'The Man of Mode' - Post 07

Classical Theatre Performance Assignment –

‘The Man of Mode’ or, ‘Sir Fopling Flutter’

Tuesday 23^rd – Thursday 25^th February 2016

Character Study

Name – Harry Bellair (Young Bellair)

Age – 25 [Born at the end of the English Civil War, 1651]

Hometown – Hampshire Countryside [Extracted from Act III, Scene 2, Page 22: “What a dreadful thing ‘twould be to be hurried back to Hampshire?” – Young Bellair, admitting he prefers the countryside to the city.]

Relationships – Old Bellair (Father) – Lady Townley (Aunt) [Extracted from Act I, Scene 1, Page 12: “I am commanded by my father to meet him at my aunt’s this very afternoon”.] – Emilia (Lover/Wife) – Dorimant and Medley (Best Friends)

Hobbies – Attending the Theatre [I devised the scenario where the theatre was where he met Emilia] – Spending Time with his Friends [As seen through his attitude/relationships with Dorimant and Medley] – Drinking [As seen in Act IV, Scene 2 the drunken scene with Bellair, Medley, and Sir Fopling] – Singing [As seen in Act IV, Scene 1, Page 41: Singing ‘Landlord Fill the Flowing Bowl’].

Dislikes – His Family/Father’s Reputation

Objective – To marry Emilia (the woman he loves) [Young Bellair and Emilia conclude the play with their marriage in Act V, Scene 2: “How say you, sir?  Is this your wedding-day?” – Old Bellair.  “It is, sir.” – Young Bellair].

Hot Seating

     To put our understanding of both the play and our characters we devised a ‘Hot Seating’ session involving improve exercises. 

     Our first task was to bring in an object.  The object had to have a significant meaning to our character; whether the object had a significant meaning to our character’s motivation, objective, or personality it was up to us, and using our improvisation skills we would have to answer any and all questions concerning our object in character.  This is what I achieved:

What was the object? – A Handkerchief

What does the object mean to Young Bellair? – The handkerchief, to Bellair, represents the secret love between him and Emilia.  It was given to him by Emilia, after they first met at the theatre.  With their love being secret, Young Bellair always carries the handkerchief to remind him where his heart belongs, and it gives him courage to stand tall and take his father’s verbal abuse.

Why did I choose this object? – I personally pictured Young Bellair and Emilia first meeting would have been at the theatre watching a re-telling of William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’.  One crucial element of symbolism in ‘Othello’ is the handkerchief; in the play Othello gives his wife a handkerchief to symbolize their love for each other.  However, when Othello finds the handkerchief in the possession of another man he feels betrayed, believing his wife cheated on him, causing a great tragedy.  That is what I wanted to achieve with this handkerchief.  After seeing ‘Othello’ together and falling in love Emilia gives Young Bellair her handkerchief and he uses it in the same manner of representing their love.  Plus I imagined Young Bellair to be a passionate and loyal young man, so he would have taken the handkerchief swearing to Emilia he will love no woman but her; thereby enhancing their relationship and his character’s motivation.  

What kind of questions was I asked?

-          Why does Young Bellair keep the handkerchief? – to remind himself that his heart belongs to Emilia.

-          Does the handkerchief have an effect on his relationship with his father? – yes, because Old Bellair desires to marry Emilia as well, it causes more tension between the father and son, but the handkerchief gives Young Bellair courage as he knows not to be a boy all his life and stand for what he loves.