Gramophone Symbol Analysis

Dickie’s gramophone, a type of music player invented at the end of the 19th century, represents a generational shift between the more traditional mores of Arthur and Grace’s generation versus the looser, more progressive world of their children. In Act 1, Arthur accuses Dickie of shirking his studies and listening to his gramophone instead, much like contemporary parents might lament their children spending too much time playing video games instead of doing homework. Dickie insists that the gramophone helps him concentrate but is nevertheless made to take it upstairs—signaling Arthur’s continued authority over his son. Dickie wants to have fun in life, but Arthur is a stern patriarch. In Act 2, however, as Arthur’s health starts to deteriorate, the gramophone finds its way back downstairs, indicating that his physical weakness is matched by a small but significant decrease in his authority. More broadly, the represents the unavoidability of societal change as new generations come of age.