Act 1 Summary

The setting of this three-act play is a farmhouse in Illinois, and all scenes are played out in the living room with a screened porch visible in the background. Dodge, who is the owner, farmer of the land, the husband, and father of the family who lives there, is on stage during the entire play. Dodge is a drunken, ill, argumentative, old man who has a blanket that seems to suggest a child's security blanket. His body is usually covered with it, but sometimes, when he is trying to avoid what is going on, he covers his head with it.

Halie, his wife, does not appear right away, but her voice is heard from the upper floor where she spends most of her time. Halie expresses concern for Dodge and, on the surface, seems to be a caretaker, urging her husband to take...