The Verge (Susan Glaspell)

 

Introduction:

“The Verge” was one of Susan Glaspell's first full-length plays and is considered by many to be the most complex of her career. The play grew out of Glaspell's recognition of the way in which Victorian society left some women feeling trapped in roles for which they were unsuited. Because of the play's non-realistic speech patterns and expressionistic elements, it was dismissed by most critics as being muddled and confusing. It has recently been "rediscovered" by feminist theorists, however, who see the work as an important contribution to theatre history. At the time of the play's first production in 1921, women were still expected to stay at home and be dutiful wives and mothers. This mindset was meeting with increased resistance. Many women began to voice dissatisfaction with their lack of opportunities and tried to change the situation. Thus, the feminist movement began to take hold. Other women rebelled by retreating into despondency, depression and, sometimes, madness. “The Verge” also reflects the fascination with Freudian theory that was sweeping the United States at the time. Freud had delivered his first U.S. lectures in 1909, and his theories of psychoanalysis and dream interpretation were widely discussed in many popular publications of the day.

Discussion:

“The Verge” is a somewhat difficult play to comprehend upon first reading. Characters sometimes speak in sentence fragments and have strange syntactical patterns that are closer to poetry than to everyday speech. The play also employs a heavy dose of symbolism to deliver its message. If one pays careful attention to the visual and poetic elements contained within the text, however, the work reveals a fascinating portrait of a woman trapped in a situation that slowly pushes her to madness.

The central character of Susan Glaspell’s “The Verge” is Claire Archer, a scientist experimenting with plants. She aspires to ‘explode their species’, trying to ‘break them up into crazy things’. When Glaspell’s drama was staged in 1921, this female protagonist appeared to many as a New Woman gone mad. Yet, while most of the characters around her fixate their attention on gender issues, Claire focuses on more fundamental issues that not only concern women (or feminists) but all of humanity. Claire’s words and actions in this expressionistic drama are meant to teach us a symbolic lesson. Her example urges us to revise common notions of madness and sanity in order to understand that ‘madness is the only chance for sanity’; because humanity can be delivered from the dictates of normalcy by madness alone.

Glaspell explores this subject matter through the life of her character, Claire Archer, an ambitious botanist who seeks critical independence to achieve her life work. Claire is attempting to create a new plant called “Breath of Life”. But at every turn she is interrupted by friends and family who demand Claire’s time and attention. While everyone agrees with Claire’s husband that “she had a fire within” her sister, her daughter along with her two lovers, Tom and Dick and her spouse, Harry complain to Claire expecting her to follow their wishes, to meet their needs. They suggest, “be more motherly, a better hostess, a more attentive lover, go shopping!” but in Claire’s response: “We need not be held in forms moulded for us”, one can find the strong feminist streak. However, frustrated by their badgering, Claire retreats to a private tower.

Alone, Claire questions “what is there beyond the stars?”. She desires more than a conventional life but acknowledges the steep price to be paid for her freedom. “It’s lonely here on top” she acknowledges. When her latest flame Tom, bearing the ironic last name “Edgeworthy”, begs her to run away with him saying “I can make you safe” Claire rejects his offer admitting “You are too much. You are not enough.” She views Tom as an obstacle to be destroyed. She strangles him so that she can carry on with her real passion, her godhead, her career project, i.e. “The Breath of Life”. “I saved myself”, Claire says before singing “Nearer my God to Thee.”.

 

THEMES

Death and Rebirth

Numerous images and symbols of death and rebirth occur throughout “The Verge.” First and foremost are the symbolic elements lent by the plants. Through her plants, Claire brings forth life. She has the power to create this life, but she also has the power to destroy it, as she does at the end of Act I with the Edge Vine. Claire also intimates throughout the play that she is not afraid of death and would perhaps find it a welcome respite from her horrible existence. Claire believes that if people are "planted" in the earth, they might sprout forth anew into a better world. When she kills Tom at the end of the play, it is not out of malice, but love. She calls it her "gift" to him because in Claire's idiosyncratic mind, death is the best possibility for life.

Shattering and Exploding

Images of shattering and exploding occur throughout “The Verge” in both the dialogue and the action of the play. Claire wants to rearrange old concepts and ways of being, and she believes the best way to do this is to first explode what already exists. In Act I, the audience is introduced to Claire's desire to shatter conventions and affect change when she says, "I want to break it up! If it were all in pieces, we'd be shocked to aliveness." This theme is visually emphasized a moment later when Claire smashes the egg. The theme is also tied to various objects and images throughout the remainder of the play. In Act III, Claire says to Tom, "Perhaps the madness that gave you birth will burst again." Of course, at the end of the play, Claire literally shatters the Breath of Life plant by knocking Tom into it, and she deliberately shatters the greenhouse when she shoots through the roof.

