Ruined By Lynn Nottage Analysis

Ruined by Lynn Nottage is a heartbreaking tale detailing the journey of Mama Nadi and the damaged girls who she houses in her brothel. Caught in the crosshairs of a brutal civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the women in this novel are desperately trying to reclaim their bodies that have been used as weapons of war. The combination of the chilling account of the women and the melodramatic tendencies evoke strong emotions and reveal the horrors of humanity and perseverance.
The scene is set in the forest of the Congo, in a run down brothel. Mama Nadi, the brash and confident owner, welcomes her friend Christian into her brothel. However, Christian is not alone, as he brings three young girls with him to sell to Mama Nadi. Mama buys
The nonchalance of the inciting incident of the play illustrates the commonality of sexual violence, as neither Christian nor Mama Nadi are surprised or deeply effected that Sophie had been so brutally assaulted by the soldiers in her village. As the scene develops, the intentions of the adults became blatantly obvious, as Mama Nadi stresses that she “runs a business, not a mission” (Nottage 11). Even though Mami Nadi is charitable in housing the damaged girls, her real goal in housing the girls are to use them in the brothel and profit off of the civil war ensuing around them. She welcomes both the government soldiers and the rebels in her brothel, and seems to lack any moral compass or side in the war. In her eyes, engaging with both sides will increase her profit and bring more business with the girls. Luckily for Mama Nadi, Salima and Sophie are simply trying to
The main goal of a melodrama is to elicit a strong emotional response from the audience, and the story is sometimes exaggerated to accomplish this. Nottage tells the story of the sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo because the events are so horrific and almost unimaginable to those who do not live there; the trials that Salima and Sophie have to go through are terrifying, and the audience has a strong, negative emotional response. Secondly, in a melodrama, the heroes and villains are clear, and there usually is not any grey area involved with the character’s morals. Similarly, the play sets up from the beginning who the victims and the perpetrators are, and the audience wants to see the soldiers and rebels brought to justice. In addition, tragedies have a restoration of some sort, and the ending is cathartic as there is a resolution. However, in this case, the ending does not provide any peace, as it ends with “Fortune [cradling] Salima in his arms...she dies...blackout” (Nottage 63). This ending is the opposite of cathartic, as the audience is left only with the information that Salima is dead. The whereabouts of all the other characters that played an integral role in the death of Salima are not revealed, and the story ends there. Lastly, the final point of a melodrama is that the hero is a good person in a bad situation. Salima was a wife and a mother, and Sophie was an eighteen year old girl;