The Window Between
Rachel Smith
George Bernard Shaw seems to focus on a sense of confinement, specifically within the home, in his plays. The stagecraft that Shaw chooses to use demonstrates this sense of confinement by restricting the setting of the plays and adding an element of literal confinement. For instance, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Major Barbara, and Heartbreak House, at least half, if not more, of each play takes place in the home so as to show the sharp contrast with the “free world” outside the home. The characters themselves realize that they are constricted, and find ways throughout the play to let themselves go in order to reveal their true characters as the plays progress and they are placed in settings outside the four walls of a house. While Shaw’s plays do take advantage of this possibility that the “box set” allows, he takes this concept much further. The households of Shaw’s plays are limiting and confining to the characters, physically, emotionally, and sexually, while outside these primary settings they are able to be unrestricted, their desperation for the latter shown through the use of window imagery.
Shaw demonstrates the confinement of the characters in his plays by limiting the settings of these plays and incorporating the setting of the household. In limiting the setting, particularly of the beginnings of the plays, we are only allowed to get a glimpse of how the characters act amongst one another in the home. Despite the fact that many of the characters of these plays live elsewhere (not in the home where the scene is taking place), during these scenes it is the only way we as viewers are able to observe them, and therefore we do not understand all aspects of their lives. The confinement of the setting is illustrative of the confinement that the characters face because of their roles within their respective plays and their specific groups of characters. For instance, Ellie, in the play Heartbreak House, is first ignored upon setting foot in the home that is central to the play. When asked what she is waiting for, she says, “waiting for somebody to shew some signs of knowing that I have been invited here” (Heartbreak 34). This introduction of Ellie in the beginning pegs her character as one that does not necessarily fit in with all the other characters. She already can be seen as an outsider to the rest of the group, indicating a sense of physical confinement that surrounds her. Additionally, in the play Major Barbara, we are introduced to Stephen when he comes into the action of the play, confronting his mother and stating “either treat me as a child, as you always do, and tell me nothing at all; or tell me everything and let me take it as best I can” (Major 5). By introducing Stephen through this argument, we become aware of the emotional confinement he feels. He is unable to assert himself and his opinions because his mother treats him as though he is a child and not a full- grown man. Living within his childhood home makes it even more difficult for him to stand up to his mother, as she is still his caregiver. This imprisonment delves deeper though, tackling societal issues regarding the sexes as well. The character of Vivie, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, is confined due to her role as a woman, but is trying desperately to tear down this wall of confinement. The way she adamantly pushes for a profession shows just how restricted women were. Vivie harshly says to her mother, “everybody knows my reputation, my social standing, and the profession I intend to pursue,” declaring her deep desire to be “free,” and then follows with I know nothing about you” (Mrs. Warren 243). By stating this, Vivie makes it clear that women’s roles were considered insignificant. She also makes it apparent that she intends to change the idea that women’s roles were only within the home. These various forms of imprisonment are used to contrast the characters’ freedom at the end of the plays.
It isn’t until much later, in many of the plays, that we are able to observe the characters outside the confines of the houses in the beginnings of the plays, and thus also to observe how this alleviation of physical, emotional, and sexual restraints coincides with their alleviation of other constraints as well. Ellie, whose relationships had been considered throughout the entire play, Heartbreak House, is only able to admit that she never really intended to marry Mr. Magnan when she is outside in the garden (Heartbreak 107). She is finally able to make a conclusive decision about her relationships and which ones will progress in the future, ultimately choosing Captain Shotover as her partner. Similar to Ellie, Stephen casts aside the emotional constraint that previously held him back. Towards the end of Major Barbara he leaves Cusins with “don’t let anything I have said about right and wrong prejudice you against this great chance in life” (Major 78). By stating this we see that Stephen is leaving behind the “childish” ways he knew within his childhood home and is developing new ways of thinking. No longer is there a strict right and wrong, but instead there is a reach beyond very simple morals unto something much larger. Stephen is now able to cast aside emotion, and formulate his own opinions, instead of regurgitating others’ opinions in order to make decisions. Furthermore, in the last scene of Mrs. Warren’s Profession, no longer is Vivie a prisoner to the ideas surrounding her sex. In the final scene it is evident that Vivie has overcome the preconceived notions regarding sex because she is in a professional setting. She tells Frank in this final scene, “these two days have given me back all my strength and self-possession” (Mrs. Warren 270). She obviously is feeling some sort of freedom in this new work environment, and away from the home. She also declared that she “must be treated as a woman of business, permanently single and permanently unromantic” (274). Her need to elaborate on what it means to be treated as a woman of business highlights the confines of the female sex. Females were thought to be defined by the relationships in which they were a part, a clear form of imprisonment.
