Hwang’s play The Sound of a Voice explores the struggles of two characters dealing with isolation. One is a woman who resides alone in a remote house in a small village. The other is a man who roams the country without a fixed residence. Both characters are wary of solitude and fear the pain that love can bring, trapping them in their own emotional prisons. Their loneliness is intense; at one point, the man chooses to sleep near a waterfall just to hear a sound that resembles human voices, as it's the closest he can get to that experience. Simultaneously, the woman learns to play a Japanese flute, which is the closest she can come to mimicking the human voice. When they meet, they admit their loneliness to each other, but their prolonged detachment from others and their own emotions makes dismantling their emotional walls ultimately harmful.

In Hwang’s play, both characters are susceptible to love, simultaneously longing for it and fearing its consequences. The man is concerned that love might undermine his strength, while the woman is afraid it could lead to heartbreak. At first, the woman appears more willing to embrace love, even though she has been hurt before when a man she loved abandoned her. The man takes longer to accept his emotions; initially, he sees her as ordinary but kind. As time passes, he recognizes her beauty and becomes enchanted by her. However, when he discovers that her swordsmanship surpasses his own, he withdraws emotionally, feeling humiliated. Eventually, he acknowledges his love and is ready to commit, but by then, it is too late. Unable to endure the thought of him leaving, the woman is bewildered by his reluctance and tragically ends her own life.

The woman represents the often overlooked beauty present in middle-aged women. At first, when the man meets her, he notices only her age. The villagers frequently refer to her as a witch because she lives alone, is aging, yet is rumored to possess the ability to attract men. Since she is not young, people assume her allure must be due to enchanting spells. However, as the man spends more time in her company, he finds her increasingly attractive. He starts to appreciate her kindness, talents, and femininity. He acknowledges her beauty by genuinely seeing her and valuing her for who she is, rather than comparing her with younger women.

Meanwhile, the man is an older Samurai swordsman who jokes about the extra weight around his waist. His movements and reflexes have slowed down during swordplay with the woman. He feels humiliated and frustrated by his aging and diminishing skills, ashamed that a woman can outmaneuver him. He becomes disgusted with himself and blames the woman for depriving him of his prowess.

Both the man and the woman are fearful of intimacy, which is clear from their hesitance to reveal their true names to one another. Despite sharing this fear, the reasons behind it vary. The woman is apprehensive about falling in love again because she worries it will cost her another piece of her heart. Her past experiences with love and heartbreak have made her wary. Despite her apprehensions, she wishes the man would love her and remain by her side. She dreams of the potential joys of love, yet when she senses he might leave, she feels incapable of facing another heartbreak. Her yearning for closeness is so profound that she would rather die than live without it.

The man fears that opening up to the woman will result in his entrapment, much like he believes has happened...