Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin / English Departement / Prof. Dr.

Christina Wald

How to Write an Essay: Which of the following essay examples is better and why?

Essay question: What is the function of the cross-casting in Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine?

Version I:
In Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, cross-gender and cross-racial casting are the most important
techniques. Men are played by women and vice versa. The black servant is played by a white man
and children are played by adults. After having read the play, the reader automatically wonders
about Churchill’s intentions to use these techniques.
In order to explain the function of these techniques, it is necessary to examine some of the
main characters of Act One. In contrast to Act Two, there are many examples of cross casting in
Act One. Most characters are played by the opposite sex and cross-racial casting is represented by
Joshua, the black servant, who is played by a white man. In the drama he denies his family and his
black identity. Churchill clearly shows that Joshua’s dream is to be white like his master, be treated
with the same respect and have the same rights. Churchill uses cross-racial casting for Joshua,
because she wants to show his true feelings and emotions and his desire to be treated like a white
man.
Another interesting character is Betty, a woman, who is played by a man. She is Clive’s wife
and the perfect example of a Victorian housewife of that time. Churchill uses this cross-gender
casting because she wants to indicate that there is a separation between the duties of women, their
dependence on their husbands and the female body. With Betty played by a man, the author wants
to draw the attention to the fact that most women still accept to be regarded as the weak gender
and that they are expected to be there for their husbands.
Edward’s gender-cross casting can easily be explained as well. In Act One he is a nine-year
old boy who likes to play with dolls and seems to have some sort of affection towards Harry. The
female character emphasizes Edward’s feminine and gay side, which is revealed in Act Two.
Churchill intended to point out that Edward has emotional feelings and does not live up to his
father’s expectations. Furthermore, he also refuses to play the traditional role which men carry out
in society.
As a result, you can say that the main function of cross casting in Cloud Nine is to support
the real feelings and characteristics of the different characters. Moreover, Churchill succeeded in
making the audience think about the various characters, their stories and also about the prejudices
and stereotypes that are still prevailing in society.
Version II:
The wife played by a man, the son by a girl and the black servant by a white – almost every
member of Clive’s household in Act One of Caryl Churchill’s drama Cloud 9 is played by somebody
of either the opposite sex or skin colour. Cross-casting is a powerful dramatic device for it opposes
the rules of stage realism, which has the effect of giving the spectators much room for their
individual interpretations of the play. Apart from the activation of a critical view, there are more
functions of cross-casting in Cloud 9 that are worth being taken into consideration. Without doubt,
there is a certain entertaining effect involved. But more importantly, cross-casting is also a device
that emphasises psychological and social aspects of the drama, on which I am going to focus
below.
Cross-casting provides a psychological insight into the character’s wishes as it portrays what
the person wants to be like. Betty and Joshua confirm that by saying, “And what men want is what
I want to be” (Act I, Scene 1, l. 23) and “What white men want is what I want to be” (Act I, Scene
1, l. 30). Since we can assume that in reality neither Betty is preferred to be a man nor Joshua to be
white, these statements rather express the character’s wish to be somebody who is valued within a
society that is ruled by white men. This theory cannot be applied to Betty’s homosexual son
Edward. His appearance on stage as a girl can be interpreted as an indicator for his sexual
orientation, but also as a wish to escape from the expectations and psychological pressure that
patriarchal societies put on young men.
Besides the psychological dimension, cross-casting also raises the awareness regarding the
social and individual relevance of the play’s issue. In a subtle way the spectators are confronted
with the rigidity of social roles by becoming aware of their own internalised gender stereotypes.
This is achieved when the audience is made feel awkward by visually blurring sexual identity,
behaviour and sex as well as ethnic affiliation and social standing on stage. Due to the fact that
there is still a general unexpressed social consensus on role allocation, especially in view of gender
and sexual identity, it stands to reason that most people subconsciously adhere to these ideas. As a
result, they feel irritated when being presented a completely deviant concept of social role
allocation, which is realised both visually and contextually. This perceptible irritation is the crucial
effect that conducts in an awareness process, which helps to understand the ideas that stand behind
the drama.
Considering the mentioned functions of cross-casting, psychological insight and social
criticism, we can only get a presentiment of the enunciative power of this dramatic device.
However, as far as the mediation of a clear message is concerned, it is in fact most important to
affect the spectators emotionally and make them understand the character’s psyche. Therefore,
cross-casting in Cloud 9 is doubtlessly used deliberately and highly effectively.