Introduction
Philip Barry wrote Holiday in 1928. The stock market crashed in 1929 leading to the Great Depression of the 1930. Perhaps these events brought out better what Barry’s work criticized about the American society of that time – the affluent and nobles had a false face. Additionally, the play exposed the burgeoning self-examination of the young men of that era. The playwright uses issues related to identity and recognition/misrecognition to achieve the aforementioned criticism and exposure. America has for a long time been a conservative nation, and the general norms in the 1928 society were aristocracy and feudal hierarchy of corporate business. Barry antagonizes characters who want to maintain a status quo with those who want to forge new identities for themselves contrary to the preexisting norms. As the personalities battle their opinions out, some read each other correctly while others completely misread their counterparts. Barry’s Holiday is concerned with questions of identity and misrecognition expressed through the qualities of Johnny Case and Linda Seton.
Identity and Recognition Issues in Holiday
Johnny Case is the most misrecognized character in the play. Towards the resolution of the dramatic plot, Barry showcases the point in time where it is evident that Edward Seton and Julia Seton completely misread and misrecognized Johnny. In fact Edward declares: “I consider his whole attitude deliberately un-American” (Barry 255). These sentiments at such a stage in the development of the play show that Edward is now eventually admitting to having misconceived Mr. Case.
Comparing Edward’s conclusive of Johnny with when he first encountered Johnny, it seems paradoxical to say that Edward misinterprets Johnny. Linda and Ned thought that it would be a job for Edward to accept Johnny as Julia’s suitor. To the contrary, Edward regarded Johnny with esteem despite insisting on digging out Johnny’s background. Referring to Johnny, Edward says,
We must find out more about the young man, Julia. He seems to have some business ability – he has put through what looks like a successful reorganization of Seaboard Utilities. He holds some of the stock … Shrewd fellow, perhaps. Hobson says signs are not unfavorable for Seaboard – We’ll buy some in the morning, Ned (Barry 213).
Ned is the one who pointed that Edward would be a job – in allowing Julia to marry Johnny. Perhaps Linda and Ned thought their father would perceive Johnny as a man who wanted to marry Julia for her money. In Act III Edward confesses contrary to Linda and Ned’s assumption. Edward says, “I don’t regard the young man as a fortune hunter, Linda” (Barry 254). This assertion shows that Linda and Ned were wrong about their father’s problems with Johnny. Edward reserved admiration for Johnny and had faith that Johnny would do well in business – that was why he allowed Julia to marry him. Despite his faith and trust in Johnny, Edward was wrong to think that Johnny would prefer business to leisure.
Linda is perhaps the only character – and partly Ned – who read Johnny right in the entirety of the play. Linda might have been in love with Johnny, but this love did not conflict how she assessed and perceived Johnny. Linda and Johnny represent the section of young people who were in pursuit of new identities amidst a burgeoning examination of their selves. Linda, like Johnny, was a free thinker and sought free living over aristocracy, class, and corporate work. Towards the end of the play, one might think Johnny changed his mind when he promised not to “retire” but continue working. Johnny even considers joining Pritchard, Ames after the wedding trip. Nonetheless, Johnny takes this compromise because he loves Julia and does not want Edward to stall their union. When Johnny realizes that Edward and Julia will never see things from his perspective, Johnny finally breaks. When Julia says she cannot take “an idler for a husband,” Johnny retorts, “I suppose the fact is, I love feeling free inside even better than I love you, Julia” (Barry 265). What follows this exchange is Johnny bidding the Setons goodbye and taking off to Europe, probably. Johnny’s actions affirm Linda’s assertions earlier to Julia and Edward that if they thought Johnny would finally come around, they were wrong because “He [Johnny] won’t give way one little inch” (Barry 256). Apparently, the only person who shared the same belief and philosophy as Johnny – Linda – is the one that recognized Johnny as he was.
