Topics for Further Study
Last Updated on July 29, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 170
Research the issues surrounding the right to die, Jessie makes the choice to commit suicide but indicates that she makes this choice because she has no compelling reason to live. How does this reasoning fit the argument that proponents of an individual's right to die present?
In 'night, Mother Jessie identifies herself in relationship to her father, husband, son, and especially her mother; she appears to have no identity of her own. Comment of Jessie's struggle to create an identity separate from these family members. Is suicide the only means available to her?
The emptiness of her life is an oppressive force for Jessie. Discuss the issue of alienation and isolation that defines Jessie's life.
Many critics have been divided in their reviews of 'night, Mother. One reviewer actually noted that men seemed particularly unaffected and unsympathetic to Jessie's plight. Are women more sympathetic? And do they identify with these two women because they, too, are familiar with the mother-daughter dynamics? Or is this a play that transcends gender stereotyping?
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