious autocrat in Tughlaq, the subplot presents an ordinary dhobi manipulating for his own benefit the schemes introduced by the king. The play fashions the character of Tughlaq as an ambitious king who wants to build a grand empire and manoeuvre his citizens to think as he does. To that end he devises the grand schemes of transferring his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, and introduces a new currency system. A lover of the game of chess, Tughlaq symbolically moves his political pawns without ethics or morality. Manipulation and cruelty combine together in him to serve his delusions. Tughlaq attempts to make a show of the prevalence of justice in his kingdom by restoring to Vishnu Datta, a Hindu Brahmin,  his confiscated property and by giving him an appointment in his state service. This political pretension of showing how justice prevails in Tughlaq‘s kingdom is manipulated by the dhobi Aziz, who presents himself in the guise of Vishnu Datta. 

Tughlaq is portrayed as a master of intrigue and treachery. His politics do not spare even religion; he invites Sheik Imam-ud-din, a great religious leader, who criticizes him openly, to address his people, but sees to it that no one attends his address. He later persuades Sheik, in the name of Islam, to act as envoy to his political rebel Ain-ul-Mulk, only to make Sheik the scapegoat. However, Tughlaq‘s tyranny makes the overlords of Delhi rebel against him; they hatch a plot to kill him during prayer, but he sabotages the conspiracy and murders Sihabuddin, one of the conspirators. Tughlaq gives it a political colouring by projecting that Shihab-ud-din died while saving the king. As Tughlaq‘s ambition fades, his cruelty and disillusionment dominate the state; not even his stepmother is spared from death. When Ghiyas-ud-din Abbasid, a descendant of the famous Abbasid dynasty of the Caliphs of Baghdad, is on his way to visit the new capital Daulatabad, Tughlaq revives the prayer which he had ordered to stop after the conspirators' plan to finish him off. Aziz kills Abbasid on the way and supplants him in the palace by disguising himself as a descendent of Khalif. By that time there is chaos in the kingdom as a result of famine and counterfeit currency. In the end, Tughlaq finds himself alone; even Barani, his confidant and constant companion, leaves him to his fate. 

This text is not only successful as written literature but also as a dramatic piece- its staging has established a tradition of excellent theatrical performances. As might be expected, it has invited a variety of critical readings in both Kannada and English. Among the Kannada writings on Tughlaq, G.H. Nayak (1984), in one of the best essays on Tughlaq , undertakes a thematic analysis of the play, while C.N. Ramachandran (2008) offers perceptive insights into Karnad‘s engagement with history. Ramachandran scrutinizes three of Karnads historical plays - Tughlaq , Taledanda and The Dreams of Tipu Sultan - on the premise that what is important for a work of art which is based on history is not only historical objectivity but also the rationality of defining history. In Ramachandran‘s opinion, Karnad's Tughlaq defines history as a narrative of the past which reflects the contemporaneity of the present. By contrast, The Dreams of Tipu Sultan , while questioning the very discipline of history, asserts that India should reject colonial thinking and develop its own theory of history. This analysis is a good entry point for Karnad's historical play. 

Here are some key themes and ideas explored in "Tughlaq":

1.The complexity of power : Karnad delves into the intricate dynamics of power and governance, portraying Tughlaq's struggles and dilemmas as a ruler. Tughlaq's idealism clashes with the harsh realities of governance, leading to his controversial decisions and their consequences.

2. Idealism vs. pragmatism : The play explores the tension between Tughlaq's lofty ideals and the pragmatic demands of ruling a vast empire. His ambitious projects and reforms often backfire due to his idealistic vision, highlighting the complexities of implementing change.

3. Political manipulation and betrayal : Karnad depicts the treacherous political landscape of medieval India, where alliances shift and betrayals abound. Tughlaq's attempts at consolidating power are thwarted by the scheming of his courtiers and adversaries.

4. Religion and fanaticism : The play examines the role of religion and religious fanaticism in politics. Tughlaq's attempts to impose his vision of a unified state, where religion is subordinate to the state, are met with resistance and rebellion.

5. Historical parallels : While set in the 14th century, "Tughlaq" draws parallels with contemporary political realities, inviting reflections on power, governance, and leadership in any era.

