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Watch on the Rhine | Introduction

After a critically acclaimed opening at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York in 1941, Watch on the Rhine ran for 378 performances. Pamela Monaco, in her article on Lillian Hellman for the Dictionary of Literary Biography, notes that the play’s appearance at this historical moment, eight months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, responded to ‘‘the political climate of the day,’’ entering into ‘‘the continuing debate on American neutrality.’’ She concludes that Americans were already familiar with the Nazi threat but had never before imagined ‘‘an antifascist message within a domestic situation.’’ Monaco argues that through her skillful dramatic crafting, Hellman warns that all ‘‘who chose to ignore the international crisis were helping to perpetuate it and that no one [could] count himself or herself free of danger.’’ Katherine Lederer, in her article on Hellman for Twayne’s United States Authors Series Online stated that it was the ‘‘right time—for Hellman, for the critics, and for the public. The reviews were glowing, and President Roosevelt ordered a command performance at the National Theater in Washington.’’ In its depiction of a family who struggles to combat the menace of fascism in Europe during the Second World War, Watch on the Rhine emerges as a tribute to those who are willing to sacrifice their lives for a noble cause.

Watch on the Rhine Summary

Act I
The play opens in the late spring of 1940 in the living room of the Farrelly home outside of Washington, D.C. Fanny Farrelly, the family matriarch, appears, insisting that her son David be awakened so he will have plenty of time to pick up his sister and her family at the train station. She expresses nervousness about whether everything has been perfectly prepared for her daughter’s arrival.

She and Anise, her maid, discuss the bills rung up by their houseguests for the past six weeks, the Count and Countess de Brancovis, and the interest David has taken in the Countess. Fanny explains that she took in Teck and Marthe, her houseguests, because she ‘‘felt sorry’’ for Marthe and was ‘‘rather amused’’ by Teck. However, as she senses the growing attraction between Marthe and her son, she concludes that Marthe and Teck should soon leave.

At breakfast, David and Marthe discuss his sister Sara’s marriage to Kurt Müller and his mother’s subsequent snubbing of Sara after Sara would not allow her mother to arrange the wedding. When Teck appears, David leaves, and Teck and Marthe discuss their meager finances. Teck tells her that he will be joining a poker game run by an old friend of his in the German Embassy. He explains that his friend may be useful when he wants to leave the country. Marthe responds angrily to the news, chiding, ‘‘you can’t leave them alone’’ and insists that his old friends will ignore him. She warns him against being seen at the embassy. Teck changes the direction of their conversation to Marthe’s relationship with David. He tells her he suspects her involvement with him and warns ‘‘it is unwise to calculate’’ Teck as a fool.

Later that morning, Sara appears with her family, all shabbily dressed. Sara becomes wistful about her comfortable childhood in that house and admits to her family that she always wanted a nice house for them. When she quickly assumes she has hurt Kurt, her husband, she quickly dismisses her notion, calling herself ‘‘foolish’’ and ‘‘sentimental.’’

When Fanny discovers Sara and her family, she welcomes them all affectionately but nervously. Fanny questions Kurt’s health, noting that he was injured while fighting in Spain. Nine-year-old Bodo, clearly taken with his father and his devotion to the antifascist cause, declares him to be a great hero. He and Fanny begin to develop an affection for each other. When David appears, he greets his sister lovingly. Later Fanny... » Complete Watch on the Rhine Summary