Directions: Read Mistaken Identity, by Sharon E. Cooper (1326-1330) and write a 50-100 word character sketch for Kali and Steve that moves beyond/deepens the initial sketch on page 1326. Who are these people? What are their views on life? What shapes their expectations and reactions? Feel free to assume some information, but do not color too far outside the lines.
Initial Response Due before class on Wednesday, November 12th.
Reply to Classmate: add a 50-word or less piece of information to a classmate's description of one or both of the characters. Your additions must follow the story the classmate has already set up, but your response should either bring them new insight into the character or bring them back into the scope of the actual play.
Reply Due before 5pm on Friday, November 14th.
In a short play titled “Mistaken Identity” by Sharon E. Cooper two people meet at a busy bar for a blind date. Steve is an American cowboy finishing school in England and Kali is of Indian heritage and a Hindu. The two are on a blind date trying to appease family members and social pressures, which unites the pair in an unlikely friendship. Steve believes that he has life figured out and knows what he wants, but changes his mind often and is a people pleaser. Steve believes he understands Indian culture because he has watched two movies about India, disregarding the person in front of him and her insight. He is a fast talker, who does not listen very well. Kali is a lesbian who is afraid of her families’ rejection and lives with her secret. Although she seems to be straightforward, she is afraid to talk to her family and what would happen as a result of her sexual preference. Kali is impatient and tired of being set up on dates.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that Steve is going on this date because he is desperate to find a girl to marry, not to appease family members? That's what I thought and wondered if you agreed.
DeleteI believe that Steven wants to marry because it is what is expected of him. He wants a girlfriend to show off when he goes back home, he wants to please his mother and give her the grandchild she wants a Christmas stocking for. Steve is a people pleaser who doesn't actually reflect on personal conflict, but rather makes hasty decisions based on what others think.
DeleteBeyond his feelings of obligation, perhaps his feeling of urgency comes from not only what his family wants, but what he feels that he wants because he is getting older. I think that Kali is more scared than impatient. Kali is indeed irritated that her brother keeps setting her up, but she seemed willing to go on the dates if it meant that she could hide that part of herself. She was debating how, or even if she would tell her family at the time. If she had felt any more impatient, then she would have already told her family she was a lesbian because her brother kept getting in the middle. Instead, she masked her sexuality to avoid confrontation on both ends. Both of the characters seem to come from the same perspective: trying to please their families.
DeleteIn the play “Mistaken Identity” by Sharon E. Cooper, explores a blind date between Kali Patel and Steve Dodd. Kali Patel is a twenty seven year old social worker and comes from a Hindu Indian Heritage. Kali attends the date not only to please her brother, but because she is afraid to tell the truth that she is in fact a lesbian. If she tells them the truth then Kali won’t be able to see her family and she stood out as a woman who would anything for her family. However, she is very blunt and honest when explaining her interest to her date, Steve. Steve Dodd is a thirty two year old man, who’s working towards his degree. Steve portrays characteristics of a desperate man. He’s desperate to get married and even asks Kali to marry him in the first few minutes of their date. He has a way of being a know-it-all type, for example, when he tells Kali he knows a lot about her heritage from only watching two movies. Both characters are trying to please their families and cave under the pressure. Yet, they are able to have a friendly conversation towards the end of the scene.
ReplyDeleteDoes Steve stand out as unintelligent to you? After reading the story and looking at his character, to me, he seems to not be very intelligent, or maybe just clueless, if he thinks that Kali is really going to marry him. He believes that since he has seen movies about her culture that she was just going to fall for him... He has to be some sort of clueless to believe this would work.
DeleteHannah,
DeleteSteve came off as unintelligent to me as well. I really couldn't figure out how dumb someone could be to actually think #1 she would marry him on their very first meeting/date and #2 the fact that he actually thought he knew about her culture just because he had seen movies.
-Suselis Bush
I don't think Steve is unintelligent. I think he is more blindsided by the way the date is going. He's blindsided while on this date because he expected to technically met his future wife, only to have the night not according to plan and not seeing eye to eye.
DeleteKali is an Indian lesbian who has a girlfriend and is desperate to be accepted by her family for her choice of love. Her family sounds like the traditional Indian family, wanting her to marry a good guy. Steve is a student who is desperate to find a girl and get married. He assumes things based on what little outlook on life he has, such as the way Kali should be because she’s Indian.
ReplyDeleteBesides the fact that Kali's family is a traditional Indian family, how do you think any family would react to their daughter telling them she is a lesbian? I am not saying anything is wrong with that, just the fact that she had been hiding it from her family for so long. Do you think the story would change at all if she wasn't Indian or Hindu?
