Essay Database

Hannie Rayson's play attempts to articulate an Australian identity and suggests that the experience of living elsewhere alters one's perceptions of home. She explores ideas about loyalty and betrayal from the perspective of an expatriate, Meg, and examines to what degree should we criticise or accept the faults of our country and of our loved ones. Meg claims that Australia is "a country which honours ordinariness". Dick interprets this as a critical remark of Australia's …

…are inevitably present in human existence in her portrayal of the unpredictable and explosive nature in a family, especially her emphasis on a family's capacity to postpone the settling of conflicts. She stresses the idea that Australians are unable to express passion, through Wal's character. Wal cannot tell his daughters that he loves them, yet now that he has mellowed it is clear that he does when he says "not a real family. Without everyone."