Harvey (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Mary Chase
- First Published: 1944
- Type of Plot: Comedy; fantasy
- Time of Work: c. 1945
- Setting: A city in the “far west”
- Principal Characters: Myrtle Mae Simmons, Veta Louise Simmons, Elwood P. Dowd, Ruth Kelly, Duane Wilson, Lyman Sanderson, William R. Chumley
- Genres: Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
- Subjects: Family or family life, Brothers and sisters, Alcoholism or alcoholics, Mental illness, Imagination, Hallucinations or illusions, Mental institutions, hospitals or asylums, Psychiatry or psychiatrists
- Locales: United States
The Play
This three-act comedy follows the frustrated attempts of society matron Veta Louise Simmons to keep the eccentricities of her brother, Elwood P. Dowd, from public view. Elwood drinks and keeps introducing strangers to a companion whom no one else can see: a six-foot-one-and-a-half-inch-tall rabbit named Harvey. Veta’s daughter Myrtle Mae worries that her Uncle Elwood’s preoccupation with Harvey will scare away any marriage prospects for her. In the opening scene the guest of honor at a piano recital hosted by Veta is frightened away when Elwood tries to introduce...
[The entire page is 2033 words long]
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