Character Strengths and Weaknesses

In plays unlike in other written works, the author has one different vary powerful and effective tool at his disposal, for portraying characters and influencing the audience: stage directions. In the following two contrasting plays, The Visit and Death and the Maiden, the stage directions have a very different purpose. We will look closer into how Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Ariel Dorfman have used this very influencing feature to affect the reader and develop their character's strengths and weaknesses.

The two plays differ greatly in style and intention, thus the stage directions in each must also contrast each other and work towards creating that contrast. While Death and the Maiden is a realist play, seeking to engage and interact with the reader on an emotional level, in order to arouse thoughts and reactions in him, The Visit...