One of my chief interests in mounting the play was to discover how Claire might come across in production, since critical opinion based on textual readings stands firmly divided over the way she is to be perceived. As Marcia Noe writes:

Much of the critical commentary on this play. . .
centers on Glaspell's attitude toward her protagonist.
. . C. W. E. Bigsby states that "Clearly Glaspell
is critical of Claire," and Arthur Waterman writes
that "we must realize that Claire has gone too far."
By contrast, Christine Dymkowski believes that
"Claire's madness at the end of the play is a personal
triumph."

The tendency to view Claire's fate as a kind of cautionary tale—a depiction of the dangers of pushing individualism or self-absorption to extremes— is not limited to male critics, and has also been in.uenced by research into Glaspell's own biography. She herself remained childless and...