Venus Literary Elements

Venus Literary Elements

Genre

Modern Drama

Language

English

Setting and Context

London, Nineteeth century, during the height of both colonialism and sideshow entertainment

Narrator and Point of View

The point of view is that of Sarah Baartman, who is the character being exploited.

Tone and Mood

Depressing and outraged

Protagonist and Antagonist

Sarah is the protagonist, the Mother Showman the antagonist.

Major Conflict

The is no real conflict in the play within the characters; the conflict occurs within the audience as we are outraged by Sarah's treatment from her exploiters.

Climax

Sarah dies an untimely death in a jail cell, and is subsequently still a sideshow when her skeleton and a plaster cast of her entire body are displayed in a museum.

Foreshadowing

Sarah's leaving South Africa for Britain foreshadows her exploitation and sale and the fact she will never be free again.

Understatement

No specific examples

Allusions

The play alludes to the entertainment of the day in that it centers around the story of people put on display for physical deformities. In a way, it also alludes to the story of the real Sarah Baartman, who is a springboard for the play rather than historically accurately represented by it.

Sarah's stage name is also an allusion to the sculpture of Venus de Milo

Imagery

The imagery revolves around Sarah's body and the condition that she has that makes her curves, particularly her thighs and buttocks, disproportionately large.

Paradox

The Baron Docteur gives Sarah gonorrhea, but has her imprisoned blaming her for contracting it.

Parallelism

There is a parallel between the Mother Showman and the Baron Docteur, as both are exploiting Sarah for their own nefarious purposes.

Personification

No specific examples

Use of Dramatic Devices

No specific examples

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