The Conduct of Life

In Fornes’s The Conduct of Life, the playwright makes many dramaturgical choices to drive the story different places. Fornes choose different characters to include and not include in the play but all the choices affects the theme, characters and the plot as a whole. One dramaturgical choice that stands out to me is not including Albertico Estevez as a visible character in the play. At the end of the play, Leticia has this magical lover come up. By not including the character, I felt lost while when the name pops up. It affects the story by creating a mystery at the end, which also creates a lack of a completed ending. I feel like the story would have seemed full circle by including the character. Another dramaturgical choice is including the rape scene in the play. The playwright includes the detail images of Nena being raped. With this choice, the play gains depth and an all seeing view of the story. Without it, the characters would probably have to give a third person perceptive of the event. Another choice is having the character of Mona in the story. I have come to the conclusion that Mona is actually Albertico.  The Mona scenes are uses as Leticia’s confession time. By the playwright allowing us to see these scenes, we get a better look on what is going on in Leticia’s head.  Without these scenes, the character would lose her individuality. We gain a sense of sympathy for the pain is going thought.

Also I believe it is called The Conduct of Life because in the play this is the way these people conduct their lives.