The Sea

Q no. 1 Describe the significance of the Play within the Play in The Sea
The play-within-play is a technical device used by the dramatists to interpret and intensify the play's
governing theme and to blur the lines of reality and fantasy. The concept of a play within a play (or a story within
a story) comes from the French saying mise en abyme, or “placed into abyss.” The Spanish Tragedy or
Hieronimo is Mad Again by Thomas Kyd, first introduced the play within a play device, around the year 1587.
The technique is highly exploited in Shakespearean plays and also by several other playwrights. Edward Bond’s
1973 play The Sea also uses the technique of introducing play within the play as Shakespeare used it in Hamlet.
The main narrative of the play is set in 1907 in a small East Coast town and shows the attempt of the
central character Willy to come to terms with the death of his friend Colin who has been drowned. The play within
the play is presented in the scene IV where the authoritative Mrs. Rafi, presides over the event of rehearsal of a
play on the subject of Orpheus and Eurydice from the Greek Mythology. It is subjected to raise funds for the
coastguards of the fore beach. Colin's death becomes the reason for arranging fund raising play to make the
coastguard loyal to their responsibility. Mrs. Rafi, the formidable lady on the fore beach, dominates the scenes of
the play and becomes the center of the action. She directs the 'Life' of the fore beach and is confident of her
convictions.
Orpheus was born of the union of the Muses, Calliope and Thrace. He inherited the gift of enchanting
music from his mother. Everyone got spellbound at hearing his music. Not only gods, but mortals along with the
natural objects like rocks and streams were affected by his music. It was his music that cast spell on the maiden
Eurydice. They got married and Hymen, the god of marriage himself came to perform the ceremony. The torch
sputtered and smoked which was an ill omen. Eurydice, as she was walking through the deep grass, got stung by
a snake and died at the feet of her lover. Orpheus consumed himself over the loss and mourned his breath out. He
decided to visit the underworld to bring her back. He reached Persephone nearby Plato, the ruler of the
underworld. Then he took out his lyre and began casting spell of his music in the underworld and declared his
presence to see his wife and implored for her release. All of the authorities of the underworld were intoxicated by
the spell of his music and granted his wish with the condition that he must not look back during his journey from
the underworld, if did, he would lose his wife once again. The couple moved towards the outer world when the
anxious Orpheus turned to look at his beloved to tell they were near the outer world. In an instant, she was gone.
Once again she became dead. Eurydice had no complaints for she knew that her misfortune came out of great
love of her husband.
The rehearsal scene in The Sea is one of the two comic highlights of the play. Mrs. Rafi orchestrates the
whole show but gets frustrated by the process and inability of other characters to act well. Mrs. Tilehouse clings
to the appropriateness of the song, “There is no place like home”. Mafanway objects her role as a dog. Lilly is
subdued by the grief and retires. Vikar insists on introducing some comic elements in the general drama of pain.
Willy’s arrival also concludes the rehearsal scene and offers relief to the audience. Also Bond manages to put
some very meaningful nuggets of wisdom in this apparently very busy and casual affair of rehearsal. For example
the following dialogue between Mrs. Rafi and Mrs. Tilehouse is very significant.
MRS TILEHOUSE: I can’t. There isn’t room.
MRS RAFI: Then create room. Don’t you aspire to be an artist? Think of the miners who spend their
lives crawling through darkness so that you may have light. That also, in its way, is the task of art
Mrs. Rafi is one of the major characters of the play and her dominating, self-righteous nature that is keen
to criticize others around her is on full display here. This aspect of Mrs. Rafi that later in the play is reflected in
the character of Rose as well is central to the whole play. Bond employed this Play within the play technique to
bring this aspect before the audiences. Another argument between both ladies throws a spotlight on the fact that
Mrs. Rafi in fact is a bully, it goes like this;
MRS TILEHOUSE. Shouldn’t she get down on all fours?
MRS RAFI. Jessica, I am directing this production. Your job is to sell programmes and assist the
stage carpenter.
Bond artistically manages to create a balance between comic and tragic elements in the play. He creates
an analogy among the events of the play. Jilly bursts into tears when Willy and Rose have real cause to weep.
Mrs. Rafi just like Eurydice is about to cross the Styx, the river of tears when Rose is unable to bear the pain of
Colin’s death. The element of play within the play in The Sea is highly symbolic. The use of this technique by
Bond lends maturity to the overall text and gives additional meanings to the play. But the play does not actually
end up being staged within the duration of the actual play.

