classic repertory company
STUDY GUIDE
George Orwell’s
1984
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Funded in part by generous individual contributors, the National Endowment for the Arts,
Massachusetts Cultural Council, Foundation for MetroWest, Fuller Foundation, The Marshall Home Fund,
Roy A. Hunt Foundation, and Watertown Community Foundation. This program is also supported in part
by grants from the Billerica Arts Council, Brookline Commission for the Arts, Canton Cultural Council,
Brockton Cultural Council, Lawrence Cultural Council, Lexington Council for the Arts, Marlborough Cultural
Council, Newton Cultural Council, Watertown Cultural Council, and Wilmington Cultural Council, local agencies
which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Classic Repertory Company is produced in cooperation with
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre
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artistic director jim petosa managing director harriet sheets
the professional theatre company
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arsenal center for the arts
George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair, the second of
three children, to Richard and Ida Mabel Blair in Bengal, a
British province in present-day India on June 25, 1903. His
mother was the daughter of a teak merchant in Burma, and his
father was an official in the Indian Civil Service. When Orwell
was about one year old, his mother moved him and his older
sister to England, while his father continued to work in India.
He retired from the service in 1912, when Orwell was nine
years old.
In 1911, Orwell was sent to boarding school on the Sussex coast. Because his family came from very little
means, he was distinguished among the other boys by his lower class, but he was also marked by outstanding
intelligence. He was awarded a scholarship to Eton, one of England’s top schools, which he attended from 1917
to 1921. There, Aldous Huxley, author of the famous dystopian novel Brave New World, was one of Orwell’s
mentors.
Upon leaving Eton, rather than attending university, Orwell followed in the footsteps of his father and joined
the Indian Imperial Police in 1922. He received his training in Burma and served at various country stations
before resigning five years later, on New Year’s Day, 1928. Some suggest that he recognized himself as a cog in
the machine of British imperialism, a political practice he came to reject—in fact, by this time he identified as an
anarchist. He began to turn his focus toward writing.
In an attempt to assuage his guilt about his participation in the political system in Burma, Orwell spent a
period of time living the lives of the poor. He dressed in tattered clothing and took up residence in tenements in
East London, among the city’s downtrodden. He also spent some time in the Paris slums working as a dishwasher
at a slew of hotels and restaurants. He wrote about his experiences in his first major work, Down and Out in Paris
and London, published in 1933. By this time Orwell began to call himself a socialist, aligning himself against the
bourgeoisie and the British imperialist project.
In 1936, Orwell was commissioned to report on the widespread poverty among miners in Northern England.
Later that same year, he travelled to Spain to report on the Spanish Civil War, and he stayed to fight against
Franco’s Nationalists, taking up arms with the Republican militia. During World War II, he worked for the BBC
writing propaganda. When he left in 1943, he was named the literary editor of a left-wing magazine called the
Tribune.
By the 1940s, Orwell had made a name for himself as a prolific journalist. When he published Animal Farm
in 1945, an allegory about the Russian Revolution set in a barnyard, in which the main characters are animal, he
gained widespread acclaim and financial success. As influential as this novella was, however, it was undeniably
eclipsed by 1984, the magnum opus of Orwell’s literary career. Unfortunately, by the time he wrote the final pages
of the novel, he was very sick with tuberculosis. He found time to write in between hospital stays and died in
January 1950. ■
1984 Study Guide2
PHOTO BY VERNON RICHARDS, GEORGE ORWELL AT HOME (AND AMONG
THE ANARCHISTS): ESSAYS & PHOTOGRAPHS, FREEDOM PRESS, 1998,
Biography of
George Orwell
The world that George Orwell imagines in 1984 does not involve the physical
or biological manipulation of the masses’ minds, like those of other popular
dystopian novels. Instead, and perhaps more disturbingly, 1984’s manipulation
relies on human psychology. Orwell, in devising the methods that the Party uses
to maintain control over the citizens of Oceania, draws on a variety of very real
psychological principles.
