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Brian Clark's Play Whose Life Is It Anyway? Essay

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Brian Clark's Play "Whose Life Is It Anyway?"

The play "Whose Life Is It Anyway" by Brian Clark was made into a stage play and film. The television play was made in 1972 and the stage plays in 1978. In the play,” written by Brian Clarke, the intense argument of committing Voluntary Euthanasia is discussed.

The main point of the play, Ken Harrison, once an imaginative, devoted sculptor, is involved in a terrible car crash. Following a long operation, Ken is paralyzed from the neck down; he is informed that he may never be able to move his body ever again.

Brian Clark in a similar way uses different characters to show a different view of Ken's possibilities. Dr. Emerson thinks Ken's life is precious and should be kept at …show more content…

Ken is visited by
Mrs. Boyle, a social worker who tries to help Ken to move on and accept his disability and living a life with the disability. Mrs.
Boyle is capable of helping some people but Ken isn't interested, his greatest passion in life was his sculpture, and because Dr. Emerson has confirmed his worst fears - that he will never use his hands again, he can never sculpt again. Without this his life is meaningless and Ken doesn't want Mrs. Boyles help, Ken absolutely takes her to pieces, he throws everything he has at her.

The title starts the play with a question and it’s answered towards the end of the play. The title in a way shows that it is meant to be, partly, a clash of wills between two sides. In Act 1 the audience finds out about the main character, Ken Harrison, about his accident and the injuries it caused. Dr. Emerson, the attending physician, believes that Ken is just depressed and that if given time will choose to live. He states, "It is impossible to injure the body to the extent that Mr. Harrison had and not affect the mind." From his experience, he thinks that Ken will change his mind later on. In Act two the events change later on: in order to prevent Ken's discharge and death,
Dr. Emerson seeks to have Ken committed to the hospital as mentally unstable, but Ken's lawyers apply for a writ of habeas corpus which would free Ken to leave the hospital and finish his case. Ken tries to take a

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