In search of freedom from these various forms of confinement, the characters show longing through their interactions with windows of the houses in which the plays are set. The idea of looking through a window suggests an interest and questioning of what is on the other side of it. For instance, Barbara is seen in the middle of Major Barbara “cross[ing] the room to the window and look[ing] out” (Major 60). This action of looking out the window is symbolic of Barbara’s attempt to find answers, even if they won’t just appear in the window. In the play she has just realized that the wealthy, and not God, are the ones who hold the world’s salvation. While she knows that a window does not just whisper an answer in your ear, she knows that the answer only exists outside the four walls of home. Shaw takes advantage of this window symbolism by having the characters perform the action of looking out of the window in some form after becoming even slightly aware of their confinement and/or before they have their breakthrough moments near the end of the play. Kitty Warren of Mrs. Warren’s Profession does an excellent job of demonstrating Shaw taking advantage of this beautiful opportunity. At the start of the play she feels some manner of emotional constraint because she wants Vivie to stay, however, she is being selfish in feeling this way. She pleads with Vivie, “Oh, it’s too horrible to hear you talk like that. You wouldn’t – you couldn’t leave me” (Mrs. Warren 245). By saying this, it is clear that Mrs. Warren believes that she belongs within the home in which she has always lived. She doesn’t even consider the idea of leaving with Vivie. Later, when Vivie is looking out the window in search of freedom, Kitty takes “a perfunctory glance at the scene” (252). By following the lead of her daughter, Kitty begins to show a desire to understand her daughter. With this desire come the beginning steps toward freedom from emotional ties as well. When Vivie bestows judgment on her, Kitty tells her to “keep yourself to yourself: I don’t want you” (285). She is separating herself from Vivie, thus Kitty no longer craves having Vivie in her life. She is emotionally free of the stress that connecting with one’s daughter would bring.
In longingly looking through the window for some form of escape, we often run into the character that is searching to literally be outside of the house, and less physically stained. This interaction between character and window is seen immediately when Ellie realizes, because she is being ignored, that she is secluded and alone within the home. She is described in the opening scene of Heartbreak House as “sitting in the window-seat with her body twisted to enable her to look out at the view” (Heartbreak 34). Already, it seems as if she wants to be on the outside of the walls that are keeping her in. In Major Barbara, the more minor character of Sarah similarly uses the window to show her physical longing for something more. We know that Sarah is physically confined to the home because of the fact that she is still financially dependent on her parents. This means she naturally has only a limited amount of freedom, which we see her longing for when she places herself near to the window, in the armchair (Major 51). Placing herself here, we can see that she holds the desire to find a way to excuse herself from this obligation to remaining within the home, which comes in the form of planning to marry Lomax.
