Les Belles Soeurs

Tremblay wrote Les Belles-Soeurs in Quebec during the mid-1960s. Research what was happening in Canada, and particularly Quebec, during the period. How do historical events inform the action of the play?

How does the play comment on capitalism and consumerism? What do you think the playwright was trying to say? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

The play was revolutionary because Michel Tremblay wrote it entirely in joual. Research the history of joual. Why was it significant in the play? If you read the play in its original language, how did joual function in the text? If you read a translation, how did the translator communicate a sense of the dialect?