Major Themes and Issues in the Play :- 

1. Idealistic Leadership :-   What makes the Sultan's character more fascinating is his paradoxical and complex nature. He is portrayed as a dreamer and a man of action, benevolent and cruel, devout and callous. The whole play is structured on these opposites: the ideal and the real: the divine aspiration and the deft intrigue. These opposites constitute the main charm of the structure of Tughlaq. Tughlaq promises his Subjects to maintain justice, equality, progress and peace  not just peace but a more purposeful life without any consideration of might and weakness, religion or creed. But to a great surprise he could not win the hearts of his public. 

2. Religious tolerance as a political strategy :-  The Sultan practiced the idea of brotherhood, which is an important aspect of human values in Islam, and this in turn annoyed the ecclesiastics because it undermined their political interests. The efforts of the Sultan to bridge the difference between Hindus and Muslims invited anger and displeasure of the Mullahs and Maulavis. To unite them, he abolished the tax and openly declared that both Hindus and Muslims would be treated impartially and would be equal in the eyes of the law. But this made him a suspect both in the eyes of the Hindus and the Muslims.

3. Disguise :-  Disguise is an important theatrical strategy in the play. It on the one hand undermines the seriousness with which the Sultans plans are made and on the other, mocks at his idealism. The dramatist ironically presents Aziz, the dhobi, who disguises himself as Brahmin, and later appears in the guise of the great grandson of His Imperial Holiness Abbasid, the Khalifa of Baghdad. He is invited by the Sultan to Daulatabad to bless the country and to start the banned prayer. An announcement is made so that all the citizens may welcome His Holiness for, This is a holy day for - us - a day of joy! And its glory will be crowned by the fact that the Public Prayer, which has been mute in our land these five years, will be started again from next Friday. Henceforth every Muslim will pray five times a day as enjoined by the Holy Koran and declare himself a faithful slave of the Lord.

Conclusion :- 

To Conclude,  "Tughlaq" by Girish Karnad is a compelling exploration of power, idealism, and political manipulation. Set against the backdrop of the reign of the 14th-century Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the play delves into the complexities of leadership and the consequences of ambitious yet flawed decision-making. Through intricate character portrayals and thought-provoking dialogues, Karnad offers a nuanced commentary on historical events while reflecting on timeless themes of human nature and governance. The play leaves the audience pondering the complexities of power dynamics and the pursuit of noble intentions in the face of harsh realities. 

Thank you for Visiting...😊

The Hairy Ape

 The Hairy Ape - Play by Eugene O'Neill

Welcome readers! As a Part of my Bachelor's studies at shamaldas Arts college, affiliated with MK Bhavnagar university. In this Particular blog, I will discuss Eugene O'Neill's Play - 'The Hairy Ape' offering a comprehensive analysis enriched with additional insights. 

The Hairy Ape is a play by American Playwright Eugene O'Neill, that was first performed in the year 1922. The play is a scatching critique of the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and capitalism. It tells the story of yank, a brutish stoker on a transatlantic ocean liner, who feels alienated from both the upper class passengers and the laborers in the ship's engine room. After a chance encountered with Mildred, the daughter of a steel magnate, Yank becomes obsessed with the idea that he is not truly human and embarks on a quest to find his place in the world.  It is considered one of the prime achievements of Expressionism on stage. 

'The Hairy Ape' tells the story of the fall of Yank, a proud and powerful stoker working aboard a steamship. Though respected by his fellow workers, a chance encounter with a millionaire's daughter who disdains him as an "ape" leads to a vain quest for vengeance and the breakdown of his personality, leading eventually to a confrontation with a real gorilla who kills him.

O'Neill based the play in part on a real man, an Irish sailor named Driscoll, whom he roomed with in New York. O'Neill had been terribly impressed by the gruff older man's confident and manly view of life and was duly shocked to hear some years later that Driscoll had committed suicide by jumping from a ship. The play at once represents a personal attempt to come to terms with this suicide and the playwright's finding in the drama of the demise of a manual laborer an essential story of humanity in modern society. 

 About Eugene O'Neill :- 

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill ( 1888- 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the  first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The tragedy Long Day's Journey into Night is often included on lists of the finest U.S. plays in the 20th century, alongside Tennessee William and Arthur Miller. O'Neill is the only playwright to win four Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. 

