Will Sabina be disciplined?
We have not read very far into Thorton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, yet, I have already been questioning many things. The Skin of Our Teeth is evidently a work from the existentialist movement. Through the postponing of the end of the world and the talking dinosaurs, we see the existentialist concepts of unnatural society and and irrationality. While studying the maid, Sabina, one underlying concept that existentialism takes into consideration stuck out to me—the importance of personal responsibility and discipline. It is clear that Sabina lacks responsibility and discipline. She does not do her chores as a maid such as keeping a fire lit, showing her lack of responsibility. Also, Sabina is clearly a mistress of Mr. Antrobus. Mrs. Antrobus addresses this to Sabina, who justifies her actions by saying, “but you’re not a beautiful woman, Mrs. Antrobus, and that’s the God’s truth” (Wilder 15). Here, we see Sabina’s lack of discipline. If personal responsibility and discipline is crucial in this existentialist book, will Sabina soon pay for her lacking of these traits?
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ReplyDeleteI agree in what you have observed in Sabina’s character. In many cases, Sabina repeatedly shows lack of discipline in her actions. Not only does Sabina show this irresponsibility in not following up with her chores, but in her constant interruptions during the play. At random times, Sabina stops acting in character and expresses her true feelings about the play to the audience. She either states how much she dislikes a part of the play or refuses to finish acting out a scene. This action shows how carefree she is. Furthermore, these actions ultimately contradict the existentialist criteria of discipline being crucial.
ReplyDeleteIn my reading The Skin of Our Teeth, I have realized that this attitude is also exposed in other characters such as Henry and Gladys. In the first Act of the play, both the Antrobus children are punished for their disobedient actions. Gladys is violently smacked by Mrs. Antrobus for wearing lipstick while later in the act Henry attempts to cast a stone at another boys head. Even Mrs. Antrobus is caught manifesting her lack of responsibility, when she lies to Mr.Antrobus after he asks how the children have been. She says, “Well, I must say, they’ve been good as gold. I haven’t had to raise my voice once. I don’t know what’s the matter with them” (Wilder 28). This makes me question if the underlying concept of personal responsibility and discipline are as important as we may think. Or maybe, the disobedient nature of the characters could be outlining another concept of existentialism; human free will. This concept expresses that we are free to make our own choices and are prepared to take the responsibilities that come along with this power. As demonstrated in the play, the characters take the power of free will to their advantage. Therefore, I feel that it is necessary to read deeper into the characters actions. Are they acting in a disobedient manner or merely embracing their human free will? I believe that with the outlandish actions of the characters Thornton Wilder is portraying this alternative theme of existentialism which may at first, not be apparent to the reader.