DeleteDo you think Steve is desperate to get married because he is trying to heal a broken heart? Also, I don't think Steve's outlook on life is limited, but that his worldview is just a bit narrow.
DeleteDo you think that since both Kali and Steve are scared to be rejected by their families they'll lead their sudden friendship into a fake relationship in order to still hide the truth?
DeleteThe story starts with two people on a date.. Then a drastic question is asked by Steve. "Will you marry me?" Now for any other girl this might seem romantic or slightly forward for the first date, but for Kali, the female of the date, it is just downright not appealing as a lesbian that is.You can see that the date is awkward from the begging. Steve being the cowboy, old fashioned, and only there because Kali's brother told him that his sister was available. Kali is a lesbian in a happy relationship with a female teacher and only there to appease her parents. Kali is hiding what she really is along with her relationship.
ReplyDeleteThe reason Steve pops the question so forwardly (on the first date) is because he wants to marry so badly. Even after she shuts him down with “I’m gay” he still wants to work something out, figure out a way. Regardless of how little his chances are he thinks he can obdurately force his way in to marriage.
DeleteThough the date is awkward in the beginning, do you see them starting to build a mutual relationship with each other, based on sympathy? Both of them trying to make others happy has spawned a commonality between them that was completely unexpected from their initial reasons for being there.
Delete“Mistaken Identity” is a short one act play set in a British pub. The charters are Kali Patel very occupied social worker form a Hindi family, she works very often so that she may avoid her family and their controlling attitude. She fears the stigma of marriage they are forcing upon her, furthered by the fact that she is gay, and has a partner she is happy with and sees quite regularly. She knows her family will not stand for this, given their tradition belief that she should marry and man, and that they should pick out that man for her. She only came to this date because she desires to keep the peace with her family, knowing persecution will come if they discover the truth. Steve Dodd is a very oblivious american student, now studying in England. He thinks his college education has provided him with all the knowledge he will ever need, (anything else he learns from watching films) and no one can tell him any different. He is quite anxious to marry, to the point of proposing to Kali on this first date.
ReplyDeleteBased on what we know about each character what do you predict will happen next? Will this Steven and Kali meet up again or is it over after this first interaction?
DeleteDo you think he is really anxious to marry or just pressured into thinking he wants to marry? I honestly don’t think he is ready for marriage, he is lonely and scarred from his ended relationship with “the one,” so he’s looking for a quick cure from that in Kali, who’s brother made her seem like an “easy” deal.
DeleteSharon E. Cooper’s play, “Mistaken Identity,” portrays characters who appear to be acting in role reversal.
ReplyDeleteThe play is tells of two characters, Kali Patel and Steve Dodd, who are on their first date in a pub.
Kali, a single lesbian social worker who lives in Leicester England, is portrayed with a more masculine perspective on the situation. Kali’s perspective on life seems to revolve around simplicity. She is holding back an aspect of her life that is a big part of her, when deep down she wants to enjoy the simpler facets of relationship (such as bringing the woman whom she loves home for Diwali). Because her brother set her up on the date, Kali would probably expect a casual date night; thus her negative and surprised reaction when Steve tried to take the situation further.
Steve who is a single and desperate undergraduate, is depicted with the role of how people would expect a woman to behave. His perspective on life is more complex compared to Kali’s. He wants to marry a woman so he can settle down as soon as possible, most likely because he is thirty-two. He has big dreams of a relationship and he is willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Steve was in over his head. When he found out that Kali was a lesbian he was shocked and a bit upset. His reaction was influenced by his expectations of finding the love of his life.
Kali and Steve are the two characters in Mistaken Identity by Sharon E. Cooper. Kali is Hindu with a family that follows traditional Hindu ways. She is a lesbian and has a girlfriend. Kali seems to be intelligent and a determined women. She is carrying around the secret of being lesbian and this short act shows that it is bothering her inside. Steve is a cowboy who desperately wants a wife and family. The story makes him out to be somewhat shallow and desperate. He asks Kali to marry him out of desperation. He wants to please his mom by bringing home a wife and starting a family.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Kali is not as determined a person, since she is afraid to tell her family she is a lesbian. She is tired of hiding, but because she doesn’t “know how they’ll react” she suffers quietly. Steve does show some depth when he speaks of love and how it has been a few years since he has had someone to love. He is actually the one that encourages Kali to tell her family, and even offers to help her by telling her brother.
DeleteSteve is an American with a dream for love at first meeting that has turned into desperation. His broken heart seems fresh, even though it has been three years. He is quick to make assumptions at first, but then becomes more somber as the date progresses. He seems to be a caring person, but is too quick to speak instead of listen. He is a little culturally insensitive, even if he does not realize it. Kali, conversely, is tired of hiding such an important part of herself, and is not amused with Steve from the start. She is brusque with Steve, but she softens toward him somewhat when she realizes that he is trying his best to understand her. Both characters are experiencing pain behind their outward appearances.
