English Speech for Visual Representation

The real voyage of discovery consist not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new
eyes. This is a quote by --Marcel Proust.
Good Morning Ms Wren and peers, today my visual representation is a depiction of the 1986
Australian drama, Away by Michael Gow. Away is a play that follows the lives of three
internally conflicted families holidaying on the coast for Christmas in 1967. Throughout, the
play Gow has created, we are able to see a range of discoveries. Today I want to focus on
how discoveries can lead an individual to new worlds and understandings and show that
through the synthesis of perspectives, an individuals understanding can be deepened.
Discovery is the action or process of revealing or disclosing. In Gows play, the primary
character I will be focussing on is Gwen She is the wife of Jim and the mother of Meg.
With no nice way to say it, Gwen is a bully, a bitter and unhappy woman who uses the great
depression as an excuse to find no enjoyment in life and to drain the enjoyment out of
others. The visual representation I have created follows the journey of Gwen as she
transforms from being ignorant and critical to loving and understanding. It represents the
gradual change in her understanding and ideas allowing her to speculate about her
future possibilities with her new altered perception of her surroundings.
Gwens constant rude and degrading attitude and her need to push her family away
especially Meg is seen in Act 2 Scene 2, when Gwen and her family are packing for their
holiday, Meg and Gwen struggle to close an overflowing suitcase. This suitcase is a
metaphor, showing their overflowing conflicts and emotional issues. Gwen later states My
head will splitIll have a bex before bed. Her comment about taking a bex is no surprise as
she takes it so often to regulate her emotions, exhibiting a lack in strength to face the truths
of life. These two scenes from the play were used to create the top part of the water fall. The
dark colour shows its lifelessness and loneliness and the silver rings represent all of Gwens
materialistic possessions. The top of the waterfall as a whole represents Gwens ideas and
perspective as to her looking at the dark ugliness is beautiful, and full of life but she will
soon discover that through an altered perception and understanding she will see true
beauty.
In Act 3 Scene 4, we watch a powerful storm strip Gwen of her possessions. Presenting
how Gwens money and possessions have precedence over her family. As she worries about
all her possessions being washed away instead of the well-being of her family. The storm is
a metaphor, as it cleanses her by stripping her of her materialistic ideas and perspectives
and it brings her closer to a new world full of understanding, beauty and purity. This scene
draws back to the top of the waterfall. As I remove the rings we see how the character of
Gwen illustrated by the pink lizard can no longer see any beauty in the dark ugliness
surrounding her, making her move to the edge. The storm is magical as it is able to bring all
three families together. With the lizard at the edge, we know Gwen can finally see Meg, Jim,
Harry, Vic and Tom.
In Act 4 Scene 2, Gwen and Jim are juxtaposed with Vic and Harry and the state of loss
between Gwen and Jim is significant as it represent that through their loss, they were able to
find their way to the only family who has lost more and made the most of it. It is here that Vic
takes Gwen aside and we assume she tells her about Toms illness. When she returns we
can tell she has been crying and her transformation is reaching completion. After a long
silence she addresses Jim through the dialogue If you want to ask me what I think or how I
feel I couldnt say. What do you think of me...? You must hate me I cant take this
powder I want to take it Im sorry. Gwens words in this scene carry a lot of meaning as

we see she is no longer hiding behind the symbolism of the pill, she is facing her problems
head on. She also says sorry for the first time in the play illustrating that she is no longer
hiding behind the excuse of the great depression. It is in the final play within a play, an
allusion, performed by Tom and Coral called Stranger in the Shore that we see a
significant change in Gwen. Gow describes Gwen in the stage directions as he says the
applause is led thunderously by Gwen. This scene is juxtaposed with the first play where
Gwen does nothing but criticise every aspect of the play, this confirms that she is finally
seeing a new world beyond her possessions and her understanding has been
deepened. In the waterfall this quote shows her decent as she falls. The change in colour
shows her change in views as the water, which represents the metaphor of the storm, is
pulling her and cleansing her and bringing her closer to the whiteness and purity which she
reaches as she hits the pond below. As she finally looks around she sees each member of
her family and friends join her in the beauty of pond. The new world she has entered
contains no materialistic views, allowing her to finally see and understand true
beauty, the beauty of her friends and family.
Through the scenes and quotes I have provided I hope to show how discoveries were able
to lead Gwen to new worlds and understandings and that that through the synthesis of
perspectives, Gwens understanding was deepened as she was finally able to develop a new
pair of eyes to view the true beauty of the world with.
Thankyou for listening.