The Shape Of Things Analysis

The Shape of Things, written by Neil LaBute, discovers the deceitfulness and manipulation that symbolizes relationships. It touches the escalating relationship between Adam and Evelyn, who met at an art museum on a college campus. In this scene, Evelyn was attempting to disfigure a statue in the pursuit of making ‘true art’. Adam is as insecure and knowledgeable as Evelyn who is aggressive and devious, freely changes his appearance at Evelyn’s urge. As Evelyn braces her hold on Adam, his emotional and physical development distresses his friends, Philip and Jenny, which soon sparks bottled-up feelings between Jenny and Adam. As Evelyn gives Adam an ultimatum of choosing her or his friends the four of them deal with conflicting desires for approval,
During the presentation Evelyn presents Adam to an audience of students and faculty as her own creation, announcing that she been instructed to ‘change the world’ by her advisor, but she had been chosen to ‘change someone world’ instead. Her ‘art’ work consisted of sculpting Adam into a more appealing human being. Towards the end of her presentation se announces that her ‘project’ gave her an engagement ring. She later states that she is not going to marry Adam and the engagement ring he offers her is an exhibit of her art installation, which she refers to as. “Capper to my time at Mercy” page 75. Unfortunately, none of the feelings that she has shown Adam are genuine. At no stage in their “relationship” has she fallen in love with Adam. The videos of their lovemaking are simply a part of the project’s documentation. As Evelyn explains on page 83, “Yes, it is! It’s the total point. All that stuff we did was real for you, therefore it was real. It wasn’t for me, therefore it wasn’t. It’s all subjective, Adam. Everything.” In response, Adam did not agree with his love and feelings being subjective for Evelyn.
In conclusion, the relationship between Evelyn and Adam was beneficial on both parts. Evelyn taught Adam to be more vocal and appealing for his own sake and due to this thesis project Evelyn was able to complete her project. One thing I took from the play is sexual manipulation was the basic plot that the author wanted young adults to relate too. Evelyn manipulated Adam in the most hurtful way possible; she used her charm to manipulate Adam into falling in love with her so she could begin to experiment. This central message relates to every young adult in some way and that is why I enjoyed this play and