The Zoo Story by Edward Albee

Name : Tyas Purwaningsih
NIM : A320080254
Class : F

DRAMA
The Zoo Story by Edward Albee

1.Characters :
a.Peter
b.Jerry
c.Peter's wife, Ann

2.Characterization :
a.Peter is a middle-class publishing executive with a wife, two daughters, two cats and two parakeets who lives in ignorance of the world outside his settled life. A man in his early forties, neither fat nor gaunt, neither handsome nor homely. He wears tweeds, smokes a pipe, and carries horn-rimmed glasses. Although he is moving into middle age, his dress and his manner would suggest a man younger.
b.Jerry is an isolated and disheartened man who lives in a boarding house and is very troubled. He is a man in his late thirties, not poorly dressed, but carelessly. What was once a trim and lightly muscled body has begun to go to fat; and while he is no longer handsome, it is evident that he once was.

3.Plot :
Jerry is desperate to have a meaningful conversation with another human being. He intrudes on Peter’s peaceful state by interrogating him and forcing him to listen to stories from his life, including "THE STORY OF JERRY AND THE DOG” and the reason behind his visit to the zoo. The action is linear, unfolding in front of the audience in “real time”. The elements of ironic humor and unrelenting dramatic suspense are brought to a climax when Jerry brings his victim down to his own savage level.

4.Setting :
a.Setting of place : It is Central Park. There are two park benches, one toward either side of the stage; they both face the audience. Behind them: foliage, trees, sky. At the beginning, Peter is seated on one of the benches.
b.Setting of time : a Sunday afternoon in summer; the present.

5.Theme :
The Zoo Star,- by Edward Albee details what happens when one character enters the life of another character and quickly changes it forever. In the play, Jerry confronts Peter while he sits quietly reading on a bench in Central Park; through a quick series of events, Jerry forces Peter into helping him kill himself. Layered throughout this short one-act play are three overriding themes: absurdity versus reality, alienation and loneliness, and wealth and poverty.

6.Style :
Somewhat startling is the realization that this drama uses Christian symbols which, despite their modern dress, retain their original significance or more precisely. Express their original significance in the modern term.

7.Conclusion :
What happens to an ordinarily uneducated man in an unjust competitive society in which men are victimized by false gods. His fate is not tragic. There is nothing of the superhuman or providential or destined in this play. Everyone fails in a waste of misplaced energy.

8.Man vs. Society :
The result of this drama is Men Vs. society. It is because there is no natural disaster in the drama. Besides, this drama is a confrontation between middle-class America and the outcasts of society