In Margaret Edson’s W;t, Vivian Bearing, a renowned professor of seventeenth-century poetry, struggles with her diagnosis of stage-four metastatic ovarian cancer. During Vivian’s time in the hospital, two of her main caretakers—Susie, her primary nurse, and Jason, the clinical fellow assigned to her—have vastly different goals for the procedure. The juxtaposition of Jason and Susie, whose values and approaches to life drastically differ, shows the progression of Vivian’s character from one who values knowledge above all else, like Jason, to one who realizes that kindness is the only essential part of life, like Susie.
Vivian’s self-importance, lack of empathy, and thirst for knowledge are evident through her work as a professor. She specializes
…show more content…
in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne, complex poems that explore mortality. This specialization brings her much pride, and statements such as “Donne’s wit is...a way to see how good you really are. After twenty years, I can say with confidence, no one is quite as good as I” (20) show her egotism. She acknowledges, at the end of the play, how she “ruthlessly denied her simpering students the touch of human kindness she now seeks” (59); the flashback that comes with this regret shows how she refused to give a student, who’s grandmother died so he had to go back home of the weekend, an extension on his paper: “Do what you will, but the paper is due when it is due” (63). Vivian’s toughness and thirst for knowledge explain why she subjects herself to her doctor’s, Dr. Kelekian, treatment which although painful and extreme, he claims “will make a significant contribution to our knowledge” (11). Vivian states, “significant contribution to knowledge. Eight cycles of chemotherapy. Give me the full dose, the full dose every time” (16), signifying that she will do anything to have advance knowledge. She is only in the position she is now, a professor and one of the most acclaimed scholars of Donne, because she dedicated her life to research. Vivian values the pursuit of knowledge and grammar over kindness and human interactions because she can not fully control those social elements of her life.
Vivian’s boastfulness at the beginning of the play was an attempt to cover up her social ineptness with people who are neither her students nor her mentors. In a flashback scene, in which her mentor, Professor E.M Ashford, tells her to, “enjoy yourself with your friends” (15) rather than study, Vivian reveals her social awkwardness: “I, ah, walked around past the...There were students on the lawn, talking about nothing, laughing... I just couldn’t... I went back to the library” (15). She returns to the library because she prefers the concrete elements of her life, like facts, grammar, and word definitions, because with them, she has complete control. A later scene, when Susie interrupts one of Vivian’s imaginary lectures to tell her that she needs to do another ultrasound, proves this need for control. Vivian protests, saying “not right now. It’s not supposed to be now” and “it should not be now. I am in the middle of—this. I have this planned for now, not ultrasound” (51). Vivian needs to have power over her own life, and since connecting with others is her weakness, she refrains from doing …show more content…
it. Jason, who views seeing patients as a tedious step towards beginning research, symbolizes Vivian before she was admitted to the hospital.
He uses the same cold, impersonal approach that Vivian uses to teach her students, to take care of Vivian. While supposably caring for her, he forgets to do his clinical various times, and then, when he remembers or is reminded by Kelekian to do it, he shows no real interest in how she’s feeling. In one instance, after doing an impersonal clinical, Kelekian, Jason, and the rest of the fellows “leave [Vivian] with her stomach uncovered” (40), showing their apathy for her feelings. This insensitivity also shows that to Jason and Kelekian, Vivian is merely a tool for research. In a later scene, Jason actually discusses his fascination with cancer with Vivian, saying that “Cancer’s the only thing I ever wanted” followed by “[cancer] is awesome” (56). Cancer is killing Vivian, but he talks about it as though it were a miracle; like Vivian, he does not care about how he treats the people under his control because he truly believes that knowledge trumps
all. Susie is a foil to Jason because she values Vivian’s needs and feelings over the data that her treatment will create. The strongest contrast of their values occurs when Vivian dies. When Susie hears that Jason called code blue, she yells at him that Vivian is “DNR” (do not resuscitate). In response, Jason “pushes her away” and says “she’s Research!”