The Hawthorne Effect describes the phenomenon in which people that
know that they are being observed “behave better” and exhibit higher levels
of productivity. Henry A. Landsberger discovered the effect upon his analysis
of the “Hawthorne Studies” performed at the Hawthorne Electric Company
in the 1920s and 1930s led by a professor at the Harvard Business School. An
alarming parallel comes very early in book: “...the poster with the enormous
face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived
that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
YOU, the caption beneath it ran.” Instead of secretly monitoring the citizens of
Oceania with private cameras like in the Hawthorne study, the Party uses telescreens. This transparency instills
fear in the people. They know they’re being watched, and one false move could put them at risk to endure
serious consequences.
In fact, even the suggestion of being observed has a palpable effect on people’s behavior. In a study conducted by
scientists at the Center for Behavior and Evolution, it was determined
that images and posters of eyes could influence people to conform to
societal expectations. For 32 days, scientists monitored the littering
habits of diners in Newcastle University’s cafeteria. During periods of
time in which posters of eyes, rather than posters of flowers, hung on
the walls of the cafeteria, twice as many people cleaned their trays
and refrained from littering. Orwell’s poster of Big Brother has eyes
that “follow you about when you move,” enhancing the effect of
observation on the citizens in his imagined Oceania.
The torture tactics O’Brien utilizes to brainwash Winston are also
very real, and although international law prohibits them, they are
sometimes used today. The first of these tactics is sleep deprivation.
The regular regeneration of the immune system occurs during sleep,
and when people or animals are sleep-deprived for unnaturally long
periods of time, the immune system breaks down. Intense sleep
deprivation wreaks havoc on the mind and body and eventually
causes a rapid decline in a person’s mental faculties. Symptoms of
prolonged sleep deprivation include: disorientation, hallucinations,
apathy, lethargy, hallucinations, and social withdrawal. Eventually,
sleep deprivation can lead to death.
Winston also states that he was starved and forced to stand
for weeks. Forced standing has serious effects on the body and is
extremely painful—within 24 hours, the ankles and feet swell to twice
1984 Study Guide3
HATHORNE EFFECT:
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU POSTER
PHOTO BY FREDERIC GUIMONT, FREE ART LICENSE
Connections to Psychology
their size. Enduring this kind of physical pain for weeks would push anyone to the breaking point. In 1944,
scientists conducted the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, wherein 36 young men lost 25 percent of their normal
body weight, during a 24-week starvation period. The study revealed the physical effects of hunger, as well as the
psychological effects, which included fatigue, irritability, depression, and apathy.
The fact that George Orwell draws on what makes us human, our psychology, to construct such a bleak
projection of the future makes his warning all the more serious. He shows us what we are capable of, by showing
what makes us tick. ■
Dystopian Genre
George Orwell’s 1984 is one of the most famous examples of dystopian literature, a subgenre of science
fiction. Dystopian novels are characterized by their settings. A utopia is an imagined place where everything
is perfect, a dystopia is exactly its opposite. It is a fictional place where everything is awful, and, in most cases,
under a totalitarian government or existing in the aftermath of environmental devastation. In Orwell’s dystopia,
the citizens of Oceania have lost their identities as individuals and their lives are ruled by an inhumane state that
is constantly at war with the other two world superpowers.
BRAVE NEW WORLD COVER: LESLIE HOLLAND, CHATTO AND WINDUS, 1932
THE HUNGER GAMES COVER: TIM O’BRIEN, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, 2008
Erich Fromm, in his afterward to 1984, identifies the major questions posed by Orwell and other dystopian
writers of the twentieth century: “Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing
for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love—that is to say, can man forget that he is human? Or does human
nature have a dynamism which will react to the violation of these basic human needs by attempting to change
an inhuman society into a human one?” Orwell, through the character of Winston, explores these questions,
and, by the end of 1984 provides a disturbing answer. Winston embodies this “dynamism” that seeks to turn
the inhuman society of Oceania into a human one. He is willing to sacrifice his life for moral progress when he
pledges his allegiance to the Brotherhood, accepting whatever fate may come to him, including dying alone,
without Julia. It is only at the end of the novel, after he has been tortured for months and threatened with facing
his deepest, most primal fear (being devoured by rats) that he breaks. Orwell’s assertion is that, though it may
not be easy, it is possible to destroy a person’s humanity.