 His Plays were among the first to include speechless in American English vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society. They struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusion and despair. Of his very few comedies, only one is well known ( Ah, Wilderness!). Nearly all of his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism. 

 Beyond the Horizon was Eugene O'Neill's first play to premier on Broadway, in 1920, and won the pulitzer. That same year he wrote The Emperor Jones, which premiered to great acclaim. His other plays include Anna christie, Desire under the Elms, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Strange Interlude, Mourning Becomes Electra. In spite of his success, Eugene O'Neill had an unhappy personal life, with marital struggles and estranged relationships with his children. 

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1936 was awarded to Eugene Gladstone O'Neill "for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy"

Eugene O'Neill's father was an alcoholic and his mother abused morphine, which she received as a painkiller when her son was born. Addiction is a recurring theme in O’Neill’s works. Before his breakthrough as a playwright, O’Neill lived an itinerant life. He suffered from alcoholism and depression. In the year 1953, he died at the age 65 in a hotel in Boston. 

About the Play :- 

In the play The Hairy Ape, Eugene O’Neill is tempting the audience to look at the Industrial Revolution as a regression in human development, the forwarding of a class system in society, and man’s inability to feel like he belongs in any class other than his own. O’Neill shows the reader that, as the play goes, Yank regresses to an animalistic state. He also gives the reader the view of the differences between classes by displaying that Yank and Mildred will never be in the same class in society. Through Yank’s regression, O’Neill shows that this period in time inhibited lower class men from being able to push forward in society because men only felt like they belonged where they already fit in society.

 Throughout The Hairy Ape, O’Neill illustrates the decline or regression of the character Yank. He demonstrates that the industrialization of America causes Yank to regress to an animalistic state. He uses Yank as a microcosm of the effect on men in the working class by technological advancement and industrialization. This is similar to Pavlov’s dog in the sense that workers transform into machines because they are turned on and off by a whistle at work.  O’Neill paints a picture of the industrialization of man as transforming man into an ape-like creature.

The entire play is essentially Yank’s journey to find belonging outside of his class. The fact that he cannot belong in Mildred’s class affects Yank throughout the play. Mildred represents this place in society that Yank will never be able to achieve. The search that Yank is on leads him all the way to the depths of being a monkey in a cage in the last scene. 

O’Neill describes society in this play in a discerning light. He requests that the reader view the problems of class in society. His depictions of men regressing to an animalistic state, the truth about class in society, and man’s search for belonging express his beliefs that the Industrial Revolution was a setback for American society in the sense that it caused a broad gap between the haves and have nots. O’Neill utilizes the interaction of Mildred and Yank to show how people from different classes view the world contrarily, and as long as society is this way, the lower classes will struggle to advance or belong outside of his or her level in society. 

Character List :- 

1. Robert Yank Smith :- Born on the Brooklyn waterfront to a longshoreman father, Yank ran away from home to escape beatings and his parents' fighting. He also worked on the waterfront until he shipped off as a stoker, thus beginning the only life he has ever known. He is proud as the strongest among the stokers, but his encounter with Mildred sends him into a spiral of doubt and rage.

2. Paddy :-  An Irish stoker on the ocean liner who seems to have lost hope in the world and wishes for the more glorious days of sailing when the love of the sea was what drove a man. He alone is able to exert some sort of influence over the stubborn Yank.

3. Long :-  A stoker on the ocean liner who tries to convince Yank, as well as the other stokers, to believe in the Socialist cause, stressing to Yank that it is not a solution found by brute force but by persuasion and the peaceful uprising of the working class. He takes Yank to Fifth Avenue to try to awaken class consciousness in him, but finds that Yank only goes straight for violence.

4. Mildred Douglas :-  The daughter of the president of the Steel Trust, she expresses a desire to “know how the other half lives” by witnessing the working class in its element. In this way, she desires to find her place in the world and give herself a purpose somehow by helping the less fortunate, though, despite this, O’Neill describes her as insincere and pretentious. She is ultimately disgusted and terrified by Yank’s composure and outburst, calling him a “filthy beast” and sending him on his quest to avenge his honor throughout the play.