Additionally, the scenes by the windows can be used to demonstrate a sense of confinement that some characters feel emotionally, hoping to put distance between themselves and these emotions. For example, Randall, of Heartbreak House, “moves away huffishly towards the windows,” as a result of a sudden awareness of his limitations that exist within the house (Heartbreak 96). By going to the window he is showing that he is trying to escape from this reality that Hector has told him about Lady Utterword, that “it took her years to get to the same point with [Randall] that she got to with [Hector] in five minutes” (95). Randall is in denial about their lack of intimacy that Hector has pointed out to them. He is turning his back to these issues that he faces amongst the group that is cast within the heartbreak house. In a similar manner, Stephen tries to build upon his emotions in order to develop them from the childish ones he has in the beginning of Major Barbara. When speaking with Undershaft, his father, later in the play, “he thrusts his hands in his pockets, and walks away angrily across to the window” (Major 59). This anger that develops in searching for freedom, shows his development from earlier in the play when he is taken as a child. He tells his father that he is “an Englishman and will not hear the Government insulted,” finally standing up for what he believes in (59). He is beginning to use his emotions as a way to assert himself and his beliefs.
Finally, we see deeper meaning in the scenes in which woman use the window as a means of searching for some type of sexual liberation. Case in point, Hessy, who has been characterized as homely and feminine in early scenes of Heartbreak House, “goes to the window to look” (Heartbreak 56). Who is she looking at? Hector, her husband. While women were usually the ones who were kept within the household at the time, this action can be symbolic of Hessy’s wanting of Hector’s freedom. In Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Vivie too uses the window as a means to find a relief for the confinement she feels as a woman. After having a long, revealing talk with her mother, “she draws aside the curtains of the window,” while declaring, “what a beautiful night!” (Mrs. Warren 252). She is coming to terms with the world in which her mother makes a living, and is becoming more open to this world. She understands that her mother did what she had to do, as a woman, to make a life. By pushing aside curtains to look out, it is as if she is seeking to take part in the world, at least through mutual understanding. Contrastingly, near the end of the play, Vivie is cast in her professional setting. We are told “the chimneys of Lincoln’s Inn and the western sky beyond are seen through the window” (268). Although she has what she was seeking as a woman at this point, a profession, we see that this dream lives on. For even outside her window, we are made aware of the professional dominance in the city in which she lives. Outside of her office is only more industry and business, suggesting the future for women.
While Shaw does make a point by emphasizing the confinement that the scenes of his plays offer, the use of window imagery in these plays does more for this idea than what the Ibsen “box set” allows. It is, however, true that the “box set” is important to this imagery though. In Ibsen’s plays “the indoor setting is the direct result of [his] conscious effort to create a realistic illusion” (Tennant 564). This is accurate in that, as humans, the home is where we spend a majority of our time, often making it easy to place the blame of confinement on ourselves. It is, to a degree, natural that we are confined to such a setting. Tennant, in “Ibsen as a Stage Craftsman,” even takes note that Ibsen’s “stages are set with regard to the function of the various units, the doors, windows and pieces of furniture” (568). This is important because with such little setting, props play an even larger role. However, it is Shaw and not the “box set” of Ibsen, which “frequently employs the settings and props for purposes considerably beyond their conventional function of background, context, or mood” (Berst 44). He gives meaning to these windows by forcing the characters of multiple of his plays to interact with them. These interactions shed light on so much more than just the “prison” that the characters seem to be in because of the four walls of the set. Shaw “uses them for ends which are symbolic, ironic, descriptive, or even more notably, he causes them to become participants in the action as visual arguments” (44). The windows of these plays become just as important as the characters themselves, saying to the audience, perhaps, more than what the interaction between two characters might. By showing the longing of the characters for liberation through window imagery, the viewer is able to draw this connection more vividly in their own minds, leaving a great impact than what simply telling us of this longing would have.
