Madeleine Character Analysis

Duras redetermines the idea of the character in Savannah Bay. The three characters of Madeleine, Jeune Femme and Savannah cannot exist in their own rights. They all depend on each other’s action, memories, and admissions. Madeleine’s fragmented memories reflect her fragmented character. She is never a complete character, and the audience will never be granted a full picture of who she is. Jeune Femme is reliant on Madeleine for the representation of her mother, Savannah. Thus, it becomes unimportant to access the character of Jeune Femme, who, unlike Madeleine and Savannah, is not even accorded a name; she is merely a vessel present to retrieve information relating to the character of Savannah. Yet, Savannah is always absent. She is a character
Seulement entendues de loin.” Even Edith Piaf could be considered a character; her lyrics permeating the first movement of the play. It is the iconic singer’s voice that, when played by Jeune Femme, recalls Madeleine to the present. Jeune Femme also assists in Madeleine’s fragmentation of memory by responding to her observation that there is strength in Piaf’s voice, “C’est ta force. C’est ta voix. C’est la même chose.” The characters presented by Duras in her theatre are not complete characters in the classical sense. As follows with the direction away from a traditionally linear narrative, to one more cyclical and fragmented, how an audience can access meaning through characters has changed. Rather than focusing on the character’s progression and completion of their storyline, the focus has moved to the characters becoming vessels for the message of the play. The traditional linear character path has been