This repetition of silence stood out to me, because it's fair to assume that Lincoln is dead, as he was just shot and even though it says he is "slumped in his chair," we know what really happened. There is definitely something interesting about having a dead character have lines written saying nothing. Booth may be silent because he is in shock, looking at what he has done, but Parks writes this in a way where the two are having a conversation. The dead Lincoln that is "slumped in his chair" is saying something to Booth that Booth cannot bring himself to respond to. I also want to note the choice that this could have just been a stage direction (Booth stands in silence) but because Parks wrote it as an exchange of dialogue, it becomes more intriguing ti the reader, while most likely over the audiences head.

Considering the ending of the play, there is definitely a significance in the relationship between Julia fighting for her life and the brushes with dead animals. This example of the male hunter shooting the deer and Julia could relate to the themes of female resilience and strength that we see in the play. Julia in particular is a character that I would characterize as strong, and willing to fight for her life (until the end of the play when she says she has "no life left in her.") and the deer dying and her surviving could be symbolism for the grit and power that it takes to be a woman in society when men are constantly taking "shots" at them. The hunter continues on to say "it was a surface wound. I didn't hurt her." and this is definitely making a point of how easily male actions of violence can be brushed aside, and looked over, as if they didn't happen. The deer dying is something the hunter was proud of- wanted to take ownership of, whereas he was very quick to say he didn't hurt Julia. The concept of power and claiming actions makes the death of the deer significant and worth thinking about.

I think this concept of "maintenance" that Agnes is getting at here is very closely related to the title and the idea of balance. In maintaining anything, youmust achieve a certain level of balance, so no action or event tips the scale and changes anything. When Agnes says "we do not attempt the impossible. We maintain. We hold." she is referencing the way that maintaining the family dynamic, or the balance, is a difficult feat, and doesn't allow for spontaneity, or taking chances, or any out of the box events. The balance is difficult to maintain- and even the tiniest thing can tip the scale in one way or another, sending the entire family into chaos.

I do think that the distinction for Claire between "a alcoholic" and "an alcoholic" is something that she actively cares about, because she wants to separate herself from the group of alcoholics that she was speaking about and attempt to prove to Tobias that she is neither "a alcoholic" or "an alcoholic." I do think the way she cares about the distinction, that really only is a grammar mistake, allows the reader and Tobias alike to be puzzled by Claire, and see that she devalues language and language rules in a way that makes her feel in control and "right." Her alcoholism becomes evident in her actively denying it exists, and even more so in how she denies it exists in 2 ways, one gramatically correct, and one incorrect.

This moment stood out to me as the first moment in which Gus acknowledges these hidden spaces and hidden systems, and begins to question them. The appearance of the envelope with matches and the dumb waiter bringing them food affected the two men, making them uneasy- and concious that they are not alone. In this moment Gus begins to question what it means for these hidden systems and invisible inner workings of their environment do when they are not aware of it. This could be seen in relation to Pinter's theme of power structures in society- almost like in Hamilton- no one knows how everything occurs unless you are in the "room where it happens" but everyone accepts decisions and behaviors as standard and customary- even if they have no idea how they came to be or what they do when no one is around.

This line is striking and tells us a lot about the character of The Bishop. From the get go and his very first line, we see a disparity between the assumptions we have about what a Bishop is and does- and what he claims them to be, cruel. He says "God, we can read your mind!" and is interrupted by Irma- who breaks this illusion of what we think a Bishop is, shattering his image, almost like a mirror. In this line, at the end of the speech The Bishop makes to the mirror he sees himself appearing as a Bishop, but that's all it it, an appearance. He comes to the Brothel to actively fight against his image/what is expected of him, or what he sees in the mirror.

I can imagine sitting in the audience as this conversation is happening, just afraid and shocked to see one of the two main characters fully turn into a Rhinoceros. It's almost scarier for the audience that they can't see exactly whats happening, but they are hearing Jean discredit humans and mankind saying that Humanism is all washed up, almost as if he is fighting to become a Rhinoceros instead of turning into one against his will.Hearing Jean's voice change offstage is another tool for adding a sense of suspense for the audience, because they can only guess what is happening, and have seen small clues that Jean is going to fully change into a Rhino, but he hasn't fully transformed yet. I think Ionesco's aim here is to give the audience a sense of feeling out of control, as a spectator who can do nothing to change what's happening. This sense of powerlessness could definitely be tied to Camus idea of the absurd and the pointlessness of life if you can't change anything- like sitting and watching as people are becoming Rhinos against their will.

After the first Rhinoceros appearance, the townspeople repeat the phrase "Well, of all things!," which I view as a somewhat neutral and passive statement to make, and possibly could indicate Ionesco making a statement on group mentality, and passiveness among the people in the town. Jean seems to be the only one who is really in awe of the Rhinoceros, continuing to bring it up with Berenger- who in this moment says he didn't think anything of it. I think this reaction to the Rhinoceros could be thought of as parallelism to the group-think and passiveness that citizens showed during the rise of Nazism in facist Germany. The Rhinoceros appears- or something extremely big happens, and no one thinks much of it but says, "Well, of all things!"

The concept of having the actors speaking to an invisible lady, alienates the audience becuase it leaves them completely in the dark. I can imagine the audience feeling disconnected, confused and hyper aware of the fact that they are in a theatre- which can effect the way that they understand the show. I'm also sure that there would be laughter- as it would be hard to take two old people speaking to an invisible lady very seriously. I think it's hilarious the way that they speak and respond to the invisible lady as if she's there- and this definitely adds a layer of comedy for the audience. They can laugh because they have literally no idea whats going on. It's funny from their perspective because there is a character dictating what they are watching and they can't see her.

This is an example of Theatrum Mundi- in using an offstage voice to direct Sabrina, assumably a stage manager or director, we get to see her as an actress improvising, referencing that the world of the play is set inside a theatre and the play is within a play. She then continues on to say " "I can't invent any words for this play" and "The author hasn't made up his silly mind.." which reference her world as within a play in a theatre.

I was intrigued by what Fuch's said about how audience members can never "assume" that the world of the play is exactly like their own. I think this line specifically, as well as several of Harper's lines, are fairly recognizable to us, as what a parent or guardian would say to a child- giving the audience comfort and a clue about the world (Space and Time) that they are living in. If I were staging this first act, I would want to make it as realistic as possible- with costumes and styles and home decor from the present time- only to add to the shock value of the acts that follow.