Question no.02 The Major Characters in The Sea:

The Sea is a play written by the English dramatist Edward Bond in 1973. It is a black comedy set in
a small village in rural East Anglia in the Edwardian period. The play draws on some of the themes of
Shakespeare’s The Tempest. There are four leading characters in the play; Willy Carson, Evens, Hatch and Mrs.
Louise Rafi.
Willy Carson: Willy Carson is the heroic figure of Edward’s tragicomedy but he cannot be compared with the
heroes of the classical tragedies. He is a heroic figure due to his sympathetic and kind disposition. He is a
true and loyal friend to Colin and grieves his loss like a true human being. He is truthful as far as the
drowning of Colin is concerned. He was the first to cry for help but nobody attends to his cry. He is the force of
present as he was the first to inform Rose about the passion Colin had for her. His arrival in the town is the
symbol of something turning into the past. He turned the past of Colin's drowning into the present. He
ascertained the love of his best friend to his lover. He offers himself as the representative of Colin's love for
Rose and also the need to forget him now.
Bond makes the character of Willy as the representative of positivity and what is good in the world. He has
the ability to cope with the life and the unwanted circumstances it usually offers. His dialogue in the scene VI
tells a lot about his understanding of life as a tragedy:
“If you look at life closely, it is unbearable. What people suffer, what they do to each other, how they hate
themselves, anything good is cut down and trodden on, the innocent and the victims are like dogs digging rats
from a hole, or an owl starving to death in a city. It is all unbearable, but that is where you have to find your
strength.”
It takes a great measure to bear with the loss of a close friend. Besides losing a friend he holds out hope to Rose.
He was apt to make the best out of a bad situation. He is a brave character and feels no fear of Hatch and his
companions. Though Willy seems to be on edge of the main action rather than being directed at the center of it,
his character is of no less significance.
Willy remains optimistic and has no romantic or fanciful dreams about life. Though he is not a
heroic figure, yet forced by the circumstances, he tries to understand life.
‘He isn’t consciously searching for anything. Therefore, he tries to make a compromise with living.”
The main function of Willy's character oscillates between Hatch and Mrs. Rafi on one side and Evens and Rose
on the other. His character in invalidity a bridge between two extremes of society. He is experiencing the
oppressors and the oppressed as well. He is the tool that people of society exploit to attain opportunity. The true
nature of Hatch, Mrs. Rafi, Rose and Evens is divulged through the conversations they had with Willy. For
instance in the scene VIII, he laid out a great deal of opportunity to Evens to express his inner thoughts.
Willy: D'you think they kill each other?
Evens: Must do. Where there’s life it kills thinks, after all.
Willy: Yes. You mean living things are a growth that stretches across the universe and kills and devours itself.
Evens: In a way.
At times, Willy becomes overwhelmed with cynicism and despair, yet he does not lose hope and survives.
And thus, he becomes a symbol of a conviction that society can be changed. His reactions symbolize the
reactions of the world. At the end of the play, Willy moves out of the irrational world which signifies the chance
for a better future. To sum up the discussion it may be assumed that Willy is a strong character that goes through
great changes to find his reality in a hostile world.
Evens: Evens is a drunkard person who lives across the sea. Edward Bond introduces the character of Evens
in the very first scene when Willy is calling for help. He was drunk and singing at that moment so he didn’t pay
any attention to Willy’s call for help.
“Willy: Help. Help
Evens: Where?
Willy: Here. In the water. A man’s in the water.
Evens: It is too late for that. The sea will finish everything. Have a drink --- Where? I don’t know what it is –
I sing this song. Somebody is in water? --- I will go. Oh, god what a night.”
This very first impression about Evens makes him an inhuman sort of creature who does not care about others at
all. Willy’s call for help and Evens’ reaction to it is quite strange and shows the carefree side of Evens. Edward
Bond has presented the character of Evens in such a way that those characters who cut themselves off the society
are at the peak of intellect. In other words, those are intellects who cut them off from the society and not like to
interact or mingle with others. He proves his wisdom in the fourth coming scenes of the play. Symbolically, he
presented an unconscious society which neither cares about happenings around it nor wants to know or meddle
in other’s matters.
Thus, Bond has shown Evens as a half-demented fellow with a bottle of wine in his hand. Though he
is a social outcast but he knows society very minutely which is evident in the later scenes. In the play, Evens
becomes the mouth piece of Bond’s faith of optimism. His dialogues are full of wit and irony.
Mrs. Louise The Character of Mrs. Rafi is the portrayal of a typical upper middle class lady that would exert
her pressure on the lower strata of society bullying them to do her errands. Primarily, she seems to have adopted
the punitive and authoritarian role in the society she lives in. She is a dominant character and remains dominant
from scene 2 to onwards. She is authoritative and does not let anyone equal to her in taste and social prestige.
Since the play is about the conflict between the established forces of society which don't let individuals get
free, hence, Mrs. Rafi stands for the exploitative side of the society while the characters like Hatch, Mrs.
Tilehouse, Mafanwy, Jilly, and Vicar Etc. are under her influence. She doesn't want to lose control over the
characters in the play. She is both blunt and straight forward in her worlds. When Mrs. Tilehouse tried to make
her buy a pair of gloves she said:
“Please, don’t try to hustle me into a purchase. You know it make me cross. One uses one's hands to point
and emphasize and gesture. People are judged by what they have on their hands. They're important.”
All this seems the satisfaction of her aristocratic nature. She directs and orders with none to disobey her. Despite
all the criticism on her personality, it may have on the negative side of her authoritarian role and punitive measures
which not only bankrupt stupid Hatch but also destroy his social life, she is the bridge and discipline of the small
town she lives in. She is the one that manages the coast guard fund and voluntary people are deployed on the
coast so that lives of the people could be saved. She arranges social gatherings and raises incomes for the payment
of those coast guards which include Hatch, Hollarcut, Evens etc. So, she has a positive role to play in the society
she lives in. She has got artistic taste and loves to perform annually on the town theatre.

