20 pages • 40 minutes read
The Balcony
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary and Study Guide
Overview
In The Balcony, playwright Jean Genet uses the backdrop of a brothel to condemn the corruption and pettiness of which all people are capable. He is particularly scathing towards those in power. Outside of the brothel, the city—which is never named—is undergoing a “revolution” without a clear aim. For much of the play, it is unclear whether the revolution is real, or an elaborate extension of the fantasies being played out in the brothel, which is called the Grand Balcony.
A woman named Irma is the owner of the Grand Balcony. She oversees a group of prostitutes who enact detailed—and often absurd—fantasies for their clients. The men who visit assume the titles (and costumes) of a bishop, a general, and a judge. Irma supplies girls who perform as penitents confessing their sins, torturers who wish to punish thieves, and men who wish to pre-emptively experience their own glorious funerals. Although it is a place of desire, Irma’s “House of Illusions” rarely alludes to the actual act of sex. It is, rather, a microcosm of people’s desire to have power over others, even if that dominance is only temporary.
Irma’s bookkeeper is a woman named Unlock all 20 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
