There has always been controversy between the distinction of what is right and what is wrong, this is called morality. The play "The Shape of Things" by Neil Labute is a great example of this controversy, distinguishing right from wrong. From our point of view, every character acts incorrectly throughout the play; but who are we to judge what is right and what is wrong if our perception of morality is merely a prejudice that has been taught to us. Throughout the play every character acts incorrectly, all of them violate the core principles of morality, but who is the most lacking in morals?
From all the characters the one I would say lacks morality the most is Evelyn. At the beginning she is shown as a lovely woman, she is sweet and seems to care about Adam. She gets into Adam's head in such a way that he changes completely just to make her happy. She lied about everything, from the begging to the end. Evelyn made Adam loose weight, change his hair, she made him change the way he dressed, get nose surgery and get contact lenses. Not only she manipulated him to change his physical appearance, she also made him change his morals. Her actions made him become a liar, she made him choose her over his friends in order for them to keep dating. At the end she exposed him, she gave out a speech in public telling all she had done with him, she basically told everyone Adam was her puppet and she did with him whatever she wanted. All of her actions were morally incorrect because she is using a human being as if it was a thing, just a mere object. She breaks every principle of morality by using Adam for her project, because the end doesn't justify the means.
Another character that was morally incorrect was Adam. He was incorrect by letting one's opinion change him, he let someone "shape" him and lost all of his morals for her. He agreed to everything she said without thinking about it. He became a liar to keep her and to keep his friends as well, but at the end he ended up choosing her over them. I would say the character who is the most lacking in morals was Evelyn. There is no way what she did can be considered as normal, or human. She messed up another person's life just to get a good grade, to prove a point. She ruined Adam, she broke his heart, made him lose his friends, and also ruined Philip's and Jenny's marriage.
The TV manipulates us all the time. Peers manipulate us all the time ("peer pressure"). I shiny object can distract us. Are those things evil? Isn't Eve just a shiny object to Adam? In exchange for pleasure, he does whatever she says. He doesn't bother to get to know her--if he'd actually asked real questions and asked to meet her parents, etc., the game would have been up. Since the posts are supposed to be 4 paragraphs, you could have dug into this side of Adam a bit more.
ReplyDeleteThe irony in all of this is Eve didn't try to get Adam to do drugs or rob a bank or quit school. She altered him to fit society's idea of beauty. The "damage" she did wasn't damage at all, unless you count the hurt feelings. But all relationships involve hurt feelings at some point.
But it is troubling that Eve could be so detached from hurting Adam so badly because she wanted to make great art and was uncompromising in trying to make it (not interested in the "Ethic of Caring").
Any way, I hope we can agree Labute's play is great art--it is uncomfortable, makes us think, and brings to light something that beneath the surface. I think the strong female character is an added bonus. I suspect if Eve was a guy and Adam was a girl, we'd take less issue with the manipulation that went on.