Hatch: Hatch is one of the lead characters in the play “The Sea” and appears in the first scene. He is an
enigmatic, maniac, and complex figure in the play. He is a draper, cloth merchant, and also a sea guard. He is
a leader of his class and believes himself the sanest man. He also believes that through his wise efforts the
world can be saved. His enigmatic personality is probably a caricature of those sane people who passed
through the Second World War as sane but they started inventing conspiracy theories to malign the others
around them.

He is a middle-aged man who passes nearby Willy (another major character in the play) when he wildly
calls for help, in the storm. His attitude is hostile towards Willy. He says “filthy beast— I know who you are.”

Mad as a box of frogs, Hatch believes that aliens have infiltrated the village from another planet. He
identifies Willy Carson’s sudden appearance in the village as proof of the aliens’ arrival and establishes a task
force to spy on Willy and the wise village drunk, Evens. He looks at the world around him with a high sceptic
idea. He has set his friends after Willy to report his activities to him. He thinks that Willy is a spy of UFOs,
unidentified objects of foreign planets. He says “They come from space. Beyond our world. Their world’s
threatened by disaster…” Thus, he is a cunning fellow who believes in a fascist approach. Also, he plays
mostly negative role in the play.
Question no. 03: The Character of Mrs. Rafi.
Mrs. Rafi is one of the important characters in the play, “The Sea”. Mrs. Rafi, the formidable lady on
the forebeach, dominates the scenes of the play and becomes the center of the action. She directs the 'Life' of
the forebeach and is confident of her convictions. Edward Bond has portrayed her character as an aristocratic lady
who is capable of destroying a Bourgeois or Proletarian individual. She is authoritative and does not let anybody
to be equal to her either in taste or social prestige.
Mrs. Rafi is the portrayal of a typical upper middle-class lady that would exert her pressure on the
lower strata of society bullying them to do her errands. Primarily, she seems to have adopted the punitive and
authoritarian role in the society she lives in. Since the play is about the conflict between the established forces
of society which don't let individuals get free, hence, Mrs. Rafi stands for the exploitative side of the society
while the characters like Hatch, Mrs. Tilehouse, Mafanwy, Jilly, and Vicar Etc. are under her influence. She
doesn't want to lose control over the characters in the play. She rather believes that she is needed by these people:
"Sometimes I think I am like a lighthouse in their world. I give them a sense of order and security."
Despite all the criticism we may have on the negative side of her authoritarian role and punitive measures which
not only bankrupt stupid Hatch but also destroy his social life, she is the bridge and discipline of the small town
she lives in. What makes Mrs. Rafi a pure aristocratic woman is her aesthetic sense. She is very fond of art
and music. She does not like shoddy articles, ordinary gloves and curtains. She wants something different and
unique. However, she is a clever customer. She says to Hatch:
“Your catalogue is full of interesting items but none of them are in your shop. You offer only shoddy! How
can you affect a discriminating and rewarding class of client?”
Mrs. Rafi is both blunt and diplomatic. Mostly we find her blunt and straight forward in her words. In fact,
Bond wants to portray the real mentality of the so-called upper class. “Oh no. I’m surrounded by mediocrities.
A flaming torch and no path to shine on …”
They are kind and considerate, when their own advantages are concerned, otherwise, they are very sharp and
ruthless. She is the one that manages the coast guard fund and voluntary people are deployed on the coast so
that lives of the people could be saved. She arranges social gatherings and raises incomes for the payment of those
coast guards which include Hatch, Hollarcut, and Evens etc. So, she has a positive role to play in the society she
lives in. Everything associated with Mrs. Rafi becomes sensible, suitable and appropriates as she orchestrates the
society on her own will.
Mrs. Rafi has got artistic taste and loves to perform annually on the town theatre. All this seems not
only the satisfaction of her aristocratic nature but also a sympathetic charity towards the coast guard fund of the
town. She is supported by the other influential people of the town. They do rehearse the play in her house. Again,
