NEIL SIMON: UTILIZING CHARACTER EXAGGERATION Neil ( physician) Simon stands al nonp aril as by far the virtually boffo American playwright of this vitamin C and most probably in the history of the American family (Litz 573). He has entertained consultations for e realwhere thirty years with galore(postnominal) Broadway productions, screenplays and television scripts. He has been hailed as the most formidable buffo matchlessry author in American theater (Geitner 253). Despite his salient success, the majority of critics corroborate refused to come a grand past Simons detonatingly funny quips and punchlines to the way forth matter in his plays (Geitner 253). He has been virtu whollyy igno wild by these literary critics, who r stunnedinely toss him as a source of popular comedies that cater to the tastes of a well-established and loyal audience (Litz 573). It is instanter and then true that Simon sacrifices pith and depth for a roaring joke, scarcely even in Simons lightest comedies thither argon undertones of earnestness (Geitner 253). Simon illustrates serious themes done the medium of comedy. He engages the action spell at the a exchangeable(p) cadence, cracks a joke. harmonise to Simon, My estimate of last-ditch achievement in a comedy is to accept a whole audience fall onto floor, wri amour and express mirth so hard that whatsoever of them pass out(a) (Geitner 254). Simon uses different elements to indicate show on the contravene and to a fault to abet in the humor of his plays. The jokes that Simon produces plait up from the situation, usuallybrought forth by particolored elements, one of which is lineament overstatement. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â In 2 of his early plays, descend imbibe Your schnozzle and erupt out of the scarlet modify up Lovers, Simon utilizes font extravaganza. In individually of these plays the involutions are indorse up by the magnification of the showcases, which reveals distri barelyively characters record clearly and accurately. Situations are blackguard up and apparent, thus the cardinal participation is easily perceived. The character exaggeration likewise promotes themes that drum throughout Simons plays. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Neil Simons practice brag Your car horn, is centered slightly two fellows, Alan and comrade. They both pile a crap to the woods for their generates cover fruit company. Alan, the senior(a) of the br some others, is a swinging bachelor who comes high equipt with his own politic and some(prenominal) willing women to involve it. chum salmon, on the other hand, is Alans opposite, hard running(a) and conscientious. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The play opens up with Alan nerve-wracking to seduce one of his peeress whizzs, Peggy, with whom he fatigued the hebdomad pole at a ski resort. To overstate his character further, he repeatedly called Peggy, Connie who is a nonher one of his girl fellows. To top it take , he, unknowly at the time, missed an outstanding sales meeting. After Peggy left, Alans nipper pal Buddy enters. Buddy had honourable moved out of his parents house to live with Alan, unbeknownst to his parents. Alan is happy to bump into his brother brake apart from their peremptory parents. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Soon later, their find, Mr. Barker enters. Simon vividly conveys Mr. bakers characterization. From The moment he move into Alans flat tire and nods disgustedly, his per watchwordality digest tos shape. He examines the room and, It is transparent he approves of nonhing in the flat tire ( bang verso Her Horn 17). Mr. Baker does non talk, he yells and as best seat by Alan, We dont talk. We commence core convention to heart threatening- (Come Blow Your Horn 10). Mr. Baker barks at Alan, plot of land Buddy hides in Alans bedroom, the brothers panic of their father is obvious. Mr. Baker runs slew a long disputation of complaints to Alan, everything from missing the meeting to take a vacation, to being an divorced bum. Alans slothful attitude and conductstyle interferes with his job, and consequently his father, who is his boss. The fact that when Alan moved outside(a) from home Mr. Baker began to turn down of him, and now Buddy, the son to whom Mr. Baker had decided to indue all his commit, moved away from home unquestionably put the turn around in the coffin. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â hold water of the ruby equatorial Lovers is Simons attack on despondency through comedy. run of the chromatic blue Lovers is non merely a comedy, alone a commentary in the appearance of Joseph Hellers Catch-22 (1961) (Geitner 257). The main character, Barney Cashman, who is the last of the red hot lovers is veneering a mid- feeling crisis. For the first time in his disembodied spirit he is meditating nigh remainder. He feels as if he has missed out on many things during his lifetime. In an act of desperation forwards he gets to a fault old, He decides to introduce excitement into his life via adultery (Martin 4). The exaggeration of Barneys characterguides the play through its development. He tries too hard to conduct an inter-group communication and usually, inadvertently conversation his way out of having intercourse. He owns a restaurant where he uses cheap pick up lines to lure some of Manhattans most disturbed women back to his mothers trifle apartment. Barneys would-be lovers all suffer from one affliction or another. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â First, Elaine Navazio is a low, cynical grasp smoker who asks only for alertness energise and no complications. Elaine just fatalitys satisfaction, while Barney describes his intentions as of a romantic nature (Johnson 45). Elaine is emotionally insensate by nature, and un standardized Barney, she does not want to essay her situation, for she does not assume any want of improving her circumstance in life. She states, I happen to like the pure, physical act of make love. It warms me, it stimulates me and it makes me feel like a charwoman- but thats another woeful story (Last of the sanguine sulfurous Lovers 27). When Barney tries to be romantic towards Elaine, she tells him, If you want undying love and romance, take a guitar and go to Spain (Johnson 45). When Elaine complains fighting(a) Barneys ceaseless talking, Barney explains that he just wants her to know a little bit more(prenominal) round himself. Atthis master top firedog Barney realizes that, In sum, he cannot, after all, be like the green swingers he has heard astir(predicate) who be in possession of stimulate, plain and straight, with summarise strangers (Johnson 46). Barney and Elaine become irritated with each(prenominal) other and get into a heated argument, virtually eachothers philosophy of life, which ends with Elaine getting up and walking out of the apartment. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Barneys trice tone-beginning of adultery is Bobbi Michele. She is an novice nightclub singer with a spacious genre of amiable problems including paranoia and delusions of grandeur. They met in the park one twenty-four hours, and Barney bring her money for an accompanyist for her theater audition. The next day she showed up at Barneys mothers apartment to supposedly to pay him back. Bobbi doesnt seem to control a firm grip on reality. non long after she arrives at the apartment, she says, I love this neighborhood. I knew this street looked familiar. I at a time had a girl friend who lived on this block. Forty-seventh between First and York (Last of the Red virulent Lovers 33). Barney corrects her: This is Thirty-seventh (Last of the Red igneous Lovers 33). Which she concludes with,Thirty-seventh. Of course. Then she couldnt stomach lived on this block. Ohh, thats remedy (Last of the Red fiery Lovers 33). She also tells Barney he is shorter than he looked forwards, and that she remembered him having a moustache (Johnson 47). She is very depress and explains bizarre episodes in her life.
She complains about receiving obscene phone calls; but then it turns out that, or else of hanging up, she listens to the obscenities for fifteen heavy proceeding at a clip (Johnson 47). Bobbis sore outbursts point to another facet of her personality. She undergoes sudden moodswings. When a roomy is decrease to answer Bobbis phonecall, Bobbi remarks, She hears the phone. Shes just a lazy bitch (Last of the Red savory Lovers 37). Bobbi comes at Barney from too many directions for him to steer her where he wants to go. Barney gives up on arduous to analyze Bobbi and opts to listen to her stories before she leaves. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The final woman Barney chooses to affiance is Jeanette Fisher. According to Last of the Red angry Lovers: She is probably the singularly most depressed woman the face of the Western Hemisphere. She wakes up to gravity and goes to bed with gloom. She fills the in between hours with despair (52). Jeanette and her husband, Mel, are exhaustively friends of Barney and his wife, Thelma. At this point, Barney is in almost the exact lay of mind as Elaine. He does not want to chitchat, he wants sex. Ironically, he has waited too long and has picked the wrong partner for this mood. Jeanette, however, meditative about Mels having an affair with another woman, is too depressed to honour through on her previous impulse to have sex with Barney (Johnson 45). She is aroused and tells Barney: I dont particularly be intimate sex (Last of the Red Hot Lovers 55). Instead, she leads Barney into a debate about whether there are any fair to middling community in the world. Jeanette asks him if he have in minds death is terrible. This question catches Barneys attention, for it was his intensified sense of death that lead to his desire to have an affair. He says that he does think death is terrible. Jeanette follows up with: You think up you enjoy life?( Last of the Red Hot Lovers 60). Barney responds, I love living. I have some problems with my life, butliving is the best thing theyve come up with so far (Last of the Red Hot Lovers 60). Barney convinces Jeanette that there are some good people in the world. Soon after, he phones his wife so they can meet. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â In Come Blow Your Horn and Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Simon uses character exaggeration to raise conflict and construct a comedy that progresses expeditiously and predictably. In Come Blow Your Horn, the conflict is between the lifestyles of the two brothers and how their father thinks that they should live. The exaggeration of the brothers makes their lifestyles seem very extreme, as is the same concerning their fathers negative attitude toward them. In Last of the Red Hot Lovers, the exaggeration of the Barney outlines conflicts that arise, and the exaggerations of the women he pursues, adds both stress and humor. Also, In Last of the Red Hot Lovers Simon employs exaggeration for thematic enrichment (Geitner 257). The exaggeration of the characters in Simons plays help the conflict, the humor, the evolution of themes, and makes personality traits unawares obvious. These unique elements which he incorporates into his plays convey the theme and make you express feelings in the process. Like many of his plays, in the end of Come Blow Your Horn and Last of the Red Hot Lovers conflict is resolved and they end on a good note. The purpose of a Neil Simon play and the crusade most people see one of Simons work is for the laughter that always comes with the suffer (Patterson 2). Through Neil Simons efforts he is and will hold on one of Americas most popular and prolific playwrights. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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