5. Mildred's Aunt -  Mildred's very reluctant chaperone on her trip to England, she finds her niece to be a poser. 

6. Second Engineer :-  He takes Mildred down to the stokehole, though he is clearly very uncomfortable with her excursion. He feels intimidated by her higher class. 

7. Guard :-  A prison guard at Blackwell prison, he tells the prisoners to keep quiet, and when Yank starts yelling, he hoses him. 

8. Stokers / Firemen :- Workers in the stokehole on the ocean liner, they seem to be sheep easily led by whoever is the strongest leader of the pack, usually Yank. They often tease other members of their crew in unison, which makes their voices take on a “brazen, metallic quality” as if their throats were gramophones. 

The entire play is divided into eight scenes. 'The Hairy Ape' is a portrayal of the impact industrialization and social class has on the dynamic character yank.  

 Plot :- 

 Scene 1 :-   In the firemen's forecastle of a cruise ship that has just sailed from New York for a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Off-duty men are talking and singing drunkenly. Yank, portrayed as a leader among the men, is confident in his strength to fuel the machinery of the ship and the world. He shows particular contempt toward two other firemen: Long, an Englishman with socialist leanings, and Paddy, an old Irishman who reflects wistfully on the days of wind-powered sailing ships.

Scene 2 :-  Mildred Douglas (a steel tycoon's daughter) and her aunt are talking above deck on the ship whilst sunbathing. They argue over Mildred's desire to do social work, ending only when two officers come to escort her below decks for her planned visit to the ship's stokehole. Her aunt does not understand why Mildred desires to help the poor. She ends up going below deck regardless.

Scene 3 :-  In the stokehole, Yank and the other firemen take pride in their daily work. Yank does not notice Mildred when she enters, and instead shouts threats toward the unseen engineer ordering the men to keep coaling the engines. The men stop to turn when she enters. Confused as to why they have stopped working, he turns to see Mildred; she is so shocked by his attitude and appearance that she calls him a filthy beast and faints.

Scene 4 :-  In the firemen's forecastle yet again. Yank is mulling over the incident in the stokehole. The other men try to understand his fury by questioning him and asking if he is in love. Yank is infuriated at Mildred for claiming that he resembles a hairy ape. He becomes enraged and tries to charge after Mildred in revenge. However, his men wrestle him to the ground before he can even reach the door.

Scene 5 :-  On Fifth Avenue in New York three weeks later, after the ship has returned from its cruise. Yank and Long argue over how best to attack the upper class while admiring how clean the city is. Still obsessed with avenging himself against Mildred, Yank rudely accosts several churchgoers who come out into the streets as Long flees the scene. Yank punches a gentleman in the face and is arrested shortly thereafter.

Scene 6 :-  The following night at the prison on Blackwell's Island , Yank has begun serving a 30-day sentence. Seeing the prison as a zoo, he tells the other inmates of how he wound up there. One of them tells him about the Industrial Workers of the world and suggests that he think about joining. Enraged by the thought of Mildred and her father again, Yank starts to bend the bars of his cell in an attempt to escape, but the guards retaliate in force.

Scene 7 :-  A month later, Yank visits the local IWW office upon his release from prison and joins the group. The local members are happy to have him in their ranks at first because not many ship's firemen have joined. However, when he expresses his desire to blow up the Steel Trust, they suspect him of working for the government and throw him out. In the streets, Yank comes in contact with a policeman, who shows no interest in arresting him and tells him to move along.

Scene 8 :- The following evening, Yank visits the zoo. He sympathizes with a gorilla, thinking they are one and the same. He releases the animal from his cage and approaches it to introduce himself as if they were friends. The gorilla attacks Yank, fatally crushing his ribs, and throws him into the cage where he dies. 

Themes of the Play :- 

1. Class conflict 

2. Suspicion against ideologies 

3. Mechanization and Dehumanization 

4. Mockery 

5. Historical change 

6. Alienation of Labor 

Conclusion :-  In "The Hairy Ape," Eugene O'Neill skillfully portrays the struggle of the working class in the face of industrialization, exploring themes of alienation and identity. Through the character of Yank, O'Neill emphasizes the dehumanizing effects of societal divisions and the quest for belonging. This play serves as a poignant commentary on the challenges of finding one's place in a rapidly changing world.

