The Miracle Worker

The conclusion of The Miracle Worker emphasizes the transformative power of perseverance and education. The moral lesson is that with dedication and patience, significant breakthroughs can be...

Annie and Helen in The Miracle Worker are similar in that both have vision impairments and are intelligent and determined. However, they differ in their backgrounds; Annie grew up in an asylum after...

In The Miracle Worker, Helen's mother, Kate Keller, believes in Helen's intellectual potential and shows her affection, while her father, Captain Keller, rarely interacts with her. Her half-brother,...

Helen's reaction to Annie in The Miracle Worker reveals her challenge of being a spoiled and obstinate child who behaves without manners due to her family's pity. Mr. Keller's actions and Kate's...

Captain Keller reacts to Annie's work with Helen with strong disapproval and anger, believing she is too strict and lacks compassion. He prefers to humor Helen's disruptive behavior, while Annie...

In "The Miracle Worker," Helen reacts with curiosity and hostility to Annie's arrival and first day. Initially, Helen is intrigued by Annie, but this quickly turns into resistance as she tests...

Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker" is a determined and partially-sighted young woman tasked with educating Helen Keller. Despite her tough background and personal struggles, Annie's empathy and...

Annie Sullivan is a determined woman.  She does not give up, even when her efforts do not work right away.  She is patient, and does not get easily frustrated.  She also suffers from...

Percy is a young Black servant on the Keller estate and Helen's playmate.

Annie and her little brother Jimmie grew up in the state asylum at Tewksberry, Massachusetts, where conditions were notoriously harsh.  The two children were sent there together when their...

In The Miracle Worker, Helen Keller exhibits unruly behavior related to food, often grabbing from others' plates and eating with her hands. Her preferences are not explicitly detailed, but her...

The relationship between James and Captain Keller in The Miracle Worker is strained and conflict-ridden. James feels overshadowed and ignored by his authoritative father, Captain Keller, who...

The central conflict in William Gibson's play, The Miracle Worker, is the struggle between Helen Keller, a young girl who is deaf and blind, and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, who is determined to...

In Act II of The Miracle Worker, Annie faces the challenge of breaking through Helen's isolation and stubbornness. She requests more control over Helen's environment and stricter discipline,...

"The Miracle Worker" is a play about Helen Keller and how her life changes when Annie Sullivan arrives.   Viney is a servant in the Keller household.  She has two children, Martha and...

Captain Keller, whose first name is Arthur, is a stern and authoritative figure in "The Miracle Worker." He is a newspaper editor and a former Confederate officer. His strict demeanor often clashes...

Annie Sullivan used something called "planned ignoring" which means she focused on the positive behavior and gave a reward or praise for the positive and did not respond at all to the negative...

I can't even tell you what fun I had answering your question!  I love this play and know most of it by heart, but never really explored these two characters as a pair.  What an...

The Miracle Worker uses several symbols to enhance its themes. The water pump symbolizes communication and breakthrough, as Helen Keller's understanding of language begins there. The locked doors...

The pivotal point in the story when Sullivan finger-spells the word "water" as water from the pump runs over Keller's hand can be seen as a form of of classical conditioning. In classical...

In The Miracle Worker, Helen's disability exacerbates James' fractured relationship with his father, making him cynical and disillusioned. He is sarcastic and has low expectations for Helen,...

Annie Sullivan wears dark glasses because her eyes are extra sensitive to light. Annie was once nearly blind until an operation corrected her sight.

Annie Sullivan believes that the key to learning is that everything has a name. This is why she is so intent on teaching Helen basic words such as milk or doll. These are words that she comes in...

In The Miracle Worker, the Kellers react to Anne's story about her time in the asylum with mixed emotions. Kate is deeply moved by Anne's descriptions, while Captain Keller remains skeptical of...

The climax of The Miracle Worker occurs when Annie Sullivan spells the word water in Helen's hand as they are pumping water and the young girl understands the connection between the word and the...

Helen's teacher, Annie Sullivan, receives a salary of twenty-five dollars a month (Act I, Scene 3). Annie has been living at the Perkins Institute in Boston, where she has recovered partial sight...

The conflict between Annie and Keller is very dramatic because it is about the fate of Helen, who has been allowed to become a tyrant.

At breakfast Helen had been walking around and taking food off of other people's plates. Annie, after an exchange with the Captain, asks the family to leave so that she can try to teach Helen how...

Annie Sullivan hears the words "forever and ever" repeated in her flashbacks. They are spoken by her brother, who died as a child and to whom Annie feels that she has broken a promise.

The breakfast discussion on the Battle of Vicksburg parallels Annie and Helen's struggle by highlighting the themes of persistence and obstinacy. Just as Ulysses S. Grant's determination led to...

The first word Helen Keller understands and appropriately uses is water.

In The Miracle Worker, Annie's quote means that words and language allow us to access and understand history. She emphasizes that through words, one can see and learn from the past, as far back as...

In "The Miracle Worker," communication is crucial as it represents the bridge between Helen Keller's isolated world and the outside world. Annie Sullivan's persistent efforts to teach Helen to...

James is Helen’s half-brother, and with his negative attitude, he emphasizes the ‘half,’ desiring to distance his association with her.  He wants Helen sent away to an asylum, out of sight and...

Dolls in The Miracle Worker symbolize the feelings Helen and Anne struggle to express.

This passage happens in act two, soon after Annie's arrival in the house. While at a meal, Helen continues to reach onto each person's plate and take whatever food she wishes. Normally, she gets...

Captain Keller believes Helen's situation is hopeless, while Kate Keller believes there is still hope that Helen can either be cured or taught to communicate with others.

In The Miracle Worker, James is advised to be more supportive and understanding towards Helen and Annie. He is encouraged to step out of the background and take a more active role in the family's...

Annie Sullivan believes that obedience is the gateway through which knowledge enters the mind of a child. After Helen has another tantrum, Annie tells her mother and father that she knows what...

Annie Sullivan is Helen Keller's teacher and her determination and patience, as revealed in The Miracle Worker, reveal her great strength and one of the reasons why Helen Keller is able to become...

In the early part of the play, Kate Keller is a loving mother who is distraught that illness has left her beloved daughter deaf and blind. She overindulges Helen and doesn't believe too much can be...

Doctor Howe is not a character in "The Miracle Worker" but is referenced as Annie Sullivan's mentor. His influence is significant as he trained Annie at the Perkins Institute for the Blind, which...

William Gibson's play, The Miracle Worker, has as its setting Tuscumbia, Alabama, in the 1880s, where Helen Keller was born.  As one of the former Confederate States still reeling from the...

Keys symbolize knowledge and the liberating effect knowledge has upon Helen's mind.

When Annie Sullivan arrives via train, Helen's half-brother James goes to pick her up. When she arrives at the Keller home, Captain Keller is certainly very doubtful that she will be able to manage...

Although there is no section labeled clearly as "the most important day story," I will assume that you mean the last day when Helen truly does discover the mystery of language through the word...

The setting and location of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson primarily take place in the Keller family home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, during the 1880s. The play also includes scenes set at the...

The above line comes from Kate Keller, Helen Keller's mother. She says it when Annie Sullivan arrives at the Keller residence to teach Helen the groundbreaking methods of sign language she learned...

There are several times in the first act of The Miracle Worker when Helen shows her natural intelligence level.  One time occurs when Helen is playing with her doll.  She feels her doll's...

Belle is an Irish Setter, a beloved member of the Keller family.  Although she is not a character usually focused upon in The Miracle Worker, I applaud you for asking this question in order to...