Society: American Way of Life

As Matt states in his post, when The Contrast was written America was just beginning to construct itself an identity. While reading The Contrast, one is able to tell that an American society was much different than the society in Europe based on the reactions of Dimple to such things as the acting in a play and the actions of American citizens. The reactions of those who associated with Dimple to such things as clothing shows even more of how much American and European societies were different.

In Act IV, Dimple says that American actors, “murder comedy and make a farce of tragedy” in New York. He continues to say that he was unable to determine if the play was a comedy or a tragedy due to “the laugh of the horrid creatures round me.” Due to these reactions of Dimple’s, in a European society, the theatre is held to high standards and play are performed by highly trained actors and the audience acts in a professional manner when watching the play. In Act II, Manly’s sister, Charlotte tells Manly that his regimental coat is not fashionable. Due to Charlotte’s affiliation with Dimple, she shows that the fashions of Americans are not the same as those in Europe.

Throughout the play Manly represents the American society. He wears his regimental coat from the war because he has respect for what it stands for and does not believe that America needs to look to Europe for an identity. To me, the actions of Manly and the view of the culture of America at the time makes our society our own. Sure Americans may dress funny, be poor at acting, and act “horrid“ during a play, but Americans loved to drink during this time and taverns were everywhere, whose to say there was not one right across the street from the theater?

Reading this play gave me more information on this time period and made me appreciate our society even more. I like the thought of Americans being seen as silly, drunken, and rugged people by European nations because that is the way we like to live and if you don’t like it, I don’t care.

Manly: A True American

In 1787, when The Contrast was published, America had been removed from the Revolutionary War for four years and the America we know today had not been established yet. As a newly independent nation, America was trying to establish its own identity. I believe that Royall Tyler created the character of Colonel Manly as a true American and wished for those in the audience to be influenced by this man’s character.

Colonel Manly shows the traits of an American throughout the play. In ACT II, scene 1, Charlotte criticizes Manly’s clothing because it is not what society finds acceptable, “your coat looks as if it were calculated for the vulgar purpose of keeping yourself comfortable…now another type of coat is fashionable.” Manly wears the coat so he remembers the brave men who fought in the war and the government they had helped create.

In Act IV, scene 1, Dimple criticizes the amusements of America and says those in Europe are far better. Manly is once again defending his nation against Europe as he had done in war by saying, “I love my country; it has its foibles undoubtedly; some foreigners will with pleasure remark them…we, her [America] children, should blush for them in private, and endeavour, as individuals, to reform them.” I read this as Manly saying that if foreigners find errors in America, we must strive to correct them and show the world that no nation is superior to our own.

I believe that Tyler wrote this play as a way to make the citizens of America more patriotic. True Americans must be like Colonel Manly and honor the soldiers who gave their lives fighting in the Revolutionary War and not make it their goal to criticize the faults of their country, but identify those faults and fix them in an attempt to make this great nation better. I believe that Tyler created the characters of Charlotte and Dimple as a way to show what happens to Americans who are not fully detached from Europe. They become selfish, evil, manipulative, and become blind to the greatness of their own country.