Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essays

Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essays Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essay Cuba by Liz Lochhead Essay Essay Topic: Literature One of the moments I find most successful dramatically is the moment when Barbara Proctor, during a Poetry lesson, starts crying when she is told to read aloud the last stanza of the poem La Belle Dame sans Merci. The poem has such a powerful impact on her that she cannot contain her fear and anxiety about the situation the world is going through. La Belle Dame sans Merci seems to affect Barbara more than anything else in the story. This may be because of several reasons but, above all, the fact is that the poem deals with a delicate issue: death. This may be the powerful connection which deeply affects her, death and the nuclear threat. One of the poems possible interpretations is that there is a knight who falls in love with a fairy but, against his hope that the woman loves him too, he is betrayed by her, causing his death. Placed in Barbaras context, this may be thought as if Barbara really hopes that there is not going to be a war, but in the end her hopes are senseless and the war actually takes place; this is what might make her feel terribly scared and unable to control her fear. Another interpretation of the story might be that the knight, lost in thoughts about the mysterious lady, forgets to live the real world and sees nothing in his life but the fairy, who finally disappears from his life, or perhaps, he disappears from the world, consumed by his desire to live a fantasy life. This can be connected to Barbaras settings since probably she cannot see anything ahead of her only the war, and what consequences it might bring. This is showed previously on the play; when Barbara says if there is a next week, which is evidence that she cannot see the world in the distant future, without a war; her whole life seems to hang by the possibility of a nuclear war. The poem appears to make Barbara understand what death really is, as she can see a concrete example, though imaginary. One last interpretation of the story might be that the knight falls in love with somebody he cannot understand at all: in language strange she said and which he is unfamiliar with: took me to her elfin grot. Barbaras situation seems to be the opposite of this: she is afraid of something that he fully understands and is familiar with the consequences it might bring. It seems like the poem makes her realise how serious is the worlds situation, and how she might not get out alive. I find this moment very effective because it is an excellent way to place Barbaras inevitable outbreak in a way that the reader can understand what she is feeling at the moment, because it compares a fantastic tale and a solid reality which have one topic in common. If Barbara had started crying when, for instance, she was alone with Bernadette, it would not have the same effect, as the reader may not value her sudden fear. The fact that Barbara manages to express her fear to the whole class is also very shocking and effective at the same time, because she is able to break the ice and talk without worrying about what others may say, as it seems that they all feel the same, even the teacher looks as if he is scared. The peak of this shocking moment is when Barbara partially recovers and puts into words her fear: Im frightened. Im frightened there is going to be a war. The reader can imagine what the atmosphere of the class is: complete silence, paralysed students. It is very effective the fact that all the students are expecting to hear the teachers opinion, as all the previous teachers do not take sides in the situation, but give them a neutral point of view. The authors choice of including this particular poem is suitable for the storys plot and for the setting of the Cuban missile crisis. It places the real conflict in an imaginary situation and, although the tale can be interpreted in several ways, it is very much related to death, something which concerns Barbara, her classmates and the teacher, who does not seem to know what to do.