The themes of isolation and alienation are key to this play, although the actual reasons are not revealed until the end when the barriers between the characters have fallen and their vulnerabilities have emerged. Matt's childhood of religious persecution in pre-World War I Germany set him on a self-imposed course of seclusion. Sally's personal and public humiliation have confined her to a solitary life in which she rebels the only way she knows, by teaching independent thought related to the destruction of the wealthy class that has symbolically ruined her life.

Shared alienation forges a bond between Matt and Sally but they will have obstacles to overcome in the form of religious differences. However, Matt's admiration for Sally's disregard for the capitalism that formed her is equal to her respect for his overcoming the persecutions of his childhood. Each of them is healed enough to...