The Wardrobe, Character Profile for Scene 7

Joffrey

My character is Joffrey. A 16 year old boy. He is a closet homosexual who is in love with a boy called Arthur. He is not allowed to be gay and if anyone were to find out he would be punished. He is a high class citizen and is the son of a Master of the house. Joffrey and his house use slavery freely and without thought. He lives in England during 1805.

Who am I?

First, I learn about Joffrey's background. He is high class. This means he is wealthy, lives in a large household and has a high status in society. His family own slaves such as Winifred. ."Take it off" and "wash it again" show how he has been taught to order slaves and servants. This shows he has no moral issues with slaves and uses them as he sees fit; probably influenced by his family during his upbringing. By knowing this about Joffrey, I now know that my character will have to be direct, order Katrina's character in order to be realistic and I know I will have to perform with a higher class state of mind by objectifying Winifred, and not caring for her, and being shocked when she disobeys me. "I am afraid I cannot do that Master Joffrey." To this line I know that I must react shocked and surprised that this slave has answered back which then adds more realism and naturalism and increases the tension and powerfulness of this reaction; "how dare you!"

I feel that Joffrey's characteristics on the outside are cold, stuck up, miserable and he likes to demote people and finds enjoyment punishing the lower class people. "how can you call yourself a lady" This shows how he is demoting Winifred to make her feel bad and to put her in her place. Also, "do you really believe he would accept your word over mine?" He uses a rhetorical question here and abruptly answers it "my father will never see you as a daughter" purposefully trying to hurt Winifred. This shows how his personality is dark and nasty on the outside. Know I understand this I can perform my character with a lot more dark energy to really feel like I am fighting with Winifred in the scene. Therefore making it a more powerful performance and more naturalistic and realistic. 

Joffrey's inner personality is not the same however. He is homosexual in a time where it is against the law and punished by death. http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/nineteen.htm
Because it is illegal he has been forced to hide and be introvert about his sexuality. I feel that the hidden emotions he feels everyday of his life are made up from pure sadness and hopelessness. I believe by hiding his real emotions and pain inside himself, he has built an layer around himself off anger and a false sense of vile arrogance such as "You are at best a pet" and believing he is above others. I also feel that as soon as Winifred brings up his homosexual activity with Arthur, his pure inner emotional state is released and his true personality is shown to the audience. "If any harm comes to Arthur, I swear I will, I swear to god I will" As I began to understand the way Joffrey feels, my character became more realistic and I new which energy states I needed to use. Overall, this created a more powerful natural performance.

Where am I?

The wardrobe is the object of this play. It is important to Joffrey because he uses it to escape society and to unravel his inner personality in order to cry and release the emotions that have been barricaded away. The wardrobe is an escape and the only place where society and judgement don't exist. "it is clear that Joffrey has been Crying" I tried to think of something in my life that I used to escape and it allowed me to feel the emotions Joffrey feels and allowed me to perform to the naturalistic and realistic goal.

My Goal in the Scene

My goal in this scene is to put Winifred back in her place as a slave and to fail at convincing her to stop blackmailing me.

Why I want this Goal

Joffrey wants no one to find out about his sexuality because he could be sentenced by law to death. "Beat Arthur until his skin breaks" He also doesn't want Arthur to be hurt. This is Joffrey's goal in the play. As Joffrey I must use all I have learnt about the "System", the historical context and who Joffrey is as a person to make it believable to the audience that my character is in deep trouble if he doesn't successfully stop his slave from breaching her rights and blackmailing him, then he will be punished for being gay.

How I will get this Goal

Know I know why I must achieve these goals to tell the story of Joffrey in my scene, I must interact with Winifred in a naturalistic and realistic way. I have to react accordingly to her lines. "Please may I?" I interrupt her with "Go away Winifred". This shows how I will prove my character to the audience and achieve the goal.

My Obstacle

The obstacle for Jaffrey is that in order to win he has too loose. "As does his temper" and "Jaffrey shakes Winifred's hand" show that the tone changes from Jaffrey being angry to him agreeing to Winifred. He has lost in a way because usually he would have ignored anything his servant would have said, but because Winifred brought up such a dangerous subject about his sexuality "What I saw pass between you and Master Arthur Scott" he was forced to agree to her in order to save his own life. I believe that Winifred un peals all of Joffrey's outer personality, and releases the inner core, the pure sadness that he feels from being trapped and then takes the metaphorical bar of tension down to a point where they are both the same. For once they are actually equal. They are both being trapped and condemned by society and for once they both understand each others feeling and pain. And I believe that it took all of Joffrey's anger against Winifred and for Winifred to stand up for her human rights for them both to understand each others pain and emotions. "Handing Winifred the crumpled coat" I feel that the evidence is here in the word "handing" This noun symbolises that everything is calmer and shows their is a new level of understanding and respect for each other. It is not a harsh noun like "crunching" where Joffrey is angry. In my opinion this point I am making is our super objective and if achieved should make our overall performance as a team powerful and meaningful to the audience whilst being a realistic way of portraying my characters emotions naturalistically.