even during rehearsals and assigning of roles as well as modifications in the costumes or the adjustments of the
minor characters, she appears commanding with authority. She directs and orders with none to disobey her. She
likes to sing the song "there's no place like home" though it is not in the script but she would because she likes
it and it is popular too. She is directing the characters for the performance of the play and rebukes Mafanwy who
finds it difficult to pretend swimming when he is actually walking.
Mrs. Rafi is a village dictator. She is a dictator by virtue of the supreme upper middle class. She declares
that, “People are judged by what they have on their hands. They're important”. She dictates to each and every
one. She bullies everyone; it is her behaviour that drives Hatch mad. She humiliates Hatch. She selects her curtain
material then rejects it. She administers a great control over Mr. Carter and Hollarcut. She bullies Mafanway and
also does not care for the feelings of Rose. She never let anybody slip through her controlling fingers. Rose sums
her saying, “the town is full of her cripples”.
Like most of the aristocratic people, Mrs. Rafi also thinks it obligatory to offer her sympathies to others.
The way she responds at the news of Collin’s death is symbolic of her arrogant nature. She offers some kind of
sympathies but at the same time, she looks indifferent to what has happened to a poor boy. In fact, she is
insensitive and does not care about the feelings of others. Even the death of Collin does not prevent her from
playing Orpheus.
She has also a great insight into different matters. She can analyse the things on the intellectual level.
Whatever she says and does may have some emotional and behavioural perspective but it is not without any
intellectual strain. For example, when Jilly runs crying out of the room and Rachel wants to go after her to console
her, Mrs. Rafi says that,“Leave her, never show any interest in the passions of the young, it makes them grow
up selfish”. She also advises Rose to move out of the town:“Go away, Rose. Don’t stay in the town and marry
the solicitor or doctor or parson. You can’t breathe here.”
In the second last scene, Mrs. Rafi says that she is getting old and people always expect her to behave
the way upper class should i.e. rebuking, scolding, directing their course. She considers that people have fitted
her into a sort of character whose job is to shout at people. She says that, “I am afraid of getting old. I have
always been a forceful woman. I was brought up to be. People except my class to shout at them.”
She has an extreme kind of sense of superiority complex. She considers herself superior to all, she even does not
show respect to clergy, vicar. Religion has no deeper appeal to her and finds its truths illogical. “I’m so tired of
them. I’m tired of being a side-show in their little world. Nothing else was open to me. If I were a Catholic –
I’d have been an abbess. I’d have terrified the nuns. They’d have loved it. Like living next door to the devil.”
 Bond has also presented her fears about her future life as she knows that people will bully her like she
has done with them in the past “I’ll grow old and shout at them from a wheel-chair. That’s what they’re waiting
for. They get their own back for all the years I bullied them. They wheel you where they like.”
Bond has also described her apathetic behavior and her relationship with the people of the town and what she
thinks about her life: “I can’t love them. How could I? But that’s a terrible state in which to move towards the
end of your life: to have no love. Has anything been worthwhile? No. I’ve thrown my life away.” Robert
Cushman of National Post lauded Hatch and Mrs. Rafi as "major creations", referring to the latter's speech
about her future self as "one of the great speeches in modern drama".
Here, Bond has given the justification of Mrs. Rafi’s character in the sense of poetic justice. He has not left her
without defense to make her character convincing. After coming to know her opinion about her behavior, one
feels somewhat sympathetic towards her attitude.
In short, Mrs. Rafi, the village dictator by virtue of her supreme upper middle-class self-assurance, is
the Edwardian equivalent of the lady of the manor; she and her entourage of genteel middle-class ladies are
characterized as figures of fun, unaware of the emptiness of their posturing and the hollowness of their values.
To mock their pretensions, Bond uses a more conventional comic approach than in any of the earlier plays. She
is a big source of mirth and comic relief in the play.

