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Homework Help: English: Books, Novels & Plays: Periods of Social Change Depicted in Away
by Kathy Thomas
Theatre acts as a medium for audience education and to present the conflicting views at a time of social upheaval. As the late 1960's were a turbulent time in Australian history, Michael Gow's Away has been successfully able to depict and comment on this era in retrospect. Away, written in 1986, presents three heterogenous families who are each struggling with attachment to illusion and each attempt to travel away from their burdens over the Christmas holidays of 1967. However, due to a storm staged by the fairies, each family finds a way back to reality and are "renewed". 1967 saw the liberation of feminism, the onset of the Vietnam War, the beginning of the Age of Aquarius, the breakdown of the family unit, a booming economy and the end of the White Australia Policy. Gow has incorporated many techniques to both encourage and introduce social change in Australia.
Away reflects the tension of the ongoing movement for feminist liberation from the 1960s - 1970s. Gow destabilises the established beliefs of a male-prominent society by presenting the patriarchal views through belittled characters. In Act III Sc 2, Gwen affronts Meg, saying, "No one likes a snide girl, always arguing." Due to the current attitude that females should be considered intelligent equals to men, this insult looses its power and rather acts as a challenge to male views. We see Meg's challenging as a vital component to the characters development, and thus Gwen's insult acts as a barrier for the development of the characters and of the feminist movement. We also see a similar attitude through the Campers. In their petition, they suggest improved cooking facilities, "For when those women folk really feel the need to cook up a storm." (Act III Sc 2) The expansion of education for women and their involvement during the war had raised their expectations past the state of domestic slaves and thus this comment acts as another insult to their movement, presenting the attitude change required in the majority of Australia. It was seen by the feminist movement that "Domesticity was not a satisfactory story of an intelligent woman's life." And thus suggestion that cooking is all that should entail a wife's' holiday is problematised by Gow. Gow presents each of his female characters as strong personalities, willing to confront the overpowering masculinity. Meg is firm in her denial to Tom in Act IV Sc 2 when he commands her to have "lie down" and have "sexual intercourse" with him. This shows her resistance to 'simply lying' down or submitting to male pressure. Gow presents many gendered issues in his text, which encourage the foundation of the feminist movement.
Australia was going through an evolution in its ideals due to the Vietnam War from 1960-1975. The Australian community was deeply divided over the contentious issue of Australian involvement, and this tension is revealed in Away. "Conscription brought the issue of war home," with its true horrors revealed with the introduction of the television set. Rick, the young man on whom Coral projects her dead son, states, "They just pull birth dates out of a hat ... We all watched it on TV". (Act III Sc1) This presents the tension of the social change on society and the impact the war had had on everybody. Gow reflects the tension between societies view on the involvement in Vietnam through the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas. In Act II Sc4, we see Roy's insistence that it was right to "Defend that (high) standard (of living)" contrasted to the evasive reply of Coral's "help me choose a dress." Roy is attempting to justify the war and Coral avoids coming to terms with it. By presenting both characters as uncertain, Gow promotes the societal change to the youthful protesting against the war. Gow reveals the social ideals of Australia change through the presentation of the Vietnam War in this play.
Gow utilised the birth of the Age of Aquarius in his text to promote the concept of nature and peace. During this age, the children of the "baby boom era" were becoming teenagers "ready to change the world, (with) youthful optimism everywhere." The audience can see this through Gow's use of young characters to act as catalysts for change in the play. It is Tom who teaches Coral to walk again, Meg who creates the tension and pressure for Gwen's change and the amateur fairies that bring every character back to reality through their destructive storm. Meg says, in Act II Sc2, "I don't think you should give in for the sake of peace and quiet. I won't" The use of young people to wreak havoc that ultimately leads to restoration reflects the revolts staged by the youth of that era to gain peace. The Age of Aquarius also saw society moving toward a more natural way of living, which is mirrored in the play. The play begins in "garish light" in a school auditorium, yet as the characters develop, they move closer to nature, until, in Act V Sc2 they are seated outside under trees speaking of "The power of nature and its participation in drama." This movement toward nature illustrates society's growing awareness of the environment and its importance. Gow incorporates many images of water as a healing process to reiterate the Aquarius message. In Act IV Sc 1, the audience sees Gwen's 'rebirth' as she swims with Vic in the "warm water." They then return, crying together. This presents the healing powers that water withholds as it has the ability to wash away the bad and cleanse the soul. Away endorses the Age of Aquarius through its ability for the youth to change society.