Julia is caught up between the nemeses in the leisure versus business discourse. On one hand is her lover and fiancé who wants to retire, live freely, and have fun and on the other is her father who favors working and a career in the corporate world. Like her father, Julia recognizes Jonny’s potential and ability in the corporate world. When Johnny visits Julia at her place for the first time, he is taken aback by the enormity of Julia’s family wealth. And as he sits in a slump worried that Julia’s father might not approve of him, Julia tells him “You’re the most outspoken, direct man I’ve known, and you sit there, sobbing over” (Barry 200). Julia believes so much in Johnny that she thinks Johnny can help Ned with his drinking problem. It was not the only valid recognition that she made though; Julia was right that Ned and Linda would support her and Johnny’s desire to get married and that it would be a job to get her father to allow them marry so soon.
In as much as Julia got the basics about Johnny, and her family’s reaction to her news about getting married, she did not understand fully what Johnny’s life philosophy was. Because she saw Johnny’s ambition and success that far in life, Julia thought she knew Johnny too well. In a conversation with Edward and Linda in Act I just before Johnny met Edward, Julia tells Edward, “Remember: I know what I want” (Barry 214). This position foregrounds Julia’s misrecognition of Johnny. Julia knew what she wanted but not the personality in what she wanted. In a latter conversation with Linda, it becomes clear that Julia misread Johnny. In that conversation, Julia admits they had a difference of opinion with Johnny: “Johnny and I have had a difference of opinion, and you’re siding with him, aren’t you?” (Barry 253). It is this conversation that represents Julia’s incorrect perception about Johnny. Julia thinks that Johnny would come around and give up on his preference for fun and free living. When Johnny joins the Setons later on and declares his new position, what ensues shows just how adamant Johnny was on remaining steadfast on his decision to intermittently retire and have fun. Johnny says that the compromise he had taken was because of Julia, and he only needed just that much time to change Julia’s, and probably Edward’s, mind. When Johnny realizes that Edward and Julia are unlikely to change, he opts to cancel the wedding and leave immediately.
Like it was with Edward’s case, it is Linda who proves Julia’s misrecognition of Johnny’s viewpoint. When Julia accused Linda of siding with Johnny when they [Julia and Johnny] had a difference of opinion, Linda’s response was, “But he’s right! He’s right for you as well as for himself” (Barry 253). This again presents an illustration of how right Linda was about Johnny. By this time, Linda had fallen in love with Johnny. Nonetheless one should not believe that this development conflicted Linda’s attitude and opinion towards Johnny. It is not clear whether Linda and Johnny run off on the “trip” together but even when Linda just interacted with Johnny for the first time, she told Julia that life had walked into their home. It was not Linda’s love for Johnny that made her right in both defenses. Rather, it was the alignment of Johnny’s belief and philosophy that made her like him more to the point she loved him. Johnny seemed to believe in everything that she did. When Julia told Linda that Johnny would give up on his free living ideology, Linda was unwavering in her defense for Johnny. Linda told Edward and Julia that they would be fooled if they thought Johnny would come around. Johnny’s outburst towards Julia and Edward towards the end of the play affirmed Linda’s earlier assertions.
Nick and Susan Potter are the other characters that really misread Johnny. The couple knew Johnny well but they really did not seem to read him right. During the engagement party, Johnny told Nick that he was planning on quitting. Later on Nick tends to think that Johnny would come around: “Johnny will come around, Linda. He is up against the old fight between spirit and matter – anyone want [Sic] to take a hundred on spirit?” (Barry 247). Nick and Susan were right about Johnny’s emotions- his love for the Seton girls. However, they were wrong about his worldview and philosophy. Like it was with Julia and Edward, it is Linda who contends the Potter’s misrecognition of Johnny. Instead of taking the hundred, Linda said that she could take two hundred. Once again Linda’s words and actions show a character so steadfast in her belief about Johnny.
