• How does the language each character uses reflect their personality and the back story that they represent? Use evidence and analysis to support your interpretation.

The language of each character has reflected their backgrounds and characteristics. For example, Gret always uses single-word sentences as respond, showing that she is uneducated as a village woman. Besides, Griselda, who married the prince, has a very gentle but tone, especially towards the others’ questioning about her husband: She is very determined about her role and duty, which we can see by her emphasis on ‘of course he was normal, he was very kind’ and ‘of course a wife must obey her husband’.

• What is the effect of Churchill using interruptions and simultaneous speech in this Act?

The interruptions and simultaneous speech created a chaotic effect suggesting how strong these women wanted to express themselves as most of them have been oppressed by the men for a long time, and the dinner is their only chance to express their real emotions and thoughts.

• What is the effect on the reader of the way that the scene ends? Why do you think Churchill has ended the scene in this way?

The scene ends with a few descriptions about the women’s actions, which shows their feelings towards themselves: Nijo is ‘laughing and crying’, while the contrast between laugh and cry highlights her misery and her ups and downs. ‘Joan gets up and is sick in a corner’, suggesting that even a woman as strong as Joan, who usually thinks like a man, is feeling miserable towards the women’s stories. These stories somehow reflect her own experiences as well. Churchill has ended the scene in this way to create a sombre tone for the play, emphasising the misery in these women’s stories.

• What is interesting about the character of the Waitress in this Act? How is she presented? What do you think Churchill wants to show us by using this character?

The character of waitress is presented throughout the whole scene, interrupting the conversations and serving the dishes. This sudden interruption makes the audiences shifting their moods constantly from sad and miserable to feeling a sense of ridiculing tone. I think through this character, Churchill wants the audiences to think subjectively and rationally towards the stories but not being bought into the emotions of these stories.