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M. Reed

C. Allan

Stage Direction

7 December 2015

Script Analysis of The Magic Tower by Tennessee Williams

1. Given Circumstances / Exposition

-Environmental Characteristics- This story takes place in Manhattan New York as revealed on pg

20 with Jim's line: ["T. Anthony Wescott, the most famous....at the Waldorf Astoria...Christopher

Columbus of modern art!"] The Waldorf Astoria is a famous hotel in Manhattan New York, and

since Jim walks to this hotel, we know they must be within walking distance, therefore live in

Manhattan. This story takes place within the 1930's since we know Linda, Mitch, and Babe are

part of a Vaudeville show. Vaudeville was a form of dance popular in the 30's. You can also tell

they are from an earlier time because of their sentence structure, as well as their vocabulary

words in general. Examples include: pg 21 Linda:[ "Good Heavens!"] and pg 21 Jim:["I'm going

to see him at once!"]. They are in a "studio apartment" which is actually just the attic of an old

woman named Mrs. O'Fallon, in other words, it's not the nicest place to live. We find this out

through Mrs. O'Fallon's visit to Linda about being behind on rent, as well as Jim's line on pg 36

["Magic tower, boloney! It's Mrs. O'Fallon's attic that we're up in, Linda! Mrs. O'Fallon's lousy,

leaking attic! And we're five weeks behind on rent! Do you..."] Jim came from a wealthy family,

yet doesn't use this money (or isn't given access to any of it), given that they are in a leaky attic.

pg 17 Linda:["I know. She doesn't approve of me. She thinks I married you for your family

fortune. Go on. Swipe a drumstick for me!"

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-Previous Action- before the action of this one act, the following have occurred:

-Linda was a Vaudeville actress. It is given in the character description as well as:

pg 15 Jim: ["You can't tell me you don't find this life pretty dull after the

excitement of show business. Moving around from place to place all the

time. . ."]

-Linda walked out of the show, meaning she left the company she performed

with. Babe and Mitch were her friends in the show. pg 29 Mitch:["You're

going out on tour with us, Duchess. Bergmann Said so. He sent us out here to get

you. All is forgiven, come home, he said!"] and pg 29 Babe:["You walked out

on the show pretty quick!"].

-Linda and Jim got married. pg 19 Linda:["He's my husband, Mrs. O'Fallon."]

-Polar Attitudes

-JIM: Jim begins as a care-free young man sure of his dreams. He is very much in

love with his wife Linda, and is caught up in her ideals of their perfect love,

which she calls their magic tower. He is good humored and jokes around with his

wife showing that he is an overall happy man. By the end of the show, we see the

aftermath of a care-free boy being slapped in the face by life. He becomes angry

at the world and everything around him, when his art/dream is rejected by Mr.

Wescott. In his angered attempt to grow up after having a "real world" encounter,

he becomes bitter towards his wife and shows much aggression toward her.
-LINDA: Linda is dazed by her love for Jim, and everything she thinks she knows

about how she feels and about herself, is all based around Jim. Her idea of their

love being a magic tower has her "up in the clouds" happy. We see several shifts
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in Linda's emotions throughout the script. Her first shift is into a frantic and

insecure state of mind. When Jim leaves the house, her real emotions begin to

creep up on her sending her into random fits of sadness and panic. When her old

friends from the show come to convince her to leave, she internally battles her

emotions: dazed in love, insecure and unsure, and a new emotion, liable. Her

friends get her to believe that she is responsible for Jim's lack of success, leading

to guilt. By the end of the show, Linda feels some guilt, but she is more so

indifferent and amused. She has realized her fantasies were childish, and decides

to leave her husband.

2. Dialogue

The language of this show overall was very poetic and fluid. Linda's character spoke very

elegantly, making her speeches about her magic tower seem breathtaking and beautiful. It added

to her level of innocence when it comes to her love for Jim. Her dialogue makes her sound

dreamy and sometimes silly. Even when she is upset, or at the end indifferent, she still has a

poetic and sweet sound to her, making the audience feel for her. Jim is also this way in the

beginning of the show, but later is monologues become more harsh and bitter, with shortened

sentences. Mrs. O'Fallon, Babe, Mitch, and Molly have accents. Babe and Mitch have northern

accents (New York) and you get this from the way their sentences are worded, such as: "He'll

never get nowhere tied to your apron strings," "There was tears in his eyes," "Lookit here," "I'd

liketa know," and "What the devil! Didja think we wasn't gonna play this town anymore?" The

way they speak is also very presentational and exaggerated, giving off the vibe of show people.

Molly and Mrs. O'Fallon are Irish, using yit and yer instead of yet and your, they use O' instead

of of. Mrs. O'Fallon's monologues are very sharp and broken off. She uses a lot of short
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sentences which shows that she is annoyed by Linda. All of these different dialects made for very

interesting layers of the show.

3. Dramatic Action

-French Scenes

1.LINDA AND JIM---pg 13-17

2. LINDA--- pg 17

3. LINDA AND MRS. O'FALLON---pg 17-19

4. LINDA, JIM, AND MRS. O'FALLON---pg 19-20

5. LINDA AND JIM---pg 20-24

6. LINDA---pg 24-25

7. LINDA AND MOLLY---pg 25-26

8. LINDA, MITCH, AND BABE---pg 26-35

9. LINDA AND JIM---pg 35-38

-Action Units

#1. A Love Too Sweet

STARTS: JIM: "Do I smell something burning?" pg 13

ENDS: LINDA: "I know. She doesn't approve of... Rain all the time!" pg17

-Linda and Jim discuss how their love is an enchanting and like a magic tower.

