’night, Mother (Identities and Issues in Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Marsha Williams
- First Published: 1983
- Genres: Domestic realism, Drama, Psychological drama, Domestic tragedy
- Subjects: 1970’s, United States or Americans, Memory, Mothers, Parents and children, Suicide, Communication, Alienation, 1980’s, Honesty, Pain, Death or dying, Depression, mental, Truthfulness and falsehood, Loneliness, Life and death, Happiness, Epilepsy
- Locales: United States
The Work
“The things we as women know best,” Norman has explained, “have not been perceived to be of critical value to society.” The mother-daughter relationship is a “perfect example of that.” At the play’s outset, the middle-aged Jessie announces to her mother, Thelma, that she is going to kill herself. Norman has described the ninety minutes that follow as “the fight of their lives.” Thelma exhorts, cajoles, and pleads with Jessie to abandon her plan. Jessie remains implacable. She feels trapped in the house she and Thelma share. Her husband has abandoned...
[The entire page is 1132 words long]
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