The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Paul Zindel
- First Published: 1971
- Type of Plot: Melodrama
- Time of Work: The 1960’s
- Setting: Inside the dilapidated Hunsdorfer home
- Principal Characters: Beatrice Hunsdorfer, Ruth Hunsdorfer, Tillie Hunsdorfer, Nanny, Janice Vickery
- Genres: Domestic realism, Drama, Psychological drama, Melodrama
- Subjects: 1970’s, Family or family life, Mothers, Parents and children, Adolescence, Teenagers, Education or educators, Schools or school life, Alcoholism or alcoholics, Substance abuse, Single parents or single-parent families, Sisters, Drug addiction or addicts, Drugs, Public schools
- Locales: United States
The Play
In two acts, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds juxtaposes the explosive emotional conflicts of the Hunsdorfer family against the ordered, logical pursuits of science to reveal that, like the experimental marigolds, people also mutate in response to external forces. As the play opens, Tillie Hunsdorfer introduces this theme with a voice-over in which she marvels that the atoms in her hand were once contained in different parts of the earth. The scene then shifts to the Hunsdorfer home, formerly a vegetable shop run by Beatrice’s father. The...
[The entire page is 1847 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
Related Topics
