Farya's Reviews > Betrayal
Betrayal
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Betrayal, or I prefer to say “Betrayals� is written on the same theme and subject as the name suggests. In this play, people are not just betraying their lovers and beloveds or even friends; they are at the same time betraying themselves, creating a deceptive reality. It is not easy to say who is the victim in this play. Firstly, we should find who is guilty, and the answer is that everybody is to an extent guilty, so that makes everybody victims, as well. The feeling of lack is the motivation behind all these betrayals and deceptions, so all the characters hide themselves behind masks and play this game of betrayal. Emma lacks the love of her husband, or maybe she is not satisfied with it, so she turns to Jerry being once again disillusioned, and she starts another relationship with Casey. We cannot blame Robert for Emma’s feeling of incompleteness, but we should blame him for putting up with the affair and living along with it, betraying himself, his wife, and his friend by being indifferent (not to mention that he was also having an affair). This play is full of ambiguities and unanswered questions and the audience is not presented with the dramatic irony, so it is difficult to judge the characters without putting one’s self in their shoes and playing along. For me, Jerry’s motivation for starting the relationship is of the same vagueness. It can be both lust and jealousy, or fear of losing a dear friend since Emma has appeared as the wife of Robert. Jerry is also committing the same mistake of Robert; indifference to his wife, and it is funny that he cares for his reputation regarding Robert, not his wife, so this may illustrate that he cares more for his friendship than his wife (his wife is also seeing someone). Judith is also guilty. She is not physically present in the scenes, and she is always busy, doing her profession which may show her lack of importance in Jimmy’s life; she is not really trying to communicate with Jerry. Gaps exist in real life and one cannot completely fill them. According to Jacques Lacan, we are in search of the “objet petit a(s)�, but this quest is futile, we never can feel complete the moment we are detached from our mother (Jerry and Robert also refer to the detachment from the womb), so everybody is trapped in this game of wild goose chase to play the culprit and the victim. There is no winning in this game of life. The best way may be accepting these shortcomings and dealing with them. However, the characters in this play are running from reality and denying the truth.
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Reading Progress
April 21, 2020
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Started Reading
April 21, 2020
– Shelved
April 21, 2020
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Finished Reading