Category Archives: Lynn Nottage

Esther’s Voice: Feminist Manifesto

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Women are brave. Women are visceral. Women now support families on their own. Gone is the time when men were a necessity in a household—they may be desired, but they are not fundamental. Not anymore.

Women out there: be independent. It’s not easy, it’s true; but that cannot keep you from trying. It should be natural, the daily struggle. Both proving to yourself you can have control over your finances, and going after your dreams should happen seamlessly. What other option do you have? Depending on them? Men? No.

Be patient.

Women don’t have quite the same social rights as men. Women don’t make the same money as men. Women don’t receive the same praise as men.

But be patient.

Don’t forget: women should have control over their lives. No one’s to say what they should or shouldn’t do, or how they should behave. Women have to be ladylike? Veto.

Yes, people want love. A woman may want to find a man to call her own. She should not trust him blindly, though. She can’t give him all she’s got—don’t be a fool. She should find someone who treasures her. She should pursue love with a person who sees who she is and appreciates her for that.

Be careful. Women of this world, chances are: the right sweetheart for you is not the first one who crosses your way—possibly not even the second one. Take your time to analyze the situation. Get to know the other person, but—most importantly—get to know YOURSELF. Don’t give your heart away just so you’re not alone anymore: it’s not worth it. Trust me; it is not worth it.

Work. Work hard. Have a life plan. Have dreams—they will keep you going when things get rough. Things will eventually get out of hand, but don’t forget:

You, woman, are brave. You, woman, are visceral. You, woman, can do it—all of it.

——

Manifesto Justification

The manifesto was written with the imagined voice Esther, from Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, would have after the story was finished being told. In the play, the main character went through some life-changing episodes that made her revise previous decisions in her journey. The story starts out with Esther being a 35-year-old African American woman who is single and sews undergarments for other women for a living. It takes place in 1905 New York City, where race is a bigger segregation factor than nowadays.

Just for the fact that she is a woman of color supporting herself in the big city, it is possible to see that Esther is a strong person. After a while, she is contemplated with a man sending letters to her—he is a stranger. Even being illiterate, Esther finds a way of communicating with that man for months, until she decides to marry him. She first meets her soon-to-be husband on the day they get married. From that moment on, she is faced with regrets.

The letters’ cursive led Esther into thinking he would be something he wasn’t, while he didn’t even write them—he was also illiterate. After that, she discovers he cheated on her. He also deceives her into giving him all the money she had saved throughout almost two decades. Here’s a part of the manifesto that is inspired on this Esther’s experience: “Be careful. Women of this world, chances are: the right sweetheart for you is not the first one who crosses your way—possibly not even the second one. Take your time to analyze the situation. Get to know the other person, but—most importantly—get to know YOURSELF. Don’t give your heart away just so you’re not alone anymore: it’s not worth it. Trust me; it is not worth it.” This may sound jaded, and maybe it is, but Esther had to create an armor around her heart to protect her.

The manifesto contains statements and pieces of advice Esther would give to other women. The end of “Intimate Apparel” portrays Esther leaving her husband and moving on with her life. She knows she doesn’t need a man. She may want one, but she doesn’t need one, as exemplified on the manifesto: “Gone is the time when men were a necessity in a household—they may be desired, but they are not fundamental. Not anymore.”

The manifesto ends with a positive tone, reminding other women that they are capable of achieving their goals: “You, woman, are brave. You, woman, are visceral. You, woman, can do it—all of it.” That’s what she gets from her experience of being in an abusing marriage: she’s still strong and capable of going on with her life.

Intimate Apparel : Play

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In “Intimate Apparel”, by Lynn Nottage took place in 1905 where we come across an African American woman named Esther. Esther is something now in days we call as a hopeless romantic, she is 35 years old and one of her most important dreams is to have a good man by her side which she will marry and have a life with. Throughout the play we noticed that her self-esteem as a woman is not very high. Esther suffers from self-confidence were she find herself to be unattractive and old. She believes that this is one of the reasons why she still hasn’t found a good man based on what she thought she looked. We can relate this in today’s world where appearance seem to be more important that the human-being itself. Many women now in days are never satisfied by the way they look based on what society has made them believe what characteristic a “beautiful women” should have , for example; beautiful hair, nice body, perfect skin and so on.

