![]() Parks reimagines Lincoln’s legacy through a black man in whiteface who remains long after the historical Lincoln’s death to sit and accept endless reiterations of enacted violence and hatred on his behalf. But the simplified and romantic depiction of Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator obscures the history of the real man. ![]() ![]() Abraham Lincoln represents a mythological figure in the national imaginary of American, and particularly African American history. Parks’s signature style involves rhythmic dialogue and heightened dialect, which is less overt in Topdog/Underdog than some of her more esoteric works but still evident in its language structure and unique use of punctuation. Topdog/Underdog shows how history, whether personal, familial, or cultural, shapes the present. ![]() The final scene ends with Booth cradling his brother’s body and screaming. At the end of the play, Booth lives up to his name when, after Lincoln wins his inheritance in a round of three-card monte, Booth shoots Lincoln from behind and kills him. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |