The Heiress
Catherine Sloper is a very timid and homely girl who lives with her father, a widowed doctor, in a rich house in a very wealthy neighborhood. She is incredibly shy when put into social situations and tries to find any excuse to get out of them. She can never say what she feels or act as most girls do around company, especially young men. Her father finds her completely hopeless, lacking any ability to be graceful, charming, or witty. He is constantly comparing her to his late wife and fears that Catherine will never find anyone willing to marry her.
Then one evening she meets Morris Townsend, a distant relative of her cousin’s fiancé. He tries to woo Catherine by visiting her almost everyday and writing her love poems. He insists that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever met and admits to her that he is in love with her. Although it is very early in their relationship, Catherine believes that she loves him too. They are very happy together, so it seems, and they begin making secret plans to be married. However, Catherine’s father is not pleased with Mr. Townsend and assumes that his intentions are deceptive. He believes that he is only after Catherine for her fortune. Catherine does not think Morris would ever be so crooked and convinces herself that he truly loves her for her and nothing more. But upon her father’s request, she goes to Europe with him for six months. During this time Dr. Sloper hopes that she will forget all about Morris and perhaps find somebody else. But after arriving home, Morris is still waiting for her and she is still in love with him.
Later in the play, Dr. Sloper blows up at Catherine and basically tells her she is worthless and he resents the fact that his wife died bringing her into the world. This hurts her very much and she realizes that her father does not love her and decides she never wants to see him again. She could not care less about any inheritance he leaves her, just as long as she has Morris. On the night that Catherine and Morris plan to elope, she makes the mistake of telling him that she has refused her father’s money and only cares about being with him (Morris.) Morris tells her that he is going to pack all of his things and promises to meet her very late when everyone is asleep. She waits and waits and eventually realizes that he “jilted” her. She is absolutely crushed and because of it she becomes a very bitter woman.
Sometime later her father dies and she ends up with the inheritance after all. Two years later Morris comes back to find Catherine and hopes to reunite with her after learning that she has not married yet. Catherine plays with his emotions and makes him believe she still loves him. They make plans to marry yet again and she sends Morris away to pack his bags so they can run away together. Catherine has turned into a callous, bitter woman seeking revenge, and at the end of the play she is the one who jilts Morris.
I saw this play a few weeks ago at the Pioneer theatre where the set and stage were much larger and more professional looking than Studio 115 (where I saw Top Girls.) The costumes of the characters were extravagant and detailed. They were accurate with the time period and helped to define the characters, such as their wealth and position, not to mention their personalities. The lighting in the play was very good and I especially liked the way the windows were used. By employing different lighting techniques, the time of day and weather conditions (rain streaming down the window pane or lightning flashes) could be implied through the windows making the set seem more lifelike. I also liked the use of candles, especially while Catherine waited up in the middle of the night for Morris to arrive, or as she walked up the stairs at the close of the play. The set and the props that were used were also more elaborate than that of Studio 115. There was real food and drink, realistic looking backdrops, stairs, various doors, and numerous pieces of furniture consistent with the time period. Although the play somewhat lacked in the sound department (i.e. it could have used more music or sound effects to create a greater degree of drama), it did not noticeably affect my attitude toward the storyline or the acting abilities of the performers.
I had never seen or heard of this play before and for some reason I thought it was going to be a comedy. Although there were some funny lines that made the audience laugh, this play was more of a serious drama. The attitude of the play was somber at times and the tone was dark, if not a little heartbreaking. At some level I think we can all relate to Catherine. There have been times in my own life when I have felt unloved by my own parents, stupid, boring, or only interesting because of some material possession I had acquired. Because we have all experienced those kinds of feelings on some small scale, it is easy for us to feel gut-wrenching pity for Catherine. I believe the intention of this play is to get the audience to question the characters’ objectives from an ethical point of view. Did Dr. Sloper have the right to expose Morris as a gold-digger? Could Catherine have been happy with Morris despite his one true desire? At what cost was Catherine able to gain the upper-hand? Was Morris wrong for trying to attain Catherine’s riches? Many business men might disagree. After all, we live in a “dog-eat-dog” world where just trying to survive far surpasses love or being honest. Or do we? These are absorbing issues that the play causes the audience to consider.
After the play had ended, I heard several people comment on how boring it was. However, I did not think it was boring at all. I was entertained and felt like the acting was well done. Each performer seemed to take on the personality of their character quite well. I kept looking for any indication that Morris truly loved Catherine. That's just the romantic in me I guess. By the middle of the play I was still not sure if his only goal was to get his hands on her inheritance. But by the time Catherine announced to her father that she no longer cared about her inheritance and told Morris about it, it became clear to me that he was only after her wealth by the way he started to behave. After striving to conquer his obstacles and using every tactic he could think of to marry Catherine and get her money, the end result (his expectation) was not fulfilled, as we saw him desperately beat at her door and call out to her at the end of the play. I was happy with the ending and felt like Morris got what he deserved, but I also felt sorry for Catherine that the rest of her life was probably spent being bitter, cold, untrusting, and unloved.
Despite any flaws the play may have had, I felt like it was a good performance. The actors made their characters realistic, the theater provided quality productions elements, and I was happy to get out of the house and experience some live theater.
