staunch in his commitment.

The act ends as Grace develops a headache and goes upstairs to her apartment for a nap. Carl, the bus driver, has supposedly gone for a walk. Will, the sheriff, leaves the room, and Dr. Lyman speaks of his hatred for authority figures, noting that, right or wrong, he always insists on having his way.

The second act finds Dr. Lyman trying to set up a rendezvous with Elma in Topeka, where she plans to see the Kansas City Symphony and stay overnight with her sister. He arranges to meet her there. Virgil discloses that he was once in love, but felt more comfortable with the fellows in the bunkhouse. Cherie reveals that she has been dating men since she was fourteen, having almost married her cousin Malcolm at that age. She also tells how she fled from Bo, only to be caught at the bus station and forced onto the bus to Montana. When Cherie suggests that Virgil play a guitar tune for them to help pass the time, Elma wants to have a floor show that will demonstrate their various talents.

The performances feature Virgil on his guitar, Cherie singing “That Ole Black Magic,” and Dr. Lyman and Elma acting the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Bo, though asked to perform some of his rope tricks, prefers to brood. During the rendition of the balcony scene, Dr. Lyman, who has been spiking his drinks since his arrival, reaches the point of intoxication. As Cherie sings her song (having given explicit orders to Elma not to allow table service during her numbers), Bo’s fires are rekindled. He tries to grab her, only to be hauled outside by Will, who whips him, handcuffs him, and takes him to jail. Cherie is aghast.

At this point, Grace returns from her nap, and Dr. Lyman, drunk enough to be morbid, announces that has been too weak and selfish to love another and that he is a drunken, unruly child. He tells Elma never to bother with a foolish old man such as he, goes to the restroom, which is outside, vomits, and returns to fall on a bench for some much-needed sleep. The act ends as Virgil tells Cherie that Bo’s sexual encounter with her was his first. She is so moved that she leaves with him to seek Bo’s release from jail.

Act 3 brings about the resolution of the situations of the characters. Carl’s walk has taken him upstairs to Grace’s apartment, and her headache was a guise to meet him. Their rendezvous becomes known to all when the sheriff later reminds Carl that his overshoes are upstairs, outside Grace’s door. Released from his incarceration, Bo apologizes to Cherie and offers her money to return to Kansas City. Cherie confesses that she has known many men, but he approaches her romantically rather than aggressively, and she is receptive. He kisses her. After a conference with Virgil, he tells her that he is virgin enough for both of them, and she agrees to go to Montana to marry him. Dr. Lyman awakes and cancels his rendezvous with Elma, calling himself an old reprobate. Carl reveals that a detective in the bus station in Kansas City told him that the professor had been picked up for loitering around schoolyards. A check of the records showed that the professor had been arrested several times for involvement with young girls, though his record is clear at present. Virgil decides to leave his young friend Bo and seek employment elsewhere. The roads clear; the bus rolls out. Grace reveals to Elma the true nature of the professor’s intentions. As she closes up the restaurant, Virgil is left out in the cold, awaiting the next bus south.

William Inge employs a journey device to frame his play-within-the-play. His wayfarers are exiled, and they prevail upon one another’s talents to alleviate the emptiness of this snowy night. In this manner, each character is explicated fully, and the significant details of his motives and actions are revealed. It is a device similar to Geoffrey Chaucer’s in The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) and Giovanni Boccaccio’s in The Decameron (1353).

The playwright skillfully interweaves comedy with tragedy to create dramatic irony. When Dr. Lyman plays the balcony scene with young Elma, he repeats the line, “My name, dear saint, is... is hateful to myself.” These words serve as a point of recognition for him and bring him to the admission that he has placed himself above others and made himself unable to love. The pose of the intellectually superior being is merely that, a pose. The fact that the planned rendezvous with Elma is canceled suggests that the professor may have achieved a degree of genuine self-knowledge.

The play’s setting is ingenious in that its isolation illuminates the spiritual isolation of many of the characters. Young Elma longs for the adventure that exposure to such places as Topeka can bring. Grace passes her lonely life here, grateful for the temporary relief Carl brings from the emotional and physical exile she experiences. Cherie decides to bring the loneliness of one-night stands to a stop as she agrees to marry Bo and become part of his life in Montana. Dr. Lyman’s exile is heightened and made more tragic by the isolation of the setting, since he will remain a vagabond, in every sense of the word. Virgil becomes a true isolate as he decides to leave Bo and travel in the direction of the next bus.