Women are always being in competition with other women in who is looking better, who is wearing the latest fashion and who have a better life etc. When in reality these things shouldn’t really matter everyone is unique in their own way no one should never feel less of a person than anyone else because at the end they are both people. I think many women in today’s world live their life based on what others think of them, just like Esther. Esther believed that because she was in her thirties the chance of her having her own family were very limited and that’s why she only focused so much on her job as a seamstress. Another question I ask myself is why Esther felt as she the urgency to have a man by her side? Did women back them were looked down if they weren’t married by a certain age? I can relate this in today’s world because of course everyone in one point of their life will like to find someone to share their life with, a person that will be there for them when no one is, a person that they call a soul mate but what’s the rush? Now in days many people will decide to be in a relationship with each other for all the wrong reasons without really spending time and effort in to knowing who the person really is. Even worst many enter a relationship without evening knowing who they are THEMSELVES.

One of the major reason why I believe there is a lot of broken homes now in days. In this play we see that Esther meets George through letters. Can we really get to know a person throughout ink and paper? How can we know if they are being sincere or not? When Esther marries George he turns out to be the total opposite of who she “thought” he was. He ended up being a manipulative that took advantage of her wanted to find true love to take her saving and use her hard work in useless things.

Intimate Apparel

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Questions:

  • what’s going on in Act 2 scene 3 when Mrs. VB kisses Esther, calls her a coward
  • why did she give the money?
  • Is Mayme a prostitute?
  • Did she end up with Mr. Marks?
  • What about Esther’s belly? If she is pregnant, what is that doing for the story?
  • what did you want to have happen?

Themes/issues:

  • self esteem
  • racism/bias
  • fidelity/infidelity
  • religion
  • economic issues\
  • social pressure
  • class relations
  • intimacy
  • profession
  • dream fulfillment
  • truth and less truth
  • literacy

Setting: in a boudoir=private, intimate, a space to be friends

Why this lesbian encounter?

Who was the coward? Esther for not giving in to emotions and desires? Mrs. VB because of how her husband treats her, doesn’t have her freedom, doesn’t fight against it. Also easier for her to take out her frustrations on Esther rather than dealing with her husband: Esther works for her, can’t fight back. Mrs. VB wrote the letters, so had the upper hand, literate, white, wealthy.

Where is the intimacy? with whom is Esther intimate?

With Mrs. Van Buren–not necessarily physically–emotionally, they confide in each other; costume also =intimacy when it’s underwear!

George: physical–on their wedding night, maybe after. Emotionally–trying to win him back? Or no, she’s intimate emotionally with the person she wrote to, not with the person who came.

Are Esther and Mr. Marks intimate? They share a passion for fabrics–that’s really important to both of them. A delicate man who is polite, like what she hoped George would be. Moment of intimacy: he lets her adjust the lapels of the gifted smoking jacket. forbidden intimacy.

With her child? if she is pregnant.

 

Why did Esther give him the money?

So he wouldn’t cheat

driven by love

wanted his affection

maybe she’s not strong enough to say no

to get rid of her past: it was a part of her life when she wanted a life with a husband and a beauty parlor, and now she wants a fresh start

she gave him a way out, to violate their relationship

a test to see if he would be true to his word or not

what was the money doing for her? she was saving it for her–it was a safety net, but she wouldn’t use it

 

intimate apparel

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In the play Intimate Apparel written by Lynn Nottage takes place in 1905. the protagonist Esther a African-American seamstress who lives in a boarding house for women and sews intimate apparel for women clients from different social class, from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. Esther’s dream is to open a beauty parlor for African American women who will be treated as royally as the white women she sews for. And to find the right man she could spend her life with. Esther began to receive letters from a man named George who is working on the Panama Canal. Being illiterate shows how Esther never had an education because she started working at a very young age. so she had Mrs. Van Buren and Mayme to respond. Time has passed and becomes more and more intimate. George persuaded her to get marry. But Esther cannot because she feels affection toward Mr. Marks the shopkeeper but its complicated, because of his religion. Esther agreed to marry George. When George arrived to New York he turned  out not to be the man to be in the letters, and he took away with Esther’s savings and spend it on whores and liquor. Esther Deeply wounded by the betrayal. Esther returns to the boarding house determined to use her skills, gifted hands and her sewing machine to refashion her dreams and make them a new from her life’s experiences.