-Warm, Light-hearted, Sweet

[This unit is almost sickening sweet. It is like seeing a middle school couple who think

they are in love for ever and ever.]

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#2. An Intrusion of Irritation

STARTS: MRS. O'FALLON: "Mrs. Flynn?" pg 17

ENDS: LINDA: "Goodbye, Jim. Good luck!" pg 24

-Mrs. O'Fallon invades Linda's apartment to nag about anything she can find.

-Tense, Catty, Accusatory

[This scene is gritty like sandpaper.] [Like a cat fight, but one cat has been declawed.]

#3. The Deviant Friends

STARTS:LINDA:"You, Mrs. O'Fallon?' pg 25

ENDS:"Keep your chin up, Duchess. So long!" pg 35

-Babe and Mitch try to convince Linda to come back to the show.

-Emotional, Deviant, Sly

[Babe and Mitch are like a lion stalking its prey. ] [Two con artists making a deal.] [Babe

and Mitch are the friends that always get you into trouble, but you still have fun while doing

whatever it is they've convinced you to do.]

#4 The Shade is Up

STARTS: LINDA: "JIM!" pg 35

ENDS: LINDA: "I'm sorry--poor Jim! I'll turn the light out now! Jim, are you asleep?"

-Jim comes home angry and Linda decides to leave him.

-Shocking, Surreal, Gloomy

[This scene is like when you hear a sad song and you get the chills.] [The moment you

realize what you thought was true was really just make-believe.]

4. Characters
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LINDA- Linda is an innocent but intelligent woman. She is flighty and is easily swayed, leading

to her leaving her husband to go back to the show. She is a good person, and would rather

sacrifice her desires to give Jim success.

MITCH- Mitch is a real character. He is loud, proud, and knows what he wants to say. He is a

master of persuasion. He means well, but often gets into trouble. He wants what he thinks is best

for Linda.

BABE- Babe is a good friend to Linda, and wants what is good for her; food and a warm dry

place to live. She is good with her words just like Mitch. She is a show girl and it shows through

her dramatic personality. She may not always be the nicest friend, but it is always with good

intentions

JIM- Jim is a simple going young man. He is still a tad immature and thinks about himself too

much sometimes. He really does love Linda, but can't handle how things are going in his life and

treats her poorly as a result.

5. Idea

-Meaning of the Title- The title The Magic Tower is meant to represent the ideal relationship that

is untouchable. Linda is so fascinated with this idea that at times she literally drives herself crazy.

She is so scared that bad thoughts or outsiders will come in and cause her perfect tower to

crumble that it ends up happening. Her magic tower is her safety net in her mind to hide her

depression and worry. She fools herself into believing everything is perfect when in actuality, she

is far from okay. The title is also about fragile relationships can be. A tower is strong and keeps

intruders out, yet as soon as Jim leaves the room Linda's tower starts to crumble, so it shows us

that she doesn't really feel all that safe or secure.

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-Philosophical / Thematic Statements-

LINDA: pg 14 "Of course I do, my lord and master! I feel so warm and snug and

protected when you are in this little room with me! It is just as though I were locked up in the top

room of a tower with the stairs so long and steep that nobody but you could ever come near me

again. -This statement first introduces her way of coping with her depression. She creates a

fairytale in her head in order to make everything seem alright. It shows that she wants her

marriage to be happily ever after, and that the only way she believes this can happen is if they

are never separated, even for a moment.

LINDA: pg 17 "Yes. That's why I'm happy. So you see it wasn't just make-believe about

the magic tower. When two people make their own world there is something rather magical

about it, don't you think?" -This statement is a lovely take on what relationships can mean to

people. It shows that the playwright wanted to touch on the fact that when you become

committed to someone you often base your decisions, and entire life around doing things with

that person. You create a world together.

LINDA: pg 22 "It's always time for music. see! He doesn't deny it, I am his evil star..."

-This line shows us Linda's insecurities with her relationship. She feels like she is a burden to

Jim, which in the end leads to her leaving him.

LINDA: pg 38 "It must be much healthier to live in a dry, bright attic--than a magic tower

with a leaking roof!" -This line is representative of how their marriage was not all Linda thought

it would be. It takes a look into how if you aren't happy in a relationship, no amount of self

delusion can stop the inevitable (or the tower from crumbling).
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- Important Images

Image #1

- Linda at the window is a very important image that happened several times throughout

the show. When she is at the window we see all of her doubts and fears. When she looks out the

window her demeanor changes and she becomes pessimistic.

Image #2

-The shade being put up after Jim and Linda have a fight is very symbolic. It is the

moment in the play when we know Linda has made up her mind to leave Jim and go back to the

show.

Image #3

-The ring on the bureau is a crucial image in this show. When we see Linda take the ring

off and set it down, we know the relationship is over. She is too scared to tell him face-to-face

that she isn't leaving, so instead, leaves the ring so he will find it when she is already gone.