Love conquers all?

A scene from Liz Taylor's Academy Award winning performance in "Butterfield 8"

• Transcript
• Warm-up Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Language Functions
• Roleplay Situations

Transcript:

1. Receptionist: She's here doctor.
2. Gloria: Good afternoon, Dr. Treadman.
3. Doctor: I don't know whether I care to talk to you, Miss Wanders.
4. Gloria: Then why did you let me in?
5. Doctor: Don't try to analyze me. You don't have the training.
6. Gloria: Not in books, perhaps.
7. Doctor: You missed three sessions in a row and you're late for this one.
8. Doctor: I have only so much time a day. If you don't need the time, there are people who desperately do.
9. Gloria: Doctor...
10. Doctor: Now, let's get to work without anymore nonsense...hm?... (mumbling to himself) and I'm sure after all that, we'll have (unintelligible: rapport ?) but if you get mad enough, I might find something.
11. Gloria: Doctor Treadman, are you hard of hearing? I've been trying to tell you something.
12. Doctor: What?
13. Gloria: I don't need you. I have no problems anymore.
14. Doctor: Oh?
15. Gloria: I am really in love.
16. Doctor: I am delighted to hear it.
17. Gloria: Goodbye, Doctor Treadman. Thank you for everything.
18. (She walks towards the door.)
19. Doctor: Gloria, Gloria, while it is sometimes possible that love can solve many things, love is not so simple that you can rely on it as a complete solution. So if it isn't all that you hoped it to be, if it doesn't work out don't hesitate to come back quickly.
20. Gloria: But it will work out. I'm going to make it work.
21. Doctor: But if it doesn't.
22. Gloria: But it will. It has to.

Warm-up Questions:

1. What is a "psychiatrist" or "psychologist" ?
2. Are they used much nowadays? What about the 50's and 60's when this film was produced?
3. Who is "Freud" ? Where did he live? What did he think about love?
4. How do psychiatrists treat the illnesses they treat?
5. What happens if you miss a doctor's appointment?
6. Are you ever confident that you've solved all your problems and you'll never be unhappy again?

Discussion Questions and Issues:

1. Does the psychiatrist in the scene seem to come from the United States or Europe? How can you tell?
2. When Gloria comes into the office, what is his attitude to her?
3. What is Gloria's attitude to him?
4. What does Gloria want to tell him?
5. Is love a "complete solution" ? Can it solve all problems?
6. Do some people rely too much on love in their lives?
7. Do women rely on love more than men?
8. Are most emotional problems or mental illnesses caused by too much, too little, or the wrong kind of love? If not, then what are they caused by?
9. How does the way he talks when Gloria comes into his office differ from the way he talks when she leaves the office? Why?

Language Functions:

• expressing your irritation at something someone has done
  (expressing it in a controlled manner without displaying your anger)
• how to politely re-affirm your authority after someone undermines it
• politely informing someone that they don't have adequate training, experience, or knowledge.
• politely requesting the people you're working with to get back to work after a break or interruption
• politely trying to get someone to listen to what you have to say when they refuse to do so
• politely telling someone who has helped you that they aren't needed anymore
• being the devil's advocate when someone is over-enthusiastic

Role-play situations:

• Role-play Situation 1: You are a very busy doctor and you have a patient who is always either late for his appointment or misses it entirely. Today he shows up late for his appointment again. Even though you're angry, you control your anger, ask your patient for an explanation, and firmly tell him that if he continues to miss and be late for his appointments you'll have to discontinue his treatment.



• Role-play Situation 2: You're a teacher and you have a student who is always trying to tell you how to teach. You welcome their suggestions, but their constant interruptions right in the middle of class lessons disrupts the class and also undermines your authority. This happens again and you decide to put the class to work on an activity and call the student over to the side of the classroom for a little talk. You tell them that you welcome their feedback and ideas but that he or she will have to choose a better time to talk about this, like after class.



• Role-play Situation 3: You're an expert on the subject of building concrete structures and you're working as a consultant on an apartment building construction project. The project has a deadline approaching and the budget has been used up, so they are anxious to finish quickly. You've reviewed what they are doing and it looks like they are cutting some corners. It appears that they have substituted inferior building materials for the ones specified in the blueprints. They also appear to be cutting back on the number of steel reinforcement bars they are using to finish quickly. First you call your boss, the owner of an independent consulting firm, and tell him what is happening, then you call a meeting and discuss this with the chief engineer and the project managers. You firmly tell them that if they don't stop what they are doing you'll be forced to quit the project and inform the authorities. They threaten you. You call in your boss who supports you.



• Role-play Situation 4: You're an English teacher and you have a student who is so enthusiastic and studies so hard that she believes that she will become fluent in English in six months. You think her enthusiasm is great, but you're worried that she'll become disappointed and lose her enthusiasm when six months passes and she hasn't made sufficient progress. You ask to meet her after class and have a little discussion with her. You try to make reasonable goals for her language studies.