Gow showed the breakdown of the family unit during the 1960s in his play. The idea of 2.3 children to marriage, a car and a house was slowly being destabilised around this time. Gow makes each of his families consist of a single child and an insecure couple. This presents the change in society's changing attitude to birth and "proper families". The institution of marriage was also beginning to be questioned at this time. Rick, in Act III Sc 3, is seen to be problematising this institution when he says:
I do things I don't understand. I have a job I didn't want. I got married and I can't remember why. I'm going to buy a house and I can't remember why.
This shows that Australia is beginning to question the ingrained concepts of family and what one "should do". Gow encourages the idea of feminist rights by mocking the woman Coral talks to in Act III Sc1. After revealing to Coral that her husband had been sleeping with a 21-year-old girl, she goes on to say "I'm going to have dinner now. With my husband." By having the woman crying as she says this, Gow is presenting the establishment of loyalty to a husband as weak and trivial. Gow depicts the changing family unit through his play cautiously, but allows for development in society's attitudes.
The economy experienced a boom around the 1960s, which was reflected through Away. The characters in Away are caught up in a world of trivialities, where their worth as humans is measured by their holiday destinations, or the amount of income they earn. Gwen portrays this in Act I Sc 2, where she is judging each family on the size of their accommodation. "They shouldn't be going on holidays if they can't afford one." This quote shows understanding for holidays as for the upper class and the contempt she holds for people who are "lesser" than her. 1960 was a decade of affluence, stability and conservatism where around 60% of Australians thought of themselves as middle class. This means more working class families could afford the luxuries of the middle class: private home ownership, private motor vehicle use and widespread use of electrical gadgets. Gwen says, in Act I Sc 2, "We've got a new caravan. Everything in it you could want." This shows Gwen's misunderstanding to the meaning of a holiday and the importance she places on material growth. Gow punishes the material world and economic growth by the destruction of all material possessions in the storm. This shows that Gow values nature and peace of trivial possessions, and, although he does introduce the economic change in society, he does not endorse it.
Away reflects Australia's growing population of immigrants during the 1960-1970s, especially after the decline of the White Australian Policy. It was said in 1964 that migrants had to show 'by appearance, education, upbringing, outlook, mode of dress and way of living, that he is capable of ready integration into the Australian community' This ideal of assimilation is reflected through Gwen, who says in Act I Sc 2, "No one asked them to come out to this country. They have no right to behave any differently." The campers also refer to migrants as "not proper families," that need to be "reminded of the way proper Australian families run a holiday." This shows the belief that migrants should be willing to assimilate to Australian culture. However, as Gow seems to destabilise this belief by the poor presentation of characters that reiterate this principle, the audience are not encouraged to trust these ideals. As the White Australian Policy was only abandoned in 1966, there were little migrants from Asian cultures, yet around 14000 assisted migrants from the UK. However, Harry does take on a Taoistic belief in regard to the outlook to Tom's coming death. He says, "The Chinese don't believe in being too upset when a person dies." This shows that Chinese culture has started to influence some of the Australians. Gow is willing to accept immigrants to Australia, and in perspective through his play, portrays the intolerant as unfavourable.
Gow has projected his opinion of Australian social changes through the construction of characters and language in his play Away. Through depicting society on a miniature level, he is able to either mock the old belief or empower the revolutionised idea. Gow, being a teenager of the 1970s, creates this time to be powerful and significant in the history of Australia and is able to create a deeper meaning of the time in reflection. Gow was able to illustrate many social groups at moments of social change through the utilisation of three diverse families.
Homework Help: English: Books, Novels, and Plays
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