 Thank you for Visiting...

All My Sons

All My Sons - Play by Arthur Miller 

 Welcome readers! As a Part of my Bachelor's studies at shamaldas Arts college, affiliated with MK Bhavnagar university. In this Particular blog, I will discuss Arthur Miller's Play - 'All My Sons' offering a comprehensive analysis enriched with additional insights. 

All My sons is a three act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller.  It first opened in New York City in the year 1947, winning the Drama critics' Awards for Best New Play and establishing Arthur Miller as a leading voice in the American theatre. An immediate success with audiences and critics, the play has frequently been revived on Broadway and elsewhere around the world. All My sons is the story of Joe keller, who owned a munitions factory with his friend and neighbour. After being charged with shipping defective aircraft engines during world war II, Joe's partner was convicted, but Joe was exonerated. The play explores the keller families' complex relationships, which are burned with shame, denial, guilt and grief. The play also addresses the issues of truth, loyalty, wealth and love. The story questions both the military - industrial complex and the American Dream. 

'All My Sons' was considered Arthur Miller's first significant play. With an underlying theme of guilt and responsibility, the drama centres on Joe keller, a manufacturer of war materials, whose substandard and defective airplane parts cause the death of his own son and other fliers during World War II. 

‘The story is a reflection of society and how people driven by a lust for money can stoop to any extent to acquire wealth’

This play set during the second world war. Joe keller, who has failed to fulfil his social obligations and has failed to recognise the role of society after he is blinded by lust for money during the war. He lives peacefully with his wife kate and his son chris, but had another son Larry who died in a plane crash during the war. 

About Arthur Miller :-   

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. Winner of several Tony Awards, he was one of the most prominent American playwrights of the 20th century and was known for his ability to write engaging stories that tackled complex themes such as the American Dream, identity, and morality. He was also known for his political activism and outspoken criticism of the government and society. 

Among his most popular plays are - All My sons( 1947), Death of a salesman (1949), The Crucible ( 1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits ( 1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century. He combined social awareness with a searching concern for his characters inner lives. 

Throughout his life and work, Miller has remained socially engaged and has written with conscience, clarity, and compassion. As Chris Keller says to his mother in All My Sons, 

"Once and for all you must know that there's a universe of people outside, and you're responsible to it." 

Miller's work is infused with his sense of responsibility to humanity and to his audience. "The playwright is nothing without his audience," he writes. "He is one of the audience who happens to know how to speak." In the period immediately following the end of World War II, American theater was transformed by the work of playwright Arthur Miller. Profoundly influenced by the Depression and the war that immediately followed it, Miller tapped into a sense of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American psyche. His probing dramas proved to be both the conscience and redemption of the times.  

Arthur Miller has dedicated himself to the investigation of the moral plight of the white American working class. With a sense of realism and a strong ear for the American vernacular, Miller has created characters whose voices are an important part of the American landscape. His insight into the psychology of desperation and his ability to create stories that express the deepest meanings of struggle, have made him one of the most highly regarded and widely performed American playwrights. In his eighty-fifth year, Miller remains an active and important part of American theater.

 Characters of the Play :- 

  

 1. Joe Keller :- Husband, father, and patriarch of the Keller family. Joe is the protagonist of All My Sons. Before the play begins, he and his business partner, Steve Deever, owned a munitions business that manufactured and shipped faulty aircraft engines to the Air Force during World War II. Steve went to prison for the crime, but Joe was falsely exonerated. During the time of the play, Joe’s son, Chris, is part owner of the business. Joe appears to be successful and happy, but he is actually tormented and plagued with feelings of guilt.

2. Kate Keller :-  Wife of Joe and mother to Larry and Chris Keller. Kate waits in vain for Larry to return from the war even though he’s been missing in action for three years. A nervous, emotional woman, Kate knows about Joe’s role in the munitions crime but lives in a state of denial. Kate is superstitious enough to believe that astrology will reveal whether Larry is alive. She suffers from headaches, nightmares, and insomnia, symptoms of a tortured soul.

3. Chris Keller :- Joe and Kate’s son and Larry’s brother. Chris commanded a company during the war and now works in Joe’s business. Chris wants to marry Ann Deever, Larry’s former girlfriend, and does not support Kate’s denial of Larry’s death. Chris has been changed by the war and is morally upright, empathetic, and compassionate.

