Melissa Martini // Period 8 Independent Study of One Act Play A Florentine Tragedy by Oscar Wilde 1.

Character Sketches a) Simone // Antagonist businessman talkative reckless greedy rude old, graying pale boring cocky bossy falsely polite married to Bianca b) Guido // Protagonist prince rich only child generous flirty virtuoso homewrecker religious c) Bianca // Protagonist welcoming honest spinner flirty independent beautiful hates Simone married to Simone 2. Plot Diagram a) Exposition The play takes place in Florence, Italy, in Simone and Bianca's home Simone comes home to his wife, Bianca, and the prince, Guido Simone, a businessman, begins trying to sell things to Guido b) Rising Action Tension builds between Simone and Guido because: Simone talks too much Simone insists on hearing Guido's lute playing Guido begins flirting with Simone's wife, Bianca Tension builds between Simone and Bianca because: Simone says Bianca is not beautiful Bianca says she hates Simone c) Climax Simone says he can fight with a sword better than Guido and challenges h im to a duel Guido accepts the challenge and the duel begins Simone gets wounded by Guido Despite Bianca cheering on Guido rather than her husband, Guido gets dis armed and then overpowered by Simone d) Falling Action Guido asks for a priest Guido dies

e) Resolution

Bianca realizes how strong Simone is Simone realizes how beautiful Bianca is

3. Prominent Literary Devices Foreshadowing Guido's death: "When wine is spilt, blood is spilt also" ( Wilde 541). Irony that Bianca wants Simone to die, but Guido dies: "Bianca (to Guido). Oh! Kill him, kill him!" (Wilde 544 "Guido. Lord Christ receive my soul tonight! (he dies)" (Wilde 545) Allusion to Roman mythology: "whose beauty is a lamp that pales the stars and robs Diana's quiver of her beams" (Wilde 534) Similes: "and like the patient Jew, find profit in our pain" (Wilde 543). "Die like a dog with lolling tongue" (Wilde 545). 4. Stage direction impacts the story and character perception during the fi ght scene between Guido and Simone. Three things happen that make the story more suspenseful. One is Bianca rooting on Guido rather than her husband. Another is Simone getting wounded by Guido. Lastly, Simone disarms and overpowers Guido. A ll these stage directions impact the story in a way that dialogue can not. Although Bianca saying "Oh! Kill him, kill him!" (Wilde 544) is dialogue , it is the stage direction prior to her words that impacts the story. She says these words to Guido rather than her own husband. This not only creates drama an d suspense in the play, but also allows the reader or viewer to perceive Bianca as an unfaithful wife. Without these stage directions, the play would not have b een impacted in the way that it was. The second stage direction that impacts the story is Simone getting woun ded. This is stronger than the dialogue because Simone only says, "A scratch, no more" (Wilde 544), when in reality, as displayed by the stage directions, he is quite wounded. This adds anticipation to the play, and the reader or viewer won ders who will win the duel. Without the stage directions showing how harshly he was wounded or allowing the reader to know he wasn't merely scratched, the play would not have as much excitement to see what happens next because the event wou ld not have seemed as important. The last stage direction that impacts the play is Simone disarming and o verpowering Guido. The stage directions add an extreme amount of excitement to t he play, as Simone "throws him down over the table" (Wilde 545). Through this sc ene, the dialogue is mostly trash talking. Without the stage directions, the pla y would be nowhere near as suspenseful and exciting, because nothing intense wou ld be happening. The violent stage directions create emotion throughout this sce ne. As you can see, the stage direction in this play impact the story and ev en character perception. Bianca rooting on Guido rather than her husband, Simone being wounded, and Guido being disarmed and overpowered all add suspense to the play that could not have been created by dialogue alone. The stage directions d rag the reader or viewer in, as the story develops more energy and desire to con tinue reading or watching. 5. Dialogue impacts the perception of Simone during the entire first half o f the play, from the exposition and throughout the rising action. Simone is very talkative throughout the play, and from his dialogue, the reader or viewer can perceive him as very bossy, rude, and a good businessman. These traits would not have been discovered without the dialogue in the play. The first trait that Simone can be perceived as by his dialogue is bossy . He is constantly insisting on Bianca doing things for him, like spinning (Wild e 538). Bianca says, "am I your prentice?" (Wilde 536), which shows how often Si mone bosses her around, since she feels as if she is his servant. Just some of t he many commands he gives Bianca are, "fetch my sword, thrust back that stool an d table hold the torch" (Wilde 544). Each time Simone speaks, he is hammering out

orders for her, allowing the reader or viewer to view him as bossy just from hi s dialogue alone. The second trait that Simone can be perceived as through his dialogue is rude. At the start of the play, he ignorantly assumes Guido's status, and calls him "my sweet cousin" (Wilde 534). This is very offensive to someone of an uppe r class, considering Guido is a prince, not the cousin of some average businessm an. Simone also talks constantly, to the point of Guido calling him a reckless s peaker. He does not give any other character a chance to speak. This alone is a rude thing to do. His dialogue taking of most of the play allows the reader or v iewer to perceive him as rude. The cherry on top is the way he speaks of his wif e. He says, "beauty is a gem she may not wear" (Wilde 541). It is rude to call a nyone ugly, but to call your own wife ugly is ruder than anything else. All of S imone's dialogue can be perceived as rude. The last trait that can be perceived about Simone through his dialogue i s how good of a businessman he is. To be a good businessman, you must be able to sell your product through words and know when to give in to your buyer's offer. Simone displays both of these through his dialogue. He says things like, "you m ust wear it" (Wilde 536), which gives Guido the idea that he absolutely must hav e what Simone is selling. This pulls a buyer in, and allows the reader or viewer to perceive Simone as a good businessman. When Guido begins to back out of the offer and says he will come back the next day, Simone realizes he has lost inter est and will not actually be back the next day. He immediately begins to praise Guido's offer and accept the amount, knowing that he will lose the deal if he do es not. His dialogue of accepting Guido's offer shows that he is a good business man and knows when to give in. In conclusion, dialogue impacts the perception of Simone throughout the play. It leads the reader or viewer to perceive him as bossy, rude, and as a goo d businessman. All of these traits would not have been discovered without Simone 's talkative personality and all the dialogue that came along with it. Dialogue can impact a play greatly, and create a complete personality for a character.