Furthermore, by comparing the texts to the adaptations available on film, one can see just how important these stage directions involving windows are, and also how unique and precise they are to Shaw himself. For instance, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, the text very specifically describes Vivie as “draw[ing] aside the curtains of the window” and Kitty giving a “perfunctory glance at the scene” (Mrs. Warren 252). In the film, Vivie, instead of opening a window for air, opens a door (Wise). This gives a completely different connotation to the scene. While the window suggested longing and wanting, a door cannot function symbolically in the same manner. A person could just walk through a door; it represents an opportunity missed, while a window still holds onto the idea of confinement. In Messina’s version of Heartbreak House, there are similar differences. For example, in the scene where Mrs. Hushabye “goes to the window to look” and later Randall “join[s] them at the window,” we lose parts in the film adaptation (Heartbreak 56). In the film, the director chooses to not even show the window, but instead view the characters as they would be looking out at the camera (Messina). When the characters move forward to go out into the garden then, we do not see the disconnect between the home and the outside that Shaw so precisely shows in his stage direction. Also, the play starts with “a young lady, gloved and hated, with a dust coat on, sitting in the window-seat with her body twisted to enable her to look out at the view” (Heartbreak 34). In the film version we lose this. Ellie’s body is not turned to look out at the view, but instead the view is behind her completely, only available to the eyes of the viewer (Messina). This takes away from the analysis of Ellie as uncomfortable within the home that she does not belong in. As viewers we cannot see that she wants out, or that she is an outsider to the home at all. Without following the stage directions Shaw clearly gives, many interpretations of important symbols are lost, as is the case with the windows.
While the “box set” of Ibsen makes it possible for Shaw to set up his plays with characters that feel confined or trapped within the home, but free outside the home, the symbolism that Shaw gives to the windows in the home does much more than what the “box set” allows. Through the interactions between characters and windows, we are able to get a feel for the longing the characters have to experience freedom outside the home, physically, emotionally, and sexually. It is the stage direction of Shaw that allows for these desperations to be seen and felt by readers and/or audiences.
Works Cited
Berst, Charles A. “The Action of Shaw’s Settings and Props.” Shaw Vol. 3 (1983): 41-65. JSTOR. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Messina, Cedric, dir. Heartbreak House. BBC, 1977. Film.
Shaw, George Bernard. Heartbreak House. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1996. Print.
Shaw, George Bernard. Major Barbara. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2002. Print.
Shaw, George Bernard. Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Maryland: Wildside Press, 2009. Print.
Tennant, P. F. D. “Ibsen as a Stage Craftsman.” The Modern Language Review 34.4 (Oct. 1939): 557-68. JSTOR. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Wise, Herbert, dir. Mrs. Warren’s Profession. BBC, 1972. Film.
Shaw demonstrates the confinement of the characters in his plays by limiting the settings of these plays and incorporating the setting of the household. In limiting the setting, particularly of the beginnings of the plays, we are only allowed to get a glimpse of how the characters act amongst one another in the home. Despite the fact that many of the characters of these plays live elsewhere (not in the home where the scene is taking place), during these scenes it is the only way we as viewers are able to observe them, and therefore we do not understand all aspects of their lives. The confinement of the setting is illustrative of the confinement that the characters face because of their roles within their respective plays and their specific groups of characters. For instance, Ellie, in the play Heartbreak House, is first ignored upon setting foot in the home that is central to the play. When asked what she is waiting for, she says, “waiting for somebody to shew some signs of knowing that I have been invited here” (Heartbreak 34). This introduction of Ellie in the beginning pegs her character as one that does not necessarily fit in with all the other characters. She already can be seen as an outsider to the rest of the group, indicating a sense of physical confinement that surrounds her. Additionally, in the play Major Barbara, we are introduced to Stephen when he comes into the action of the play, confronting his mother and stating “either treat me as a child, as you always do, and tell me nothing at all; or tell me everything and let me take it as best I can” (Major 5). By introducing Stephen through this argument, we become aware of the emotional confinement he feels. He is unable to assert himself and his opinions because his mother treats him as though he is a child and not a full- grown man. Living within his childhood home makes it even more difficult for him to stand up to his mother, as she is still his caregiver. This imprisonment delves deeper though, tackling societal issues regarding the sexes as well. The character of Vivie, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, is confined due to her role as a woman, but is trying desperately to tear down this wall of confinement. The way she adamantly pushes for a profession shows just how restricted women were. Vivie harshly says to her mother, “everybody knows my reputation, my social standing, and the profession I intend to pursue,” declaring her deep desire to be “free,” and then follows with I know nothing about you” (Mrs. Warren 243). By stating this, Vivie makes it clear that women’s roles were considered insignificant. She also makes it apparent that she intends to change the idea that women’s roles were only within the home. These various forms of imprisonment are used to contrast the characters’ freedom at the end of the plays.