Lynn Nottage wrote the whole play with special details where we could actually visually see the scenes. started from a room in the and the direction of each character in the stage. Nottage’s play depict a similar world for women because even today women are still being betray and miss treated when they deserve more for being hard workers. But the also come out more determine to keep on their dream.

Intimate Apparel

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Everybody wants to love and be loved; so much so that one sometimes may invent love. Intimate Apparel, by Lynn Nottage, is all about projecting feelings. That’s what happened to Esther, who convinced herself to marry a man she had never met before. If I had to summarize the play in one short passage, I would use Mrs. Van Buren line that says “I recall being in love with the notion of love.”

If the play had been a Disney production, Esther and George’s story would have had a happy ending. Nottage’s take is a more realistic one. Once the Armstrong couple started living as husband and wife, Esther saw that the image she had created of her spouse did not mirror reality. He was not the gentleman his letters’ cursive persuaded her into thinking he would be. She took snippets of what had been given and created a George of her own. How could she not be disappointed?

Aside from not being what Esther though her husband would be, he was the opposite to what she was hoping. She was Virginia Woolf’s “Angel in the room” for long enough to have George take advantage of her various times. She was, though, able to take action and leave him — being the exception to the rule of married women of the time (early 1900s).

Even nowadays it is possible to see men and women make the same mistake: to marry someone just because they feel they have to. Projections and expectations may blind a person into marrying somebody for the sake of not being alone. If asked, Esther would probably say you’re better off sewing undergarments.

Gingerly

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Gingerly – Adjective

Definition: very cautious or careful

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gingerly

Found in: Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage (Act 2, Scene 1)

Quote:  GEORGE Give yuh hand ‘ere. Esther gingerly passes her hand to George. He sits   next to her, kissing each of her fingers then places her hand on his crotch.

In this quote, when George asked Esther to give her hand to him, Esther carefully passed her hand to George. She might not have known what to expect so she was very cautious about it.  After all she was uncomfortable.

 

Intimate Apparel: Esther and George

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The story Intimate apparel by Lynn Nottage touches on tissues of race, religion and traditions.Not only does Nottage speak on these issues, she also addresses love and marriage. This is done through a 35 year old African American women name Esther.  Esther moved from North Carolina to New York City to seek her fortune as a seamstress. She sews gorgeous lingerie for wealthy white clients. Esther is extremely great at what she does and prey’s to one day own a beauty salon. With such great talent under her belt she is still lonely and dreams of a good man to marry. Esther seeks love when she meets George.

When Esther marries George, he was  nothing like the man she wrote letters to back and forth. George didn’t have the same genuine feelings that Esther had for him. He proves himself to be an opportunist who takes all her savings and use it on foolishness. He squanders her money on drinks,gambling and prostitutes that Esther despise greatly.

Even though Esther marries the man she wanted to marry, he turned out to be not a good man. Their love and marriage didn’t last. I can definitely relate this to many marriages in today’s society. Women get so excited to finally get married but in the end they end up disappointed. The excited they once felt disappears and all they are left with is a new beginning.

Boudoir

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Boudoir (noun)

Definition: a woman’s bedroom or private room for dressing or resting

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boudoir

Found in: Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage (Act 1, Scene 2)

Quote: “Gardenia Ball Corset. Pink silk and Crepe de chine An elegant boudoir. The silhouette of a naked woman moves gracefully behind a translucent screen. She slides her torso into the fitted lingerie.”

The scene here is describing the backdrop and the figure outline of a naked woman. The elegant boudoir describes that she is in a private room.

