Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage’s play Ruined takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The play opens in a bar that is run by a woman named Mama. A man named Christian arrives, offering Mama several goods he has acquired. He also leaves Mama with two girls, Sophie and Salima. At first Mama refuses to take in Sophie because she has been sexually assaulted so many times that she is “ruined” (Nottage, 12). However, Christian pleads with her because Sophie is his niece. Sophie and Salima work at the bar, along with another woman named Josephine. The three women work to entertain the male customers, however Sophie is kept a safe distance from the men because of her condition. The Congo is in the middle of a war between the rebels, led by Kisembe, and the military…

Ruined is a play about the effects on women, specifically women living in a brothel outside of a small town, from the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each character in the play has their own objectives that help the story evolve and reach the climax. Elements of good and evil are expressed through the actions of the characters and because of this, the play is considered to be a melodrama. Along with being a melodrama, this play is a story and therefore illustrates multiple…

Race was never the main theme in, Sweat by Lynn Nottage, but it helped move the story along and added greatly to some of the characters development. The play takes place in a small town in Pennsylvania where there is one main line of work everyone goes into. Many of the citizens have been in Reading, Pennsylvania for multiple generations and feel connected to the city. The play focuses on six characters who lives focus around where they work and the bar the are always at. Nottage intentionally…

Out of the three full-length plays read in class, Ruined by Lynn Nottage was the best play. This play is filled of intense drama, yet it has beautiful and hideous events that bring together the play. There are many reasons as to why this play is the best, mainly because it’s targets woman who been raped, mutilated and who are now facing the consequences and putting on a brave face to get by. The play Ruined focuses more on the topic of woman. Those women are view as how of “ruined” by society.…

Connor Tanaka English 1B Essay #2 12 November 2014 Hold Fast Intimate Apparel, by Lynn Nottage, incorporates both feminist and racial commentary throughout the story. Esther, an unwedded 35 year-old African American seamstress not only faces racial prejudice but also encounters obstacles presented by gender roles. Esther’s starts off as a strong and independent woman but her weakness are apparent when she lets George, a Barbadian immigrant into her life, which turns out to be a colossal…

Being Brilliant has Become the New Average What is the true definition of intelligence? People talk of common sense, “street-smarts,” “book-smarts,” GPA, IQ test, and various other standardized tests to determine their intelligence. In the Oxford Dictionary intelligence is defined as “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Society has limited and labeled ourselves into groups based on a phrase or number and has greatly wounded our possibility for achieving great and limitless…

In this article, “Public Discourses About Teenage Pregnancy: Disruption, Restorations, and Ideology,” Jennifer J. Bute and Laura D. Russell both on the Department of Communication Studies, discusses the hard times that mothers have to go through. The article talks about a celebrity teen mom, Jamie Lynn Spears and what she had to go through as a famous figure who got pregnant. In this article the authors say, “As media cast a shameful spotlight on young women, females are commonly portrayed as…

Have you ever read a piece of literature and it reminds you of another piece of work? Did you notice the similarities? I have read two piece of literature that have big similarities. Those works are A Jury of Her Peers and Proof. Susan Glaspell's short story, A Jury of Her Peers and Lynn Nottage's play, Proof have a lot of things in common. Both works use rich verbal, dramatic irony, symbolism, and conflict to show that women's intuitive powers can be superior to men's skills. The theme for…

Comparison And Contrast Between “ Trifles” And “ Poof” Feminism is a term that can be used for a cultural, economical or political movements which try to establish equalities between men and women. Striving to get equal rights and legal protection for women, many authors wrote books about political and sociological theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference during the history. Among various literary works, we can mention numerous notable dramas such as “ Trifles” by…

The play Ruined, written by Lynn Nottage, is about a civil war and a local brothel in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are many touchy subjects that are dealt with in this play, such as the brutality of war and using women as sexual objects. In this play, there are many powerful messages being sent. Although, this play should not be read by younger people. You see the hope these characters have as this play progresses. The heroes in this play eventually prevail. Throughout this play,…