Patrick Marber: Closer

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Patrick Marber Closer

• Burdová, Mach

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Contemporary British literature

• Jim Cartwright The Rise and Fall of Little
  Voice
• April De Angelis Catch 1)
• Hanif Kureishi1 The Mother
• Sarah Kane2 Cleansed
• Tom Stoppard Arcadia
• Alan Ayckbourn Henceforward2)
• David Hare Pravda
• Harold Pinter The Homecoming

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Our choice

• We found the book cover elegant
• One of us had seen the film adaptation and found
  it interesting
• Closer is a drama, which is generally a
  well-structured and easy-to-follow genre

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Patrick Marber

• Marber is a British playwright,
  director and screen writer
• Screenplays Asylum, The Tourist
• Plays Dealer's Choice, Don Juan in Soho
• Closer opened in 1997 at the National Theatre and
  was internationally successful
• In 2004, a screen adaptation featuring stars like
  Julia Roberts or Jude Law was released

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Quotation
Youre not trusting me. Im in love with you. If
you fucked him you fucked him, I just want the
truth. - page 107 -
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Main characters

• Dan writer of obituaries
• Alice stripper
• Ann photographer
• Larry doctor

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and how they get along with each other

• Dan had been dating Alice when he met his old
  love Ann
• Dan arranged a meeting of Ann and Larry who then
  started seeing each other and got married
• After a certain time, the couples started to
  cheat on each other Ann was with Dan, Alice was
  with Larry
• Eventually, the partners were switched back again
• However, these new relations didnt last for long
• In the end, Alice died and the others split their
  paths

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What we didnt know before we read Closer

• that men already pretended to be women in
  internet chat rooms in 1990s
• that swaping the same two partners over and over
  again was actually possible
• that the film and the book were quite similar

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Conclusion

• Closer is about modern relationships in which
  people are selfish and dont care about others
  feelings but only about their own
• The importance of sex, infidelity and betrayal in
  relationships

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Resources

• Closer by Patrick Marber, Grove press, 1999
• http//www.k-state.edu/english/westmank/-literary/
  contempbrit_resources.html (30/11/08)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Marber
  (30/09/08)
• http//www.tobyyoung.co.uk/359/whats-wrong-with-br
  itish-theatre.html (29/11/08)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_-playwrights_
  since_1950 (29/11/08)