Inge’s symbolism heightens the interaction and brings moments of truth to the characters. The names of the characters imply this aspect of the drama. Will Masters, the sheriff, serves as the master will, and his trouncing of Bo brings the young broncobuster to a state of contrition before Cherie (whose name means “beloved”); she then can see him in a new light and thus love him. Further, Will imposes a sense of order upon the entire group and represents authority. Dr. Gerald Lyman is, indeed, a man who has lied to himself about the reality of his existence. Grace, the restaurant owner, extends a period of grace to the weary travelers, receives a stay of grace from Carl, and embodies the concept of grace in her attitudes toward the others. Virgil Blessing has been a blessing in Bo’s life, looking after him as a father would do, tempering the young man’s tempestuous nature. Virgil is a virgin in the sense that he is intimidated by women and avoids romantic situations. The name Virgil also suggests “vigil” and “virility,” words that further explicate the nature of his relationship with Bo: He keeps vigil over the young man in a virile way until he is no longer needed.

Kansas diner

Kansas diner. Dingy Kansas restaurant where long-haul buses make rest stops. All three acts of the play occur within this setting. The audience understands that the owner’s apartment is above the restaurant and there is a privy out back. These facts emphasize the small-town nature and rural setting of the play. A sense of bleakness, isolation, and loneliness pervades the play. The time is an hour after midnight, and snow is falling heavily. Roads are closed, and the bus from Topeka will be forced to lay over.

When the bus arrives and its passengers and driver disembark, the lonely diner becomes alive with people, each of whom reflects the isolation of the location with a similar isolation. Preoccupied by personal concerns, the characters allow little real communication among themselves. Eventually, a few manage to overcome their personal isolation. However, for the most part, the restaurant becomes a metaphor for the lack of meaningful interaction among human beings and for the transitory nature of human relationships. The play is Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks, transferred from an urban to a rural location. At the conclusion of the play, the diner once again stands empty and alone.

Booming 1950s Economy
Following World War II, the country experienced significant economic growth. The G.I. Bill enabled returning soldiers to pursue higher education. More crucially, it offered funding for soldiers to purchase homes, sparking a surge in new home construction. This, in turn, boosted the production of appliances, furniture, and automobiles, leading to increased employment and a rise in the gross national product. With the war over, Americans had more disposable income and leisure time, which they increasingly spent on entertainment.

Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn MonroeBus Stop might have been a case of art reflecting life. The year before the play premiered on Broadway, Joe DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe. Though not a union between a lonely cowboy and a cabaret singer, their marriage was equally unexpected. DiMaggio, one of history's greatest athletes, and Monroe, a Hollywood icon, captivated the world, making headlines. Their marriage symbolized the merging of two prominent 1950s worlds: baseball and Hollywood.

Marilyn Monroe was a major star of the 1950s. In 1953, she appeared nude in the inaugural issue of Playboy magazine, which sold over fifty thousand copies, showcasing her immense appeal. The role of Cherie in Bus Stop seemed tailor-made for her, and she indeed starred in the film adaptation released in 1956.

Monroe's popularity stemmed from her broad appeal. As a beautiful woman, she epitomized sexuality and attracted the burgeoning teenage demographic of the fifties. It’s no surprise that her marriage to DiMaggio seemed improbable to many. DiMaggio, the New York Yankees star, embodied hard work and integrity. A private, reserved man who avoided the spotlight, he contrasted sharply with Monroe, a lively, media-savvy movie star who thrived on attention.

Act
Dramas are segmented into various acts. In ancient Greek theater, plays typically consisted of five acts. This structure was adopted by the Romans and later by playwrights such as William Shakespeare. The five acts represent the phases of dramatic action: exposition, complication, climax, falling action, and catastrophe. This five-act format remained prevalent until the nineteenth century, when Ibsen began merging some acts. Bus Stop is structured as a three-act play. The first act combines the exposition and complication as the audience learns about Cherie's abduction and Bo's wedding plans. The climax unfolds in the second act with Bo's altercation with Will, his subsequent arrest, and Cherie's discovery of Bo's deep commitment to her. The third act does not feature a catastrophe—Bus Stop is a comedy, not a tragedy. If it were a tragedy, Cherie would remain steadfast in her decision, and Bo would leave alone and despondent.

