Background noise drowns out the real issues in Machinal

In Machinal, Treadwell’s use of choppy dialogue and long monologues help to create a troubled Young Woman. Since it is a play, the audible dialogue was important for shaping viewers’ perception of Young Woman. Through the style of the dialogue and not just what the actual words were, Treadwell was able to portray the way that Young Woman’s troubles were looked over due to the machine-like noise of the other characters’ lives.

In the first scene, a number of characters are introduced all at once, talking all at once. This is important because it shows how many people Young Woman interacts with daily. When she comes in late, they all question her about it. “Stenographer: Then why are you late?/ Young Woman: Why?/ Stenographer: Excuse!/ Adding Clerk: Excuse!/ Filing Clerk: Excuse./ Telephone Girl: Excuse it, please… Young Woman: I had to get out! (pg. 368). All of these people hear that she was experiencing some form of a panic attack coming into work, but none of them hear the actual distress that it is causing her. Instead they laugh about it (pg. 368). By having four characters in the very beginning of the play look past Young Woman’s problems, Treadwell creates the sense that despite all the listening ears in her life, no one actually hears Young Woman. By having all the “Sounds of Machines going… throughout the scene,” the idea of not hearing Young Woman is further proved (pg. 366).

The scene between Young Woman and Mother is another filled with background noise. There are “Outside Voices: characters heard, but not seen” (pg. 371). This already sets the stage for a confusing scene, foreshadowing the conversation to come. While debating about whether or not to accept a proposal from her boss, Young Woman discusses it with her mother: “Young Woman: All women get married, don’t they?/ Mother: Nonsense!” (pg. 372). This quote shows again that people do not hear Young Woman. Mother implies that not all women get married, but a few lines later says “are you crazy” when Young Woman declares she will not marry him. She pretends to be listening, but comes up with responses that seem scripted for such an occasion. She reacts to Young Woman’s comments as a stranger would. She repeats lines like “Nonsense!” or “You’re crazy!” a couple times in response to Young Woman. These are phrases that people resort to in every day conversation when a more in depth response is not expected or even needed. In this case, it shows that Mother is not reacting to the real issue—that Young Woman needs advice on how to make important decisions for her life.

Repetition, monologues, disjointed conversations, and a lot of background noise help to set up scenes meant to be ripe with confusion. In the very beginning, the first scene has four one-sided conversations all happening at once with background machines also making noise. These small details that Treadwell uses solidifies in readers’ minds that Young Woman is not really heard. People listen to what she has to say, but do not analyze it or make any effort to form thoughtful responses to her. Her seemingly small problems are lost in the noise of the machines.