Night, Mother by Marsha Norman

Outline

Attention Grabber

'night, Mother is a powerful and gripping story of a mother and a daughter trying to communicate the pain in their lives, but it is more than a drama about mothers and daughters.

Thesis Statement

It is a play about family that focuses on the psychological return of the daughter to her father through death.

Layout

Introduction

Discussion

Analysis of the Play

Critical Evaluation

Conclusion

Topic Sentence 1:

The result is that “night Mother” is a tragedy only in the sense that its characters have missed a lifetime of opportunities to understand each other and reach only a limited mutual insight in Jessie's final hours.

Supporting Detail 1

Unlike characters in classical tragedy, neither realizes the full extent of her loss.

Supporting Detail 2

The play powerfully affirms how essential it is to value conventional rituals and to take pleasure in small things — even trivial things.

Supporting Detail 3

The play holds to the classical unities.

Quotes you want to use

It is very difficult to face the possibility that there are women who have as little self-respect or reason to live

Transition Sentence

The play depicts women's lives as hopeless and futile.

Topic Sentence 2

The play is a powerful one about two women who have endured suffering and try desperately to communicate their pain to each other.

Supporting Detail 1

Jessie is dependent on her mother even though she is her mother's caretaker.

Supporting Detail 2:

Together the two women undergo an emotional sharing of their lives.

Supporting Detail 3:

In many ways, Jessie has relived her mother's life.

Quotes you want to use:

Both women have been hurt and are having difficulty communicating with their children.

Transition Sentence:

At the end, Jessie wants to share her life with her mother, but she wants her mother to let her go. Mama tries, but she has difficulty letting go.

Topic Sentence 3

The play powerfully affirms how essential it is to value conventional rituals and to take pleasure in small things — even trivial things.

Supporting Detail 1

The weekly manicure that Jessie usually gives to Thelma is the only thing they seem to share and to enjoy together.

Supporting Detail 2

Jessie says that she has been looking forward to holding hands with her mother one last time.

Supporting Detail 3

On this last Saturday evening, the manicure is pushed aside and overlooked; when Thelma says she is ready, Jessie says that it is now too late.

Quotes you want to use

They have waited too long to see the value in this shared activity.

Transition Sentence:

Suicide and the right to commit suicide pose a powerful theme in the play. Despite

Topic Sentence 4

“night Mother” is a tightly crafted drama.

Supporting Detail 1:

Although it has the veneer of realism, there is a classical idealism about it.

Supporting Detail 2:

Norman wants to create real people, yet she divorces them from any set milieu.

Supporting Detail 3:

The house where the drama takes place should not show any character traits.

Quotes you want to use:

It is neither messy nor quaint.

Transition Sentence:

The town is not to be associated ...