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ReplyDeleteKali is a Hindu Brit who secretly loves other women. She’s loud, brash, and easily irritated. However, she hides her secret from her family because she just doesn’t know how they’ll react (1329). Kali views life as a challenge, and sees her blind dates as a waste of time. This reaction likely stems from being set up with blind dates several time before by her Hindu brother, and since she doesn’t love men, she sees the exercise as a waste of time. Her expectation of the date is shaped by the several that have come before it.
ReplyDeleteSteve is an American studying abroad, who was introduced to Kali through her brother. His sweet talking is oafish and rushed, but normal conversation reveals him to be a surprisingly deep thinker, going so far as to describe the emotions of love (1329, paragraph 6). Steve sees a demanding world, and his stumbling demeanor shows his attempts at meeting those demands. His desires stem from the expectations of his family, especially his mother. She wants to hang stockings for her grandchildren, assuming she ever gets them (1329). He also lost a girlfriend 3 years before the meeting, contributing to a desire for love.
Both of these characters appear to display brash tendencies and don’t seem to care for the other, but in the end see each the other’s plights and show sympathy for each other
There are two characters in the skit Mistaken Identity, by Sharon E. Cooper, Kali and Steve. Kali is a 29 year old, single lesbian who is Hindu, with an Indian decent. She is a busy social worker that lives in England and is in a relationship. She is annoyed by her younger brother’s attempts at setting her up with guys, having a “long line” of bad dates. Her annoyance shows through her sarcastic comments. She comes across a tad mean and defensive, as she stereotypes him throughout the converstion. She does confide in Steve though about being gay because she is desperate to tell someone and she knows he may tell her brother. As much as she wants to keep it a secret, since she does not know how her family will react, she is exhausted from hiding it. She begins to empathize with Steve towards the end.
ReplyDeleteSteve is a 32 year old, single straight Caucasian from a Southern state in the U.S., who is desperate to get married because he has given up on love and he wants to please his mother. He practices being a Baptist at Christmas and Easter. He is studying in England for his last year of undergraduate school. He talks a lot when nervous and tries to make people like him by doing things that make him fit in, like eating fish and chips instead of a hamburger. He seems slow at first, but has a deep and touching moment when he talks about losing “the only woman” he loved, this experience makes him sympathetic to Kali. He gets annoyed by Kali stereotyping him and tries to use humor as a way to lighten the mood.
Both of them want the white-picket fence thing (“like everyone”) and create a new connection with each other and “share” dessert by the end of the converstation.
Kali’s expectations of love are shaped by the failures of love that she’s had to face in the past. Her failed dates and sexual orientation have resulted in her either being disinterested in or rude toward the men that she dates, and Steve is no exception.
DeleteSteve’s expectations of life are shaped by the expectations that his family and society place upon him, the main expectation being to have a family. His reaction to this expectation is to stumble and fall, though it is not intentional; he’s just not used to speaking to women.
Steve - His character is portrayed as desperate because he thinks he has his whole life figured out and is just missing marriage, he popped the question on the first date (blind date at that for goodness sake). He is so eager to settle down that even when Kali tells him she is a lesbian he wants to figure out a way to get married anyway. The fact that he thinks he knows everything about Kali's heritage, life etc because of watching movies shows how dumb and shallow he is.
ReplyDeleteKali - All she wants to do is please her family so she hides her true identity and who she really is. She is annoyed by her brother constantly setting her up on dates which have in turn also been bad dates and makes it clear with her sarcastic comments and remarks to Steve's conversation. She comes off to others as a straight shooter but she can't be the same way with her own family because she is afraid of what they will say or do once they find out she is a Lesbian because of being Indian.
-Suselis Bush
Do you think that Kali is just hiding the fact that she is lesbian because of her Indian parents, or do you think she is scared to come out because of our society?
Delete"Mistaken Identity" is a short play about Steve and Kali, two desperate people forced on a blind date for very different reasons. Steve is a traditional, Baptist, cowboy type who may feel desperate to find a lover to marry. Ironically, he is set up on a date with Kali Patel, an Indian lesbian who struggles with her family's unacceptance of her lifestyle. She is a lesbian with a partner that she has been seeing frequently. Her family is traditionally Hindu and would never approve of her homosexuality so she agrees to the date for fear of them knowing her true "identity". Both are there for all of the wrong reasons and are in desperation. Eventually, after being honest with each other, they actually form an unlikely friendship.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some of the literary techniques and elements employed in this play and how are they used effectively?
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