I find this play of words (referring to the title of this post) to be very interesting. Throughout the first half of this play, Wanda would suggest that Thomas was being "ambivalent". The pedantic Thomas often corrected her (which was annoying, but very important to the play) by saying it was "Ambigous"
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Ambivalence is "the simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action" and Ambiguous means "
doubtful or uncertain especially from obscurity"
To me, these two words play a very important role in the play (most notably in the the script within the play where we learn that two of the characters have unclear and conflicting views about relationships)
I feel that these two words are very similar despite what Thomas prefers. How do you all feel about the relationship of these two words and the play itself.
2 comments:
Patrick, I was also intrigued by these words. Their recurring theme really drives home the point, that Vanda is on the surface the ditsy young actress that she first comes off as, but that she does in fact have a hidden intelligence that Thomas finds attractive. However, I disagree that they are as related as you say, regardless of their root, "ambi." More broadly, Vanda is not an "ambivalent" person, nor is Thomas, although he tries to argue that he is all throughout the play. What is "ambiguous" here is their relationship. As the synopsis on the back cover of the play states, "As they [Vanda and Thomas] perform scenes from Thomas's play, the lines between writer, actor, director, and character begin to blur." Their identities become "ambiguous" based on their performance of the characters and how they parse them as they read the play, but through each other they come to realize more deeply their own identities, even if in doing so it complicates things.
I thought this was interesting as well. I think it is also arguable that Thomas regards both Vanda the actress and Vanda the character with ambivalence and that these moments allow Vanda the actress to draw attention to this dynamic. When Thomas snaps, saying, "How can you be so good at playing her, and be so fucking stupid about her? And about everything else in this play. You fucking idiot. You fucking idiot woman" he clearly displays ambivalence(54. He makes an effort to keep Vanda happy because he enjoys her performance as Vanda, but this moment makes it clear his adoration is mixed with repulsion. Similarly, he expresses his reverance for the big emotions of the play, indicating he is attached to the Vanda character, but writes her in a pretty unsympathetic manner - which also indicates ambivalence. His proclaimed ambiguity within the play may be a cover for ambivalence toward Vanda or perhaps women in general.
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