Question no. 04: Edward Bond’s philosophy of life Or Evens as a mouthpiece of Edward
Bond
Edward Bond is one of the most respected playwrights living today. His work and plays are aimed at
young people who have redefined ‘Theatre in Education’. The Sea is one of Bond’s earliest plays, having
been written in the 1970s. As a contemporary English dramatist, Edward Bond writes plays that have often been
controversial because of their use of cruelty, violence, and other forms of bizarre behaviour that can be
considered grotesque. In assessing Edward Bond's contribution as a dramatist, Richard Scharine comments,

"Bond is unique among English playwrights in that he has a world view, an evaluation of human
potential and the conditions that obstruct it, that has remained consistent from his earliest work to his most
recent."

In The Sea Bond most clearly and articulately expresses a vision that was only suggested in The Pope's
Wedding and Saved. In his program note to The Sea Bond argues vehemently against the idea of absurdism or
nihilism. To him "the sea is a symbol of hope justified by constant new chances and opportunities. Life
becomes meaningless when you stop acting on the things that concern you most: your moral involvement in
society. . . . If I had to name my theatre I would call it The Rational Theatre".

Growing up in a war-torn country also forced Bond into an early awareness of the potential for violent
disruption underlying everyday life. He, an artist amidst the threats of war and destruction, imbibes the reality
of the world and tries to convey the sensibilities of society in his plays. He is capable of showing what threats
knock at the threshold of the civilization with impending evil. Bond portrays the modern society colored in the
images haunted by violence. He is as artistic in portraying violence as Jane Austen in portraying manners.
Violence, an attribute of the animals is justified as violence among them does not threaten their existence, while
the violence practiced by human beings is bound to bring destruction to their existence.

Evens can be represented as a mouthpiece of Bond in the final scene, in which Willy and Evens discuss
the cycle of creation and destruction. Significantly, Evens compares the universe to a grotesque image--a
"shambolling, lolloping great rat" which feeds on the debris of destruction and breeds new life until it
becomes the rat catcher, which in turn kills the rat and starts the process of life and death over again. Yet to
Evens the process is positive, because as he explains,"All destruction is finally petty and in the end, life laughs
at death. . . . Suffering is a universal language and everything that has a voice is human"

Ultimately, Evens urges Willy to go out and try to find the answers to existence:"Don't give up hope. That's
always silly. The truth's waiting for you, it's very patient, and you'll find it. Remember, I've told you these
things so that you won’t despair. But you must still change the world".

The idea of violence is also, vaguely conveyed by Evens at the end of the play that they don’t need
anyone from outer space to come and destroy them, as they will be equipped with the task of destroying their
species. The analogy of the rat and the rat-catcher is metaphorically conveyed to the audience or the reader.
Violence in animals is advocated by their need to be fed or guard their existence against the chances of getting
preyed on, but human beings, on the other hand, need not to prey to maintain their existence in terms of
fulfilling their biological needs. If The Sea ends with Evens' injunction that action is the only way to combat
social evil, then The Worlds presents characters who do take action, however extreme. In a letter to Tony Coult
Bond wrote, "We mustn’t write only problem plays, we must write answer plays--or at least plays which make
answers clearer and more practical."

Thus, Evens is a mouthpiece of Bond and also a harbinger of change. Bond’s philosophy of life can be
sensed through the conversation of Evens with Willy at the end. As he said, “Don’t trust the wise fool too
much. What he knows matters and you die without it. But he never knows enough.” All these wise words
of Evens prove that he is the true representative of Edward Bond’s theories and ideas.

Q no. 5 Themes of “The Sea”

"The Sea", set in the rural background of the North Coast of England, was intended as a satirical
comedy by Edward Bond but deep tragic elements overshadow the comic aspect of the play. The playwright
successfully illustrates man's ability to survive the worst while remaining optimistic and manfully facing the
madness and injustice of the world. Bond wanted to emphasize "the strength of people, on their ability to
change their society".

