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Jul 29, 2024 · One of the leading existentialist philosophers of the 20th century, Jean-Paul Sartre, responded this way to the question of life’s meaning: “Man is condemned to be free because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give life meaning.”
Jun 5, 2012 · Summary. What is the meaning of life? In the West, this question was considered profound and important in the 1960s through the 1970s in the heyday of existentialism and the popular quest to shape or define one's personal identity outside of conventional categories.
Dive deep into Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion.
Topdog/Underdog is a play by American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks which premiered in 2001 off-Broadway in New York City. The next year it opened on Broadway, at the Ambassador Theatre, where it played for several months.
- Power
- History
- Death
- Names and Identity
In the character notes before the play begins, Suzan-Lori Parks identifiesLink as the eponymous “topdog” and Booth as the “underdog.” This immediatelyestablishes a fraught power dynamic. Link is older, which puts him in aposition of power, and this is further reinforced by his employment andseemingly greater financial security. Booth, meanwhile, st...
The play is inherently connected with history on a broad scale due to thenames of the two main characters, Lincoln and Booth, and Lincoln’s job as anAbraham Lincoln impersonator. Personal and familial history inform thecharacter development of the two brothers, while national history influencesthe plot and foreshadows the final climax. As the drama...
As with many Pulitzer Prize winners, death is a theme that is woventhroughout the narrative, though it only explicitly occurs on stage at thedramatic conclusion. Death is omnipresent in Link’s life because that is thebasis of his job; each day he reenacts his death dozens, if not hundreds, oftimes for the twisted entertainment of others. Abraham Li...
Identity is a complex but integral theme within Topdog/Underdog, with both Link and Booth seeking to establish individual identities but struggling to do so while trapped in a cycle of poverty and familial angst. Link is confident in his identity, as evidenced by his claim that he “was Lincoln before any of that,” despite a shared name with the Gre...
The Topdog/Underdog Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you.
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Two brothers, Booth and Lincoln, strive to bring meaning into their lives: one is a street hustler, the other an impersonator of President Abraham Lincoln on the night of his murder.
