History

there is a drama review and term paper, using MLA formataround 2000 words, you chooses the play and topic from Lauro’s.

if you have any question plz let me know

Don’t choose this topic plz!

Analysis of Agency in a Play

“A Piece of My Heart” by Shirley Lauro

“A Piece of My Heart” is an emotional and informative play by Shirley Lauro as it explores the powerful accounts of six women who are assigned to Vietnam after their voluntary application. Four of the women are nurses, one is as an enlisted intelligence specialist in the Women’s Army Corps, and the other is a country-western singer from U.T.O. (Lauro, 1992). At first, they are all excited to serve in the army as the play begins with them talking about their lives before the assignment and what inspired them to choose the military path. The play, therefore, depicts the experiences of each woman before, during, and after their tasks in the Vietnam War. Eventually, they converge at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to leave personal tokens (Lauro, 1992). At this point, Lauro (1992) is effective in showing their significance in the war. Stereotypically, men were viewed as the heroes and the significant people in the Vietnam War and other military ventures according to most historical accounts. The stories told revolved around the men with disregard of the roles of the women who supported them in various ways. The treatment of the women as mere background figures or the ignorance of their contributions in the Vietnam War altogether shows how they were marginalized at the time and how the bulk of the literature regarding the American experience in the war continued to make them irrelevant. In the play, Lauro (1992) changes this status quo by illustrating how there was too much gender stereotyping during the war, given that women served accordingly as well. Their tasks were considered peripheral to the point that most men centered their demeanor on this understanding. The six women in the play show the consequences of wanting to serve their men and their country. Primarily, Lauro manages to highlight the courage of these women despite the stereotypes through the resilience shown by the characters after their gesture of agency even in the context of being viewed as background figures. Therefore, the play depicts how the women who served in the Vietnam War had genuine agency.

Firstly, the women in the play choose to serve in the war based on their free will to do good, and as their emotions guide these ideas, they encounter emotional trauma in the war as they are considered vulnerable. After they are initiated in the military as per their roles, the women begin to understand the emotional intensity that they have to deal with in the Vietnam War. The nurses realize that supervising and attending to over 200 injured men is overwhelming. “You will be responsible, Captain, for 300 to 350 patients,” the Chief Nurse tells one of the nurses (Lauro, 1992). Over time, exposure to severe wounds and cases, as well as attack ambushes, affects their emotions drastically. However, Lauro’s point might be that the emotional strength that these women develop makes them heroines. Thus, even though they are emotionally vulnerable or were blinded by the materialistic aspect of the assignment, they are capable of adjusting and playing their roles effectively. Their agency to serve in the war by assisting the soldiers and other victims pave the way for positive change in the perspectives regarding women in war. Also, Lauro (1992) shows how women’s inclination to emotions at the time of the war allowed them to love the men and see them as significant people in their lives. The characters in the play show how some men hurt the women who served and how healed them with their presence. The women in the play have tasks to perform effectively, so they have to be emotionally strong even if they lose the men they love to severe injuries and instant death. This strong mindset indicates how the women act in their free will and determined to contribute to positive change through their common good. Their persistence amidst diversity emphasizes the significance of women in the war.

Also, Lauro highlights how the women who served in the Vietnam War were mostly viewed as sex objects for the soldiers who only expected pleasure from them because it was believed that women had no exceptional capabilities in a war-torn area. The western-country singer in the play expresses how she is excited to perform in front of multitudes of soldiers to ease their pain and fatigue with her songs (Lauro, 1992). Later in the play, she confesses to being abused by some soldiers who are only interested in physical pleasure. The author of the play emphasizes the mindset of soldiers who look to women for release. The singer in the play talks about not feeling protected because she is not under rules such as army nurses. Furthermore, the Red Cross nurse falls in love with a military pilot who abuses her verbally because she is unable to have sexual intercourse with him as per the oath she took. She tells him, “You need to sleep it off. You know I can’t” (Lauro, 1992). Since women were not to go to combat, their ideas or intelligent contributions were believed to be irrelevant. Steele, an enlisted intelligence specialist in the Women’s Army Corps, shows how it was challenging to be a black woman in the war (Lauro, 1992). In the play, she develops an accurate report about an imminent attack by the Chinese, and her report is ignored by the intelligence male chiefs. Consequently, there are mass casualties that follow after the ambush attack occurs. When Steele’s report, she says, “For the first time in 19 years in the army, I cry. The new I had the truth. Why wouldn’t they listen?” Lauro illustrates the agency in Steele’s thought and action, but her inability to initiate change because of the marginalization. Nevertheless, she is not afraid to pursue the change and ensure that women of her calibre are recognized, which shows that the agency is genuine.

In conclusion, through the characters in the play, Lauro effectively portrays the marginalization of women who served in the Vietnam War, but she uses the angle of resilience to show how their agency paved the way for the significance of women in war. Therefore, their national pride, regret, feelings of heartbreak, obligation, and national anger contribute to the emotional strength that steers them towards doing good and ensuring relief. Lauro’s main idea is to highlight these women’s experiences with a focus on their resilience amidst their struggles. Their celebration at the end is a reflection of their triumph as a representation of a group that supported soldiers for the sake of patriotism.