Locked Out and Locked In

In The Verge, Claire feels trapped within her circumstances, and Glaspell uses numerous visual and textual images to emphasize Claire's imprisonment. In Act I, Harry tries the trap door and finds, it is locked. He then exasperatedly says, "Well I love the way she keeps people locked out!" This, of course, refers to the trap door, but on a thematic level, also refers to the larger issue of how Claire keeps everyone locked out from her own feelings. A short time later in the play, the theme is visually played out when Tom is locked out of the greenhouse. Later in the play, when Claire is trying to explain her view on why the war afforded such great possibilities she says, "We were shut in with what wasn't so." Claire was hoping that the war might help society to break free from its conventions and restraints and for human beings to find a better way to communicate with each other. Unfortunately, she finds that this did not come about and that human beings are still trapped within the same patterns and circumstances. At the end of the play, Glaspell once again foregrounds the theme of Claire's desire to escape from what she perceives to be her prison, with Claire's final speech. Her last word before sinking into the revery of the hymn is "Out."

Expressionism in “The Verge”:

Expressionism was a movement in literature and the arts that took hold in the early twentieth century. It uses techniques of distortion and symbolism to try and convey inner human experience. In drama, expressionism can be thought of as "seeing the world through a particular character's eyes." For example, in “The Verge”, the sets appear deformed and certain elements are exaggerated because they represent Claire's experiences. When Claire feels trapped in her situation, Glaspell uses visual elements to clue in the audience. For example, in the second act, Glaspell has the audience view Claire in the tower through a "bulging window," one that might seem as if it is being pushed on from the inside. This helps to convey Claire's emotional isolation and also her desire to escape from the "prison" of her world. Other distorted elements are used throughout the play to also try and convey a physical expression of Claire's inner emotional state. For example, at the opening of the play, a strong shaft of light emanates from the trap door to illuminate the Breath of Life plant, giving it a special significance. The plant emerges as a bright spot in this dark world. The severe lighting lends a mystical quality to the scene. The plant itself is described as having "a greater transparency than plants have had," and it is in a "hidden place" within the greenhouse. This again emphasizes that it is a unique and yet strange living thing, much like Claire herself.

Historical Context:

The early 1920s were a time of great change for the United States. World War I had ended in 1919 but was still exerting its influence. There was a postwar letdown in the country during which a large part of the population began to get restless. After the stress of the war, it seemed that much of American society was looking for a release. The country had been disillusioned by the devastating war and much of society was now questioning old values and beliefs. The old Victorian ideals of decorum and etiquette were going out of style and were being replaced by a new "modernity" that was much less restrictive. Attitudes toward sex became more open and a general eroding of family life began to occur. Many people adopted a looser moral code than they had followed previously, and society saw a real questioning of long-held beliefs and values.

Concurrent with this new modernity, women were moving into a new position in society. They began to take a wider variety of jobs outside the home. Up to this time, women who held jobs had been largely restricted to school-teaching, nursing, social service, or clerical work. They now began to work in publishing, real estate, and numerous other professions that had previously been considered appropriate for men only. Many women who did stay at home were able to spend less time on their domestic duties, as many laborsaving devices such as electric irons and washing machines became available. Some women were able to embrace their newfound freedom and found it to be a very liberating time. Others, like Claire in “The Verge”, were not able to reconcile their inner desires with the expectations of women that society had ingrained in them for so long. They found themselves caught in an inner struggle that was emotionally devastating for some.

Sigmund Freud’s theories became very popular in America during this time. Freud had given his first lectures in the United States at Clark College, Massachusetts in 1909. Freud posited that mental illness was caused by "repression" of memories and experiences and could be cured if the underlying causes were discovered.

Hence, Susan Glaspell inspired by the major social and personal elements such as the impact of World War I and its aftermath, feminists’ ideals and women’s liberation from the traditional role and Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theories, wrote the play, “The Verge to bring out the existential angst of modern woman like Claire, the protagonist. 

Conclusion:

Thematically, to this day, breaking out beyond societal expectations remains a major challenge even in the most liberal countries. Wanting to love and be loved is a powerful drive but realizing one may loose or give up one’s self in the process is an ongoing human dilemma. Men continue to seek intelligent partners but balk when those partners put their careers above their relationships. Is love liberating or enslaving? Do men exploit women? When are we too selfish? When are we too selfless? The Verge conjures up these pertinent questions.