Destinty

Destiny examines the nature of neo-fascism and its causes in contemporary Britain. Edgar's thesis is that its roots lie in colonialism and its aftermath. The difference between nationalism and socialism is stressed in the play.

Edgar felt it was his duty to warn people against the growth of neo-fascism. He argued that the characters' behaviour and attitudes would have been different if the circumstances were different.

As for the characters, the people who opt for the fascist party are not monsters; they are former socialists as well as former Tories, middle class as well as working class. They are terrified of the falling of property values, fixed incomes and inflation.

But, Turner and Rolfe find it is easier to blame their woes on immigration than to search for the truth. We find Turner leads his Patriotic group toward fascism after the ruin of his antique business. Rolfe move from right-wing Tory to active fascist after his son's death.

By analyzing the Characters' attitudes and behavior, we find that the motives which led the characters to be fascists are: the economic crisis, the unemployment, the end of the British Empire and its Colonial Policy, the failure of politicians to handle public affairs, the increasing of immigration and racism. All these factors are public; Edgar doesn't include any private motives for this movement.

The influence of Enoch Powell's speech "river of blood" reflects that the issue of racism leads to the neo-fascism in Britain. The fascists use the Enoch's speech as a further instigation.

Edgar visually reinforces that the idea of the colonial mentality has destroyed its people as in Turner who found that the industrial financing to his party, the fascist party, was the cause to ruin his business.

Edgar presents his analysis of neo-fascism, in a complex episodic plot in three acts and twenty scenes. Of the play's twenty scene, eleven are either directly concerned with the Nation Forward Party or the development of impulses toward fascism. Of the play's twenty-one speaking parts, ten characters are, or become, members of the Nation Forward Party, while there are four Tories, five Labourites and two characters who are merely functional and undeclared politically.

Edgar suggests that it is the British presence in India that creates the false barriers, ranks, and classes that encourage one group to dominate another and acquire racist views. Britain becomes a multiracial society as a result of its earlier colonial policies. Destiny stands as a powerful dramatic and political document in promoting the understanding of British fascism in order to be smashed.

The strength of Destiny as a political document lies in the creation of its characters even though Edgar didn't focus on private dimensions. It is noticed that Rolfe was a major in the British Army in India in 1947 than that he got married and raised a son, who died only because he was a member of the occupying British Army in Ireland. Edgar also suggests that the British Presence is an evil continuation of colonial principles, principles that breed the spirit of fascism.

In order to assert on the political aim in Destiny, Edgar uses various techniques like the agitation, epic and his favor style in writing the social-realism, the form which is proving suitable for balancing effective dramaturgy with political purposes.

Edgar makes the characters so close to ourselves that we are terrified. He does "show the audience to itself". He establishes the recognizable social context essential to his thesis by combining actual events with fictitious but familiar characters and transposed environments. The events and settings are public, including pubs, meeting halls, a factory, a police station, political meetings, and one scene in a restaurant.

His choice of characters, who represent the social forces of British society, reflects his new mode of social realism.

the first meeting scene reflects the nature of neo-fascism in 1968, the second meeting scene reveals the contradictions within the Nation Forward Party and the worries of the British People in 1976.

Meeting scenes are important elements in Edgar's plays as he focus on public drama

In Destiny, Edgar depicts recognizable people who express their worries in front of the audience, thus encouraging it to become engaged and think about them. Edgar is emphasizing his policy of forcing audience to think analytically

Also the death of Rolfe's son in the war in Northern Ireland is an epic technique to solidify Rolfe's move from right-wing Tory to active Fascist.

The agitprop form dominated political writing during the years 1970 to 1974. In Edgar's plays, his intention is to agitate towards voluntary action, and his technique is to demystify situations in social and public life. In some cases he use agitprop technique  to compress essential information into quick statement