In the first moments of the play, Vivian Bearing proclaims to the audience, "I think I die at the end." The fact that she gives away this information so early and so willingly makes it apparent that while death is a major theme, it is not the major focus of the play. Death, however, permeates the play and is both the element toward which the play moves, as well as the component that makes the other themes stand out. Death is the force that compels Bearing to reflect on her life. Death is also the so-called enemy against which the medical researchers fight so diligently.
Paramount in the discussion of death is John Donne's poetry. In his poetry, death is one of Donne's more prominent themes; in the play, Bearing quotes several of his.....
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