Corruption is our only hope—  Bertolt Brecht

When reading One Flea Spare, before you even get to the dialogue you will find this quote. I was intrigued by this insert when I first read it— especially in relationship to this play and what Naomi Wallace was ultimately trying to tell us. Corruption hardly seems like any source of hope. Indeed, if anything, it should conjure up the opposite/ not hope but despair.

corruption: 1 a : impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle : depravity b : decay, decomposition c : inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery) d : a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct

The definition of corruption that stood out to me the most in relation to One Flea Spare was “a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct.”  Marriage. Hierarchy of class. Politeness. Religion. Morality. These are a few of the things many of the characters in this play to believe to be “correct.” All of these things were designed to keep order and, yet, you will find that in the midst of a devastating plague, at the exact moment when order is needed most— these constructions become insufficient. And, as we watch these constructions slowly decay in the presence of chaos, we become aware of their defects. We realized that while we may have seen some semblance of order on the outside, on the inside, there has always been chaos. The only way to free ourselves from such constraints, is corruption. The only way to find ourselves and relieve ourselves of such binding oppressions, is corruption.

In this way, I believe we can all take something away from this play. If nothing else, at least we can begin to acknowledge our own self-afflicted constraints.

Only then can we finally see everything for what it actually is, and the hope comes with knowing that at least now we can move in the directions we choose and not the ones that have been so intricately mapped out in front of us.



~nijae