A Sunny Morning
A Sunny Morning
1. Introduction
A sunny Morning is a short, one-act play that has been written by two renowned Spanish dramatists, Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero. It is a romantic comedy where we find two ex-lovers, Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura meeting at a park in Madrid on a sunny autumn morning and trying to recall their romantic past. During their youth days, they separated from each other due to their bad luck as well as Dona’s parents’ interception. Both, Gonzalo and Dona are in their 70’s now and have lost their joyous youthful days and attraction. In the beginning, they were unable to recognize each other when they meet at the park. But, later on, they know each other but conceal their identity.
2. About the author
Serafin Alvarez Quintero (1871-1938) and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero (1873-1944) were Spanish dramatists. They grew up in Utrera, a small town near Seville in the region of Spain called Andalusia. They began writing for the theatre at a young age. They were popularly known as the Golden Boys of the Madrid theatre, They collaborated in almost 200 dramas depicting the life, manners, and speech of Andalusia. Their first stage piece, Gilito, was written in 1889. Among the brothers' best-known works are the comedies The Flowers (1901), A Sunny Morning (1905), and The Merry Heart (1906), as well as the uncharacteristically serious Malvaloca (1912) Several of their plays were translated into English by Helen and Harley Granville Barker (1927-32). Their complete collection of plays was published in seven volumes as Obras Completas in the early 1950s.
A Sunny Morning is a light comedy that narrates the reunion of two lovers now in their 70s meeting at a park who in their youth were passionate lovers but torn apart by the cruelty of fate. The setting of this play is a sunny morning in Madrid, Spain on bench in the park.
3. Setting of the play
The play “A Sunny Morning” is written by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero. The setting of this play is a sunny morning in Madrid, Spain on a bench in a park. This play was written in the year 1905, which is about the reunion of two lovers in their 70s.
4. Characters of the play
A pretty, white haired old lady of about seventy. Dona Laura is a perfect representative of the elder generation. She is described to be perfect in mannerism and handsome by nature. The initial meeting with Gonzalo is not very appealing but the moment she realizes that he is the same person who was known to her long ago, there is a complete shift in her approach.
Laura appears to be quite strict and outspoken and she doesn't care to respect the feelings of people nearby.
Laura has always been a keen observer of both people and nature around her and when it comes to human nature, she has always ridiculed Petra to such an extent that Petra has learned to overcome the humiliation and turn it into honor.
Laura, the moment she has realized that the person sitting next to her is Gonzalo, her attitude undergoes a change, which is not observed by Gonzalo. Earlier when Gonzalo, in spite of everything offers her the snuff, she immediately asks him if it is of good quality. Even after it is completely confirmed that the person is Gonzalo, she still drops the flowers towards the end for reconfirmation. This clearly indicates her perfection.
B. Petra, her maid- She accompanied Done Laura when she went to the park.
C. Don Gonzalo- A gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient. Gonzalo is the character described which is a combination of all different kinds of odds brought together. The initial description tries to provide the picture of an irritating old man(cross and funny). He is irritated each moment as he is unable to fulfill his desires, be it as simple as trying to be seated on his regular bench. On the other hand, he appears to exhibit the so-called 'gentlemanly' traits because he has always spoken in a kind and considerate way with Laura.Gonzalo has gained the attention of all readers in the narration of his glorious death. The reader's ability to comprehend the character changes completely but Gonzalo is not that sharp to know who the person next to him is. But the moment he gets the doubt, his approach towards Laura changes .Towards the end, he voluntarily tells Laura that if the next day had a pleasant weather, he would surely come to the park, and also get some bread crumbs as he wanted to get over the guilt of trying to shoo the birds away.
D. Juanito, his servant
5.Title justification
The setting of the play is in a park in the sunny morning where Done Laura and Don Gonzalo love each other but can’t express I due to unfortunate circumstances. However, they talk about their youthful days that make them forget their age and think that it is a sunny morning. A Sunny Morning is justifiable for the play in my personal pondering.
6.Summary
'A Sunny Morning' is a short, one-act play by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero, two renowned Spanish dramatists. It is a romantic comedy which presents the story of Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura who, loved each other in their youth but were forced to separate in life.
