Saved by the Bell: Examining Love in David Ives's "Sure Thing" Esther Oziel College

In David Ives’s Sure Thing, disagreements are avoided with a ringing bell, which serves as a device to shape consensus and allows the couple to fall in love at the end. Both characters are quick to judge and come close to giving up on each other dozens of times throughout the play, questioning the notion of two people falling in love the first time they meet. As a way of satirizing the concept of ‘love at first sight,’ the couple avoids talking about controversial topics such as politics and previous relationships and fall in love while discussing their taste for Brussels sprouts and crumb cake. The couple’s first meeting exposes the ideal of ‘love at first sight’ as an unlikely possibility because of each character's tendency to make hasty judgments.

Both Bill and Betty are quick to judge one another, and in fact they almost miss the opportunity to meet because of their hasty judgments. For example, when Bill tries to sit down next to Betty for the third time, he tells her she “[does not] know who [she] might be turning down,” hinting at the possibility of relationship forming (3). The ideal of love at first sight is meeting someone and not knowing if that person could be the love of one’s life. However, Betty makes a hasty...