Cloud 9

Summary

The first act is set in British colonial Africa and explores the issues of racism, sexism, colonial oppression, and marital relationships. Clive, his wife Betty, son Edward, daughter Victoria, mother-in- law Maud, governess Ellen and servant Joshua welcome the audience to his African home with a song paying tribute to England. Clive returns home after spending the day managing the troubles among local tribes. 

When Clive learns that Joshua has been rude to Betty, he scolds Joshua. After that, the family welcomes Harry Bagley and Mrs. Saunders. Harry, an explorer, visits the family between expeditions. Mrs. Saunders, a widow, arrives exhausted, seeking protection from the natives. Betty and Harry flirt, revealing their attraction for one another. Later, Harry asks Joshua to have sex with him. 
Clive chases Mrs. Saunders away from the house, and, after a brief argument, performs oral sex on her. To escape suspicion, they quickly return to the family's Christmas picnic. During play the game which Edward and Harry reveal that they have a sexual history. Edward hopes to rekindle this relationship, but Harry is hesitant to approve. Meanwhile, Ellen professes her love for Betty. Betty, still smitten with Harry, dismisses Ellen's comments as ridiculous.

Later, Clive and the men flog the natives as the women wait inside the house. Mrs. Saunders, disapproving, leaves to find out what exactly the men are doing. When Clive returns from the flogging, Clive tells Betty that he knows about her desire for Harry. He lectures her on the necessity to resist lust, and then he forgives her. 

In order to seek a cure for Harry's perversity, Clive attempts to marry Harry to Mrs. Saunders. She refuses the offer. As tension grows among the natives, news that Joshua's parents have been killed by British troops distracts Clive momentarily, as he offers his condolences to Joshua. When Clive turns his attention back to Harry, he forces an engagement between Harry and Ellen. At the wedding party that follows. When Clive goes to toast the newly engaged couple, Joshua raises a gun to shoot Clive. Edward sees this action, but does not warn Clive.

Act II explores many of the same issues as Act I. However, Act II is set one hundred years later in London, England. At first, Victoria appears in a London park on a winter afternoon with Lin and Lin's daughter Cathy. When Cathy exits to play elsewhere, Lin informs Victoria that she is a lesbian, and she asks Victoria to go to a movie with her. Edward, now a gardener, rambles with Betty. Betty talks to Edward that she is considering leaving Clive. Betty lets Cathy play with her jewelry. 

In the spring, Edward's lover Gerry comes to the park, where they argue about Gerry's lack of commitment. Someday, when Lin and Cathy get into a fight, they lose track of Victoria's son Tommy. A brief panic ensues before they find him. Gerry and Edward return, and Gerry breaks up with Edward.

Later, on a summer night, Lin, Victoria, and Edward come to the park to hold a ceremony for a sex goddess. Moments later, Lin's dead brother appears and relates the experience of his service in the army. Lin collapses when her brother disappears. 
By late summer, Lin, Victoria, and Edward have moved in together. Betty has rediscovered the joy of masturbation. Gerry and Edward reconcile and make plans to go out some time. On a trip to get ice cream, the Dead Hand Gang assaults Cathy, bleeding her nose. Martin and Lin fight over who is supposed to be looking after Cathy. All but Gerry and Betty leave. In her discussion with Gerry, Betty comes to terms with the fact that Edward is homosexual. Betty from Africa returns and embraces the new Betty.

Characters

Character's Relationship

Act 1

Act 2

(25 years later for characters)

Analysis

Act I
Setting: Victorian Africa (Colonized Africa)
Concept of sex: conservative, fear of perverse sexuality.
Men and Women relationship – dominant vs. submissive 
British colonial and African natives –– oppressive vs. repressive 
Death of Clive – collapse of tradition and authority/hegemony

Act II 

Setting: London, 1979
Concept of sex: free, able to accept other sexual preferences.
Men and Women relationship – more feminine, less authoritarian. 
British colonialism – suffers a bitter end.
Embrace of two Bettys – final liberation and reconciliation from the past.

