Happy Days

The optimism shines through the fact that Winnie has the option of committing suicide she doesn’t and keeps sayings today will be a happy day. Winnie’s optimism is used as a way to make this play a satire. No matter what happens Winnie stays positive. Even though she says thing in a cheerful manner as you examine Winnie’s monologues most have a sense of desperation. She does all the rituals like making sure she brushes her teeth and her hair because of her intense boredom and this is another reason she barley stops talking. Also her emphasis in wanting to know if hair should be addressed as it or them gives the reader an insight into Winnie’s actual state of mind. She is so overwhelmed with the fact she cannot do anything about her situation, she tries to convince herself each day is “heavenly”. Yet she admits that time for her creeps very slowly. “there was no difference between one fraction of a second and the next” to me this shows her desperation of how mundane life has become. Her monologues although said in a cheerfully said if you really analyze what she is saying as a reading you begin to notice that she is miserable. Her coping method is to keep repeating that it is a great day and to do these rituals to try to fill her day up with things to do. Also she uses Willie as her punching bag she orders him around and this is when you can see how bitter she is she orders him to put on the hat and tells him to get out of the sun and to go back into the cave feet first which to me seemed odd. I read that it’s a can be viewed symbolically because she is covered from the waist down and he comes out of the cave head first just as a baby would when it is born. So in a way she is giving birth to him and she is the one in power. I think this is a feasible interpretation and it defiantly goes along with how odd the play is.

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