 

4. Ann Deever :-  Steve Deever’s daughter, Larry’s former girlfriend, and Chris’s fiancée. As the antagonist in the play, her visit to the Kellers’ home by Chris’s invitation sets the play’s action into motion. Ann is compassionate and loving, though she hasn’t spoken to Steve since his incarceration. She loves Chris and wants to be honest with his family. She is realistic about what happened to Larry and carries a secret that she hesitates to reveal. 

5. George Deever :-  Ann’s brother and Steve’s son. George served in the war, and as Kate observes, the war left him looking much older than he is. He cares deeply for Ann, but he believes that he has the power to forbid her to marry Chris. George is an attorney who works in New York City. Ashamed of his father’s munitions crime, he has rejected Steve, who is in prison.

6. Dr. Jim Bayliss :- One of the Kellers’ neighbors. Jim, about forty, and his wife, Sue, live in the house where Ann and George grew up. Jim longs to be a medical researcher rather than a practicing physician but feels constrained by both the postwar culture and his wife to make money in a more traditional way. 

7. Sue Bayliss :-  Jim’s wife and neighbor to the Kellers. Sue is concerned about status and appearances and is a bit of a neighborhood gossip. Jim blames his unhappiness on Sue and her need for money. Sue is not afraid to tackle sensitive issues with Ann or Kate. She speaks her mind and doesn’t back down.

Unseen characters :- 

 

 Larry Keller :-  Larry has been MLA for some years at the start of the play. However, he has a significant effect on the play through his mother's insistence that he is still alive and his brother's love for Larry's childhood sweetheart, Ann. Comparisons are also made in the story between Larry and Chris; in particular, their father describes Larry as the more sensible one with a "head for business".

 

Steve Deever :- George and Ann's father. Steve is sent to prison for shipping faulty cylinders to air force a crime that not only he but also the exonerated Keller committed.

Play Performance :- 

Plot :- 

  Joe and Kate Keller had two sons, Chris and Larry. Keller owned a manufacturing plant with Steve Deever, and their families were close. Steve's daughter Ann was Larry's beau, and George was their friend. When the war came, both Keller boys and George were drafted. During the war, Keller's and Deever's manufacturing plant had a very profitable contract with the U.S. Army, supplying airplane parts. One morning, a shipment of defective parts came in. Under pressure from the army to keep up the output, Steve Deever called Keller, who had not yet come into work that morning, to ask what he should do. Keller told Steve to weld the cracks in the airplane parts and ship them out. Steve was nervous about doing this alone, but Keller said that he had the flu and could not go into work. Steve shipped out the defective but possibly safe parts on his own. 

Later, it was discovered that the defective parts caused twenty-one planes to crash and their pilots to die. Steve and Keller were arrested and convicted, but Keller managed to win an appeal and get his conviction overturned. He claimed that Steve did not call him and that he was completely unaware of the shipment. Keller went home free, while Steve remained in jail, shunned by his family.

Meanwhile, overseas, Larry received word about the first conviction. Racked with shame and grief, he wrote a letter to Ann telling her that she must not wait for him. Larry then went out to fly a mission, during which he broke out of formation and crashed his plane, killing himself. Larry was reported missing.

Three years later, the action of the play begins. Chris has invited Ann to the Keller house because he intends to propose to her--they have renewed their contact in the last few years while she has been living in New York. They must be careful, however, since Mother insists that Larry is still alive somewhere. Her belief is reinforced by the fact that Larry's memorial tree blew down in a storm that morning, which she sees as a positive sign. Her superstition has also led her to ask the neighbor to make a horoscope for Larry in order to determine whether the day he disappeared was an astrologically favorable day. Everyone else has accepted that Larry is not coming home, and Chris and Keller argue that Mother should learn to forget her other son. Mother demands that Keller in particular should believe that Larry is alive, because if he is not, then their son's blood is on Keller's hands.

