Power In The Play 'The Moors' By Jen Silverman

The play, The Moors, is a dark comedy taken place in the bleak moors of England. There are two sisters, Agatha and Huldey, a maid, Marjory, and a dog, the Mastiff, who live in the house. The governess, Emilie, arrives to the house in the first scene and a Moorhen later falls down into the Moors. There are many major themes in the play and the Providence College production of The Moors. Power is a major theme explored in The Moors, a play written by Jen Silverman. Through production elements Agatha is in charge of the house at first, but by the end she is murdered and the power shifts adequately to Emilie and Marjory. Additionally, the Mastiff’s stage presence shows he is a much bigger animal and has complete and possessive power over the Moorhen

During scene 14, it is clear that Huldey has power over Agatha. After being enraged by Agatha’s comments on her diary, Huldey smashes Agatha’s head with a vase multiple times killing her immediately. While Huldey was murdering Agatha, red lights turned on displaying the bloody scene. Huldey initially is scared after she finds out Agatha is dead, but ultimately feels joyful as she sings her powerful solo she has been desperately waiting for. During this solo, it was clear that Huldey was letting out all her anger because of her unusually dominant voice. However, after Agatha dies, Huldey is taken by the fierce storm of the moors which is shown as the smoke in the production. With those two gone, Emilie and Marjory are left and in charge of the house and family. In the production, it is apparent that Emilie takes over Agatha’s role, while Marjory takes over Huldeys. This is evident because Emilie sat in Agatha’s giant, distinguished chair, meanwhile Marjory sat in Huldeys lesser one. Both women seem not to be bothered that Agatha and Huldey are gone. Evidently, Emilie says “I’m quite content, thankyou. I have no need of either” (85). Both women feel better that the two sisters are gone. Also, Marjory seems to have the power that Huldey had during the last scene. Evidently, She said, “It was Huldey’s diary and then it became my diary” (84). Not only has Marjory taken over Huldey’s chair, but also her diary. The

The Mastiff, a much bigger animal, has complete power over the moorhen. Power is displayed in the production when the Moorhen is shown as submissive because she is a lot smaller. The Moorhen is always seen as protecting herself and moving away from the Mastiff in the production, but the Mastiff keeps inching his way towards her. The Mastiff feels much bigger and happier while he is around the moorhen. This is evident when he said, “When I’m with you, I feel like the sky is much smaller, or else I’m much bigger, and all things that were ready to swallow me are now possibly weaker than I am” (57). The Mastiff feels that he is already more powerful around the Moorhen than he previously was. During most of the production the Mastiff is standing on the rock exhibiting the power he has. Additionally, during the scene when it was raining out in the moors the Mastiff guards the moorhen from the rain while she is eating (10). This shows that the Mastiff has feelings for the Moorhen and will risk his own body for the protection of hers. Although the Mastiff and the Moorhen seem to be close at this moment in the play, they eventually lose the devotion they have for one another. During scene thirteen, the Mastiff starts to become too comfortable with the Moorhen. Evidently, he says, “I hate privacy. Everything is always already private anyway. I want to be close to you that it feels like my skin is going to