Infection

This theme appears in different forms in this play. The lamb has maggots in its body, Weston is an alcoholic who says he is infected with a poison that runs in his family, and Ella thinks the family is infected by a curse that is slowly ruining them. Emma is having her first period for the duration of the play, and the way it is used to justify her erratic behavior makes it seem like even this is something infecting her. Weston says the poison in him will be in his son, but it actually looks like the infection has gotten into Emma who acts more like her father than Wesley does. Weston’s alcoholism is what ends up being the reason the house is sold to a dishonest man like Ellis, and he has long been too busy drinking to really pay attention to his family.

Suburbanization