George Orwell utilizes the dystopian genre to warn his readers. He wrote 1984 in the wake of World War II,
during which the first and last atomic bombs in human history were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, causing widespread devastation on a scale that had never been seen before. The cities were
leveled and the death toll reached as high as an
estimated 246,000. Orwell, through showing us
a bleak depiction of a possible future in 1984,
warns us against the dangers of an arms race—a
competition between countries to build more
and more powerful weapons. By illustrating this
dystopian society, he hopes to steer us away from
making it a reality.
Compare the covers to these two novels in
the dystopian genre, Brave New World and The
Hunger Games. What does the cover say about
the story being told? What differences do you
notice between the two? ■
1984 Study Guide4
Newspeak
In his novel, George Orwell invents a language for the Party, called Newspeak. Orwell even included an
appendix for the language in the book. He outlined the purpose of Newspeak as a method of thought control,
a language constructed so as to “make thought crime literally impossible,” as Syme notably says. Newspeak,
according to Orwell, was designed so that ambiguity of meaning within words was scrubbed out from the
language itself. Words had concrete meaning based in logical processes that rid English of its former peculiarities,
connotations, and room for interpretation.
Remnants of Newspeak seem to live on in America’s growing interest in language that is “politically correct.” In
his appendix, Orwell outlines B Vocabulary as such: “consisted of words which had been deliberately constructed
for political purposes: words, that is to say, which were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the
person using them.” Political correctness is very related to the B Vocabulary. In fact, much of our vocabulary has
political connotations. An example can be found in the growing usage of “Happy Holidays.” Whereas as some
critics regard this as a war on Christian values, other commentators note that phrases like “Merry Christmas” are
just as politically loaded.
In this type of commentary, authors often use many of the terms that George Orwell coined in his novel. In
addition to the list below, can you think of present-day examples of these principles?
Big Brother:
an all-powerful government or organization
monitoring and directing people’s actions
Doublethink:
a simultaneous belief in two
contradictory ideas
Newspeak:
Thoughtcrime:
speech or writing that uses words in a way
that changes their meaning especially to
persuade people to think a certain way
an instance of unorthodox or controversial
thinking, considered as a criminal offense
or as socially unacceptable
All definitions are taken from the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary, except the last, which is taken from the online Oxford Dictionary
1984 Study Guide5
Classic Repertory Company’s
Approach to 1984
Sitting down with the script for 1984, an adaptation already produced by Alan Lyddiard in Newcastle, England, we
were able to gather a few remarks from our director, Clay Hopper. This production was approached collaboratively
with the cast, under the guidance of Clay. He calls 1984, the novel by George Orwell, an “antique vision of the
future”—especially notable considering that the year Orwell chose as his future is already in our past.
There are many reasons to be wary of the “antique” effect. One is that it prompts readers to see Orwell’s classic
not as the keen, harrowing prophecy it is, but as a quaint glimpse into the worries of the past. It has what one might
call a “Jetsons” effect, in that the reader is so amused by the novel’s technological predictions that they neglect
to examine the allegorical parallels to our own time. It is easy to get lost in how technologically different Orwell’s
future is from our present that we fail to see the eerie similarities between Winston’s world and our own.