On a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid, Dona Laura, a handsome, white-haired lady of about seventy, refined in appearance, is feeding pigeons in the park. Don Gonzalo, a gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient, enters. Their servants Petra, Dona Laura's maid, and Juanito come and go nearby.
The conversation between the two seventy-year-olds begins sarcastically, with each accusing the other of encroaching on their private space. Don Gonzalo complains the priests have taken his bench and says Dona Laura is a "Senile old lady! She ought to be at home knitting and counting her beads." She finds him "an ill-natured old man!" He resigns himself to "sit on the bench with the old lady." A pinch of snuff (weakness due to old in the body) helps to clear their heads, and they find something common with alternating sneezes of three times each. Dona Laura confides to the audience, "the snuff has made peace between us.“
They begin to banter back and forth in a more friendly manner. Then Don Gonzalo reads out loud from a book of poems. As they converse, (talk) Gonzalo says that he is from Valencia and to his surprise, Laura reveals (shows) that she is from Maricela where she lived in a villa.
Gonzalo is startled by the revelation and he says that he knows a woman named Laura Lorene who lived in a villa there, who was perhaps the most beautiful he had ever seen. Both Laura and Gonzalo realize each other to be former lovers. But they pretend (act) not to reveal their identities.
In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as ‘Silver Maiden'. She was fair as the lily, with jet black hair and eyes. She was like a dream. She was in love with Gonzalo, the gallant lover. He used to pass by on horseback every morning through the rose garden and toss up a bouquet of flowers to her balcony which she caught. On his way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him.
But Laura's parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she disliked. One day there was a quarrel (discuss) between Gonzalo and the merchant (businessman), the suitor. After the duel the young man fled from his hometown to Seville and then to Madrid, being scared (felt fear) of the consequences of a duel with a person highly regarded in that locality. Even though he tried to communicate with Laura through letters, all attempts failed.
Now Laura and Gonzalo devise stories of their own deaths. Gonzalo says that he is the cousin of the young man. According to him, the young Gonzalo had to leave his place as he was involved in a fight with a merchant, the suitor of Laura. Then he joined the army and went to Africa where he met with a glorious death. The old Laura says that she knows the woman named Laura, known as The Silver Maiden' and that she was her friend during her young age. She also lies that she knows the tragic story of her love affair with a gallant young man named Gonzalo. The old woman reveals that not finding her lover, the young and beautiful Laura committed suicide .But, in reality, after three months Gonzalo ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer and Laura, on the other hand, got married after two years. Both realize that they are lying but pretend to be unaware. When the play ends, they agree to meet at the park again, still not acknowledging what they both know to be true.
They did not reveal their true identities because, they wanted to hide their old age. Similarly, this play is full of comedy. So, for the humorous matter they did not tell their reality.
7.Theme
This play is based on the major theme of a love affair where we find two ex-lovers in their 70s, meeting at a park and trying to recall their romantic past. It tries to show misfortune of main characters which forces them to leave.
It also tries to show how they become prepared to start their new life forgetting their past. Laura and Gonzalo full stories about themselves so they can fool each other. However, the main purpose of the play is to entertain the audience.
8.Conclusion
Thus, we can conclude the following points from the play:-
1. The sunny morning is a light comedy that narrates the reunion of two lovers in their 70s meeting at a park who in their past were passionate lovers but torn apart by the cruelty of faith.
2. However , both of them pretend not to be Dona Laura and Don Gonzalo instead they said they were there friends or there relatives in spite of knowing the truth.
3. Thus, it is a beautiful one-act romantic comedy that guides the readers through the life stories of the people in an interesting, fictional or mysterious way.
4. It shows how people should learn to overcome the greatest obstacles that occur in their lives and create a way ahead to move forward.
5. People may realize the reality but they mightn’t want to reveal it.
6. Most of the people try to hide the sorrows, pains and disappointments that they incur in life and only share the good and happy moments so that their life doesn’t look miserable and they can create good impression around themselves.
7. Everything is fair in love and war because the characters here don't want to remember there past and they want to be frozen in time in each other’s memories they once were.
8. What’s gone is gone.
9. Nothing can bring the lost time back.
10. The past can’t hurt you anymore unless you let it. But we can either run from it or learn from it.
11. Heal the past by living fully in the present.