Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel

Understanding the background, nitty-gritty, specific details is important in everyday conversations; this understanding is not only important in real life situations, but it is crucial to grasp the world of the play, as well. Focusing on aspects pertaining to the time period of the play is pertinent in perceiving the underlying points being made. This includes, but is not limited to, the social, political, and economic aspects of the surrounding environment. In Lynn Nottage’s play, Intimate Apparel, she illustrates to the reader the correlation between the “real world” and the world of the play. In specific, she ties in many aspects of how the economic diversity of the early 1900s is crucial to understanding the plot; she does this through many characters, but perhaps most closely through the eyes of Esther and Mayme. Esther Mills is the protagonist and arguably the most socially defiant character of this play. She works as a personal seamstress for many different walks of life in Lower Manhattan circa 1905. Consider the time period of this play in order to accurately understand the motives and deeper construction of the play: The Progressive Era. This lasted from
This occupation is what Mayme settles for, because the economic history of the time period would not let her achieve her dream job: a musician. According to povertyhistory.org, “The sights, sounds, and smells of the poorer districts in New York City in the 1890s made evident the effects of mass urbanization, immigration, and industrialization.” This exemplifies why Mayme would choose NYC, in specific Lower Manhattan, to try to pursue her piano career. The issue with this pursuit lies in the reality that black women were not valued or respected during this age, thus alluding to her selling her body in order to gain economic