Today, government and corporate surveillance is easier than ever before. While telescreens do not exist in
the form Orwell predicted, smartphones seem like an apt alternative. They can track your movements, save your
messages, pick up your conversations on their microphones, and eventually, all that information can be sold to
separate party. Big Brother doesn’t have to watch you from the wall—you willingly put him in your pocket. In fact,
people camp for days to get the newest screen, the most cutting edge device, all the while, making it easier and
easier to be tracked.
The world we live in is full of cameras. They perch on telephone poles, at traffic stops, and most insidiously,
in our cell phones. In fact, the new Big Brother has been so successful only because they have encouraged the
people to do the surveillance themselves. You log your life on Facebook, giving your life history and private
thoughts up for public review, and the file grows and grows as they learn who you are.
For the most part the data is used to advertise, but as we have found, the government is very interested in
gaining access to this information. In 2013, Edward Snowden became a household name after he leaked NSA
documents showing that the NSA had been collecting and mining the data of U.S. Citizens, as well as foreign
diplomats. The reasoning of the NSA was that the surveillance was necessary to keep the United States safe,
though independent reviewers have failed to find evidence of the program’s effectiveness.
Not only has Orwell’s nightmare become
he could have predicted. Orwell’s world of
overbearing posters and devout nationalism
seems unsophisticated compared to the subtler
and more effective methods used now. One thing
is for certain, however: like Winston, we love Big
Brother. We love him so much we’ll pay hundreds
of dollars to keep him with us at all times. We
won’t put him down. We’ll stay plugged in. ■
1984 Study Guide6
GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING BY NATE BEELER
a reality, but it’s been done more artfully than
classic repertory company
GEORGE ORWELL’S
1984
DIRECTED BY
CLAY HOPPER
cast
( in alphabetical order )
LAURA DETWILER MICHAEL KELLY LILY LINKE CORY MISSILDINE
ALEXANDER RANKINE
KAI TSHIKOSI GRACE KENNEDY WOODFORD O’Brien
assistant director
KIERA MUCKENHIRN
Winston
Julia
sound designer & composer
Parsons
PHIL SCHROEDER
Mr. Charrington
Syme
Mrs. Charrington, Room 101 Manager, Voice
LAURA DETWILER (O’Brien) makes her
New Repertory Theatre debut.
Recent credits include Romeo
vs Juliet (Anthem Theatre
Company) and Mrs. Packard
and In The Next Room or
the Vibrator Play (Boston
University). Laura earned her BFA in Theatre
Arts at Boston University, and studied at the
National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill
Center. Laura grew up abroad in Indonesia and
now resides in Somerville.
MICHAEL KELLY (Winston) makes his New
Repertory Theatre debut. Boston
credits include The Wakeville
Stories (Davis Square Theatre),
Whisper House: A Reading
(ArtsEmerson), Couch Troll
(Interim Writers), and Gunplay
(directed by Benny Sato Ambush). New York
credits include Waiting for Hermann Haber
(Equity Library Theater Playwriting Festival)
which won best play and best actors. Other
recent credits include Mother Hicks, Fathers and
Sons, The Learned Ladies, A Fable Regarding the
Octopus, Waiting For Godot: A Clipping, Big Love,
and The Grapes of Wrath (Emerson College).
Michael earned his BFA in Acting at Emerson
College, completed the Acting for the Reel World
Intensive in Los Angeles with Ken Cheeseman,
and studied at Stella Adler Studios in New York
City. Originally from New Jersey, Michael resides
in Brighton.
LILY LINKE (Julia) returns to New Rep
after performing in Classic
Repertory Company’s Summer
2015 tour of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream. Recent credits
include Changes of Heart, Stella
Maris, and Great Expectations
(Boston University) and assistant directing
production designer
GHAZAL HASSANI
A Disappearing Number (Central Square
Theater). She has participated in the
development of two original works: The
Wastelands Project (Children of the Wild) and
Ex Nihilo (Boston University). Originally from
Los Angeles, she now resides in Somerville.
CORY MISSILDINE (Parsons) makes his
New Repertory Theatre debut.
