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The Woman Made of Flowers

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The Woman Made of Flowers GCETHE WOMAN AS / A MADE LEVEL OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS SAUNDERS LEWIS GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS SAUNDERS LEWIS - (1883-1985) It is important to understand the artist in order to fully understand his work. In his Tri Dramodydd Cyfoes (Three Contemporary Dramatists) J. Ellis Williams asserts - “He comes from understanding, from intellect, not from the heart. We had plenty of authors who were able to write about the common folk; Saunders Lewis unlocked the doors of drama to a different world – the world of the nobles of the Mabinogi, the saints of the Middle ages, the princes of Wales, Prussian aristocrats, political leaders...” John Saunders Lewis was born in Wallasey, Liverpool in 1883. He was raised in Liverpool’s Welsh speaking community. He studied French and English at the University of Liverpool and graduated in English. In 1922 he came to Wales as a lecturer at the University College of Wales, Swansea. In 1925 he worked with other Welsh nationalists to establish Plaid Cymru and was its president between 1926 and 1939. PENYBERTH In 1935 the British government decided to establish an RAF training school for bombers in Penyberth on the Llŷn Peninsula. There was widespread opposition in Wales to this plan but it was ignored and in 1936 the farm buildings were destroyed and the work began on building the training centre. Three nationalists were prepared to do more than write letters of protest and put up posters. GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS On the night of September 8th 1936, the lecturer Saunders Lewis, the teacher D.J Williams and the minister of religion Lewis Valentine went to Penyberth and set fire to the building materials. After completing the deed, all three presented themselves to the authorities, fully confessing their symbolic protest. Following two court cases, the three were incarcerated in Wormwood Scrubs prison, London. They became heroes to many Welsh people; they were also reviled by many for their actions. Saunders Lewis lost his post at Swansea University. Political bravery, betrayal and sacrifice emerged as key themes in his work after these events. THE WRITER His literary work is significant. He created complex poetry, popular novels, and incisive essays as well as plays which encouraged thought and discussion among audiences - above all Saunders Lewis was a playwright. HIS PLAYS • The Eve of St. John (1921) • Gwaed yr Uchelwyr (1922) • Buchedd Garmon (1937) • Amlyn ac Amig (1940) • Blodeuwedd (1948) • Eisteddfod Bodran (1952) • Gan Bwyll (1952) • Siwan a Cherddi Eraill (1956) • Gymerwch Chi Sigarét? (1956) • Brad (1958) GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS • Esther (1960) • Serch yw’r Doctor (1960) • Yn y Trên (published in the periodical Barn, 1965) • Cymru Fydd (1967) • Problemau Prifysgol (1968) • Branwen (1975) • Dwy Briodas Ann (1975) • Cell y Grog (in the magazine Taliesin, 1975) • Excelsior (1980) BLODEUWEDD - THE WOMAN OF FLOWERS Blodeuwedd’ is a classical tragedy - the characters struggle hopelessly against their predestined fated exactly as do Oedipus and Antigone in classic Greek drama. However Lewis experiments with the classical structure. He shatters the Unities. The drama does not evolve within a set time scheme nor does it remain within one location. Nevertheless he does adhere to the Unity of a single plot, a single narrative and his scenes are acted between two or three characters. CONTEXT Lewis takes his narrative from the fourth branch of the Mabinogi: The Four Branches of the Mabinogi: Cainc 1: Pwyll Prince of Dyfed Cainc 2: Branwen daughter of Llŷr Cainc 3: Manawydan son of Llŷr Cainc 4: Math son of Mathonwy GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS Saunders Lewis claimed: “It would help audiences to better understand the play and its characters if they were as familiar with the Mabinogi as the audiences of ancient Greece were with their own myths and legends.” (A version of the tale is to be found in Appendix I). At its crux, Blodeuwedd is a play about conflict. Put simply, it is the conflict between base instinct and civilised behaviour. Blodeuwedd is quite literally the personification of the natural world; the morals which drive Llew’s world are anathema to her and in turn drive Blodeuwedd to attempt to destroy them. The battle between these contending worlds are fought through Gronw Pebr who is torn between his loyalty to the codes of behaviour which are equally important in the courts of Penllyn and Ardudwy and his passion both for Blodeuwedd and the lure of the hunt. Once Blodeuwedd has seduced him to her bed and persuaded him to murder