Catalonia's Unique Culture and Cuisine
Catalonia is one of the cousin states to Spain that is rarely known to the rest of the world The country is so remote such that the natives speak a different language as opposed to the neighbouring states that speak Spanish. Catalonia also has its own culture unique to the country, mostly due its history in maintaining its traditions. Due to its proximity to the sea, the natives' cuisine holds a lot of sea food and meat based recipes, which can be seen in the play as will be illustrated later. I believe the author has adequately represented some Catalonia culture in the play in various ways such as the way of communication, the preferred food and also small details like preference in using olive oil to cook. However, some parts of the play are more technical as the writer uses these to develop his plot and also give his play some uniqueness in its flow and also story-line. This can be seen in the way the characters speak to each other, with almost no consideration to one another as the language used is crude and rude in most of the cases.
Characters and Conflicts in Caresses
Caresses is a story based in the Catalonian culture in the nineteenth century. The scenes are a dialogue between two people, most of them being arguments as seen between the middle-aged lady and the young lady, the middle-aged man and the young-lady. Many scenes are all defined by very poor communication between the characters despite their close proximities (Tortella,2017). The language used is very vivid in some points like when the little boy was explaining to the old man how he got the cigar, and very poetic at other points like when the middle- aged woman is reading something to her daughter in the park. The writer has included in some parts elements of the Catalonian culture (Feldman, 2013) but also uses his formal techniques in writing it to come up with better authenticity for the play.
The Use of Dialogue in Caresses
The author has used dialogue as his preferred method of writing. The dialogues are simple to follow as they are between two characters in each scene. The language used us also very simple and precise, avoiding unnecessary words or sctions in the writing. The use of dialogue brings out the connection between the speakers, allowing us to understand certain aspects of their relationship like the kind of language they use. A good example is the comparison between the language used when the little boy speaks to the old man as compared to the language used between the boy and his mother. The little boy's language is crude and coarse, as he uses curse words and is also very rude to the old man. The boy in his conversation with his mother holds some degree of respect as he listens to her ranting but still maintains his poise.
Irony and Conflict in Caresses
The author has employed a sufficient usage of irony in his play. In fact, this is evident in the entire play from the beginning when the couple argues , the man hits the lady thrice in the face, but still make plans to cook together, where the lady takes advantage of the situation and hits him back, hard, and sends him to their neighbour to get olive oil for making dinner. The irony continues in the play between the man and the girl when he starts telling her he did not like how she stinks, so much that his wife could feel the stench. The man is ironic because he says he does not regret his wife finding out about the affair, and yet he went through some drastic measures to hide it from her — the contradictions that develop scene after scene are what bring out the irony in most parts of the play.
Multi-layered Characters and Soliloquy in Caresses
Good conflict is an excellent technique that is employed in the play. From the first scene up to the last scene, the author introduces us to a new conflict each time, which is different for each set of relationship, while using the same cast. Each set of relationship has its conflicts to sort with each other, which adds on to the complexity of the entire general conflict. This is an excellent technique as it elevates the play to another level of difficulty and conflicts. The conflict is also simple to understand as it is mostly brought out by the poor communication skills displayed by all the cast in the play. A good example is when the boy requests his mother for coffee, who instead of listening to him keeps on ranting about other issues unrelated to coffee or the boy. There are familial conflicts, self conflicts, rage, obliviousness that are all portrayed sufficiently to bring out the conflicts between the characters. Good conflicts are essential in any play as they pick the readers interest in the play and keeps the interested in the hopes of finding out how this will be resolved.
Imagery and Poetry in Caresses
Caresses have multi-layered characters. This is a technique the author has used because we can see the intricate nature of each character and can tell the depth of their conflicts. This is best seen when the mother is reading to her daughter poetic words in an attempt to explain herself to her daughter. Her fatigue is clearly seen in the choice of words, ' Now that night is coming, silence is frightened away, because it is not true that silence is night...' These words are symbolic, in showing how she chooses to speak to her daughter despite her time running out because she wants to mend that relationship. The characters display conflicts with each other, and also among themselves due to their deeply buried own selves. This brings authenticity in the characters and also gives them strong and clear characteristics of who they are.
