One
of my favorite things about this play was the number of contrasts found
throughout it (almost as if it was hinted to in the title). Of those contrasts,
one that really stood out to me was the siblings.
Beyond
the obvious of one being a girl and the other being a boy, these siblings are
the epitome of opposites. Where Charlotte was obsessed with fashion and being
up to date on the latest styles and social trends, Henry was mature enough to
see past the foolishness of it all. He had been to war and had traveled with
the army, and basically, he’d seen some stuff.
Of
the two, obviously Henry was the “better.” He handled himself well, his actions
were more thought out, and he was just all around more mature (I don’t remember
it mentioning if he was older or not, but he seems to be the older of the two,
so the maturity isn’t unexpected). I’m not saying he’s “perfect” by any means,
though. For all of his fancy talk, in the end, he wound up “in love” with a
person he’d just met. On top of that, he seemed to shoot into random tangents
of patriotism.
On
the other hand, Charlotte wasn’t all bad. Sure, she was a flighty, materialist
gossip whose main concern was looking “fashionable,” but she knew where to draw
the line. She was all about playing it up for the boys, but for her, flirting
was a game, and when Dimple took it too far, she reacted appropriately.
Another
aspect of the siblings that stood out to me was what they represented. The
upstanding Henry, who stood up for what was right, didn’t care what others
thought of him, respected women, and loved his country and fellow soldiers
above all else, was a prime example of what the country looked for in its
youths and countrymen. In contrast, Charlotte represented what the country’s
youth (and high society) actually was, a bunch of superficial, morally deviant,
trend followers who were, primarily, looking out for number one.
Even
ending proves this point. The model of what Americans should be like was
rewarded for his honor and patriotism by ending up with his perfect match
(another character who chose to do the right thing over personal happiness),
and those who took part in the trends of the day all ended up alone after being
caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
-Andrea
-Andrea
I agree with you assessment of the Manly siblings but I also think Col. Manly's character wasn't just what America looked for but what Tyler looked for and thought was appropriate. During this time the country was changing and trying to figure out who they were and Colonel Manly is what Tyler hoped would become the norm in America. The flighty, self absorbed Charlotte is, as you said, what Tyler sees as wrong with America and hopes to expose those types of people to themselves in order to shift the character ideal to a more serious personality.
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