Gregory's Girl - Lesson 2

So in today's class we continued reading "Gregory's Girl" - scenes 3, 4 & 5.

We had a brief discussion with regards to the character of Gregory - does he seem normal? Is he maybe a little bit weird? (Would you look at your image in the mirror and speak to yourself about "chesty follicles" whilst putting on deoderant? I think not!)

We also discussed the idea of gender stereotyping in the play, especially with regards to scene 5 when Dorothy tries out for the football team and the PE teacher is very reluctant to let her.

Finally, we discussed the theme of role reversal in the play. Madeline (Gregory's younger sister) has a boyfriend, yet all of the 4th year boys are single. She also talked about Gregory going through "adolescence" in scene 1 - more like a parent than a younger sister. Is Gregory acting like a big brother to Madeline or is she acting more like his elder sibling? This is just one example of role reversal - as we read more of the play we'll encounter some more examples and examine them in greater detail.

Scene 3: In this scene we see Gregory at home as he gets changed for school. He seems to spend a great deal of time in front of the mirror getting changed and the playwright makes good use of monologue here to show the strangeness of gregory - he is not only speaking to himself, but also using strange turns of phrase such as "demon sweaty odours" and "encourage the chesty follicles". Later in the scene Gregory meets his father and has a brief chat with him, there is the suggestion that Gregory hardly ever meets his parents (his father says: "I told her we had met in the hallway, briefly, last Thursday and you looked fine...") and this shows the isolation of Gregory's character from every age group except for his peers.

Scene 4: In this scene Gregory tells his friend Andy that he has been dropped from the football team and replaced in goal by Gregory. The two boys talk to one of the teachers and Andy mentions that he goes to the gym most mornings (perhaps to impress the girls? Theme of adolescence...). Once the two boys have disappeared off to class the PE teacher tells another teacher that he has set up a football trial to look for Gregory's replacement as striker.

Scene 5: This is the scene of the big football trial. Six boys are trying out for a place on the football team and all of them are terrible at football. Dorothy appears on scene to try out for the team and at first the PE teacher won't let her but eventually he allows her to have a trial. Unlike all of the boys, Dorothy is brilliant at football - scoring goals and proving that she is much fitter than the boys. Gregory seems smitten with Dorothy - impressed by not only her football skills! At the end of the scene Dorothy follows the PE teacher demanding that she be given a place on the team as she was by far the best person to try out. The major theme in this scene is that of gender stereotyping and role reversal. Dorothy isn't taken seriously as a player since she is a girl and girls don't traditionally play football; however the roles are reversed in this scene as it is Dorothy (the girl) who is brilliant at football and the boys who are actually rubbish at the game.