Symbols

Iguana: The captured and tied up iguana is synonymous to Shannon's desperation, like the captured iguana, Shannon is at the end of his rope.  

We can see Shannon’s desperation: like the iguana that has been captured and tied up to be fattened for the dinner table, Shannon is at the end of his tether

Shannon is straining against the bonds of society and fighting a losing battle. The iguana could also be seen as a symbol of the human condition.

The rum-cocos, which Maxine constantly tries to push on Shannon, are a symbol of her sexuality. The storm that threatens throughout the play parallels Shannon’s life-changing dilemma.

The iguana represents suffering and trying to get out or away from the unknown. It's a gnawing pain that neither of them can stand. In her mind she thinks that the writers are intentionally hiding things from her that she has a right to know. Really, all they want is a little space from the nosy crazy person. She has very sensitive feelings and thinks that they are intentionally attacking her feelings. What she doesn’t realize is that there is nothing to know. She could figure it out if she just opens her eyes.

Costa Verde as a rabbit's warren of collapsing adobe and vine entangled arbors, symbolic of the character's shattered emotional state.

Shannon's adored hammock, a tiny oasis of sanity and solace surrounded by the sublime implacability of the ever-encroaching jungle

The Relevance of The Iguana

The relevance of the iguana to the play is as already mentioned numerous times, the creature is the mirror reaction of Shannon. When Pedro and Pancho held the iguana roped around a tree one cannot help realize that Shannon was held captive on ha hammock tied with ropes as well. Both want their freedom and be cut loose from whatever is holding them restraint.

The Night of the Iguana – Character Analysis

Shannon:

Lawrence Shannon is an ex-reverend and the main character of the play. Throughout the play, Shannon is a character who is defined by his emotional instability, as he if often confused as to what he wants and often is getting into trouble because of his actions. It is revealed in the play that he was removed from his church because of alleged affairs with an under-aged girl and he continues his actions in terms of a young girl from the tour named Charlotte, who tempts Shannon into having an affair with her. After being removed from his church(before the play begins), Shannon becomes a tour guide for an agency called Blake tours. He also seems to develop a slight drinking problem: “If I start drinking rum-cocos now I won’t stop drinking rum-cocos”(Williams, 11). At this agency, Shannon questions his wants as he is miserable at his new job and is constantly tempted by the seventeen year old. Not only is he miserable being a tour guide, but he also begins the play on “probation” with his company for losing a previous tour group. Later on in the play, it is evident that Shannon forced his tour group to stay at the Costa Verde Hotel because of threats from Ms. Fellows(head of the tour group) to have him fired and charged for statutory rape. Upon arriving at the Costa Verde Hotel, Shannon is greeted by an old friend named Maxine, who also seems to have an interest in seducing him, as she insists on him staying in her late husband’s clothes and bed, as well as doing him various favours(i.e. opening for numerous guests out of season). When the new guest Hannah arrives, Shannon has some type of attraction to her as he insists to Maxine that she allows Hannah to stay in her the hotel’s deluxe suite without paying prior to the visit. Throughout Hannah’s stay he helps her out with her grandfather and occasionally opens up to her about his past and even saves the iguana from the rope at her request. His emotional instability is shown more as the play progresses, as he holds the bus key, exposes himself, threatens to drown himself and forces Maxine and Hannah to tie him down, while also insulting Maxine. Despite this, after Nono’s death, Shannon appears to have found what he is looking for and agrees to stay with Maxine and help run the hotel.

Maxine:

Maxine Faulk is the owner of the Costa Verde Hotel an old friend of Shannon’s.  She appears to be a very independent women, as she runs a hotel by herself and does not keep quite about her opinion.When Shannon arrives it is revealed that she is a widower of her late husband Fred. In most of the play, Maxine gives the impression of being very lustful, as the play opens with her just finishing making love to one of her employees (Pedro). It is also revealed that she had been intimate with her employee before her husband pasted away. When Shannon arrives at the hotel, she appears to be attracted to him, and appears to try and seduce him. This is shown by her efforts to defend him from Ms. Fellowes, make Shannon stay, as well as insiting on him using Fred’s old clothes and room. When Hannah arrives, Maxine becomes jealous of her because of the apparent connection she sees between Shannon and  Hannah. She eventually gets over this jealousy and insists that Hannah stay(rather than go out in the storm), after realizing that she has no attraction to Shannon. Later on in the play, her simple lust seems to evolve as she resists “moon bathing” with her employee, and offers Shannon to stay at the hotel and help her take care of it. This offer shows that Maxine was also confused about what she really wanted and figures out that she wants somebody (a man) to take care of her.

Charlotte:

Charlotee Goodall is a seven-teen year old girl on Shannon’s tour that seduces and falls in love with Shannon. Throughout the play she believes she is in love with Shannon and tries to take advantage of his attraction to young women. She calls him by his first name, sneaks into his room(multiple times), walks on glass with him and professes her love to him. When she tells Shannon how she feels, he rejects her and kicks her out of the room, causing her to hate him.  In this play Charlotte, is similar to in the fact that she confused about her emotions but it is different then Shannon because she represents, naivity and innocence, something that is found in a child and something that Shannon takes advantage of. It is evident that Tennessee Williams wanted her to symbolize the naïve and innocent because of her last name Goodall.

