Essay Questions

In what way is “Musical Dancing” a metaphor for the entire adult lives of these characters?

Sidney has risen to a higher run than the others to the point where they must now curry favor with him by doing what he wants. None of the others really want to play the game, but they do it because they want to remain in good standing with Sidney; they must “play the game.” This is a metaphor for “playing the game” of business success where those on the lower rungs must do things they don’t want to do, suffer humiliation and forfeit a little bit of their soul in order to get ahead. Also note that the “prize” is a piece of chocolate: something that is sweet while enjoying it, but neither lasts nor is capable of providing sustenance in the long term.

Walter Harrison is an excellent example of a character who is neither heard nor seen on- or off-stage, yet evolves into a major influence on the narrative. How?

In Act II Geoffrey convinces Ronald to put in a good word for him for the open job of architect for his planned shopping complex. A year later, in the opening scene of Act II, it has become clear that Geoffrey did get the job, but by this point his imaginative design has begun to clash with Harrison’s vision and budget. In fact, the design is likely to end up costing twice what Harrison had hope to spend. By Act III, Geoffrey’s career has been ruined when the roof the Harrison building collapses and almost kills the manager. Sidney’s late arrival at the part is due to his having gone to Harrison’s party first, revealing that he is now on the “in” with one of the most influential men in town while Geoffrey and Ronald have taken his place on the outside looking in. Just how far on the outside Sidney never gets the chance to reveal after insinuating that Harrison had some bad things to say about them both. Despite never being seen or heard, Harrison’s presence is woven through the entire narrative to become a symbol of the rise and fall of fortunes for all three men.

How do the characters’ names reflect their social position?

Hopcroft has a harsh yet comical tone to it as well as being highly suggestive. Sidney will do anything to hop over anyone to work his way up the ladder of success. The name by itself perhaps doesn’t connote much, but placed with the context of the others, it has an almost foreign quality. If not foreign, exactly, it certainly carries a quality of being of a lower class; of being an outsider. Brewster-Wright, by contrast, is a name almost born to become a banker. The hyphenated quality subtly indicates a lineage of two families who that have both enjoyed great success through the generations. It is a name that is far more easily associated with a bank president than a bank teller. Jackson, meanwhile, falls right in the middle. It is a common name that carries no particular connotation either to the positive or negative, sounding neither particularly harsh or melodic. It is very much the name of someone who might well reach great heights—like landing the plum architectural job in the city—as well as someone who has fallen to the depths of suicidal despondency.