What is the Dramatic Significance of the song, “Paper Doll”?

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What is the Dramatic Significance of the song, "Paper Doll"?

Rodolpho and Marco arrives to Eddie’s house to live in for a few months and this is because they are poor and illegal immigrants. The characters begin to have a conversation and starts to know things about each other. During the conversation, Catherine finds out that Rodolpho is a very good singer and begins to give interest to him. She asks him to sing a song named “Paper Doll” and Rodolpho sings the song for her. Eddie does not like Rodolpho singing a flirty song to Catherine and makes him to stahp singing that song. It is noticeable that the song “Paper Doll” has an important meaning in the whole play. Although the song is introduced in the context for a very brief time but the symbolic meaning in the song shows lots of things in the play. It might be a way to express what both Eddie and Rodolpho thinks about Catherine or what emotions they feel towards Catherine. Also, it shows the relationship between the characters and the social and historical background of the whole play.

Before talking about the dramatic significance of the song “Paper Doll”, it is important to know about the song before going in depth. The song “Paper Doll” was sung by a famous group named the “Mills Brothers”. Their genre of the song is traditional pop and jazz. Jazz music was popular to young people in the 50’s in the U.S. The song was release in 1943 and more than 10 million copies were sold. The song maintained 1st place for 12weeks starting from November 1943. The lyrics of the song is mostly about a man who is a womanizer who wants to meet his true love and make a family and live a happy and peaceful life. It is predicted that the song is sung when a guy loves or likes a girl. Because the lyrics of the song is related to marriage and love, Eddie does not like Rodolpho singing this song to Catherine. There are few theories why Eddie does not like Rodolpho singing this song to Catherine. First, is because of Rodolpho himself. Rodolpho is a poor immigrant from Italy and his job was singing on ships which Eddie thinks is objectionable. He was grown up in a bad environment so Eddie thinks that Rodolpho might use Catherine as a tool to overcome poverty or to make his dream come true which is being an American. Secondly, he does not like the lyrics of the song which is related to love between men and women. The lyrics as we can see is about marriage and love so Eddie does not enjoy this song. However, considering the age difference between Eddie, Rodolpho and Catherine, there might have been some misconception about the reason singing the song. Because this kind of music is enjoyed by young people, Catherine and Rodolpho does not really care about the lyrics which is related to love. On the other hand, Eddie who does not know much about the trend in Catherine and Rodolpho’s age, might have thought that Rodolpho is flirting to Catherine which is very different than the reason Rodolpho sung this song to Catherine. Finally is because the song “Paper Doll” explains Eddie’s emotions towards Catherine which he does not want Rodolpho and Beatrice to notice. If the meanings of the lyrics are understood straight forwards, it is about marriage and eternal love. However, if thought in a different way, it expresses the emotion of love towards Catherine. Although it is not sexual love, it is pure love which Eddie feels towards Catherine such as being worried going to work which has a dangerous condition or being worried that Catherine might forget the presence of Eddie and Beatrice and leaves them alone forever (She’s gone away and left me just like all dolls do). The theories I have presented shows rivalry between Eddie and Rodolpho and the desire to gain possession of Catherine in a DIFFERENT WAY is also shown. The lyrics of the song shows the social background of the U.S in the 1950’s which I will explain later on.

The history of paper dolls are also important to understand the dramatic significance of the song “Paper Doll”. Paper dolls were existed when paper was invented. It came to Europe in the mid-18th century and it became an inexpensive toy for many children and teenagers. It was also used for advertising and entertaining for adults. It was usually found in fashion magazines and was a resource for girls to plan their wardrobes by trying clothes on their paper dolls. It can be seen as a way women trying to escape the oppression from men by decorating themselves with beautiful clothing and jewelry. The history of paper dolls supports the idea which Rodolpho and Eddie has strong desire to possess Catherine. It became clear that Rodolpho wants to gain possession on Catherine sexually because paper dolls were entertainment for adults in that period which is usually related to sexual contents. The use of paper dolls by adults might be the source which made Eddie to have a misconception on the reason why Rodolpho sang a song for Catherine. The title of the song was “Paper Doll” so Eddie must have thought that “Boy, that guy is goin’ to do something wrong to Catherine” which he will never allow. Additionally, paper dolls explain the social background in the U.S. Because paper dolls can’t move by itself and needs ‘somebody’ (Men) to control it, this shows that men nearly had control over everything and women (paper dolls) have to follow their orders and stay at home nearly all day long waiting for their husbands to come back home. (“I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own”, “When I come home at night she will be waiting”)

Finally, the gender politics in the 1950’s shows why “Paper Doll” has a big role in the play. The gender politics in the 1950’s were very strict. Men should go out and work to feed their family and women should always or spend most of their time at home supporting the house, looking after babies and wait for their husbands to return back from work. The song “Paper Doll” has lots of aspects of the gender politics in the 50’s. "I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own” shows men possessing women like their own toy they can play with. “When I come home at night she will be waiting” shows the daily life of women in the 50’s which is spending most of their time at home waiting for their husbands to come back from home. “A doll that other fellows cannot steal” might show that some men in the 50’s considered their lovers or wives as an OBJECT which could mean that the rights of women are much lower than that of men’s. Because the gender politics were very unfair to women, women tried to escape from men’s possession and oppression by FASHION which is also related to paper dolls because paper dolls are resources for women to choose what clothes they will wear. In conclusion, “Paper Doll” shows many things about the social background of the play for example, the gender politics and how women rebelled to it.

“Paper Doll” does not seem important because it is introduced very briefly in the whole context. However it has lots of different meaning and symbols which show lots of things about the play. It shows why Eddie tried to stop Rodolpho from singing the song to Catherine. It shows why Rodolpho is singing for Catherine. It shows the relationship between characters. It shows the social backgrounds of the whole play. Many things about the play is revealed because of a short phrase in the play about the song “Paper Doll”. To conclude, the dramatic significance of the song “Paper Doll” is to tell the audience about the relationship between characters (Rodolpho, Eddie and Catherine), the reason why Eddie stopped the singing and the social backgrounds of the play which helps a lot understanding the context.

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