Daily Archives: March 4, 2014

Intimate Apparel

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Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel was pretty interesting to me. The issues that women faced in the play was pretty similar to issues that woman face today. Obviously the issues are not going to be exactly the same, being that the play takes place in 1905 and its 2014. One thing that I found to be similar was the fact that Ester wants to find a guy and she is getting older. Woman today are like Ester in that way because Ester has been working since she was seventeen and she really has no time to meet guys. Then when she gets the letter, she is hesitant about it.

Another way that the play is like the world today is because some women cant have kids like Mrs. Van Buren thought. I think it was probably more important to have kids back then than it is now, but women still face that problem today. Actually I’ve been hearing about women and their inability to have children for a very long time. I suppose it was a bigger problem back then because there are suppose to be ways around it today, which is a bit weird because it seems very unnatural.

Another thing is how insecure woman can be about themselves. For example, How Ester thought she wasn’t good looking enough, but thought Mrs. Van Buren was beautiful. Even Mrs Van Buren questioned it when Ester told her. This is interesting because I guess this is a bit of a timeless problem because most women will never really be content with themselves. It sometimes doesn’t even have to do with the way you look. Its just kind of mental sometimes.

Another issue is sexism. The issue was most likely a bigger issue back then because of the time period, but we still see it today. I actually don’t think that men and women will ever be seen as completely equal.

 

Accoutrement

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Accoutrement

Noun

Definition – An accessory item of clothing or equipment , usually used in plural

www.webstermerriam.com

” No, No if this is what you made for that singer. It is what I want , alright Im coming out. Oh God , I look ridiculous, and I’m behaving absolutely foolishly, but I am not sure what else to do. Look at me I have spent a fortune of feathers and every manner of accoutrement. They have mentioned absolutely splendid things about me in the columns”

Mrs. Van Buren was second guessing her decision on what to wear. This outfit seemed to be important to her. I feel that she thought her behavior was affected by the way that she was dressed. So that Mrs. Van Buren felt more comfortable in her Lingerie, she dressed it up with feathers and other accessories. Though this was not the outfit that she preferred, Mrs. Van Buren knew that this would get her the attention that she wanted.

Now and Then

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I actually enjoyed reading Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage. This play makes me think that life and relationships are not much different now than they were in the early1900’s. Esther who was a seamstress for Upper and Lower Manhattans women who lived in the night life puts me in the mind of the independent women in today’s society . Esther needed a stepping stone on the way to pursuing her long term goal to open a beauty Salon, but was sidetracked In the interim. Nottage to me depicts an old time picture from a new story told time and time again. it seems to me that men were sexist in those days as we see some men to be nowadays. One thing that will remain the same is a woman’s sensitive  side and ability to love . Based on some of the conversations In the play, women then did not know their worth. Esther was told that her face didn’t matter but that men were only interested in her body. It is interesting to me that despite the struggles of African Americans at that time, dreams are real. It was very easy for Esther to deny herself the opportunity of accomplishing her dreams , due to her being blinded by love.  Intimate apparel differs from the world today in several ways. Although illiteracy still exist it is more rampant n 1905 which this play was based in. Education and resources are more available in today’s society. Women in today’s society are respected more for their independence although we are still fighting the battle for equality.

This play had several different issues which made it a little difficult to channel in in one of them. There were issues of self esteem, racial issues, class issues, and issues of the struggling African American woman. I would say that reading it as a play made it a little more difficult for me to understand at first because it was outside of the normal story which is narrated.

HEy ,, Im Having a propblem finding our assinments on the cite

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I am also having an issue retrieving our last reading this open lab thing is for time but I think we should take at least 15 out of class to go over the cite and learn how to use it properly im currently at the student computer room, and no one here is too great at using the open lab either.. see you guys Thursday I will let you guys know if anything changed

Proffessions for Woman

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The writer in this reading was stating her opinion of woman professionals in our society. The writer explains that just because woman have more opportunity’s  in the work force, than in the past it doesn’t necessary mean that woman are actually equal to men. In her particular situation she is a writer who faces the issues of sexism in her line of work. She refers to an angel who she kills, which is the angel within herself, the angel is the conscious voice in her mind that try’s to prevent her from writing things that would not come from the idealistic  woman society tells her she should be, the angel is a warm woman who is sheltered in her home a woman with no voice or strong opinion, she had to kill the thought of this “angel of a woman” so that she can write freely without concern or shame. Woman are not allowed to think or say certain things, there’s  an invisible code of moral that has been placed upon woman since the beginning of time , being a writer is one of the best ways one can express themselves freely , the writer felt as if she could not do her job as well because of her inner woman, this angel of a woman kept getting in the way, she then had to kill her; remove the angel  out of her thoughts,  she then dosent have to feel as if her writing has  boundaries because she is a woman.

Esther’s Dream

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The play “Intimate Apparel”, by Lynn Nottage takes us back to 1905, where  Esther, a 35 year old African American is a talented seamstress, whose clients range from pampered Fifth Avenue society wife Mrs. Van Buren, who hates her life, to a prostitute named Mayme who could have been a successful pianist but instead she sells herself.  All Esther wants is a good man to marry. She finds herself unattractive.  On one side there is man who she married meeting through letters and on the other side there is this charming, sensitive man but his religion and traditions turns Esther’s love into nothing but a dream.

Through this play script Lynn Nottage touches on issues of race, women’s sense of worth, and the struggle against compromising one’s dreams.  Plays explore life through storytelling and acting. It becomes entertaining when performing and visual act comes together. Reading a play script is different than reading a narrated story. A play script consists almost entirely of dialogue. This helped me to engage and to be alert by going into a certain character’s world. I found myself become a part of the whole experience like watching a movie.

Also, through this play Lynn Nottage helped me explore questions like How do we love? How do we find happiness by also looking at themes like religion and traditions.  Each character is boxed into certain excepted norm of what their role is in the society and their struggle to be heard.  For example Mr. Marks who owns the store where Ester buys fabrics. He is an observant Jew who respects old world traditions, but his affection for his favorite customer is obvious.  “It isn’t often that something so fine and delicate enters the store,” he says, referring to a particular fabric but perhaps meaning Esther herself. Their love, obviously, can never be.

I felt like Lynn Nottage uncovered and interpreted her past and present through characters by this play. It helped us to enter the world of the play writer. Although set in 1905, Esther and her world speak to our everyday struggles like traditions, religion, race, self worth and one’s dreams.