Dramatising Emily

[S2Lit2008HCI]

Gentlemen,

I would like you to also discuss the facets of Emily that you have come to discover through your dramatization of the various scenes. Share your thoughts and feelings about the complexity of her character here.

Regards,
Miss Ngo

[2cgalileoyap07]

Hi all,

Through the dramatization of the various scenes in the novel, we can come to several conclusions here. Firstly, Emily appears to desire power in the family so maniacally that she unwittingly causes her own downfall later in the novel. Secondly, she genuinely loves the people around her, but her control over them, which she sees as love, actually convinces them that she does not love them.

Firstly, just looking at Emily's quest for power, we may be puzzled as to why she would desire power so much. Does she have an aim other than just gaining power? Does she have anything else on her mind? What is her motive for gaining power, what does she want to do with it? At least we know the probable reason for her desire for power, as she was abandoned when she was young, living with
different relatives at the time, and she did not want to be thrown back into the gutter again, she wanted to be a somebody. A somebody that was worth giving birth to. However, what she wanted to do after she had become the matriarch of the family was not as clear. In the novel, after finally becoming the matriarch of the family, she is shocked to find that she had sacrificed the relationships of the people close to her. She only had power over those few people left in the family, and most moved away from Emerald Hill, not wanting to see Emily again. At the end of the story, she probably realized her mistake and tried to make up to some of her children. For example Doris wanted to marry somebody that she only knew for a short time, after Emily identifies that Doris was trying to use the marriage to run away from herself, she did not immediately object, she requested that Doris be with the man for a longer time before deciding, and we can see that Emily has grown wiser in handling her children.
Secondly, she genuinely loves the people around her, but her control over them, which she sees as love, actually convinces them that she does not love them. In Richard's case, as Emily wanted to get good grades, she tries to convince horse-riding would ruin his potentially great career. We can see that she feels that Richard, in order to inherit the money that was left behind, would even go to underhand means to ensure that her son impresses her mother-in-law more than the other children. As Emily's favourite son, naturally she would want all the best things to go to him, and she believes that everything that she does is for his sake. However he did not think the same way, as with Kheong, he decided that he would commit suicide to escape the control of Emily.
However in another point of view, she may be using Richard as another form of control over the family as a whole. If Richard inherited the money, he would eventually become very important in the family, and Emily could use him as a puppet to subject the family to her bidding.
In conclusion, we can see that there are facets of her life that are quite blurry, and this contributes to Emily's realism as a character, she probably does not even fully now herself!

[2cmarcusgoh08]

Hmm, my part does not have much to say but i will try.

My part is from page 42-43 where Emily gets Kheong to host the dinner
this is for reference in case anyone needs it

In order to effectively portray what Emily's intentions were, i had to do several petty movements which are um. rather feminine. anyway...

Putting the hand on the hip and acting annoyed, which was part of my part, showed us how cunning in a way emily was. She was tactful in delivering her message to Kheong, proving her point but yet not shoving it directly in his face. She was delivering the message across while seeming like that was not her intention. As a result, Kheong returned to her side, although reluctantly..oh no.. my part not much to say.

Also, obviously emily knows what kheong is doing (having a mistress) but she makes it seem as if she doesnt. She is very cunning, because unless we read the novel, we think that she truly does not know anything, but yet she managed to show kheong how annoyed she was because of some reason that she pretended not to know about. This requires skill, i say.

Also, the only person she pours out her feelings to is bee choo, her only true friend, yet she rambles on and on about kheong's affair to the audience. In a way, she bottled up her feelings until she could not stand it anymore, and to some, it seems as if she unleashes her anger at the audience when she speaks to them about kheong. This makes her rather mysterious to the other characters in the story.

In conclusion, Emily is a rather cunning and scheming person who would use certain strategies to get her way but yet pretend not to know about certain issues so as to look as if she is an innocent party who is oblivious to everything around, so that offending her would seem more serious to others. (like kheong's colleagues)

[2cnicklee25]

hi.