(82). This interaction shows that Jason is willing to ignore Vivian’s dying request in order to advance research. In another scene, the stage directions show Susie’s kindness— “Susie enters and puts her arm around Vivian’s shoulder to hold her up. Vivian is shaking, feverish, and weak” (44)—and juxtapose Jason and Susie’s values in regard to Vivian. When Jason enters, he briefly asks Vivian how she is feeling, but his stage directions, “without looking at VIVIAN” (45), show his lack of sympathy. Likewise, while he gives Susie her instructions, he merely refers to Vivian as “her” (45), not explaining to Vivian what is going on, and her tells Susie to “wake me up when the counts come from the lab (45), showing that although he does not have time to directly talk with Vivian, he does have time to analyze her data. However, in this scene, Susie responds to Jason’s request for the vitals without looking at him— “Giving VIVIAN juice and a straw, without looking at JASON” (45)—demonstrating her different priorities in regards to patients. In the same way that Jason’s stage directions prove his apathy towards Vivian, Susie’s prove that her main concern is Vivian’s wellbeing. Susie illustrates the progression of Vivian’s personality and values right before her death. Both Susie and Vivian’s jobs involve helping others develop, but they initially have different approaches. However, in a scene near the end of Vivian’s life, in which Susie brings her popsicles, Vivian opens up, “(crying, in spite of herself) I’m scared” (65) and agrees to popsicles “like a child”(65); this scenes shows the childlike, affectionate side of Vivian, and shows Vivian’s first friendship in the play. Although right after Susie leaves, a flash of the previous Vivian is evident as she chastises the interaction as “corny” and a “maudlin display” (69), she changes and recognizes that “now is not the time for verbal swordplay...for metaphysical conceit, for wit... Now is a time for simplicity, now is a time for, dare I say it, kindness” (69). Likewise, in the same way that she opened up to Susie, she opens up to the audience: “I thought being extremely smart would take care of it. But I see that I have been found out. Ooohhh. I’m scared” (70). Only right before death, is she able to recognize what is important in life. Likewise, in an interaction between Susie and Vivian in which Susie injects morphine into Vivian’s IV tubing, and it is evident that Susie does not know know the meaning of “soporific” (73). Once Vivian, giggling, explains the meaning of soporific, Susie is embarrassed for her “dumb” (73) but Vivian immediately responds “No! No, no! It was funny!” (74); this reactions strongly differs from how treated others, including her students and the audience, at the beginning of the play. Finally, when Susie says thanks Vivian for explaining, Vivian simply responses, “I’m a teacher” (74). This interaction shows that Vivian has finally figured out the good side of teaching, what a teacher should do: help. In one of Vivian’s flashbacks to one of her classes, she shows Student 2 criticizing Donne’s method of writing, saying “ I think it’s like he’s hiding. I think he’s really confused, I don’t know, maybe he’s scared, so he hides behind all this complicated stuff, hides behind this wit” (60). This statement sums up Vivian as well; initially, her values and her personality resemble Jason’s—cocky, cold, and erudite—yet as her treatment continues, she begins to face the complicated stuff; she comes out of her shell of knowledge and realizes that what she really wants is human kindness. It is then, that she begins to be like Jason’s foil, Susie.
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
As we near the end of the book, however, we see a change in Vivian. “One day, to everyone’s shock and amazement except Molly’s, Vivian announces that she wants to get a computer” (Kline 263). This quote shows a little about Vivian opening up to the new world and she is no longer isolating herself.
This paragraph shows that Sylvia was trying to think about the meaning why Miss Moore took her students to there even though she knew that no one could buy anything there. Cartwright says, “Nothing could make Miss Moore happier than Sylvia’s commitment ‘to think the day through (Cartwright, 114).’” Miss Moore knew that Sylvia was trying to understand the real theory of this field trip. She did not say anything when she was asked what did she think about this field trip to Miss Moore because she did not understand exactly what the genuine purpose of this field trip at that point. Although Sylvia did not understand, Sugar seemed like she got the lesson of this trip, as she said “ this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it? (336)”. Miss Moore expected more answers from Sylvia, since she looked like she was thinking so hard. This is the reason why Miss Moore looked at Sylvia when she asked to her students a same question again, “Anybody else learn anything today? (336)”. She said “anybody”, but she was expecting the answer from Sylvia in this scene because she looked like she was thinking about it harder than the other students as she got a lot of question such as “What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on
From flashbacks in the play, it is easy to depict that Vivian lived the life characterized by an inhuman lack of empathy. As the play opens, flashbacks of Vivian interactions with students show her having a serious problem. She lashes at a student for his failure to give feedbacks to her questions and she also denies giving another student an extension for the assignment. After the student explains that her grandmother died, this is what she says to her “do what you will but the paper is due when it is due” (63). This lack of empathy and arrogance apparently is unsocial, but she adopts it while pretending/believing to be advocating for excellence from her students and would not take fabricated excuses. This portrays her as a cynical person, and one who only cares about the success of what she does, therefore, does not make necessary compromises for healthy relationships. She thus suffers a high level of rudeness and arrogance that makes it extremely d...