Audience
The audience refers to the group of people who watch a drama. Many writers create with an audience in mind. In the foreword to Four Plays, Inge mentions his desire for the audience to see various depictions of love and to find all the characters engaging. This is somewhat rare; typically, authors do not explicitly state the reactions they anticipate from their audience.

Character
Characters in a play can range from simple, stereotypical figures to complex, multifaceted individuals. They can also be defined by specific traits, such as the rogue or the damsel in distress. The actions of the characters propel the play forward.

Characterization is the process of developing a character, complete with personality traits that define who they are and how they will act in specific situations. For example, Grace is depicted as lonely. The audience understands this not only because she mentions it several times, but also because her wistful glance as she exits the stage at the play's end conveys her dread of the solitude upstairs.

Setting
The setting can include geographic location, physical or mental environments, prevailing cultural attitudes, or the historical period in which the story takes place. In Bus Stop, the setting is a small diner. All the events occur between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning in this single location. This confined setting forces all the action to happen within a limited space, requiring all the characters to interact with one another.

1955: Walt Disney inaugurated Disneyland in Los Angeles, California. Constructed for $17 million, the park's success prompted Disney to plan for its expansion right away.

Today: The Disney Corporation continues to thrive. Valued at nearly $80 billion, the company has diversified into film, television, and merchandising.

1955: Nineteen years after its debut, the Volkswagen Beetle celebrated the production of its one-millionth car.

Today: The Volkswagen Beetle has been redesigned and reintroduced to the American market. It has regained popularity, particularly among younger buyers.

1955: TV dinners were launched as a convenient and popular option for busy housewives.

Today: Frozen prepared meals remain extremely popular. Their convenience appeals to working parents who have limited time for cooking.

1955: The first shopping mall opened in the Detroit area in 1954. By the end of 1955, 1,800 new shopping malls had opened nationwide.

Today: Shopping malls are a staple of American culture. They have become popular hangouts for teenagers.

1955: The federal minimum wage in the United States was raised from $0.75 to $1 per hour.

Today: Nearly 45 years later, the minimum wage has increased by less than $5.

Bus Stop was adapted into a well-known Hollywood film in 1956. It garnered numerous nominations, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Don Murray. The National Board of Review Awards recognized Bus Stop as one of the top ten films of 1956.

Marilyn Monroe played the role of Cherie, and many critics regard this as her finest performance. The film also featured Hope Lange, Eileen Heckart, and Arthur O’Connell. Directed by Joshua Logan for Fox Studios, this ninety-six-minute color film is available in both Beta and VHS formats.

Sources
Atkinson, Brooks. A review of Bus Stop in The New York Times, March 3, 1955.

Chapman, John. A review of Bus Stop in Daily News, March 3, 1955.

Coleman, Robert. A review of Bus Stop in Daily Mirror, March 3, 1955.

Courant, Jane. ‘‘Social and Cultural Prophecy in the Works of William Inge.’’ Studies in American Drama, 1945-Present, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1991, pp. 135-51.

Erben, Rudolf. ‘‘The Western Holdup Play: The Pilgrimage Continues.’’ Western American Literature, Vol. 23, No. 4, February 1989, pp. 311-22.

Kerr, Walter F. A review of Bus Stop in New York Herald Tribune, March 3, 1955.

McClain, John. A review of Bus Stop in New York Journal American, March 3, 1955.

Shuman, R. Baird. William Inge, Twayne Publishers, 1996.

Watts Jr., Richard. A review of Bus Stop in New York Post, March 3, 1955.

Weales, Gerald. ‘‘The New Pineros.’’ American Drama Since World War II, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1962, pp. 40-56.

Further Reading
Leeson, Richard M. William Inge: A Research and Production Sourcebook, Greenwood Press, 1994. This book provides a critical overview of Inge’s plays, including information about reviews and critical studies.

McClure, Arthur F. Memories of Splendor: The Midwestern World of William Inge, Kansas State Historical Society, 1989. Includes production details and photographs of Inge and his work.

Shuman, R. Baird. William Inge, Twayne Publishers, 1996. Primarily a biography of Inge’s work, it also offers a detailed discussion of each of his plays.

Voss, Ralph F. A Life of William Inge: The Strains of Triumph. University of Kansas Press, 1989. This book is a critical biography of Inge’s life and his works.

Wager, Walter. ‘‘William Inge.’’ The Playwrights Speak. Delacorte Press, 1967. Wager presents interviews with several contemporary playwrights, providing an opportunity to ‘‘hear’’ each writer discuss the art of writing.