University credits include
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The
Merchant of Venice, and Detroit.
A Massachusetts native, Cory
earned his BA in Theater Arts at
the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
ALEXANDER RANKINE (Mr. Charrington)
makes his New Repertory
Theatre debut. Recent credits
include The Grapes of Wrath,
Fathers and Sons, The Love of
the Nightingale, and Uncommon
Women and Others (Emerson
College). Alexander has earned his BFA in
Acting at Emerson College. Originally from
Connecticut, he now resides in Cambridge.
KAI TSHIKOSI (Syme) makes his New
Repertory Theatre debut.
Recent credits include Colossal
(Company One), Macbeth, J.B.,
Cymbeline, and Cyclops: a Saytr
Play (Emerson College). Kai
earned his BA in Acting and
Stage Combat at Emerson College and now
resides in Roxbury.
and Mrs. Packard (Boston University). Grace
received her BFA in Theatre Arts at Boston
University and studied at the Accademia dell’Arte
in Arezzo, Italy. Born and raised in Massachusetts,
Grace resides in Allston.
CLAY HOPPER (Director) returns to New
Repertory Theatre after directing A Number
and Classic Repertory Company’s 1984, A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Of Mice
and Men, Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet,
and To Kill A Mockingbird. In Washington D.C.,
he served as the Associate Artistic Director of
Olney Theatre Center and Director of both the
National Players and the Summer Shakespeare
Festival. He now serves as lecturer in Directing
and Theatre Arts at Boston University’s
School of Theatre. Directing credits include
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, The
Tempest, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew,
Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Amadeus, Farragut
North, Triumph of Love, and Call of the Wild
(Olney Theatre). Other recent credits include
On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning
(Contemporary American Theatre Festival
Actor’s Lab). Off-off-Broadway credits include
A Home Without and Different Zen (Third Eye
Rep); Earthworms (The Working Group); and
Triage and The Interrogation (The Miranda Theatre).
GRACE KENNEDY WOODFORD (Mrs.
Charrington, Room 101 Manager,
Voice) makes her New Repertory
Theatre debut. Recent credits
include Equal Writes (Boston
Playwrights Theatre), and The
Skin of Our Teeth, The Bagman,
1984 Study Guide7
Pre-Show Questions
1. Orwell devotes a large section of 1984 to
Goldstein’s book, which outlines the way that the
world operates. Why do you think Orwell waits so
long to give readers a clear view of the world he
has created?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5
2. Examine the ways in which Winston changes as
the novel progresses. How would you describe
his growth? How does his behavior at the close of
the novel impact his arc?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3
3. Examine a theme of your choice from the text
and describe how it is developed over the course
of Orwell’s novel? Cite specific examples from the
text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
4. Examine the word “love” in Orwell’s novel and
identify the ways in which it is used. How does
love as a concept contribute to some of the
larger themes?
Post-Show Questions
1. Compare and contrast CRC’s production of 1984
with the novel. What changes were made to the
story? Why do think they were made, and were
they effective in telling the story?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7
2. In a political novel like 1984, authors often have
a strong opinion. What do you think was Orwell’s
point of view?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6
3. Select one moment from the play or excerpt from
the novel that you found particularly powerful.
What makes this passage so effective to you?
What devices does the author use to capture
your imagination?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
4. Have your opinions of the story changed since
seeing it performed?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.7, 8.7
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
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http://www.businessinsider.com/why-edward-snowden-wont-be-coming-home-anytime-soon-2015-3>
Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classics, 1961. Print.
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“Science Fiction.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Advameg, 2015. Web. 15 May 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/
topic/528857/science-fiction/235724/SF-cinema-and-TV#toc235726>
“So Are We Living in 1984?” New Yorker. 11 Jun. 2013. Web. 10 August 2015. < http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/so-arewe-living-in-1984>
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May 2015. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-illusion-of-being-observed-can-make-you-better-person/>
1984 Study Guide8