Character Analysis Of Rose Maxon In Fences By August Wilson

The marriage between Troy and Rose was shown differently in Denzel Washington’s production of Fences and the 1985 original play by American playwright, August Wilson. August Wilson’s play centered around the Maxson family, the life of Troy Maxson and the decisions he made that affected his marriage and family. The Maxson marriage was depicted on the 1950’s era whereby a woman’s place was in the home. While Rose was home tending to the house and children, Troy provided for the family. Throughout the movie and play, we see how Troy’s actions and decisions affected the relationships with his friends and family. The primary relationship highlighted in both the play and movie is that of Troy and Rose and how it completely disintegrates towards the end of the story. In August Wilson’s portrayal of Rose, she is described as one that has been challenged throughout her life, but still manages to be a strong centerpiece for the family. Denzel Washington’s movie conveys the

Troy’s Responsibility August Wilsons play Fences is taken place in the 1950s in the city of Pittsburgh. The play mainly revolves around Troy Maxon, his wife Rose, and his son Cory. Troy Maxon is a fifty-three-year-old man that has lived through it all. He grew up in times where there were color barriers. Troy was a phenomenal baseball player but the color of his skin set him back from becoming a professional player.

In the film Fences by August Wilson, the audience is presented with a country that is fast evolving, with oppression, prejudice, and poverty remaining a common factor. Most scholars argue that sexism is the dominant theme in Wilson’s plays due to the portrayal of female characters occupying the stereotypical, male-fantasized roles of the domestic, powerless, or submissive mother figure rather than an empowered, complex, or realistic woman. However, a closer review of the character of Rose in Fences shows that Wilson has not embraced these stereotypes. In fact, he has aimed at subverting them by allowing domestic behavior,

In Fences, August Wilson introduces an African American family whose life is based around a fence. In the dirt yard of the Maxson’s house, many relationships come to blossom and wither here. The main character, Troy Maxson, prevents anyone from intruding into his life by surrounding himself around a literal and metaphorical fence that affects his relationships with his wife, son, and mortality.

Fences, by August Wilson takes place in the 1950's; a time where gender roles where strict. Wilson sets the issues that transpire within the play in a time period that wasn’t ideal for women to speak out. The irony of the play's setting correlates to the issues that the women characters within the story face. Fences can be viewed as a one-sided male perspective that gives little acknowledgement to the woman characters. Wilson's plays have been controversial because some say that he depicts woman as subservient and subordinate. However, taking a closer look into the character of Rose, I can argue that Wilson does not paint a stereotypical depiction of woman. Instead Wilson uses the woman's sexuality, maternal instinct, and intuition, to insinuate their strength and empowerment through the woman’s actions contrary to the belief of the woman in his plays being seen as weak and voiceless.

When Troy sheepishly says, “...we can figure it out” (Wilson, Fences, 68) when it comes to him impregnating another woman, she boldly fires back, “All of a sudden it’s ‘we.’ Where was ‘we’ at when you was down there rolling around with some god-forsaken woman? ‘We’ should have come to an understanding before you started making a damn fool of yourself.” (Wilson, Fences, 68) Rose is a strong woman whose definition of a Good Life is one dedicated to protecting her family so even though she can boldly tell Troy everything he has done wrong she still puts family first and helps raise Troy’s baby and lets Troy live in the house.

Within August Wilson’s Fences, the conflict between the authority figures within the Maxson household was prevalent. At this time in history, misogyny was widespread, and men typically held a large majority of the authority positions in society. Some scenes from Wilson’s Fences would include times in which Troy Maxson would depict seemingly oppressive authority over his family members. Troy often acted in a rather arrogant manner, which contributed to the strong sense of patriarchy that was present in the Maxson household at times. Contrary to this, Wilson included scenes in which Rose showed superiority over her husband. Applying feminist literary criticism to these specific scenes can allow the reader or viewer to analyze the

Conflicts and tensions between family members and friends are key elements in August Wilson's play, Fences. The main character, Troy Maxon, has struggled his whole life to be a responsible person and fulfill his duties in any role that he is meant to play. In turn, however, he has created conflict through his forbidding manner. The author illustrates how the effects of Troy's stern upbringing cause him to pass along a legacy of bitterness and anger which creates tension and conflict in his relationships with his family.

In this unit we read a play written as a book, called “Fences”. Fences is about racism written in the 1986. The play is based around the main characters Troy and Rose, and their son Cory. Troy has stated that he has felt the need to provide a life for Cory but doesn't need love him. Troy is wanting Cory to stop playing football and get a real job at the A&P so he can provide for himself. Rose has been trapped in between all of this. All in all, the play Fences written by August Wilson uses the narrative element of characterization of Troy and Rose, the metaphor of sports, and conflict that Troy creates to show tension.

She wants the fence built up to keep her family as one. " I ain't never wanted any half nothing in my family ."(2.2) When Troy reveals to Rose that he had stepped out on their marriage and had a child on the way it takes Rose's sanity and she gradually pushes away but still held Troy down.

The play Fences, by August Wilson, is a story based in the 1950’s during the civil rights movement when African Americans were being discriminated against, one particular family being the Maxsons. The Maxsons are a family consisting of Rose, an obedient wife, Troy, a disloyal husband, Cory, their hardworking son, and their other lazy son, Lyons. The main plot of Fences is that Troy is an alcoholic and a cheating husband who is basically stuck living in his prior baseball days and how he goes about being a successful father and earning a living. “The game of baseball has long been regarded as a metaphor for the American Dream—an expression of hope, democratic values, and the drives for individual success” (Koprince). Koprince portrays that

In the play, “Fences,” the author, August Wilson, has broken his story into two acts. The first Act tells the life of Troy Maxson and the issues surrounding his life. In the beginning, the character, Troy Maxson, is understood to be the main character and we learn about his friends and family. The date is sometime in the year 1957 and it’s a Friday night. This leads to a discussion, him and his friend and coworker, Jim Bono, have at their usual weekly drinking and socializing time. We learn that as a trash man he wasn’t allowed to drive the garbage trucks, only to lift the garbage, because of his position in society and his color. We also learn of Troy’s wife, Rose, and her kids, Cory, Gabriel, and Lyon, and the recent news concerning Cory’s

Lining the yard, a picket fence that took weeks to build wraps around the broken-down house. These structures are seen as a method of protection, a way to "keep the people one wants in, and keep those one does not out (Wilson 1172). " But, there is more to the underlying name of this assembly. Fences, a modern drama by August Wilson, is a play that is about the Maxson Family, with Troy as the protagonist. Most of the time, others see this structure a way to define one's property; nonetheless, the term Fences has more symbolism to offer.

Fences took place in the 1950’s, during that time the role of women in the 1950 was repressive and constrictive in a lot of ways. Society placed a very high significance on different expectations on behavior in public as well as at home. Women were to be homemakers, caring mothers, and to be an obedient wife to their husbands. A wife was only considered a “good wife” if she did anything and everything her husband asked for and agreed with everything the man would say. This was the type of way Troy treated Rose in fences and how he thought of women and their roles. This essay will reveal the womanistic and feministic aspects that were introduced in the play. The purpose of this essay is to examine how August Wilson portrayed women in the play, to examine the themes and issues blacks dealt with in the 1950’s, to see how a female playwright might write the play differently, and to compare the roles of woman in August Wilson’s “Fences”to Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy.” All heroes have their hamartia and with Troy being one of them he has one as well. With Troy’s tragic flaw being so significant to this play, he impacted and shaped all the other characters in this play. One of the ways Troy shows his tragic flaw is when he cheated on his wife, Rose. Rose wanted a full-time husband and