Throughout Gibson’s play, the audience witnesses different types of relationship conflict, each dynamic wrought with past scars and present difficulties. Through Kate and Arthur, Arthur and James, the Kellers and Helen, and Helen and Annie, the audience bears witness to a group of people in need of love. However, the characters’ expectations and past hurts make it impossible for these relationships to grow in positive directions.

Each relationship is struggling because the characters aren't able to let go of the past to forge new connections. Kate desperately wants to find someone to “cure” Helen, but Arthur’s stubborn ways and fear of failure keep him from adopting Kate’s optimism. His anger also carries over into his relationship with James, as he refuses to acknowledge his previous relationship with James’s mother. He seems to resent James as a reminder of past pain and, in both cases, refuses to try new ways of communicating or thinking in order to ease current tensions.

The audience also sees this behavior in Annie. Unable to let go of the death of her brother, Jimmie, Annie is haunted by the love she feels for him. This pain is transferred to Annie’s relationship with Helen, as Annie initially refuses to open her heart and see Helen as more than a student.

These relationship dynamics illustrate the idea that love means different things to different people, and without communication and a common understanding, confusion and tension will reign. The Kellers feel love is giving into Helen’s wants and desires, while Annie feels love means giving Helen the best life possible through discipline and education. James believes love is open communication with his father about their past, but Arthur is too headstrong to forgo his anger, believing obedience and respect are the only forms of love he needs.

The irony is that each character is fighting for the same things—love and peace—but their expectations, coupled with the inability to release the past, drive the emotional wedge between them deeper. It’s not until each character acknowledges the past and communicates their needs that loving bonds begin to form. Loving fully means removing expectations and making an authentic connection. By letting go of past hurts, room is made for new experiences and new emotional connections.