Plot: Eyeball, simply put, is about two online friends (Eileen and Patrick) meeting up for the first

time
in person. They’ve also brought their friends along (Wilson and Rosemary). The friends function as
their confidants, and one of the methods to drive the story forward and develop our characters,
seeing as Eileen and Patrick don’t interact until the very end. (***The breakdown of the play by Point
of Attack, Inciting Incident, RA, Climax, FA, Resolution can be found in the uploaded Eyeball notes.)

Dialogue: It’s primarily through dialogue that a play progresses. As we all know, dialogue can have
three functions: to prove/refute (as during the argument between Patrick and Rosemary and the
conversations between Eileen and Wilson), to incite feeling (Rosemary trying to guilt Patrick into
approaching Eileen, Eileen’s fears, Wilson’s reassurance, Patrick’s selfishness), and to give
emphasis (the books, the history of Eileen and Patrick’s relationship, characterisation of each
person).

Characters: Patrick and Eileen are what we call complex and dynamic characters. We know them
better than the other two, and they change over the course of the play They’re our protagonists.
Patrick is someone obsessed with appearances, his primary reason for not approaching Eileen is
because he fears how others would view them together. They wouldn’t “look” right. From his point of
view, her being “healthy” automatically excludes her from his circle. The four months they’ve spent
talking no longer matters.

It’s pretty clear to us from the start that Eileen has high expectations of this meet up. It’s seen
through how anxious she is for this to go well, and the lengths she went through to prepare (hair,
makeup, clothes). It’s even pointed out by Wilson that she looks like she’s going on a date. Eileen
eventually reveals that it’s not only friendship between her and Patrick. There was a romantic
connection as well. Eileen is insecure, likely because of people’s reaction to seeing her (as
exemplified by Patrick’s reaction). This is the first time she’s felt worthwhile. It’s proved to her that
appearances don’t matter when it comes to the heart. All of these dearly held sentiments are
shattered by the climax of the play.

The questions I pose to you know are:

1. Why did Eileen bother ripping the book cover during the Falling Action? Why did the writer
choose these books specifically? Why not something else?
2. What is the play’s message (theme) about Love? Beauty/Appearances? Relationships built
through the use of technology?