Setting

The Insect Play is a revue-like fable/drama set in the woods of an unspecified place and time. While the action of the prologue and epilogue takes place in "reality" with only human characters, the three acts are interlinked sketches that occur only in the mind of the tramp. Act I is set on a hill, but with cushions and a table or bar where the butterflies gather. Act II takes place on a sandy hillock with many holes for the insects to go in and out of. Act III is set inside an ant heap, where the ants work, strategize war, and fight. These settings emphasize the play's dichotomy: the tramp's reality and his fantasy, as well as the link between man and nature.

Symbolism/Characters

Nearly every character in The Insect Play is a symbol or has symbolic meaning. The only character that appears in each...