It isn’t until much later, in many of the plays, that we are able to observe the characters outside the confines of the houses in the beginnings of the plays, and thus also to observe how this alleviation of physical, emotional, and sexual restraints coincides with their alleviation of other constraints as well. Ellie, whose relationships had been considered throughout the entire play, Heartbreak House, is only able to admit that she never really intended to marry Mr. Magnan when she is outside in the garden (Heartbreak 107). She is finally able to make a conclusive decision about her relationships and which ones will progress in the future, ultimately choosing Captain Shotover as her partner. Similar to Ellie, Stephen casts aside the emotional constraint that previously held him back. Towards the end of Major Barbara he leaves Cusins with “don’t let anything I have said about right and wrong prejudice you against this great chance in life” (Major 78). By stating this we see that Stephen is leaving behind the “childish” ways he knew within his childhood home and is developing new ways of thinking. No longer is there a strict right and wrong, but instead there is a reach beyond very simple morals unto something much larger. Stephen is now able to cast aside emotion, and formulate his own opinions, instead of regurgitating others’ opinions in order to make decisions. Furthermore, in the last scene of Mrs. Warren’s Profession, no longer is Vivie a prisoner to the ideas surrounding her sex. In the final scene it is evident that Vivie has overcome the preconceived notions regarding sex because she is in a professional setting. She tells Frank in this final scene, “these two days have given me back all my strength and self-possession” (Mrs. Warren 270). She obviously is feeling some sort of freedom in this new work environment, and away from the home. She also declared that she “must be treated as a woman of business, permanently single and permanently unromantic” (274). Her need to elaborate on what it means to be treated as a woman of business highlights the confines of the female sex. Females were thought to be defined by the relationships in which they were a part, a clear form of imprisonment.
In search of freedom from these various forms of confinement, the characters show longing through their interactions with windows of the houses in which the plays are set. The idea of looking through a window suggests an interest and questioning of what is on the other side of it. For instance, Barbara is seen in the middle of Major Barbara “cross[ing] the room to the window and look[ing] out” (Major 60). This action of looking out the window is symbolic of Barbara’s attempt to find answers, even if they won’t just appear in the window. In the play she has just realized that the wealthy, and not God, are the ones who hold the world’s salvation. While she knows that a window does not just whisper an answer in your ear, she knows that the answer only exists outside the four walls of home. Shaw takes advantage of this window symbolism by having the characters perform the action of looking out of the window in some form after becoming even slightly aware of their confinement and/or before they have their breakthrough moments near the end of the play. Kitty Warren of Mrs. Warren’s Profession does an excellent job of demonstrating Shaw taking advantage of this beautiful opportunity. At the start of the play she feels some manner of emotional constraint because she wants Vivie to stay, however, she is being selfish in feeling this way. She pleads with Vivie, “Oh, it’s too horrible to hear you talk like that. You wouldn’t – you couldn’t leave me” (Mrs. Warren 245). By saying this, it is clear that Mrs. Warren believes that she belongs within the home in which she has always lived. She doesn’t even consider the idea of leaving with Vivie. Later, when Vivie is looking out the window in search of freedom, Kitty takes “a perfunctory glance at the scene” (252). By following the lead of her daughter, Kitty begins to show a desire to understand her daughter. With this desire come the beginning steps toward freedom from emotional ties as well. When Vivie bestows judgment on her, Kitty tells her to “keep yourself to yourself: I don’t want you” (285). She is separating herself from Vivie, thus Kitty no longer craves having Vivie in her life. She is emotionally free of the stress that connecting with one’s daughter would bring.
