Ragtime question

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:04pm

We just saw a production of Ragtime and on the way home were talking about the names -- why do they not name Father, Mother, and Younger Brother? We thought it might be because they're supposed to be generic, but they do give Edgar a name, and really, Mother is a fairly specific character.

Any thoughts?

[gvanover]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:14pm

"Ragtime" is based on a EL Doctrow novel by the same title. Doctrow didn't give the characters name in the novel either. Though there is no specific reason why, most literature scholars believe it because they were representing a group of people of the time period.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:14pm

No idea why they give Edgar a name because he doesn't have one in the novel.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:16pm

Well "Edgar" was named after E.L. Doctorow[ Edgar (not sure what the L is...) Doctorow]

[smodel11]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:16pm

Ragtime is based off of a novel by E.L. Doctorow from 1975, and these were the character names from the book. I am not sure what his exact reasoning was, but I've always assumed that he gave them "generic" names because they were supposed to be representative figures of the time. They interact with some infamous people from the early 1900's, but they are supposed to represent "the All-American Family" of the turn of the century. Of course, I could be completely wrong, but that's how I always viewed it :)

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:29pm

That's about what we thought - the Edgar part was confusing us though.

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:36pm

I think it's because Edgar is the narrator of the story- all the names are what HE would call his family members. And if you go with the E. L. Doctorow connection, indeed he is the "teller" of the tale.