Realism in the play Mulatto written by Langston Hughes - Essay Example

The realness of this protagonist comes from the fact that he resembles or represents a real person who exists, or had existed, in certain historical time and place. The representation of the protagonist in the physical world makes Robert, at certain level, a real person. The realness of the protagonist is made possible by the human reader him- or herself; Robert becomes alive within the mental frame of the reader. Upon “seeing” Robert’s character in the play, the sensible reader is able to grasp the resemblance or representation of this protagonist to the real world.

Evidently, the real world that the reader perceives is a material and/or perceptual realm in which he or she possesses based from an aspect or element of knowledge. In lieu to the Mulatto play, the knowledge that is at work here is a historical one: racism in the early 20th-century South. Second, the Mulatto playwright uses real place-and-time continuum in narrating the drama’s reality. Mentioning the names Georgia and Eleanor Roosevelt suggests a particular geography and historical time-period in which the narrative takes place.

Georgia, for one thing, is one of the States in America, which is located in its Southern region. Historically speaking, Georgia was a state that politically belonged to or supported the Confederate Government. And one of the objectives of the Confederate States was the maintenance or preservation of black slavery within its geopolitical domain. In the narrative, Hughes portrays the existence and persistence of slavery in the South through the symbolism or representation of Colonel Thomas Norwood, a slave owner from Georgia.

The realness of the play comes from, among other elements, the spatial context of the narrative. Moreover, the name Eleanor Roosevelt is a very familiar name especially to the Americans, both North and South. She is well known for her civil-rights activities, particularly that which relates to women’s rights. Mrs. Roosevelt is a historical figure who lived beyond the literary text. And the mere mention of her name in the Mulatto evokes the near reality of the drama: early 20th century. Third, Hughes employs dialogue that is ordinary or “real life” conversation.

For instance, the phonology or textual character marked in the play sounds like real Southerners, especially the black people. The way the characters utter a word or two sounds like the speech prominent in the black community. In addition, the ideas or meanings contained in their utterances or dialogue are very similar to the context of everyday conversation. By and large, the Mulatto play written by Hughes utilizes, in an effective manner, realism as a literary device via the representations of its real characters, setting, and