In longingly looking through the window for some form of escape, we often run into the character that is searching to literally be outside of the house, and less physically stained. This interaction between character and window is seen immediately when Ellie realizes, because she is being ignored, that she is secluded and alone within the home. She is described in the opening scene of Heartbreak House as “sitting in the window-seat with her body twisted to enable her to look out at the view” (Heartbreak 34). Already, it seems as if she wants to be on the outside of the walls that are keeping her in. In Major Barbara, the more minor character of Sarah similarly uses the window to show her physical longing for something more. We know that Sarah is physically confined to the home because of the fact that she is still financially dependent on her parents. This means she naturally has only a limited amount of freedom, which we see her longing for when she places herself near to the window, in the armchair (Major 51). Placing herself here, we can see that she holds the desire to find a way to excuse herself from this obligation to remaining within the home, which comes in the form of planning to marry Lomax.
Additionally, the scenes by the windows can be used to demonstrate a sense of confinement that some characters feel emotionally, hoping to put distance between themselves and these emotions. For example, Randall, of Heartbreak House, “moves away huffishly towards the windows,” as a result of a sudden awareness of his limitations that exist within the house (Heartbreak 96). By going to the window he is showing that he is trying to escape from this reality that Hector has told him about Lady Utterword, that “it took her years to get to the same point with [Randall] that she got to with [Hector] in five minutes” (95). Randall is in denial about their lack of intimacy that Hector has pointed out to them. He is turning his back to these issues that he faces amongst the group that is cast within the heartbreak house. In a similar manner, Stephen tries to build upon his emotions in order to develop them from the childish ones he has in the beginning of Major Barbara. When speaking with Undershaft, his father, later in the play, “he thrusts his hands in his pockets, and walks away angrily across to the window” (Major 59). This anger that develops in searching for freedom, shows his development from earlier in the play when he is taken as a child. He tells his father that he is “an Englishman and will not hear the Government insulted,” finally standing up for what he believes in (59). He is beginning to use his emotions as a way to assert himself and his beliefs.
Finally, we see deeper meaning in the scenes in which woman use the window as a means of searching for some type of sexual liberation. Case in point, Hessy, who has been characterized as homely and feminine in early scenes of Heartbreak House, “goes to the window to look” (Heartbreak 56). Who is she looking at? Hector, her husband. While women were usually the ones who were kept within the household at the time, this action can be symbolic of Hessy’s wanting of Hector’s freedom. In Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Vivie too uses the window as a means to find a relief for the confinement she feels as a woman. After having a long, revealing talk with her mother, “she draws aside the curtains of the window,” while declaring, “what a beautiful night!” (Mrs. Warren 252). She is coming to terms with the world in which her mother makes a living, and is becoming more open to this world. She understands that her mother did what she had to do, as a woman, to make a life. By pushing aside curtains to look out, it is as if she is seeking to take part in the world, at least through mutual understanding. Contrastingly, near the end of the play, Vivie is cast in her professional setting. We are told “the chimneys of Lincoln’s Inn and the western sky beyond are seen through the window” (268). Although she has what she was seeking as a woman at this point, a profession, we see that this dream lives on. For even outside her window, we are made aware of the professional dominance in the city in which she lives. Outside of her office is only more industry and business, suggesting the future for women.