When the real world and the written collide

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Intimate Apparel is a play written by Lynn Nottage that takes place in 1905. The play follows Esther, a 35-year-old African American seamstress that makes her living in Manhattan. Esther has worked hard her entire life, from picking berries to sewing. Esther is very relatable to woman: she longs for love, she aspires to open a beauty salon, she is self-conscious and a caring humble woman. Many aspects of Nottage’s play resonate with the experiences and feelings of many women, past and present. This is because the characters in the play feel authentic, dealing with real issues many women face. Esther seeks love, but doesn’t feel she is pretty or that anyone will even be interested in her. Here, Esther’s self-doubt in her and in her looks is a very real aspect of Nottage’s imagined world. When Esther gets a letter from George, a panama man who is courting her, she must ask others to read and write letters back as she does not know how to. In 1905 this seems reasonable that Esther wouldn’t have learned to read or write in her economic status. Another way in which Nottage’s play felt authentic was the romantic tension between her and Mr. Marks, a Jewish man who sells her fabrics. Esther opens up to Mrs. Van Buren, saying, “I fear my love belongs someplace else” but disregards her feelings as they come from two different worlds, and he has a fiancé he has not yet met. Nottage’s created world yet again connects with our real world, as interracial relationships would have been greatly looked down upon for someone in Ether’s position in the early 1900’s. A woman would be expected to stay within her race or class and not doing so would result in a social stigma.

Another interesting character that has her own very real issues is Mrs. Van Buren. Esther and Mrs. Van Buren are also from two different worlds, but get along great as friends. Mrs. Van Buren confides in Esther about the pressuring questions she gets from her peers about having a child, and how important having a child is to an important man like her husband. She admits to Esther that she is unsure if she is able to bear any children although people speculate that vanity is the reason. In what I find to be crucial part of the play, Mrs. Van Buren says “By the way, I bled this morning, and when I delivered the news to Harry, he spat at me. This civilized creature of society. We, us women, we all bleed, Esther. And yet I actually felt guilt, as though a young girl again apologizing for becoming a woman”. This part struck me a lot, as a woman trying to imagine the situation in which the character was place; is heart wrenching. Another reason being that many women really do experience this in their life.

The play itself is different than the format of other readings, using a dialogue between characters and descriptive information about the background setting. The advantage in this was being able visually conceptualize the play. For example, George’s infidelity with Mayme was shown rather than spoken in dialogue. The format of the play is able to draw on these scenes that are wordless between characters but speak volumes in the storyline.

Question: I didn’t exactly know what to take on the scene between Esther and Mrs. Van Buren, when Mrs. Van Buren kisses Esther and then says its because she wanted to show her “what it’s like to be treated lovingly”? Then later in the scene Mrs. Van Buren calls Esther a coward. I didn’t understand the motive behind Mrs. Van Buren’s actions in this scene. (Act 2, Scene 3)

Women Of Today Vs. Women in 1905

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I really enjoyed reading Intimate Apparel because Lynn Nottage was able to fully grasp my attention throughout the entire play. Although Nottage’s play was taken place in 1905, I believe it depicted many similar ways of what women go through till this day.
One example is from the character Mrs. Van Buren who is seemed to be an attractive white woman in her early thirties, who believes that she is not good enough for her husband. It seems as if Mrs. Van Buren is always trying to be up to date with the latest styles and fashion to keep her husband interested. She tries different things and changes up her looks to catch her husband’s attention which most of the time ends up failing anyway. I feel that she relates to many women in our society today, because I think a good amount of women up to this day are still so insecure with themselves and are always trying to impress our men because their eyes are so easily distracted.

Another example is from the character Esther who just turned thirty-five and is pretty much ashamed of herself for not being married or seeing anyone since she’s always so taken up with working. It also seems as if she has very low self-esteem and doesn’t think that anyone would want her but mainly because she’s always been working since the age of seventeen. She feels like it’s a disgrace and too late because she’s getting older and no one will really be interested in her. I believe this issue relates to women of today in some ways but not all. Some women today, just like Esther begin to give up once they reach a certain age because they feel they are not worthy enough anymore meanwhile other women of today don’t care how old they are, they’re still out there meeting people on social networks, dating and having fun. I feel that Esther hasn’t had much of an opportunity to meet anyone she’d be interested in other than George that wrote her because she had always locked up working.

The effect that I have of reading a play is much clearer and easier to me rather than just reading a regular narrated story. It’s much more simple for me to put the characters together and picture a scene of whom it is and how they’re acting in my head.