Picnic (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: William Inge
- First Published: 1953
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: A Labor Day in the 1950’s
- Setting: A small town in Kansas
- Genres: Domestic realism, Drama, Psychological drama
- Subjects: 1950’s, Values, North America or North Americans, Self-discovery, United States or Americans, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Midwest, Small-town life, Kansas, Holidays
- Locales: Kansas
Characters Discussed
Hal Carter, a young vagabond. Hal is a powerfully built drifter, a former college athlete reluctantly aware that he must find himself a job and a place in the world or be a drifter all of his life. Hal joins a Labor Day picnic at the invitation of his former college roommate, Alan Seymour. He escorts Millie, the bookwormish younger sister of the town beauty, Madge, to the envy of Rosemary, the aging schoolteacher who rooms with the Owenses. Hal’s presence creates havoc in the lives of the picnickers, especially the women.
Madge Owens, a beautiful...
[The entire page is 852 words long]
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