Devial And Daniel Webster :: essays research papers

     The play "The Devil and Daniel Webster" was boiring as watching grass grow. The audience struggled to find a comfortable position to stay awake. This disappointing occupation was stale and went nowhere. Unfortuneltly the audience was unable to develop any emotional relationship with the main characters. THe play predictablitly created an atmosphere of distisfaction. Stephen Vincent Benet obviously was having a bad day when pen this script.     Benet uses his three main characters as symbols of mans struggle with good and evil. Evil was represented by the all mighty Scratch. Usually the devil is the undestructable force that cant be stopped. Benet did a poorjob portraying that we all struggle with the Scratchs inside of us. THis is a missed opportunity to develp his characters with traits we could all relate to. The most honest part of the play was the jury. The twelve custody represented Jabezs weaknesses. They understood is in ternal need for money and power.     The conversatioin between then three main characters helped the audience understand their relationshipfor one another and their daily values. For example, bloody shame portrayed the little girl next door nrole in the play. Mary was apathetic and devoted to her husband. At all cost her marriage vowes were very heavy and meant a lot to her. Even her commitment to her husband was strong but she still apeared pathetic.     Websters powerful commitment to strong morals leaves him exposed and out in the open. You cant take this theme to seriously. For example, what neighboor is going to help someone who made a pakted with the devil. Theres a lot of unfinished story lines.     The disappointing writing of Benet left the story unresolved.