Cosi

Through the structuring of the play within the play in Cosi, Louis Nowra uses the characters of Lucy and Nick to be an example of sexual love within the playwright. The basis of their relationship as we learn in the end is only sexual, which enables sexual love to become a major theme within the play. When Lucy openly admits that she has “sex” with Nick, and “sleeps” with Lewis, it creates a contrast of opinion with Lewis’, and furthermore creates conflict between the three characters. This shows the difference of opinions with regards to sexual love, and given that Lucy and Nick are cast in a negative light because of it, persuades the audience to agree with Lewis.

The growth of Lewis in Cosi is very vital to the narrative development. Without the growth of Lewis, the play has no form of expansion, and would not have a focal point. During the journey which Lewis goes through, by learning how to empathise with the patients and his self discovery, he learns a lot about what values he strongly believes in, and only learns this through his time spent with the mental patients. In the beginning he says “Love is not so important nowadays”, which shows that he is not a strong believer in love, and his view of sexual love and fidelity is heavily influenced and manipulated by Lucy and Nick. But in the end of the play he says, “It’s about important things like love and fidelity”, which somewhat signifies a climax to his self development. This furthermore puts Lewis as the major contributor to the narrative development, and makes him the main focus within the play.

Throughout the play, sexual love and fidelity is often discussed and seen through the actions of the different characters. Each individual within the playwright shows a difference of opinion on the topic, and with the patients doing Cosi fan tute, which is a play about Love and fidelity, brings out these diverse views. This creates conflict and confusion between the characters, as each is a very strong