Themes

1. The Confusion of Gender

In Act I, the gender confusion is literal: men play women, and vice versa. 

This theme extends into Act II, with Edward insisting that he would rather be a woman.
(72) 

Subvert and Disrupt Binary opposition

Colonizer Vs. the colonized 
The oppressor Vs. the oppressed
The White Vs. the Black
Majority Vs. Minority 
Man Vs. Woman
Heterosexual Vs. Homosexual

2. The Quest for Identity
In Act I, for the characters to act on their true feelings, they must do so in secret, at one point during a game of hide and seek.

In the second act, Betty, Edward and Victoria, now distanced from Clive, continue the difficult search for identity. 

3. The Haunting of the Present by the Past 
Churchill makes the influence of the past more tangible by bringing characters from Act I back into the story of Act II. These characters reappear briefly, highlighting the differences between past and present, but demonstrating that the characters still remember their past and must come to terms with its influence. (77, 82, 87)

4. The Oppressive Nature of Violence 
To exert control over the natives, Clive must employ a variety of violent measures.
(32, 41)

In his own home, Clive has also created an atmosphere of violence. (45)

Motifs

1. Singing 
"Come Gather“-- suggests a blind, comic loyalty to England. (1)
"In the Deep Midwinter"--is about a world Joshua does not know. (27)
"Boy's Best Friend"--is a contrast to how Edward truly feels about being a dutiful son. (35)
"Cloud Nine“-- is a bit more truthful, depicting the characters as they learn to enjoy their world of sexual confusion. (77)

2. Embracing 
In her stage directions, Churchill uses the act of embracing repeatedly as a physical means of demonstrating love.

Ellen→Betty (26)
Edward→Betty (35)
Clive→Betty
Betty→Betty (87)

3. Seasons 
In Act II, Churchill writes that the seasons change from scene to scene. These seasonal changes parallel the journey of the characters in many ways. 

winter→ spring→ summer

Symbols

1. Betty's Necklace—

In Act I, the necklace represents Edward's secret defiance of his family in seeking Harry's love. (46)

In Act II, the necklace symbolizes Betty's connection with the past. (55)

2. Guns

Guns are first used as an indication of the violence of Clive's world. Ironically, the system that Clive sets up eventually brings about his demise. (47)

Guns remain a symbol of power in Act II. Lin arms daughter Cathy with toy guns to give Cathy status that Lin never had as a little girl. (52)

3. Dolls

In Act I, dolls become a symbol of submissive femininity. Clive and Betty periodically catch Edward playing with Victoria's doll, foreshadowing his later desire to play a submissive role in a homosexual relationship. (8)

Study Questions

1. Discuss Churchill's choice to have actors play characters opposite their own sex. What are the theatrical and thematic implications of this choice? 
2. How are the characters introduced for the first time in Act II represent the changes that have taken place between acts?
3. Discuss Betty's rediscovery of masturbation. How does this relate to her search for identity?
4. Explain Harry‘s frenetic sexual activity in Act I. What are his motives in seeking sex with so many different people?
5. Discuss Lin's role as a parent. How do her views about life and sexuality play out through Cathy?
6. Describe Clive's comparison of Betty's "dark lust" to the "treachery" of the natives. How, in his mind, are the two equal?

Suggested Essay Topics

Explain Churchill's choice to have Clive return at the end of the play. Why is he no longer "proud to be British?"
Explain how Churchill's writing process of basing a script on workshops with actors and directors might have influenced the story of Cloud 9?

Reference and Relevant Links

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2000/11/16/arts/1818.shtml

http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/cloudnine/context.html

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/5379/churchill.html

http://www.mathnews.uwaterloo.ca/Issues/mn7304/cloud9.html

http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater3/CloudNine.htm

http://www.longroad.ac.uk/accreditation_project/subject_english/churchill/authors_churchill.htm

http://www.temple.edu/news_media/mg234.html

http://www.lifeofanactor.com/cloudnine.htm

http://www.geocities.com/westhollywood/2078/cloudnine.html