tcthefantasticks

__The Fantasticks__

 * 1. What is the difference between a major and a minor character? Who are the major and minor characters?**

The main difference between a major and a minor character is who the action centers around. Generally, the major characters will have the most lines because their speech is a way to propel the plot and connect them with the audience. However, this is not always the case. In The Fantasticks, I would consider the major characters to be Matt and Luisa because it is their love story. El Gallo has many lines because he also acts as the narrator, but I would only consider him a supporting character because he establishes a conflict between Matt and Louisa. The other minor characters are the fathers, Hucklebee and Bellomy, and The Mute, Henry, and Mortimer. The minor character's action centers around the major characters.


 * 2. Who is your favorite character and why? Who is the person you consider to have played their part the best?**

My favorite character was Mortimer. I just found him hilarious. He was able to make me laugh by only using his body, which is pretty incredible and impressive for an actor (I don't laugh easily). His death scenes were astonishingly accurate, yet over the top. I thought The Mute played his role the best. He did a great job using facial expressions throughout the play and I think he represented the audience's emotions as the play went on. It must be very hard to act without words and he did a phenomenal job interacting with the other characters and supporting them while remaining a Mute. He was able to develop a character even without any lines.


 * 3. With which character did you sympathize most and why?**

I sympathize most with Luisa. I understand her feelings of abandonment after Matt left. Even as a narcissist, she has trouble picking up the pieces of herself. Although I didn't like her decision to go away with El Gallo, I can understand how she must have been feeling extremely vulnerable and lonely. The only part of her I didn't like was her dramatic "over the top" nature. She was a little too high maintenance for my to sympathize with her fully. Luisa played her part very well because although her lines indicated that she was very sure of herself, you could tell she was very insecure on the inside.


 * 4. Did you recognize anything that reminded you of yourself in any of the characters?**

I sympathize with Luisa because I can see myself in her. After a terrible break up, I remember feeling abandoned, stoic, and unable to do anything. As her father says "like a statue". That's exactly how it feels after you have this notion of yourself and your place in the world and then everything changes. You feel like you have to redefine yourself and that's why she goes with El Gallo. Luisa isn't confident standing on her own as a woman, she is constantly seeking men to evaluate and affirm her beauty. I wouldn't consider myself as weak as Luisa, but I can understand where her vulnerabilities and weaknesses come from.


 * 5. How do the boy, Matt, and the girl, Luisa, change by the time the play ends?**

Matt and Luisa both come to realize the realities of life by the end of the play. At the beginning, they are young and hopeless romantics about life. Everything is beautiful and the world is full of possibility. However, they quickly realize that not everything goes the way as planned and they become disenchanted with the monotony of life. Matt goes away to discover new things and Luisa goes away with El Gallo to experience life as well. They realize that the grass is not always greener on the other side and miss the comforts of home. The dangerous world reels in their adventurous nature and they come to understand that there must be dark points in one's life to fully appreciate the good points. It is interesting that as the play goes on, they lose their puppets. I believe this symbolizes that they are becoming more mature and transparent as the play goes on.


 * 6. What does El Gallo mean when he says, "he'll remember the girl's kiss"?**

When El Gallo says "he'll remember the girl's kiss" he means he'll only remember their kiss. It was only a temporary part of his plan to steal from her, he never had any intentions of sharing any real emotions with her. It is almost as if her kiss was a prize that he won as a result of his deceptive plan. He explains poetically how he had to hurt both Matt and Luisa, and also himself in the process. It creates a necessary evil within the play that allows for character growth and eventually the happy ending.


 * 7. How are the fathers different from one another? What other characters in film or TV do they resemble?**

The fathers are most evidently different from one another in the way they care for their gardens. Hucklebee clips and Bellomy waters. These types of care resemble their parenting styles and views on life. Bellomy believes you'll achieve your desired result by adding more and doing as much as possible. Hucklebee believes that you can achieve your desired result by withholding and taking away. These contrasting views on life create the basis for the necessary conflict of the play.


 * 8. Discuss Henry and Mortimer as characters. What is their function beyond comic relief? Compare their theatrical histories and comment on the fact that they have ended up as a pair.**

Henry and Mortimer were excellent as the comic relief, but they also served as a means to introduce other important works of theater into this play. Henry frequently quotes Shakespeare and is able to draw parallels between other plays and The Fantasticks. They both are washed up actors who have managed to find each other. Their theatrical history draws them together and they soon develop a symbiotic relationship, their energies feed off each other.