Ann's brother George arrives to stop the wedding. He had gone to visit Steve in jail to tell him that his daughter was getting married, and then he left newly convinced that his father was innocent. He accuses Keller, who disarms George by being friendly and confident. George is reassured until Mother accidentally says that Keller has not been sick in fifteen years. Keller tries to cover her slip of the tongue by adding the exception of his flu during the war, but it is now too late. George is again convinced of Keller's guilt, but Chris tells him to leave the house.

Chris's confidence in his father's innocence is shaken, however, and in a confrontation with his parents, he is told by Mother that he must believe that Larry is alive. If Larry is dead, Mother claims, then it means that Keller killed him by shipping out those defective parts. Chris shouts angrily at his father, accusing him of being inhuman and a murderer, and he wonders aloud what he must do in response to this unpleasant new information about his family history.

Chris is disillusioned and devastated, and he runs off to be angry at his father in privacy. Mother tells Keller that he ought to volunteer to go to jail--if Chris wants him to. She also talks to Ann and continues insisting that Larry is alive. Ann is forced to show Mother the letter that Larry wrote to her before he died, which was essentially a suicide note. The note basically confirms Mother's belief that if Larry is dead, then Keller is responsible- not because Larry's plane had the defective parts, but because Larry killed himself in response to the family responsibility and shame due to the defective parts.

Mother begs Ann not to show the letter to her husband and son, but Ann does not comply. Chris returns and says that he is not going to send his father to jail, because that would accomplish nothing and his family practicality has finally overcome his idealism. He also says that he is going to leave and that Ann will not be going with him, because he fears that she will forever wordlessly ask him to turn his father in to the authorities.

Keller enters, and Mother is unable to prevent Chris from reading Larry's letter aloud. Keller now finally understands that in the eyes of Larry and in a symbolic moral sense, all the dead pilots were his sons. He says that he is going into the house to get a jacket, and then he will drive to the jail and turn himself in. But a moment later, a gunshot is heard--Keller has killed himself.

Thematic study of the Play :- 

 1. The Past :-  All My Sons is a play about the past. It is inescapable--but how exactly does it affect the present and shape the future? Can crimes ever be ignored or forgotten? Most of the dialogue involves various characters discovering various secrets about the recent history of the Keller family. Miller shows how these past secrets have affected those who have kept them. The revelation of the secrets is presented as unavoidable--they were going to come out at some point, no matter what, and it is through Miller's manipulation of the catalysts that the truths are all revealed on the same day. While the revelations are unavoidable, so are their fatal consequences. 

2. Business :-  Keller argues that his actions during the war were defensible ass requirements of good business practice. He also frequently defines himself as an uneducated man, taking pride in his commercial success without traditional book learning. Yet, his sound business sense actually leads to his downfall. This failure is connected with Miller's leftist politics and the play's overall criticisms (shared by some conservatives) of a capitalist system that encourages individuals to value their business sense over their moral sense. How could rules that govern business be exempt from the moral norms and laws governing the rest of society?

3. Blame :- Each character in the play has a different experience of blame. Joe keller tries to blame anyone and everyone for crimes during the war, first by letting his partner go to jail. Later, when he is confronted with the truth, he blames business practice and the U.S. Army and everyone he can think of- except himself. When he finally does accept blame, after learning how Larry had taken the blame and shame on himself, Keller kills himself. Chris, meanwhile, feels guilty for surviving the war and for having money, but when the crimes are revealed, he places the blame squarely on his father's shoulders. He even blames his father for his own inability to send his father to prison. These are just a few examples of the many instances of deflected blame in this story, and this very human impulse is used to great effect by Miller to demonstrate the true relationships and power plays between characters as they try to maintain self-respect as well as personal and family honor. 

4. The American Dream :- Miller points out the flaw with a merely economic interpretation of the American Dream as business success alone. Keller sacrifices other parts of the American Dream for simple economic success. Has he given up part of his basic human decency (consider the pilots) and a successful family life. Miller critiques a system that would encourage profit and greed at the expense of human life and happiness. The challenge is to recover the full American Dream of healthy communities with thriving families, whether or not capitalism is the economic system that leads to this happy life. 

Conclusion :- To conclude,  "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller is a compelling drama that exposes the consequences of greed and deception within a family. Through its tragic narrative, the play highlights the importance of honesty and the devastating impact of unethical choices on individuals and their loved ones. 

Thank you for Visiting...