Social Struggles of The Man in the Case
Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwrite, Wendy Wasserstein was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 18th, 1950. Raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Wasserstein began her interest and passion for writing plays during her early college years. Most of Wasserstein's works discuss the "struggle between falling for convention and finding personal satisfaction"(Wilson). Wasserstein's The Man in the Case, published in 1986, is a play that provides us, the reader with a unique view in to the struggling life of the working class. This struggle is demonstrated by their desire to improve their social class. Karl Marx defined the term social class as "the focus on how one class controls and directs the process of production while other classes are the direct producers and the providers of services to the dominant class" (Encyclopedia Britanica, Version 2003). Byelinkov, our main character, is a hard working school teacher, which sets him squarely in the ranks of the middle class. While being a part of the working class is a great accomplishment in itself, Byelinkov is enraptured with the idea that he deserves the life of the upper class, since of course, he is working for it. Yet the social strafication always seems to be a barria
Although still in the category of the working class, Byelinkov strives to be seen by others as socially higher then the reality of their situation. People in the top strata enjoy privileges that are not available to other members of society; people in the bottom strata endure penalties that other members of society escape. While struggling to uphold his respectable image, Byelinkov's self-doubt is evident throughout this brilliant work by Wasserstein. She also feels the importance of being respected by society, as she states, " 'I want us to have dinners with friends and summer country visits. Byelinkvo considers himself to be a " ' master of Greek and Latin at a local school at the end of the village of Mironitski' "(Wasserstein, 1272). "Marriage is the quickest route out of poverty. Changes in class position require a complex mixture of luck, inheritance, and effort, and probably in that order of importance. I want people to say, 'Have you spent time with Varinka and Byelinkov? He is so happy now that they are married. Byelinkov's self-doubt, both written and implied, is symbolic of the miles Varinka and himself will have to travel before being socially acceptable to the upper class. According to Byelinkov, it is not approprite for a future wife, striving to support her husbands goal of becoming upper class, to be seen riding a bicycle, after all, appearance is everything. Marriage alone is not the solution to Byelinkov's dilemma, he believes he must marry a well-mannered woman who will help raise his image. " While many people, such as our main characters, seem to forever struggle with social hierarchy, forever searching for the often unattainable goal of becomming upper class, perhaps they should have been grateful for the blessings they received at not being one of the proverty stricken.
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