The Children's Hour - Martha Dobie and Karen Wright

These are the two central characters in The Children's Hour, with questions about the nature of their relationship forming the core of both its plot and its theme. Both are in their late twenties, both are teachers, and both are the co-founders of a school for mid-teen girls. At the beginning of the play, Karen is calm, serene, and friendly but firm with the girls. Martha, by contrast, is more highly strung, more volatile and not as good a teacher - there is the sense that Karen is the more dominant personality, the more responsible and the more effective. As the action of the play unfolds, however, the relationship shifts - Karen, because she is so bewildered by what has happened, becomes less effective, more reactive and more quietly upset than the more aggressive and more confrontational Martha. Both, however...