34 pages • 1 hour read
Lynn NottageIntimate Apparel
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of upbringing, can find success in the United States in a way that is appropriate to their skills if they are willing to work hard. What does Intimate Apparel say about this idea? Choose two characters from the play and compare and contrast their lives and successes in terms of the American Dream.
The end of the play leaves a lot of questions about the future of the characters. If you were going to write a scene wrapping up their lives, how would you like each of their stories to end?
The play, set in New York in 1905, is historical fiction, imagining the lives of fabricated characters inside a real historical moment. Playwright Lynn Nottage is particularly known for her in-depth research when creating the world of a play. Research the period and choose one issue or event from the era. How do you see that issue or event reflected in the social and political atmosphere of the play?
What do you think the photographs at the end of Acts I and II represent? Why are the subjects unnamed? Why do you think Nottage included them?
George Armstrong is a fairly mysterious character, since he lies and we can’t know when to trust him. Imagine a story from his perspective. What is the truth about his past? His reasons for writing to Esther? His motives for marrying her and then leaving her? What, if anything, is genuine about him?
Research the racial politics in Manhattan during the time period of the play. What is the significance of Esther’s blackness in relation to the circumstances of her life, the events of the play, and her relationships with other characters?
Why do you think Nottage chose to write Esther as a seamstress who makes lingerie? What is the significance of intimate apparel and what does this choice say about her as a character?
As an audience, we hear several of George’s letters read in their entirety, but only the first line of some of Esther’s letters. Choose one of the letters that the characters begin and finish writing it. How would your complete letter affect our understanding of the characters and the action of the play?
Early in the play, Mrs. Van Buren references suffragettes. The play does not discuss early feminism explicitly, but the ideas of feminism and the oppression of women are present throughout the text. What do you think the play says about the emergence of women’s rights? Choose one character and explore how they uphold, go against, or otherwise comment on feminist ideas. Use examples from the text.
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By Lynn Nottage
