Week 4 "The Wardrobe" - Essay

In scene 1 there are 4 main components that drive the plot of the scene, the first being the historical context of the scene. The scene is set in 1485, London, The Royal Court. In this time period there   were many limitations for women. For example women had no legal rights and they were seen as property to their husbands and their fathers. From their births, women were taught that they would be inferior to all men and they were not allowed to have jobs so they were seen as burdens to their parents. Their main purpose was to marry wealthy and bare children for their husbands. For Elizabeth and Cecily these limitations were very apparent in their lives as they were both girls and Elizabeth was due to marry the King even though she was the rightful ruler of England. We learn this in the scene when Elizabeth says "If I weren't a woman, Cecily, no one would question my right to rule my country. But because I have a womb and breasts he'll not  share his crown with me, only his bed." I feel that without these limitations there would be no real struggle for Elizabeth as she would be able to do what she wanted as Queen and she wouldn't have to be separated from her sister. I think that Sam Holcroft has used this theme as a way to show the difficulties of women over time and to question why women aren't seen as strong leaders or capable of looking after themselves.

Another key component that drives the story is the pre scene event. Before Elizabeth enters the wardrobe, her uncle, the king, has been killed by the enemy Lancaster and she has received a letter to say that she is to marry the new king. the audience knows this when Elizabeth says "Well tis official: a letter for the King was published in parliament house just this morn. Shall I read it to you?" The letter that she receives is the first key moment that drives the scene as without the letter the sisters wouldn't be be questioning their future and they wouldn't know that the enemy had won the crown. I feel that the letter is a symbol of people's realisation that they have a problem as without the letter the girls would known that they were in trouble. Therefore I think that the pre scene event not only starts the scene buy it also make the girls realise that their lives are never going to be the same again.



A definite key component to the scene is the dramatic event. Probably the biggest change in the scene is when Cecily starts considering to kill her sister due to the fact that she knows her life is going to be terrible and she would rather have Elizabeth's assured life that has been planed for her. We know this because Elizabeth says "Oh yes. he said something else. If I die, he intends to marry you." Cecily looks at the dagger in her hand and then at her sister's exposed back. Not only is this line tempting Cecily but it also drives her want for freedom and control of her own life, it therefore shows her true selfish nature. I feel that this is a very poignant moments as it questions how far people will go to get what they want in order to be happy. it also relates back to the limitations of women as the King will just chuck away his wife if she dies and marry another without thinking about it.



 A final component that drives this scene is the difference between the two characters. both of the girls are sisters so it means that they couldn't chose their relationship which means that they were forced to know each other. I think this becomes a slight obstacle in the scene as they are such different characters. Elizabeth is a dreamer as she thinks about her being the rightful ruler of England and she promises her sister she will have a perfect family even though she won't. On the other hand Cecily is very realistic, she knows she won't marry well and that she will never see her sister again. We know this when Cecily says "But what of her sister, Cecily? Who ever heard of her? I expect she died alone in a convent!" I feel this difference between characters causes a clash in personalities and therefore gives the scene a tense energy because there is this conflict of opinions. I also feel that it shows the two sides of peoples opinions of that time period, one being hopeful for the future and the other being dismissive and regretting their lives. I think that Holcroft has portrayed this in the scene to show how people can chose to have a positive or negative look on life depending on how hard their situation in life.