The International Stud: Scene 3 Summary

Four months after the last scene, Arnold is at home impatiently waiting for a phone call from Ed, who has become his lover. Arnold can no longer stand the suspense and dials Ed's number and Ed is wary upon hearing Arnold's voice. Ed's evasive tone leads to the revelation that he has been seeing another person, a woman named Laurel. Ed is in conflict about his heterosexuality and feels that if he were to date a woman, this ambiguity would be banished. Societal and family pressures would also be relieved if Ed were to establish a long-term relationship with a woman. Ed reveals that Laurel is to meet his parents, a fact which particularly hurts Arnold who was never introduced to them. The significance of meeting a lover's parents is not lost on Arnold, who is deeply...