PLAY ANALYSIS: DANGEROUS CORNER ( JB

PRIESTLY )

Laiba Murtaza
1815115
BSMS 2A
Zeeshan Haider

Act 3 of ‘Dangerous corner’ by J.B Preistly is one of the most significant and
engaging acts of the play as it serves the dramatic function of weaving the plot
together revealing the hidden truths and secrets of the characters and entire
situation behind Martin’s death.
The audience is already in a state of utmost perplexity and anxiousness of what is
to come due to what they were left with in the end of the last scene, which was
Olwen’s statement ‘’….Martin didn’t shoot himself’’. Since it was believed,
without question, up till now that Martin had indeed shot himself, ending a scene
with blunt difference to the previous claim is inevitably bound to put the
audience at the edge of their seat.
The very beginning of the act, thus, serves as a direct hit to the audience and
confirms the subconscious suspicions of whether or not Olwen had something to
do with Martin’s death and it turns out she very well did, for she was the one who
had shot him. The audience is very well left with their jaws dropped and in a state
of bewilderment to the revelation as it was not very evident throughout the play
that Olwen would do such a thing. The cliffhanger with which, act 2 ended served
the successful dramatic function of keeping the audience engaged and restraining
from putting the play down without knowing what happens next.
The characters would also be assumed to be in a state of shock as well due to how
act 2 was spent in a heated argument where all suspicions pointed to Stanton,
and now with Olwen’s confession, these assumptions are proved true due to how
they react to it, except Stanton who claims he knew from the start. This also
further increases suspicions on how much Stanton actually knows about the
matter and how much he’s hiding and revealing.
Olwen is prompted to reveal the entire truth now, after her confession. As she
goes on to tell her story, many new character qualities regarding Martin are seen
to be revealed and confirmed (how Freda confirms that Martin could be very
cruel at times) and so do initial assumptions about Martin that both the audience
and the characters had of him. A possibility of one of Martin’s assumed
characteristics, that he was always happy and care-free, could be because of his
drug consumption habits which are also revealed.
Olwen tells the incident how she remembers it and throughout her narration it is
evident that Martin was clearly a person who wanted most what he couldn’t
have, which was Olwen, and forced himself on her, in his drugged out state, which
in turn led to a struggle and an accidental jerking of the trigger on Olwen’s end
and shooting Martin. The entire narration is written in a clear, interpretable and
descriptive manner but it still leaves audiences’ minds racing with a thousand
follow-up questions to all the questions answered. Gordon revealed that he knew
of how his drug use came into play and even tried to justify it stating the others
did not know of what life was for Martin, which hints to the strong feelings
Gordon, himself had for Martin, revealed later in the Act. The audience would
probably be paying the most attention to this story as it consists of so many new
revelations and things they most likely did not expect, a state of clarity but also
disorientation would be evident amongst the audience. It is also seen that Freda’s
feelings for Martin are intense as she reacts to every detail of Martin in the story
in the manner of a damsel in love.
Initially, Stanton had only revealed two reasons as to how he knew Olwen was
behind the incident with Martin, but after Olwen’s story he went on to reveal the
third reason which we find out is the fact that there was a piece of silk cloth, still
at Martin’s house, when Stanton went there for early investigation. We also see
Gordon, once again, trying to defend Martin by claiming that Martin had shot
himself because he took the money and at this point he sounds almost desperate.
As if he is in denial and that Martin was not terrible enough to force himself on
someone. The audience is still in a state of bewilderment from the unfolding of
events but still would not expect what is yet to come.
As the act further progresses we are given a new piece of information. Olwen,
allegedly, went to Stanton’s cottage to tell him the details of her encounter but
decided not to go inside due to something she had witnessed there, which does
seem suspicious and makes the audience curious as to what she could have seen,
but serves an important dramatic function in the plot later on, in which it helps to
have it fall into place.
The characters in the scene are just as confused as the audience to what she
could have seen and a blow is served when Gordon goes on to call Betty a liar,
after she bursts into tears. This is where a major shift in initial character
assumptions is seen because Betty, allegedly, is not the child-like good girl she is
thought out to be, for she is who Olwen saw with Stanton at his cottage. Once
again the audience is inevitably presumed to be baffled at yet another revelation
that pushes the plot further to fall in place. Robert is most disheveled of all,
almost like he is in denial of Betty doing such a thing which at first seems to hint
at Robert possibly having feelings for her but this is never confirmed.
Before the audience has time to completely absorb all the unfolded events yet
another drastically huge revelation hits them. Betty breaks free from her
‘’innocent, can’t-understand-anything’’ character and reveals how she has had an
affair with Stanton, indeed, and how she had done it due to the fact that Gordon’s
infatuation with Martin led them short of money and how she tried to milk some
money out of Stanton. It is also revealed how her and Gordon’s marriage, the one
the others idealized, was based on lies and not love in the least. This information
further prompts both the audience and the characters to put the pieces together,
of how it is indeed Stanton that had taken the money because he had been
helping Betty get by (in exchange for her company) and the truth is in front of
their eyes now. It’s almost beautiful the way the plot falls together and how
neatly things come into light even though they were tragic incidents and hidden
truths. Stanton’s dialogue ‘’ Queer how it works out, isn’t it?’’ The audience at this
point is assumed to be unsure of anyone’s true character, whether or not anyone
is truly authentic and can be relied upon or have they all been putting up fronts all
this time.
Gordon’s deep love for Martin and denial of the situation he’s in, due to light shed
on events and revelation of his sham of a marriage, has led him into a state of
disorientation and he starts saying hopeless things of how he died when Martin
died, which tells the audience that Gordon’s love for Martin was probably
something more than just plain platonic brotherly love.
In the midst of all this perhaps the most affected character is Robert or so it
seems. He forced the truth out and once he had gotten it he fell into shambles.
What most affected him, perhaps is Betty, turning out something other than what
he envisioned her as. The illusion he had of her and worshipped proving to be
fool’s gold. After the departure of Stanton, Gordon and Betty from the scene is
goes on to say hysterical things and how he cannot survive without the illusions
he built during his entire life. Olwen tries to talk sense to him and even suggests
running away with him but this serves as more of a hint of selfish-ness in her
character being evident, than anything as it gives off a strong aura that she
suggests only so Robert would feel something for her in exchange. But in vain, as
the very following dialogue of Robert admits he feels nothing inside anymore.
The transitional method of ending the current scene, by Robert going into his
room and a gunshot being heard, and having the audience revisit the very first
scene would probably be responsible for provoking reactions of shock and
unexpectedness from the audience and may even stimulate questions such as
‘’wait…was it a dream?’’ “why did this happen”? in the audience’s head. However,
the initial scene makes much more sense now after everything and the
character’s thoughts on the “sleeping dog” serve as reflections of their true
personalities that were revealed in the life-changing event.
All in all, the entire act would serve as a masterpiece plot weaver and also the
most significant act in the play due to being where the secrets and the truth come
out. The experience of the audience, throughout the entire play would have been
extremely engaging to say the least and utter shock as the characters go on to
reveal themselves as something completely different than what they initially were
which leaves the audience in a state of thought as these three-dimensional
characters possessed realistic personality traits and qualities and couldn’t be
helped but to be compared with people in real life. The way the plot soundly and
coherently falls into place was also seamlessly satisfying as the dramatic functions
within the entire play were proved to be successful. Truly, a great play.