English Intensive Reading 吉林大学远程教育学院
Introduction Text Language Points Grammar
				Lesson 4  Introduction
			It is a sentimental little comedy which reveals the playwright’s confidence in human goodness and his affection for ordinary people. The pearl in the play serves as a symbol. And it obviously exists not in the oyster, but in the hearts of the children, the children’s father, the barber, the writer, and indeed everybody in the play. It refers to the simple virtues of poor laboring people in an out-of-the-way small town which remains relatively untouched by the money-oriented culture.         However, due to changing social standards, what was an entertaining comedy to an American audience in 1953 would appear oversimplified and somewhat stilted some forty-odd years later. First, by today’s standards, the characters are stereotyped: for example, Harry is the generous-hearted, broad-spirited, open-minded, understanding working man, while Miss McCutcheon is just the opposite － an “up-tight” school teacher. Both of these portrayals are stock images with a long tradition in American folklore.         Second, the play would certainly be considered sexist by serious theater-goers today. As soon as Miss McCutcheon enters, Harry’s first words to her are: “Miss America I presume.” This is an extremely condescending and presumptuous remark, showing that he feels perfectly free to comment on her looks despite the fact that he has never even met the woman. The judge behaves no differently when he looks her over as if he is judging cattle at a fair (“…he takes a good look at her knees, calves, ankles…”). There are also frequent references by the men to her being pretty and little else.         Miss McCutcheon is right when she complains that Harry will not take her seriously. He is just toying with her when, for example, he keeps suggesting that she is looking for a husband (when, in fact, he has no evidence that this is the case), or when he refuses to cut her hair, and instead he decides how she should look. He himself makes it quite clear that he doesn’t take her seriously when he says that he is “just having a little fun with the new teacher.” Actually the fun he is having is not with her but rather at her expense. Even the stage directions supplied by the author diminish the character of Miss McCutcheon by referring to her, a grown woman with a responsible job, as a “girl”.         Finally, the mood of the play would be considered nrealistically optimistic and overly sentimental by many contemporary literary critics.