The Shoe-Horn Sonata

by

John Misto

Miss Dryburgh Character Analysis

One of Sheila and Bridie’s fellow detainees in the Japanese prison camps. Miss Dryburgh forms a choir with a group of women, enlisting Sheila as a singer and asking Bridie to mark the beat with her shoe-horn. When Miss Dryburgh and the majority of the choir die of malaria, Sheila arranges sonatas so that she and Bridie can continue to bring music to the prison camp.
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Miss Dryburgh Character Timeline in The Shoe-Horn Sonata

The timeline below shows where the character Miss Dryburgh appears in The Shoe-Horn Sonata. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One, Scene Five
Survival, Resilience, and Catharsis Theme Icon
...she was so jealous of Sheila’s involvement that she went simply to watch. And since  Miss Dryburgh —the British missionary who organized the entire thing—needed someone to keep time, she ask Bridie... (full context)
Act Two, Scene Eleven
Survival, Resilience, and Catharsis Theme Icon
...choir “disband[ed]” in April of 1945 because too many of the singers had died, including Miss Dryburgh . As such, both women felt depressed and hopeless, but Sheila decided to arrange sonatas,... (full context)