9/12/13: Reading of script analysis

I read 10 pages of the script provided on moodle and found out a lot of information about the settings, the characters, the relationships and themes…

• After reading the first 10 pages of the script I have noticed that NELL GWYNN is a rather cocky and confident woman, she swears quite a lot and does not seem phased by what some of the other women are talking about, she seems powerful and almost like the mother figure, who the women look up to and respect, however DOLL seems to be the most mature character who is wise and knows a lot about the industry, I learned this when she opened the play with a monologue
• the setting seems to be quite seedy at some points, the women describe the men as trying to come into the changing rooms to look at them, this makes me feel that the setting the women are in is not a stable nor secure one. Their privacy is being violated all the time and nothing they do is private 
• the relationships between the characters are interesting. To me DOLL is the character who the characters go to for advice and Doll guides the other characters in the industry, NELL i feel is very respected and looked up to, she seems to be the most savvy out of all the characters, she knows what she wants and she knows how to use her femininity to get it.
• Mrs Farely is a strange character, she tries to convince the girls she is "holier than thou" but in one scene she is tied to a tree and has been "spoiled" by a man, insinuating that she is no longer pure, and i feel she is trying to fit in with the males and get in on their plans and secrets in order to gain more social status, she is not really a "girls girl" i feel she is just trying to make friends with anyone who has a high status, and in those days MEN had the higher status
• Mr and Mrs betterton are in charge of the theatre, MR is a senior actor, which instantly gives him a high status, and as his wife MRS is very respected as well, she has a powerful status and the other characters are never crude or disrespectful in front of her. She assigns the actors and actresses with their roles for plays, and always has the last word with castings. I noticed in every scene she is in, as soon as she exits, the females begin to swear again, for example;
• PAGE 174; MRS BETTERTON has just casted the actors for their roles in an upcoming performance, just after she exits MRS MARSHALL states " WHORE HE CALLED ME" which picks up from where they left off before MRS BETTERTON came onto the scene, this says to me that the women will never swear in front of MRS BETTERTON as they want her to view them as respectful and polite young women in order for them to be casted for performances, if she heard the way they spoke, maybe this could be different?
• The male roles in this play, OTWAY, WIT, THE EARL and MR BETTERTON are very stereotyped, particularly wit and otway, as they are portrayed as sex hungry males who are crude, sleazy and disrespectful towards women and are always trying to pry on the women and do horrible things to them, like throwing "shit" in MRS MARSHALLS hair, as a gift from "the earl of oxford" to teach her some manners! The men are shown as bullies, animals and condescending people.
• The themes I am noticing in PLAYHOUSE CREATURES so far are FEMINISM. Which is a fairly obvious theme as the play revolves around the lives of women and how men behaved horribly towards them, and how women had no status in the 1600's. Another theme i am sensing is FAME, throughout the play you see the characters rise and fall to fame, and just how fame hungry they are, as they want to be accepted by society but in a way they do not care what society thinks of them, they just want a name for themselves and to live a comfortable and full life.
•  Throughout the play the women demonstrate their dreams, passions, desires and willingness to make it to the top of the social ladder, doing whatever they can to get there.