Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Lana A. Whited

Critical Essay by Lana A. Whited

SOURCE: Whited, Lana A. “Suicide in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart and Marsha Norman's 'night, Mother.” Southern Quarterly 36, no. 1 (fall 1997): 65-74.

In the following essay, Whited examines the motif of suicide in 'night, Mother and Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart, noting that both plays present connecting with family and community as a alternative to isolation and suicide.

I'm going to kill myself. The simple yet stunning statement is the point of attack for Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother, and Jessie Cates's eventual suicide serves as the play's climax. Norman and fellow Pulitzer laureate Beth Henley ended a long dry spell for women in the American theater: When Henley was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for Crimes of the Heart, she was the first woman in twenty-five years to receive it; Norman's honor came only two years later.¹ In light of their proximity,...
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