Leonard is far from at a stand still when it comes to career ambition in similarity to Rex. A lot of what Leonard does is competitive and he has to come off best at everything. Leonard’s ambition is arguably more selfish than Rex’s as Leonard already has fame, but he desires more and acts arrogant to get there,
‘LB – the two most
important initials’
(Act I, p1).
In comparison, Rex is not as famous as Leonard, and is far from being in the spotlight, until the end of the play. Leonard’s objective of working in London does not falter during the play. Leonard shows the disregard for others selfishness to get to where he is.
Nicola is completely driven by the idea of being famous and demonstrates the sacrifices and the risks that are made to achieve this,
‘Saved lunch money’
(Act I, p33).
This also shows how wanting something so desperately can lead to becoming an entirely different person. In this case, the modern ambition has changed her entire attitude to life.
However, City Sugar also demonstrates the opposing side through Big John. Big John is quite happy to settle for his job and what he already has. He likes the security of a familiar job and seems to have no plans to go higher from a career point of view,
‘But I haven’t got anything
really spectacular’
(Act I, p24).
However, as the play progresses, Big John does show some enthusiasm in the prospect of moving to London with Leonard. When Big John knows something is easily achieved and in sight he goes for it, but not otherwise.
Susan is stereotypical of someone who has no purpose in life and nothing to strive for. She settles for a job in a supermarket and, arguably, is one of the few that has realistic prospects of the future. However, although Nicola does not enjoy the outcome of her fame, she still succeeded in getting on the radio which in many ways, conveys that if you try hard enough, you can achieve almost anything.
It is not all about the idea of fame that drives most of these characters though. For many of them the idea of better pay and a nicer environment alone is enough to fuel their ambition. Rex is the best example of this as his job involves taking direct orders from Leonard and not very nice conditions to work in,
‘I’ve brought a drink’
(Act I, p2).
Although, despite this, there is emotional ambition in that some characters strive to be happy; or at least think it will make them a happier person. An example of this is Nicola as throughout the entire play she struggles to get her moment of fame and when it arrives she realizes the extent of corruption to get to that position and does not like it. For example,
‘one of
course white, the other is red’
(Act II, p69),
which is a lie. Nicola sees the lies that fill up this false idea of reality.
There is also the factor of self-improvement to take into consideration as a large portion of the play is based around self-confidence. For example, Leonard is brimming with confidence and he is near the top of the career ladder. Whereas, Nicola has no self-confidence until nearer the end and this newly found confidence leads to success.
Every single character, in very different ways, has ambition. It depends on social status and personality on what ambition the character has. But the one thing they all have in common is that they all aim to be a better person and don’t settle for who they are. Even Susan, who appears to have no aim, gets restless and wants change,
‘we could push it
down there if we wanted’
(Act I, p15).