Llew, he is given the opportunity to reconcile with the values of his ancestors. Saunders Lewis’ Gronw is very different from the Gronw of the original tale: here he asks for punishment according to the traditions of chivalry instead of hiding behind a cromlech (ancient burial stone). In this way we see the classical element of anagnorisis: the recognition of fault and the willingness to accept the consequences of one’s actions. Although this conflict between base instinct and civilised behaviour is a prominent aspect of the play, this theme is also a metaphorical device. The conflict between ancient and modern is the conflict between Blodeuwedd and Llew, the conflict between the eternal, traditional, ephemeral and unfamiliar. Blodeuwedd’s blood is ‘Strange and alien’ (‘Dieithr ac estron’), she is married into a family which is other worldly. Despite being invited to become part of the ‘chain of lineage’ (‘cadwyn cenedl’) of the family of Llew Llaw Gyffes, and to share in the inheritance of Ardudwy, she chooses instead, ‘all the loneliness of freedom’ (‘holl unigedd rhyddid’). At the end of the play, Gronw Pebr is given salvation by sacrificing himself for the sake of his birth right. To Saunders it is better to die for your birth right than live without a nation. GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS THEMES Here are some of the themes which emerge from the text: they will be discussed in the character notes which follow. ● The conflict between base instinct and civilised behaviour ● The conflict between the old and the new ● Love and lust/passion ● Family, tribe, isolation/loneliness ● Morality, immorality, amorality ● Destiny, fate, free will ● Man’s attempt to control nature; to attempt to be a god THE CHARACTERS BLODEUWEDD This is a challenging part to play; a deep and rounded character. It demands heroic energy from an actor, similar to some of the main protagonists of Greek Theatre such as Antigone, Medea and Electra.This is not only because of the journey taken by the character but also because of the muscularity and rhythm of the dialogue. It is important for the actor to experiment with the metre and rhythm to create clarity in motivation and emotion. There is a duality, a dichotomy in Blodeuwedd’s character; two powerful forces which offer an actor the opportunity to create a truly conflicted character –courage and fear. GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS COURAGE The virgin spring’s soul embodied in flesh (Act One p.50) ...left my bed for the storm’s frenzy (Act One p.51) FEAR My life is without family, without anchor (Act One p.55) .............There is no one else As a link between me and the high born men (Act One p.55) Like Antigone (Sophocles) and Blanche DuBois (Tennessee Williams) it is important that the actor does not fear engendering impatience and indeed hate within the audience at times. There must be a focus on her complexity; she is courageous, fragile, amoral, part of the natural world, lustful and passionate yet cold and unfeeling and sometimes selfish and very cruel. Blodeuwedd: O my friend, what is shame? I do not know How it is to be ashamed…… (Act One p.53) Llew: But she was cold, Lord Gwydion, cold. My heart that was throbbing on her breast, Broke like glass on flint. (Act One p.51) At other times we pity her - she has neither family nor place in the world. She had no opportunity to live as she wished. She was used by Gwydion and Llew merely as a vessel to carry Llew’s heir: GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS Blodeuwedd: You do not know what it is to be alone. For you the world is full, you have a home, Kinsmen and family, father, mother, brothers, And so you are not a stranger in the world. (Act One p.54) Here, the actor must elicit the pity and understanding of the audience; she is lonely, and for her, the world is a very strange place. And so I was bound to serve like a slave girl To give your nephew children, establish his line …I was captured as a weapon A tool in your hands to cheat destiny (Act Four p.95) Blodeuwedd’s fear is loneliness. By turning her into an owl, Gwydion makes her a creature of the night; lonely; a bird despised by others of her kind – the greatest insult. It is important for the actor to highlight this fear and loneliness as it will help an audience understand what motivates Blodeuwedd to behave as she does. Blodeuwedd: ……..No fear of men. Disturbs me. But fears of emptiness, aloneness Blodeuwedd: …….and the world is cold, Alien to me, without bond of kindred Or link of race (Act One p.54-55) GCE AS \ A LEVEL \\ © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2016 THE WOMAN MADE OF FLOWERS By SAUNDERS LEWIS The sound of the hunting horn is one of the most famous sound cues in Welsh theatre.
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