I have chosen to write about Virginia Woolf, a British novelist who wrote A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse and Orlando, to name a few of her pieces of work. Virginia Woolf was my first introduction to feminist type books. I chose Woolf because she is a fantastic writer and one of my favorites as well. Her unique style of writing, which came to be known as stream-of-consciousness, was influenced by the symptoms she experienced through her bipolar disorder. Many people have heard the word "bipolar," but do not realize its full implications. People who know someone with this disorder might understand their irregular behavior as a character flaw, not realizing that people with bipolar mental illness do not have control over their moods. Virginia Woolf’s illness was not understood in her lifetime. She committed suicide in 1941.
The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
How are you feeling today? Great. That’s just great.”(5) In this quote we can sense a tone of sarcasm from the very beginning, as opposed to the movie which started with her doctor, Doctor Kelekian informing her of her illness “You have cancer” , that was very blunt and harsh, but by changing the beginning on the film version that made it more dramatic, is like was saying the road of suffering starts now. In the written play while doctor Kelekian is giving Vivian a very detailed description of her illness Vivian was talking to herself in her head, not listening to him we can see it in the following quote “You will be hospitalized as an in-patient for treatment each
The play “Wit” by Margaret Edson, deals with the painful struggle that Dr. Vivian Bearing has to endure during her final stage of ovarian cancer. “Wit” inspires the audience and/or reader to immerse themselves into a deeper perspective on life and what is most valuable in our lives. I feel that the play tries to strongly represent how much we take life for granted, all the moments of possibility that we have to accomplish, and the goals it is offering us. The professional mindset that Dr. Bearing had was the same as the doctors who were treating her, they were all so engrossed in their
Elizabeth Hands was an Eighteenth Century low-class poet. While her life is not well know, she is the discovered author of ‘Death of Amnon’, a famous poem of the time. Many criticized Hands for her social class, and many believed that she could not write anything worth reading. In response to their negativity, Hands wrote ‘A Poem, On the Supposition of an Advertisement appearing in a Morning Paper, of the Publication of a Volume of Poems, by a Servant-Main’ (Supposition I) and ‘A Poem, On the Supposition of the Book having been Published and Read’ (Supposition II). The two poems are about the varying responses pertaining Hands’ ‘Death of Amnon’ poem. The poems reflect Hands’ belief that social class has no place in dictating writing.
In her collection of short stories, Good Bones (O. W. Toad, 1992), Margaret Atwood (1939 - ) has included Gertrude Talks Back, a piece that rewrites the famous closet scene in Shakespeare´s Hamlet. The character of Hamlet´s mother has posed problems of interpretation to readers, critics and performers, past and present, and has been variously or simultaneosly appraised as a symbol of female wantonness, the object of Hamlet´s Oedipus complex, and an example of female submissiveness to the male principle (Hamlet´s as much as Claudius´s). Like other revisionist rewritings produced by women writers in the last few decades, Margaret Atwood´s short story challenges received concepts of the female, and particularly the "Frailty, thy name is woman" notion that has marked so much canonical literature.
Marianne’s brand of free expression sometimes has little else to recommend it (Intro, I). What is true of Marianne’s classification system is true of her manners in general: In her refusal to place social decorum and propriety above her own impulses and desires, she is absolutely unbending (Intro, II). Marianne is also characterized as being very charming. For example, she believes her poetic effusions to be striking in themselves as well as accurate expressions of her inner life (Intro, VII).
George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession is a feminist play that emphasizes the injustice and inequality towards women in society on a professional and informal aspect. Mrs. Warren’s Profession highlights the concept of iconoclasm while mocking the typical plot of a play from nineteenth century London. In doing so Shaw exposes the reader to a diverse and unprecedented point-of-view that focuses on the rocky relationship between a sentimental mother and her practical daughter.
She has a clear understanding of the information that needs to be dispersed to the trainees. She knows the facts and has done research on the skills that she is teaching. At the same time, she has displayed an inability to implement some of the very skills that she is teaching such as good communication and networking, which would indicate a lack of procedural knowledge. Heather’s inability to answer questions and be a resource to her class would also support this deficiency.
Case, Alison : Gender and Narration in Aurora Leigh, Victorian Poetry, Vol.29, no.1, Spring 1991 West Virginia University Press
middle of paper ... ... ‘I’m asleep, in a trance.so warm, so good.so bright, so peaceful.’ substantiates that Miss Julie becomes subordinate to Jean, and the battle of sexes provides Jean with a more dominant characteristic. Finally, throughout the play, gender inequality and the battle of sexes are explored to the degree that these were the responsible factors for Miss Julie’s naturalistic fate, even though the battle of classes is a recurring theme throughout the play.