 

Hannah:

Hannah Jelkes is a traveling artist who is very a laid back, understanding and calm women. She does not seem to value things such a material items or money as most people do. When she arrives at the Costa Verde Hotel, it is revealed that she is a traveling artist, who travels with her poetic grandfather, making money by sketching people and having her grandfather recite poetry. Her sympathy amazes Shannon throughout the play, as she accepts him and anyone no matter what they have done in the past, claiming she only dislikes mean and violent actions.  Shannon also point out that she gives him one of her last two cigarettes that she was saving, an act he deems almost heroic as she is broke and gave away her cigarette without hesitation. She helps Shannon physically and emotionally, by taking glass out of his foot and by allowing him to open up, aiding in him finding out what he wants. Unlike Maxine and Shannon, Hannah appears to be more emotionally stable and knows what she wants in the world, where as Maxine and Shannon are confused about what they want. Throughout the play there is tension between Hannah and Maxine as Hannah gets the impression that Maxine did not want her to stay(which was partly true). After Hannah reveals that she has no attraction to Shannon, Maxine accepts her and they team up to tie down Shannon and calm him down. At the end of the play, Nono recites his last poem, causing Maxine to cry over the beauty of it. Soon after Maxine discovers her grandfather dead and rests her head on his as a final goodbye. Hannah’s emotional stability represents the opposite of Shannon and Maxine’s, but something they want, and eventually obtain.

 

Fellowes:

Judith Fellowes is the head of Shannon’s tour group and the person that Shannon has the most conflict with. Throughout the play she acts like a guardian to Charlotte, trying to stop her from seducing or being seduced by Shannon who she does not trust because of his reputation.  She also insists on leaving the hotel and makes a phone call to request that Shannon be laid off from his job and arrested for statutory rape and other things.  Eventually, Fellowes’ wish comes true as a new tour guide, Jake Latta comes to combine his tour with Shannon’s former tour and aids in forcefully retrieving the bus key.

Nonno:

Jonathan Coffin, also known as Nonno is Hannah’s grandfather. He is a poet who has mental problems, such as dementia as he is very old(97). Hannah expresses that he is the oldest active poet. Nonno’s poems often inspire those around him and can be related to how they are feeling. The poem he recites before he dies, causes Maxine and Shannon to truly realize what they were looking for and retain emotional stability.

Frye's Theory

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Herman Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist. He is considered to be one of the most influential of the the 20^th century.  Frye was mostly interested in the imagination, archetype, myth and also The Bible.

Herman Northrop Frye

Theme: Freedom

The next theme is freedom. There is a very significant part in the play where Shannon speaks of the freedom of the iguana, but by interpreting what he says, he is talking about himself.

Maxine: What are you doing down there, Shannon?

Shannon: I cut loose one of God’s creatures at the end of the rope.

He was a man of God and despite all of his troubles he still considers himself one and is finally freeing himself from all the destruction and hardships he has faced during the last few months. The rope to the iguana symbolizes the gold chain necklace he has around his neck, and both were taken off which represents that neither are no longer restrained.

Also, Hannah is a way is now free too. By the end of the play, Nonno dies and she is left to venture away by herself. Of course, the passing away of Nonno is devastating but this also allows her to be free with only the responsibility and obligation to herself. 

Theme: Loneliness

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The other theme is loneliness. It is as if almost all the key characters in the play are lonely people. Let us start with Maxine. She admits in the beginning of the play that she has always been lonely, even when Frank was alive because even when they were still together they grew tired of one another, seeming that he was some decade of two older than she was. With this, Maxine takes out her loneliness on the hands of Shannon.

Contrary to her need of him, he is the loneliest character in the play. He has lost his church and the trust of his people, Blake Tours is “the bottom of the bottom” of jobs, and he probably does not talk to his family at all, and most importantly, he does not know where he stands with God. He has been committing sins after sins- drinking alcohol until he was no longer in his rightful mind, and committing adultery with Charlotte just so he can feel someone there for him and to connect even if it meant that way. There is a part in the play where Hannah tells him that “there is too much suffering in” his eyes. He has no one to fill up the empty heart of his, and his actions prove that he is in fact, lonely and craves any attention.

This brings us to the very young Charlotte. After Shannon harshly told her he does not love her even the slightest, she goes down the verandah to a little bar by the beach with Pedro and gets drunk. When the owner no longer wants her there, Hank steps in and before you know it, she is attached to him like glue. She just revealed that her constant need of affection is what she craves the most and it seems like she will let anyone fulfill that desire, just so she will not feel the terrible loneliness she feels inside.

Hannah too is lonely. She says that, “one can be youth and not truly experience what it is like to be truly young”. She describes that this is the way she took on life. She had no adventures and now that she is much older, she feels empty with only two lovers from her past.

Theme: Sexual Desires

The theme of sexual desire is arguably the most profound, most obvious presence in the play. Two great examples of this would be Maxine Faulk and Charlotte Goodall.

Firstly, Maxine whom was widowed by her late husband Frank expresses her desire for Shannon with no shame or hesitation. She even rages a little bit on Hannah; accusing her of having some kind of flirtatious acts with Shannon, which of course she denies. On another note, Charlotte is a 16-year-old girl travelling with the church group on Shannon’s bus. The problem with this is that Shannon slept with her and is accused of statutory rape by their church leader, Mrs. Fellowes. Fellowes threatens Shannon that he will get fired over this matter and since then, he has been trying his hardest not to fall into Charlotte’s “temptations” as he called it.

The other theme is loneliness. It is as if almost all the key characters in the play are lonely people. Let us start with Maxine. She admits in the beginning of the play that she has always been lonely, even when Frank was alive because even when they were still together they grew tired of one another, seeming that he was some decade of two older than she was. With this, Maxine takes out her loneliness on the hands of Shannon.