Catherine Sloper is a very timid and homely girl who lives with her father, a widowed doctor, in a rich house in a very wealthy neighborhood. She is incredibly shy when put into social situations and tries to find any excuse to get out of them. She can never say what she feels or act as most girls do around company, especially young men. Her father finds her completely hopeless, lacking any ability to be graceful, charming, or witty. He is constantly comparing her to his late wife and fears that Catherine will never find anyone willing to marry her.
Then one evening she meets Morris Townsend, a distant relative of her cousin’s fiancé. He tries to woo Catherine by visiting her almost everyday and writing her love poems. He insists that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever met and admits to her that he is in love with her. Although it is very early in their relationship, Catherine believes that she loves him too. They are very happy together, so it seems, and they begin making secret plans to be married. However, Catherine’s father is not pleased with Mr. Townsend and assumes that his intentions are deceptive. He believes that he is only after Catherine for her fortune. Catherine does not think Morris would ever be so crooked and convinces herself that he truly loves her for her and nothing more. But upon her father’s request, she goes to Europe with him for six months. During this time Dr. Sloper hopes that she will forget all about Morris and perhaps find somebody else. But after arriving home, Morris is still waiting for her and she is still in love with him.
Later in the play, Dr. Sloper blows up at Catherine and basically tells her she is worthless and he resents the fact that his wife died bringing her into the world. This hurts her very much and she realizes that her father does not love her and decides she never wants to see him again. She could not care less about any inheritance he leaves her, just as long as she has Morris. On the night that Catherine and Morris plan to elope, she makes the mistake of telling him that she has refused her father’s money and only cares about being with him (Morris.) Morris tells her that he is going to pack all of his things and promises to meet her very late when everyone is asleep. She waits and waits and eventually realizes that he “jilted” her. She is absolutely crushed and because of it she becomes a very bitter woman.
Sometime later her father dies and she ends up with the inheritance after all. Two years later Morris comes back to find Catherine and hopes to reunite with her after learning that she has not married yet. Catherine plays with his emotions and makes him believe she still loves him. They make plans to marry yet again and she sends Morris away to pack his bags so they can run away together. Catherine has turned into a callous, bitter woman seeking revenge, and at the end of the play she is the one who jilts Morris.
I saw this play a few weeks ago at the Pioneer theatre where the set and stage were much larger and more professional looking than Studio 115 (where I saw Top Girls.) The costumes of the characters were extravagant and detailed. They were accurate with the time period and helped to define the characters, such as their wealth and position, not to mention their personalities. The lighting in the play was very good and I especially liked the way the windows were used. By employing different lighting techniques, the time of day and weather conditions (rain streaming down the window pane or lightning flashes) could be implied through the windows making the set seem more lifelike. I also liked the use of candles, especially while Catherine waited up in the middle of the night for Morris to arrive, or as she walked up the stairs at the close of the play. The set and the props that were used were also more elaborate than that of Studio 115. There was real food and drink, realistic looking backdrops, stairs, various doors, and numerous pieces of furniture consistent with the time period. Although the play somewhat lacked in the sound department (i.e. it could have used more music or sound effects to create a greater degree of drama), it did not noticeably affect my attitude toward the storyline or the acting abilities of the performers.
I had never seen or heard of this play before and for some reason I thought it was going to be a comedy. Although there were some funny lines that made the audience laugh, this play was more of a serious drama. The attitude of the play was somber at times and the tone was dark, if not a little heartbreaking. At some level I think we can all relate to Catherine. There have been times in my own life when I have felt unloved by my own parents, stupid, boring, or only interesting because of some material possession I had acquired. Because we have all experienced those kinds of feelings on some small scale, it is easy for us to feel gut-wrenching pity for Catherine. I believe the intention of this play is to get the audience to question the characters’ objectives from an ethical point of view. Did Dr. Sloper have the right to expose Morris as a gold-digger? Could Catherine have been happy with Morris despite his one true desire? At what cost was Catherine able to gain the upper-hand? Was Morris wrong for trying to attain Catherine’s riches? Many business men might disagree. After all, we live in a “dog-eat-dog” world where just trying to survive far surpasses love or being honest. Or do we? These are absorbing issues that the play causes the audience to consider.
After the play had ended, I heard several people comment on how boring it was. However, I did not think it was boring at all. I was entertained and felt like the acting was well done. Each performer seemed to take on the personality of their character quite well. I kept looking for any indication that Morris truly loved Catherine. That's just the romantic in me I guess. By the middle of the play I was still not sure if his only goal was to get his hands on her inheritance. But by the time Catherine announced to her father that she no longer cared about her inheritance and told Morris about it, it became clear to me that he was only after her wealth by the way he started to behave. After striving to conquer his obstacles and using every tactic he could think of to marry Catherine and get her money, the end result (his expectation) was not fulfilled, as we saw him desperately beat at her door and call out to her at the end of the play. I was happy with the ending and felt like Morris got what he deserved, but I also felt sorry for Catherine that the rest of her life was probably spent being bitter, cold, untrusting, and unloved.
Despite any flaws the play may have had, I felt like it was a good performance. The actors made their characters realistic, the theater provided quality productions elements, and I was happy to get out of the house and experience some live theater.
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