Martina Cowen, Section 13

Essay 9

Seascape with Sharks and Dancer - Tracy

1. Relationship

Tracy is very mistrustful of Ben. She has been treated very badly in her life and she doesnt trust

that he wont do the same. She is defensive and deflective when she talks to him, and makes fun of

him as a mask to hide her insecurities. She taunts him and calls him names because she doesnt

understand how to communicate with him in a normal way. He just saved her life and she didnt

want to be saved. She feels resentment towards him. She doesnt want someone else to hurt her,

and her blunt, abrupt attitude is a way of defending herself against what she considers to be an

inevitability. She does not understand that someone wouldnt treat her badly because this is all she

has known. Her first instinct is to be defensive because this is how she has had to be with every one

before. She is scared of him she is confused because he doesnt want to hurt her. He is different

to anyone she has met before, and she doesnt know how to be around him. This makes her even

more defensive as she doesnt want to appear weak. She wants him to like her, but he is very

different from anyone she has ever been with before. She wants to goad him into breaking his calm

demeanour because she feels that the only way she can love him is if he is like the guys she has been

with before. Deep down, she wishes she could be with someone like Ben, but she feels she doesnt

deserve it and therefore must change him so that she doesnt feel guilty about being less than he

deserves.

2. Conflict

The conflict in this scene arises because Tracy is so antagonistic towards Ben. He is trying so hard to

be nice and polite to her, while she goes off the rails and treats him badly. He just saved her life and

she is taunting him and teasing him until he snaps. There is an internal conflict that is raging within

in her she wants to trust him but she cant. She just cant accept that someone would actually

want to treat her nicely. She is convinced that he is using her that hes going to rape her or that he
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has an ulterior motive but she wishes she wasnt so jaded and defensive but she cant help it

because of everything shes been through.

3. The Moment Before

Tracy was always a disappointment to her parents. They wanted this perfect daughter with a

perfect life and she didnt give them what they wanted. She constantly disappointed everyone she

dropped out of school, she didnt live up to their expectations. Tracys last relationship was a

disaster. She thought it was going well. She loved her boyfriend and he completely abandoned her.

She was fired from her job and she came home that night and he had cleared out everything in the

apartment was gone. There was no warning, no sign. He just up and left. Maybe shed blind and

hadnt seen the problems in the relationship. Maybe he was an asshole who fucked her over. Or

maybe it was her. She probably fucked it up like she fucked up everything else in her life. And

maybe she was so oblivious to the fact that she was just an awful girlfriend that she didnt even

notice that he hated her. Maybe she deserves to be alone. Maybe she deserves to be hurt, and

stepped on, and raped, and abused, because shes just a bad person and nothing she does is ever

good enough because she isnt good enough as a person. Shes a walking disappointment and this is

why she tries to commit suicide. She doesnt believe that she is contributing any good to the world,

and the world does not treat her kindly either.

4. Humour

Tracys humour is dry and sarcastic. She teases Ben about everything he does. Whenever he says

something she snaps right back at him with her sarcasm to wind him up. There is also humour in the

way that she mispronounces words (marshmallows, eunuch) and how much this frustrates Ben.

5. Opposites

While Tracy is very defensive and it seems like all she wants is to keep Ben at arms length and leave

his house, she doesnt actually leave. This shows that what she really wants deep down is for Ben to
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like her. She is desperate for some kind of human connection because shes never had that with

anyone before. She craves it. But shes too scared to ask for it, or show that she needs it, so she

pushes him away instead.

6. Discoveries

In this scene, Tracy discovers that Ben does actually want to help her, but she wont let herself

believe it. She discovers the she can tease Ben and be nasty to him and he wont react and this

infuriates her. So when she finally gets him to snap it is a victory for her and she revels in it.

7. Communication and Competition

Tracy has a lot of communication issues. She does not know how to communicate well with people

on a human level. She assumes a negative and defensive stance and even though her deepest desire

is for someone to care about her, what she communicates with her words and body language is that

she wants to be left alone. The competition between Tracy and Ben is evident in the way that she

antagonises him while he attempts to stay cool and collected. He is not used to someone pushing

his buttons this much and Tracy is doing an excellent job of it. She twists everything he says back at

him because she wants to push him over the edge. Their dialogue is a battle, each of them trying to

come out on top. Tracy finally wins this competition as she makes Ben snap and lose his temper

with her.

8. Importance

Ben saved Tracy from committing suicide. She was so depressed that she tried to drown herself in

the sea. The importance here lies in the fact that Ben is desperately trying to save her from herself.

In the scene she keeps saying that she wants to leave, but she doesnt go. This is because even

though she tried to kill herself, she is looking for a reason to live. She wants Ben to give her a new

purpose and drive because ultimately she wants to be happy.

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Essay 9

9. Find The Event

The event here is that Ben just saved Tracys life. He saved her from committing suicide. Tracy

thought her life was over, both figuratively and literally. She was convinced that her life had hit such

a low that she might as well end it permanently. Now she is confronted with the fact that she is still

alive, in a strangers house, and he is trying to help her. She is confused because no one in her life

has tried to help her before. She has been treated badly and abused so many times that she cannot

accept the fact that someone might genuinely care about her. Everything she was sure of before has

been flipped on its head and she doesnt know how to process it, so her first instinct is to deny the

possibility that her life could be different.

10. Place

The play is set on Cape Cod. The reason that this place is significant is that this is where Tracy

decided to end her life. She had been through so much and travelled for a long time and by the time

she got to Provincetown she was ready to give up. She had felt alone up to this point, but when she

was left alone in Provincetown the feeling really started to fill her up. The people she was travelling

with forgot about her. She wasnt important enough for them to realise she was missing. She

realised that no one was ever going to want her in their life and this coincided with the realisation

that she didnt want to be in her own life either. This is why, when Ben saves her and tries to show

her compassion and sympathy, she does not believe him. She is convinced that he is trying to use

her like everyone in her life, because coming to this place at this point in her life has filled her with

the belief that no one cares about her and that the world would be better off without her.

11. Game Playing and Role Playing

The game Tracy is playing with Ben is a power play game. She is asserting herself because she

doesnt want him to take advantage of her, even though he has made it clear that this is not his

intention. She is also trying to figure out if she can push him to be the kind of man she is used to
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Essay 9

instead of the calm and patient man that he is. She is playing the role of a girl who is tough and

wont take any more shit from people. She is defensive and rude because this gives her the

appearance of being strong when in fact she is at the weakest emotional point in her entire life. She

has just tried to commit suicide. She is at rock bottom, but she is trying to play the part of someone

who doesnt need anyone else, when in fact this is what she craves and needs, and if she doesnt get

it she will have no reason to live.

12. Mystery and Secret

Tracy has messed up so many times in her life. She is a disappointment to her parents. She acts like

this is just because of who she is, but the truth is that sometimes she fucks up on purpose

sometimes not even consciously. She is so scared of trying to make people proud of her and failing

that she has settled for just being a disappointment. That way, when people leave her or abuse her

its because shes just inherently worthless and not because she tried and failed to make people love

her and respect her, because that is so much more damaging and heart breaking to try so hard and

to want people to want you, all for them to reject you and throw you away. If she is already

worthless, they cant make her sink any lower than she already is in her own mind.