I will touch on the Contradictions in Emily throughout the novel, and their Supression.
I did this with some help from the net, though.

At a cursory glance, Emily, seems to show evidence of such contradictoriness and uncertainty.

Emily struggles to affirm her self and construct her subjectivity as a woman, through a challenge to the imperatives built into patriarchy.

But, strangely so, it is this patriarchy that lies at the heart of exactly the Peranakan experience on which the play's act of post-colonial reconstruction is based.

Moreover, the experience itself is shown, towards the end, as a dying experience, whose passing, in the face of modernisation, is mourned nostalgically.

And with its passing we see the decline of Emily, who is eventually thwarted in her assault on patriarchy.

The text, however, seems to want to cushion us from the destabilising potential of all this struggle. Through emotion and nostalgia it solicits approval for both Emily and the Peranakan experience which embodies what she struggles against.

The audience feel distress and pain at the news of Richard's death as powerfully as they do the nostalgic pull of the fading Peranakan experience.

The effect of such overriding emotions is to erase the disturbing effect of the contradictory features of the play, or at least for its contemporary audience.

[2akeithgoh13]

Hi,

Through the dramatizing of my scene, I have discovered that Emily wants control over everything. She likes to think of herself as the best, is old-fashioned and hates to lose. However, despite all this, she stills love her family.

Emily as everyone knows loves her family but sometimes overdoes it causing undesirable consequences. During the dramatization of Emily in my part of the play, I have noticed that Emily does not feel good when Kheong stays with Diana Lee in Amber road.

She then begins to criticize Diana Lee, saying that she is a “sleeper”, which is a form of insulting someone, and then, she questions her ability to go out with Kheong on formal functions. She also asked: “Can he invite people to her house?” All this questions are a form of showing her superiority over Diana Lee in many ways like beauty and the ability to be a good housekeeper and wife.

She then employs many ways to make Kheong come back to her. The fact that she also did not divorce Kheong was because of the assets that she would lose. This shows her lust for control.

Next, her “old-fashioness” can also be shown through how she regards Diana Lee as a modern woman which works in an office and is unable to serve Kheong. However, this may also be one of Emily’s reasons so that she does not lose out. Another reason or excuse she gave was that Diana Lee had employed some help from a Siamese priest to attract Kheong.

Lastly, despite all this bad habits or traits I have discovered, I still think that Emily ultimately loves her family. She stills washes Kheong’s clothes, bring him his favorite food and sends the driver to fetch him to his appointments.

So, in conclusion, I discovered that Emily does love her family but overdoes it due to her lust for control and power.

Cheers,
Keith Goh 2A13 ;D

[2cryuto29]

Not much to say here but I will try.

For the idea that Emily wants power, lets go all the way back into the past where Emily was first married into the family. She described herself as "innocent", and if we believe Emily as she says, then of course, she will also be ignorant since she was very young at that time and didn't know much. Then her quest for power started once she joined the family. As the eldest son's wife, she was given respect and stuff. And finally, power. The respect iven to her slowly built a mentality in her that she was superior to others and slowly, she was given some power by her family. It is by human nature to be greedy and so Emily hence began to crave for more power and control.

As she slowly grew up, she wanted to be above others. Everyone she knew including her friends etc. She soon had kids and began comparing results. She not only wanted to be superior to others but she also wanted her children to sound more superior to others in terms of results. Like in the scene wher she was comparing Freddy's and Richard's results, despite Richard scorng badly, she made Richard sound like the best.

Slowly, as she began her quest for power, in order to gain more an more, she grew even more negative traits such as being cunning and scheming just to have that edge over people. And she also felt as since she was superior, she was above others, one that does not make mistakes. So when Richard died and Kheong left her,s he does not feel any regret but blames the other party for what had happened to her.

Therefore, I feel that one will reach out for a yard when given an inch; Emily will want more power once given a small taste of it.