Linda is the other character that Barry uses to bolster the theme of identity and recognition/misrecognition in Holiday. Linda is a unique and omniscient character. She is omniscient because she seems to know much and reads almost all the characters right. From a personal perspective, Linda is the most powerful character that unlocks the truth in about all the others. Even Johnny cannot seem to recognize that Julia is as pursuant of fun and free living as he was. For instance, Linda knows her father well and what he would want to know of Johnny as Julia’s suitor. Linda knew that Edward would want to know how Johnny was fixed – whether Johnny was a man of means or not. Edward proves Linda right by the amount of digging he does on Johnny, including consulting Sam Hobson. Linda literally knows all the people in her circle well. When talking about the playroom, Linda says, “Because the playroom’s the one room in this house anyone’s ever had fun in!” (Barry 206). Even when Edward gets home from church, Linda is quite sure that he would sojourn in his sitting room first.
Additionally, Linda also happened to miss a few things about other characters in the play. For instance, she had thought that Edward would allow her to plan Julia’s engagement party. In fact Julia says that Linda was wrong to think that Edward would announce Julia’s engagement without a fuss. However, the importance of Linda as character comes out in the role she plays as an enthusiast of free thinking and her desire for free living. It is Linda that brings out this characterization in Johnny and in the entire play. In Act I, for instance, Linda has a conversation with Julia in which she soliloquies her mind to Julia: “And what good’s all this jack we’ve got anyway – unless to get us a superior type of husband?” (Barry 211). She then proceeds to tell Julia: “Listen to me Julia: I am sore all the way through. I’ve been sore for a long time now, ever since I really saw how it – oh never mind” (Barry 211). During this conversation, Linda even asks Julia whether she [Linda] does not look sick. In defiance to the type of life she is expected to live, Linda tells Susan: “And grow up to be a committee-woman and sit on boards? Excuse me, Susan, but from now on any charity work I do will be for the rich. They need it more” (Barry 227). Later in a heated argument with her father, Linda tells Edward: “I’ve wanted to get out for years. I’ve never known it so well as tonight. I can’t bear it here any longer. It’s doing terrible things to me” (Barry 237). Even Julia concedes that she cannot follow Linda’s reasoning any more.
The Characters’ Roles and the Factors for Misrecognition
From the scenarios quoted above, it is clear that Linda is quite an important character for Barry as he expresses identity and recognition issues. Unlike Johnny, Linda is explosive. She has been brought up in affluence but does not get the sense in piling up wealth but have no time to be free and have fun. This is the reason why Linda thinks the rich need more charity work. The role of Johnny is to ignite Linda’s expressionism of her inner and true identity. Grandfather is the most consequential absent character in Holiday. Julia says that “Johnny has the selfsame qualities Grandfather had” (Barry 211). Johnny, like the grandfather, had worked his way up in business. Nick tells Linda that she is the only Seton who bears resemblance to her grandfather in character. In Holiday, Grandfather is the shared quality between Johnny and Linda. Johnny represents the new clique of young people who are beginning to self-examine themselves as they try to forge new identities and philosophies in society. Nonetheless, aristocracy and conservatism is the obstacle that Johnny and Linda – have to come against as they try to express their philosophies. The role of Julia, Edward, Ned, and the Potters is to show how the American society of 1928 treated people like Linda and Johnny. Nonetheless, Linda and Potter do not give on their true identities despite failing to beat this obstacle, instead choose to go away.
Conclusion
Summarily, in Holiday, Barry uses Johnny and Linda to develop the theme of identity and recognition/misrecognition in the American society of 1928. Johnny with the fortune he made after selling his stock went ahead to have fun while he still could. The world would go into an economic recession one year after causing tremendous depression to business moguls like Edward Seton. As seen in Holiday, Barry showcases young characters – Johnny and Linda – who are ready to defy the societal norms, self-assess themselves, and then pursue new identities in a society that is determined to suppress their newfound selves. Other characters misrecognize Linda and Johnny and read just a few of their emotions right. Despite, the misrecognition, Johnny and Linda are unwavering and they assert their identities amongst people who are against their philosophies.
Work Cited
Barry, Philip. Holiday. Edited by Brendan Gill, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1928.