The playwright's decision to exclude both Rebecca’s father and Sojourner Truth from the play's action may serve to highlight the central conflict between the two main characters, Rebecca and Mama, emphasizing the generational divide in their views on women's rights. By removing these influential figures from the stage, the focus remains on the personal struggles and emotional dynamics between mother and daughter, allowing the audience to engage more deeply with their differing perspectives. Additionally, Sojourner Truth's absence may symbolize the broader historical context of the suffrage movement, suggesting that the fight for rights involved many voices, yet the individual stories of women often got overshadowed.
Sojourner Truth
by Joanna Evans
The fight for suffrage drives a wedge between a spirited young woman and her mother. . . .
Characters
NARRATOR
REBECCA, 17 years old
MAMA, her mother
BEFORE RISE: NARRATOR enters, addresses audience.
NARRATOR: Did you know that women in the United States weren’t allowed to vote until 1920? That’s when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, extending voting rights to all women. If you do your math, you’ll find that women couldn’t vote for nearly 150 years after our nation was created out of the Revolutionary War. . .talk about injustice!
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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
Both Rebecca’s father and Sojourner Truth are influential in the play, but neither of them appears. In 3-5 sentences, draw conclusions about why the playwright did not include these characters in the play’s action.
(4 points)
1 answer
1 answer