Stage Directions and Suspense in Caresses
Soliloquy has also been used in this play. This is when a character is left to speak to them. One of the scenes this is best portrayed is when the old lady and the middle-aged lady are talking about which types of dances they engaged in. The speech is symbolic, but we can see how each character gets lost in their head while explaining their experiences. The interesting part about the conversation is that none of them was listening to their counterpart reminisce about it. The scene between the old man and the little boy also has soliloquy because the little boy explains to the old man about his story with the cigar, but the old man pays no attention to him. Soliloquy has been used to help us better understand our characters, in their choice of words, their experiences and who they choose to narrate these stories to. This technique is also a solo dialogue, which is part of the dialogue structure. It shows diversity in the author and also the character as the readers are led on to wonder in thoughts with the character in motion.
The Formal Techniques and Structure of Caresses
Imagery is a trait that is very evident in the play. The author has used it in various scenes such as when the two ladies talk about tango and rock and roll. The middle-aged woman uses a lot of vivid description that brings out imagery. '...his hand was always warm, mine cold, and he used to warm mine up...' Her description of her experiences and how happy she was, until she got pregnant and was not happy anymore '...the stupid thing had already spent seven months of lithergy rotting inside of me, sucking my blood, the food of my insides...' It is with this imagery that we understand her strong feelings of hate to her unborn child who, according to her, denies her the chance to continue going rock and rolling with her lover. The little boy also uses a lot of description to bring out imagery as we can see his experience with his friends on how they live on drugs in the streets and survive from stealing money and buying more drugs. As an important tool for script writing, the author has sufficiently used imagery to develop his plot better.
Development and Meanings in Caresses
The use of poetry is a strong technique the author has employed to evoke a different type of meaning to the readers other than the literal meaning of the words used. The middle-aged woman's expression of the night and what it entails, what people think about it and all the feelings and sentiments associated with the night is an intricate and clever way of trying to express herself and the situation she is in to her daughter. The poetry brings relief to the reader as they can marvel at the choice of words used as well as ponder about the hidden message to it. It is an interesting technique which jogs the readers mind and brings some aesthetic to the play. It also portrays the diversity of the author in his skills in writing.
The Importance of Stage Directions and Suspension in Caresses
Stage directions are adequately used in the play. They are few in each scene but very substantial as they do not give too much detail or very little. The author chooses to use them to show where the scene is taking place, and also for dramatic pauses when he writes 'silence.' I believe stage directions are a necessity, especially for dialogues as the writer does not have the freedom of giving detailed explanations of where the scene is set. Stage directions act as guidelines for the reader to help form an image of where a certain scene is raking place, the mood of a character, pauses and also to show certain elements of a character's speech that cannot form coherent words like mumbling of stammering.
The Formal Techniques and Structure in Caresses
The author leaves us with suspense, a technique that has been widely used. The conflicts that were built up from the first scene to the last one are not solved, except for the last scene where the first scene is revisited, but the conflict is not exactly resolved. The reader is left in suspense over what happens to the rest of the characters. Do the daughter and mother make up? Does the couple solve their communication problem? Does the old lady find peace in the nursing home? What happens to the little street boy and his friends? These are very many unanswered questions that the readers are left asking. However, this is not to say that the play is not interesting. The author's technique is unique and each story in every scene carries a weight on its own, passing the intended message precisely and adequately.
Conclusion
The structure that the author used in the story is mostly a formal technique that he used to help develop his story better. I do not think that this has anything to do with the meaning of the play because I believe that the same message would have been passed across had he used a different technique. His formal techniques are accurate as they have helped him tell his story, in the Catalonian way. This has been achieved through the various mentions of some if Catalonia culture like the preference for fish, using olive oil as it brings 'taste' to food among others. Caresses is a magnificent play because the author used the right techniques to his advantage, without necessarily making the structure part of the meaning of the play.
References
Feldman, S. (2013). Sergi Belbel and Catalan Theatre: Text, Performance, and Identity. Contemporary Theatre Review, 23(2), 235-237. doi:10.1080/10486801.2012.722802
Tortella, G. (2017). Catalonia in Early Modern Spain. Catalonia in Spain, 29-48. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-54951-4_2
Caricíes by Sergi Belbel.
