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Patrick Wee! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! H4H-34October 19, 2012! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Mr. Legaspi

A Structuralist Commentary ofStage FXs Rendition ofThe Mousetrap

Structuralism is literary theory that involves that the elements of literature have different cultureswhich fall under an overarching set of systems. Tyson, a literary critic, clarified this with: "...if youexamine the structure of a large number of short stories to discover the underlying principlesthat govern their composition...principles of narrative progression...or of characterization...youare also engaged in structuralist activity if you describe the structure of a single literary work todiscover how its composition demonstrates the underlying principles of a given structural

system"

With this, Stage FXs rendition of Agatha Christies The Mousetrapwill be analyzed through thestructuralist framework, specifically, through Viktor Shklovskys defamiliarization and Ferdinandde Saussures Sign, Signifier and Signified framework.

In Stage FXs rendition of Agatha Christies The Mousetrap, in a structuralist reading,defamiliarization was found through Mr. Paravicini, the gifts and the Oppa Gangnam Styledance, as well as Ferdinand de Saussures Sign, Signifier and Signified framework through thebinary oppositions distance and closeness, new and old and hidden and known.

DefamiliarizationShklovskys defamiliarization talks about how humans are trying to make everything simplethrough an economy of thought, that it is essential that we defamiliarize, or remove ourselvesfrom the usual, and this is what was seen in The Mousetrap.

Mr. ParaviciniUnlike all the other characters in the play, Mr. Paravicini, firstly, is not British, but moreimportantly, does not speak in a British accent. In a play where the setting is in Great Britain,and most of the characters are British, this defamiliared. It made it different, and not only that,made perception harder, in the sense that his lines were also very different from the Britons,since he also seemed to have very different mindset compared to the rest of the characters.

The GiftsThe use of the train ticket and the newspaper to lead to the discovery that each bought a gift forthe other on their anniversary was another use of defamiliarization. It made us think very muchon why they would possess these tickets, and even made it seem that they may be the killers.The prolongation propelled the defamiliarization further, until, at the end, it is actually revealedthat the ticket and the newspaper were in places they were in because Mr. and Ms. Ralstonbought gifts for each other.

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Oppa Gangnam StyleWhen Miss Casewell danced Oppa Gangnam Style as she tried to annoy Mrs. Boyle, theaudience was stunned, as it seemed anachronistic, given that setting of the play. It may havenot taken time to perceive, but with a fairly long play, the use of Oppa Gangnam Style was ableto truly defamiliarize the situation, leading to better understanding and meaning for the act of

annoyance.

Sign and SignifiedIn this framework, Saussure argued that the sign was composed of both a signified, anabstract concept or idea, and a signifier, the perceived sound/visual image. In The Mousetrap

Distance and ClosenessIn the play, Sergeant Trotter twirled his hair, which is a childhood habit that he may have had.This is the sign, that we speak of. The signifier of this is the relationship Miss Casewell had

with Sergeant Trotter as siblings with her talking and trying to wake-up Sergeant Trotter. Thesignified is the idea of distance and closeness. All throughout the play, there was always thisdistance, as they were just guests, of the Monkswell Manor, but this closeness is revealed atthe end when Miss Casewell and Seargeant Trotter are siblings, Ms. Ralston is their preschoolteacher and that Mrs. Boyle is the magistrate that actually caused them misfortune. Also, forMiss Casewell, it also represents the distance she may have wanted and expected vis-a-visthe closeness that she experienced.

New and OldYoure very young to be running an establishment of this kind Mrs. Boyle adds when she firstmeets Ms. Ralston. The sign here is the house. The signifier is the establishment or the ideaof a manor, and the signified is that of the new and old, and how both is present in the

Monkswell Manor. How the new is there as a guesthouse and how old it actually is. This themealso plays with the characters themselves, with Christopher Wren as the one suspectedbecause of his age. The theme of new and old reverberates through the whole play.

Hidden and Known (Familiar and Unfamiliar)When Sergeant Trotter came to the manor, he mentioned in a very memorable speech that thekiller is among one of you, and that to find out who it was, they had to reveal the personsidentity. The signifier is the image of Sergeant Trotter pointing his pen at all of them, askingthem to reveal the identity of the killer. The signified of this, is the idea of what is known andwhat is hidden. Even if he knew it was him, it remained hidden. Similarly, even if it was hidden,other guests thought they knew. It is this paradox that plays with the sign of Sergeant Trotter

pointing his pen at the guests.

With these, in Stage FXs rendition of Agatha Christies The Mousetrap, in a structuralistreading, defamiliarization was found through Mr. Paravicini, the gifts and the Oppa GangnamStyle dance, as well as Ferdinand de Saussures Sign, Signifier and Signified frameworkthrough the binary oppositions distance and closeness, new and old and hidden and known.