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... The Ham Funeral - Patrick White.
"White is concerned with large themes of spiritual growth. Using the theatrical conventions of modern expressionism allows him the freedom to explore such themes"
Discuss. ... It refers specifically to that part of Drama and Theatre which allows Playwrights, such as Patrick White, to give expression to inner experience by use of symbolic representation and stylisation. ... Most of Whites work is concerned with the larger theme of spiritual growth and The Ham Funeral is no exception. ... Whites writing of The Ham Funeral in 1947 showed a pre-cursive move toward expressionism in Drama which was not to be realized until 1961 and its first showing at the Adelaide Festival. The strict moral attitude of the postwar 50s was ending and the realism that had its heyday in Lawler and Seymour was being usurped by this new wave of Drama, with White at its forefront. The Ham Funeral received mixed reviews at the festival; it seemed the public were not quite ready for this shift from realism. Taking the idea from "The Dead Landlord", a painting by William Dobell, White has transferred his own journey of spiritual growth onto the stage through The Ham Funeral.
White states that when writing a non-naturalistic play the main problem is to "project a highly introspective character on the stage without impeding dramatic progress. ... His aim is achieved through symbolizing the characters as either associated with earthly and earthy things, such as Alma and Will Lusty in the basement, or those on a more spiritual plane, such as the girl figure or anima. ... Resembling the Ham to be served in the wake, Will is a monochromatic figure, resplendent in his underwear, with a hideous wen on one cheek. ...
The anima, or girl, is portrayed as an ethereal innocent her white dress. ... White-faced and hideous, rude and unsolicitous, "they become the landladys inner mirror, to her what the anima is to the young man" (Akerholt 1988, p.26)
Not only are the characters a representation of growth, the entire set of Whites play is evocative of the inner workings of mans brain; the central stairway can be likened to the cerebral cortex, the first floor and basement comparable to the higher and lower workings of the mind. ... This intentional segregation of the planes of spiritualism and base human nature shown in the set are consistent with the main theme of the Ham Funeral, that of spiritual growth, for in order to show growth, one must first show where the ideals stem from.
Approximate Word count = 1959
Approximate Pages = 7.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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