Genre
Drama
Language
English
Setting and Context
Erwin, Tennessee - September 1916
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of the Carnies and the Townies.
Tone and Mood
Dramatic and Serious
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Mary. Antagonists are the Marshal, the Townies, Tour Manager, Ringmaster.
Major Conflict
Mary is lead into Erwin for the circus and kills the young man riding atop her.
Climax
The people of Erwin hang Mary for justice and their attempt to do so goes terribly wrong.
Foreshadowing
The Ringmaster describing how one purchases a large elephant foreshadows the potential for a disaster to come.
Understatement
It is understated as the whether Mary had done something previously to hurt someone and this is why she was purchased by Sparks Circus.
Allusions
The play is an allusion to America's short memory at the tragedies they've perpetrated, and the gross misinterpretation of the people of the American Dream.
Imagery
Mary's death describes the horrific imagery of the elephant's death gone terribly wrong.
Paradox
The Tour Manager allows for the Young Man, who is too inexperienced to ride Mary into Erwin. He is a primary reason for the tragedy. Paradoxically, no one questions his foolishness and places the blame solely on Mary.
Parallelism
Mary being paraded to the railroad tracks, her death, parallels her being paraded into Erwin earlier in the play.
Personification
The Marshal becomes the personification of the American Dream becoming deformed in his final speech.
Use of Dramatic Devices
Brant uses soliloquy at the end of the play in order to evoke the themes each character represents in the play.
