Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)
STUDIES - Judit Kádár: The Figure of 'Everyclown'in Jack Richardson's Gallows Humour
college education of the kids; he is the one whose wife "never stops riding streetcars" (GH 104)—what a nice resemblance to Williams' Streetcar! —; who thinks Philip can be bribed with not getting his pension, because pension is something very important in life(...) and also the Warden is the subject of Martha's adultery, which in the context of the play becomes the parody of love and courtship. Since they are "cut from the same timber" (GH 102), i.e. represent the same values or the lack of them, perhaps they could have a meaningful relationship, but they are unable to find a date to date —a grotesque element again —, to meet at the supermarket, a central symbol of commercial society and its values. The other duality in man's nature presented in the play is the hangman-hanged, warden-prisoner and wife-prostitute oppositions. As Richardson directly informs us in the Preface and indirectly shows in the whole plot and text of the drama, the major uncertainty factor in our age is the question of who is the hangman, the hanged and the victim; in what sense and who is responsible for the individual and common fate. The mask-technique helps the playwright to express himself in the complexity of the postmodern age with the clearness of the old Morality Plays. However, here the Deadly Sins and Vickens are not personified but included in the essence of the characters. The figure of Death, who summons Everyman ('Everyclown') , introduces two rites de passage : a journey to death and a lack of decision whether to divorce or not There are direct and indirect references to the mask-nature of the play. The Oxford Dictionary describes the notion of mask as a part of covering to hide the face (i.e. reality, for instance in Lucy's case); a replica (denoting the copyfaces of people and also can mean the actors' masks in theater) ; a disguise not to show one's intentions and true character or a death mask... It also means a protection from poisonous things (here: Philip would protect his individuality from the rest of the people). The first direct appearance of mask allusions is Lucy herself. All the artificial and transformed parts of her body together with the accessories she is wearing are essential; without them her figure would fall apart Perhaps there is nobody behind the mask at all?! Mihály Hoppál calls the attention to the relevance of female masks in his book on symbols (152—3). 52
