Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Master Essay

New English Standard 2019

How does language reveal, affirm and/or challenge aspects of Australian cultural identity in Ray
Lawler’s “The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”?

In SOSD Ray Lawler, through the language of drama, shows that a resistance to change can have
tragic consequences for individuals, communities and cultures. Lawler questions the merit of
traditional working-class roles of masculinity and femininity in a time of significant change in 1950’s
Australia. Lawler further reveals how the succeeding generation can either resist or embrace the
changing roles of men and women, either furthering the cycle of tragedy or breaking it. Thus,
through his exploration of change, Lawler reveals the need for Australian society to be aware of the
inevitability of change and alert to the consequences and opportunities inherent in the process of
cultural evolution.

In the characterisation of Pearl, Lawler challenges the relevance of traditional feminine roles in a
changing 1950’s working-class Australia. Although Pearl identifies that Olive’s narrative of the layoff
is an illusion shown in the lofty simile, “the way you went on about everything... the whole town was
gunna go up like a balloon”, she also refuses to change and adapt to the changing culture in wider
Australia which saw a shift from women being primarily locked in the domestic, maternal sphere.
The motif of her dress is significant. By the close of the play Pearl returns to her symbolically black,
funeral-like dress she wore at the beginning of the play abandoning the more flamboyant red dress
she wore when she was considering allowing herself to enjoy more sensual freedoms. Furthermore,
Pearl persistently identifies herself as a mother figure, with the assumed moral superiority of that
position also extending beyond her own daughter. In Act 2 when she becomes angry and hurt at
Barney’s proposal to take her daughter, Vera, to the races, she says “I know what he aimed to do.
Proposition me for my own daughter”. Pearl views her importance of setting a good example for her
daughter in a very high regard, with a majority of her actions and interactions with the other adults
showing her placing her adult daughter, Vera, above her own fulfilment and happiness. Pearl is
committing herself to a life of rigid and outdated codes of feminine behaviour. Furthermore, Pearl
takes on a maternal role among the other adults, becoming a voice of moral superiority. The stage
directions in Act 2 when Pearl is knitting and Barney “slouches over to Pearl, and she places the
knitting against his wrist”. Pearls conservative values are coming through her judgemental and
reproachful tone, and the child-like action of Barney “slouching over” to be tied to Pearl via a skein
of wool, are reminiscent of a mother and her child, not of two adults. Lawler challenges traditional
roles of femininity whereby women are limited to domestic and maternal roles through the irony in
Pearl seemingly remaining unchanged in her lifestyle. Lawler reveals that subscribing to traditional
femininity in a changing world has tragic consequences, as Pearl finds herself alone and miserable at
the end of the play.
Lawler challenges the continuation of traditional roles of masculinity in a changing 1950’s working-
class Australia and explores the implications of narrow definitions of ideal gender roles. Through the
characterisation of Roo, Lawler recreates the Australia bushman archetype; a man who is strong,
stoic, dominant and has a strong sense of blind mateship. However, as Roo refuses to accept his own
mortality and age, Lawler reveals that a resistance to cultural change can result in tragedy. This is
shown in Roo’s struggle to admit to Olive that “…Johnny did a better job than me and I just wasn’t
man enough to take it”, revealing his hurt pride, and his attempts to cover his failures which stem
from his diminishing strength. Furthermore, Roo resists change throughout most of the play as he
acts ashamed and angry when he takes a job in the pain factory rather than allowing Emma of Olive
to provide him with money. He is embarrassed for other men to see him covered in paint, evident
through the angry tone and harsh plosive sounds in the alliteration when he says “I’ll break Barney’s
bloody neck”. Only at the end of the play, when he fractures his stoicism and breaks down in grief
does the audience begin to empathise with him, however it is too late for Roo, and the tradition of
the lay-off, to change. Lawler reveals that a resistance to change results in tragedy through
presenting Roo, when the play ends leaving with Barney to continue the same type of work, without
Olive or the fun memories of the lay-off. Lawler’s tragic ending of the SOSD for the character of Roo
serves as a caution to a society that resists cultural change and attempts to hold onto ideals of the
past.

Lawler reveals, through the characterisation of Johnnie, how the succeeding generation can either
resist or embrace the changing roles of men and women, perpetuating heartbreak or opening new
possibilities for improved relationships, thus revealing the capacity for Australian society and its
culture to continue to evolve and develop. Johnnie, to a lesser extent represents a younger Roo.
However, he exhibits some generational changes in masculine behaviours and in his treatment of
women. When Johnnie and Bubba are discussing the races, he asks her if she wants to attend but
only “on her own accord”, demonstrating a new respect for women. The hopeful imagery in the
stage directions when he “responds with a dawning grin” is suggestive of the potential for attitudinal
change in the new generations, thus affirming the capacity of Australian society to develop a cultural
identity that allows for greater diversity and shifts in the balance of power. Furthermore, Johnnie
strays from ideals of traditional masculinity in the scene when he and Roo make amends. The stage
directions when Johnnie “offers to shake Roo’s hand” reveals a capacity for younger generations to
overcome stubborn pride and stoicism, hallmarks of traditional masculinity, and instead adapt to
changing 1950’s working-class Australia. Lawler injects some hope into the play by showing that
younger generations, embodies in the character of Johnnie may respond to the changing nature of
roles for men and women in a 1950's working class Australia meaning the cycle of tragedy may be
broken.

In SOSD, Ray Lawler reveals through the language of drama that a resistance to change in wider
Australian culture can have tragic consequences. Lawler challenges society to reconsider the
consequences of a rigid adherence to traditional working-class models of masculinity and femininity
in 1950’s Australia, and affirms the capacity of succeeding generations to respond to these changing
roles and break the cycle of tragedy.