Question

Sojourner Truth bt Joanna Evans
Both Rebecca's father and Sojourner Truth are influential in the play, but neither of them appears. In 3 short sentences, draw conclusions about why the playwright did not include these characters in the play's action.

Answer 1

Their absence keeps the focus on how other characters react and are shaped by these figures rather than on the figures themselves.
Offstage they operate as symbols—Rebecca’s father as patriarchal authority and Sojourner Truth as a moral and political ideal—allowing audience interpretation.
Not portraying them directly also avoids problematic historical representation and uses memory and absence as deliberate dramatic tools.