The relationship between individual and society as well as Nature has been serious and gloomy;
therefore, the author wants "to make the people laugh and experience human strength" in a light-hearted
manner. Bond encourages the audience to "change the world", for betterment must be desired. He believes in
social change with the will of individuals. With this aim of change, the playwright directs his satire on the rigid,
aggressive, and repressive class structure of English society. Amid the sad and tragic environment of the play,
change seems evident. Everybody feels for the change. Everybody yearns for it but nobody attempts it in that
town. It requires hope and the ability to conflict with the dominant society.

Primarily, the conflict between individuals and society as well as the desire for change is depicted in the
character of Willy. He is not a native of this town. He is the symbol of change in this pessimistic and lunatic
town. He is also symbolic of the truth which is doubted by most. He tells the people around him of Colin's
drowning but nobody believes him except Mrs. Rafi and a few. He stands as a voice for the oppressed ones
while society is unable to listen. He is the voice of positive change. Amid extreme madness, he is the only one
that remains sensible and positive. He appears as a linking force between the oppressed and the oppressor.
He relieves Rose from the agony of the loss of Colin. He brings her back to the present life.

Also, Bond, as an artist amidst the threats of war and destruction, imbibes the reality of the world and
tries to convey the sensibilities of society in his plays. He is capable of showing what threats knock at the
threshold of the civilization with impending evil. The Sea is replete with several such interwoven themes that
overwhelm the atmosphere of the play such as the theme of death and its impact, the theme of dominance,
helplessness, violence, menace, and optimism in the society.
 The play opens on a beach where Colin is struggling for his life while Willy is trying hard to do at least
something to make his Friend secure in the grip of the fatal waves of the sea. On the other hand, a drunkard
sings in his fit and refuses to help the wretched. Even the coastguard, Hatch, refuses point blank to offer help to
the "strangers".

The rest of the play comprises of the scenes dominating the inquest of the death of Colin and the
consequences arising from the act of refusal on the part of Hatch. He is bankrupted by Mrs.Rafi as she
terminates the business relations with him for his being “over-imaginative for a draper”. He repulses at his
failure in securing business and reacts violently. Colin's death becomes the reason for arranging fundraising
play to make them loyal to their responsibility.

Mrs.Rafi, the formidable lady on the fore beach, dominates the scenes of the play and becomes the
center of the action. She directs the 'Life' of the fore beach and is confident of her convictions. She manages the
funeral rituals of Colin and scattering of his ashes at the cliff-top. She maintains her position by criticizing
Mrs.Tilehouse for her amateur gestures and childish attitude while singing hymns to God in a voice
' louder' than hers. She emphasizes her imperious self-assurance that costumes designed by her would not be
objected to by the audience as she has designed them. Rose sums her saying, " the town is full of her
cripples". Mrs.Rafi rules over the people as she 'Can’t love them'.

Theme of menace is also one of the dominating themes in the play. The hermit, at the end of the play
summarizes the tragedy of the forebeach saying,

‘You see why he draper’s afraid. Not of things from space, of us. We’re becoming the strange
visitors to this world.’

He, in his fit, manages to give peep into his mind and eludes to the rat and the rat-catcher analogy to offer
explanation of man and his ultimate cause of his destruction, ' man'. He asserts that people of the modern world
should not wait for the travelers from the space to impose destruction, rather it is the men's activity to pave way
for their own destruction in their own world of chaos , confusion and assumptions. He witnesses the departure
of the young couple of Rose and Willy to escape from the danger zone.

The attempt of stabbing knife to kill the alien becomes the most violent incident of the play. Hatch fails
to spurt blood out of the corpse and stabs as much as possible in order to soothe his nerve by killing Willy. He is
the only man in the play who displays savage thoughts and acts violently when he attacks Mrs.Rafi with the pair
of scissors. He, somehow, remains unsuccessful in settling his account with Mrs.Rafi and Willy.

Theme of identity in the world of class conflict also finds a room in the character of Mrs.Rafi. She
belongs to the upper class society of the forebeach and declares; 'People are judged by what they have on
their hands. They're important'. She purchases cloth for the curtain with a taste and reigns over the entire
community on the crutches of her class. She dominates the scenes of the play as the people of the upper classes
do. Everything associated with Mrs.Rafi becomes sensible, suitable and appropriates as she orchestrates the
society on her own will. Class consciousness and consumerism are interwoven pattern in the text of play.

The Sea displays the different structure of the society with thematic concerns. Bond is successful in
his description of the characters and the underlying ideas to be focused on. He artistically weaves the themes in
the texture of the play and makes it an artistic whole.