Road To Mecca
The Road to Mecca.
In this essay I will discuss the way the play “The Road to Mecca” represents women’s rights to express themselves freely. Helen is a widow who lives in a rural Afrikaans town in the Karoo, New Bethseda. Since her husband’s death, Helen has filled her home and garden with statues and works of art such as wise men, camels, owls, mermaids and other figures. She has decorated her home with candles and mirrors and mosaics. She has created her own “Mecca” of beauty and freedom among the conservative Afrikaans society that surrounds her.
The play explores her relationship with a young woman, Elsa Barlow. Elsa is a teacher from CapeTown and had been attracted by the Art of Helen’s home and befriended her five years earlier. The play starts with a visit from Elsa who has driven for 10 hours because of a troubling letter she received from Helen. Helen has had a few accidents around the house and the conservative Afrikaans “dominee” is trying to convince Helen to move into a retirement home. Elsa realizes that Helen is desperate for someone to renew her faith in herself and her art. The play takes place in mostly one evening, in this evening friendships are challenged and their lives questioned.
Elsa is a radical, rebellious teacher that teaches uncontroversial material to her coloured students. She is an independent rebellious woman that believes in human rights and freedom of speech. When Elsa and Helen are discussing Katrina (Helens maid), Elsa expresses her feelings of feminism in the statement “There’s nothing sacred in a marriage that abuses a woman.” Elsa has a very liberal way of thinking and wants to stand up for woman and encourage women to stand up for themselves. She wants Katrina to get out of the abusive relationship she is in with a drunk and she comments that “She has got a few rights, Miss Helen, and I just want her to know what they are.” Elsa is outraged by the condition Katrina is living in and feels very strongly about her
In this essay I will discuss the way the play “The Road to Mecca” represents women’s rights to express themselves freely. Helen is a widow who lives in a rural Afrikaans town in the Karoo, New Bethseda. Since her husband’s death, Helen has filled her home and garden with statues and works of art such as wise men, camels, owls, mermaids and other figures. She has decorated her home with candles and mirrors and mosaics. She has created her own “Mecca” of beauty and freedom among the conservative Afrikaans society that surrounds her.
The play explores her relationship with a young woman, Elsa Barlow. Elsa is a teacher from CapeTown and had been attracted by the Art of Helen’s home and befriended her five years earlier. The play starts with a visit from Elsa who has driven for 10 hours because of a troubling letter she received from Helen. Helen has had a few accidents around the house and the conservative Afrikaans “dominee” is trying to convince Helen to move into a retirement home. Elsa realizes that Helen is desperate for someone to renew her faith in herself and her art. The play takes place in mostly one evening, in this evening friendships are challenged and their lives questioned.
Elsa is a radical, rebellious teacher that teaches uncontroversial material to her coloured students. She is an independent rebellious woman that believes in human rights and freedom of speech. When Elsa and Helen are discussing Katrina (Helens maid), Elsa expresses her feelings of feminism in the statement “There’s nothing sacred in a marriage that abuses a woman.” Elsa has a very liberal way of thinking and wants to stand up for woman and encourage women to stand up for themselves. She wants Katrina to get out of the abusive relationship she is in with a drunk and she comments that “She has got a few rights, Miss Helen, and I just want her to know what they are.” Elsa is outraged by the condition Katrina is living in and feels very strongly about her