Contextualising 'Closer'.

The character’s jobs are outlined to give more of an idea of them. They all appear quite wealthy and well off, the impression of this is them taking leisurely weekend breaks, and living well in London. Also Dan and Larry both take risks in their careers. Larry opens a private surgery that is a risk but something that was happening a lot more in the 90’s. Dan decides to quit his job and write a book which was a big risk and proceeds to fail. Perhaps people felt that in the 90’s they could take bigger risks with less consequence. Anna is an artistic photographer. Photography in the 80’s was perhaps not such a recognized art, but in the 90’s it is accepted enough to have an exhibition and a book printed about it. This shows that in the 90’s people are more open minded. Alice never really seems to have a job throughout the play; the only job we know Alice has had and has is as a stripper. In London during the 90’s, strip clubs where seen around more and were starting to be accepted as a modern thing.

Where they meet has major social context. They meet in an aquarium, a Gallery, a museum and a restaurant. Most of these places they meet are very unusual and meeting in these places is considered something-modern maybe because it is somewhere public and so more sociable or open. It could be that people where becoming more open minded in the 90’s and so visiting more unusual places to expand there horizons. Another reason for using some of these settings is that Anna is a photographer and could use the as inspiration or for her art.

Larry is a doctor who is seen in the public eye as a respectable figure who promotes healthy and worth while things, but in the play Larry is seen as a slut. He visits the strip club, he smokes, and he is obsessed by sex, he is described as rough in bed. This is trying to show that no one can be trusted even if you think you know that person really well. The person who’s job is to care for your health and well being, actually properly couldn’t actually care less and would rather be doing something else.

Smoking is mentioned a lot in the play because smoking was something that was advertised and marketed by press and celebrities. This caused practically everyone in the 90’s to do it. Smoking had been discovered to be bad for you long before the 90’s, people where starting to take note of this fact as the characters give up and take up smoking freely between scenes. Smoking has social context, and also giving up is a major cultural thing in the play.

In conclusion we are watching a Microcosm a small part of the London, capturing the lives of four people. The four of them are juxtapositions; we are told in stage directions that they are all from different places. Country, town, suburbs and city and they are all different ages, so it shows the social context of four completely different people being thrown together and watching their behavior and relationships grow in a modern and changing world. Marber is trying to give us an insight into what is happening in the real world around us things that happen every day and we don’t notice they are happening.

Mike Cope