While Shaw does make a point by emphasizing the confinement that the scenes of his plays offer, the use of window imagery in these plays does more for this idea than what the Ibsen “box set” allows. It is, however, true that the “box set” is important to this imagery though. In Ibsen’s plays “the indoor setting is the direct result of [his] conscious effort to create a realistic illusion” (Tennant 564). This is accurate in that, as humans, the home is where we spend a majority of our time, often making it easy to place the blame of confinement on ourselves. It is, to a degree, natural that we are confined to such a setting. Tennant, in “Ibsen as a Stage Craftsman,” even takes note that Ibsen’s “stages are set with regard to the function of the various units, the doors, windows and pieces of furniture” (568). This is important because with such little setting, props play an even larger role. However, it is Shaw and not the “box set” of Ibsen, which “frequently employs the settings and props for purposes considerably beyond their conventional function of background, context, or mood” (Berst 44). He gives meaning to these windows by forcing the characters of multiple of his plays to interact with them. These interactions shed light on so much more than just the “prison” that the characters seem to be in because of the four walls of the set. Shaw “uses them for ends which are symbolic, ironic, descriptive, or even more notably, he causes them to become participants in the action as visual arguments” (44). The windows of these plays become just as important as the characters themselves, saying to the audience, perhaps, more than what the interaction between two characters might. By showing the longing of the characters for liberation through window imagery, the viewer is able to draw this connection more vividly in their own minds, leaving a great impact than what simply telling us of this longing would have.
Furthermore, by comparing the texts to the adaptations available on film, one can see just how important these stage directions involving windows are, and also how unique and precise they are to Shaw himself. For instance, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, the text very specifically describes Vivie as “draw[ing] aside the curtains of the window” and Kitty giving a “perfunctory glance at the scene” (Mrs. Warren 252). In the film, Vivie, instead of opening a window for air, opens a door (Wise). This gives a completely different connotation to the scene. While the window suggested longing and wanting, a door cannot function symbolically in the same manner. A person could just walk through a door; it represents an opportunity missed, while a window still holds onto the idea of confinement. In Messina’s version of Heartbreak House, there are similar differences. For example, in the scene where Mrs. Hushabye “goes to the window to look” and later Randall “join[s] them at the window,” we lose parts in the film adaptation (Heartbreak 56). In the film, the director chooses to not even show the window, but instead view the characters as they would be looking out at the camera (Messina). When the characters move forward to go out into the garden then, we do not see the disconnect between the home and the outside that Shaw so precisely shows in his stage direction. Also, the play starts with “a young lady, gloved and hated, with a dust coat on, sitting in the window-seat with her body twisted to enable her to look out at the view” (Heartbreak 34). In the film version we lose this. Ellie’s body is not turned to look out at the view, but instead the view is behind her completely, only available to the eyes of the viewer (Messina). This takes away from the analysis of Ellie as uncomfortable within the home that she does not belong in. As viewers we cannot see that she wants out, or that she is an outsider to the home at all. Without following the stage directions Shaw clearly gives, many interpretations of important symbols are lost, as is the case with the windows.
While the “box set” of Ibsen makes it possible for Shaw to set up his plays with characters that feel confined or trapped within the home, but free outside the home, the symbolism that Shaw gives to the windows in the home does much more than what the “box set” allows. Through the interactions between characters and windows, we are able to get a feel for the longing the characters have to experience freedom outside the home, physically, emotionally, and sexually. It is the stage direction of Shaw that allows for these desperations to be seen and felt by readers and/or audiences.
Works Cited
Berst, Charles A. “The Action of Shaw’s Settings and Props.” Shaw Vol. 3 (1983): 41-65. JSTOR. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Messina, Cedric, dir. Heartbreak House. BBC, 1977. Film.
Shaw, George Bernard. Heartbreak House. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1996. Print.
Shaw, George Bernard. Major Barbara. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2002. Print.
Shaw, George Bernard. Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Maryland: Wildside Press, 2009. Print.
Tennant, P. F. D. “Ibsen as a Stage Craftsman.” The Modern Language Review 34.4 (Oct. 1939): 557-68. JSTOR. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Wise, Herbert, dir. Mrs. Warren’s Profession. BBC, 1972. Film.