Given Circumstances/TIME & POLITICS

POLITICS and TIME work hand in hand to affect the world in A Weekend Near Madison. In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled, in Roe vs. Wade, that women had the right to choose to have an abortion. For the remainder of the seventies, through the Carter administration, women’s rights and civil rights in general flourished in the United States. The play takes place in 1979, five years after this historic ruling, and incorporates many liberal points of view that were prevalent at that point in history:

Women’s rights were viewed in a different light and in many ways the late seventies were the time of the ASCENDING WOMAN. Jim and David are both thoughtful, educated men, and happily acknowledge the freedoms that Doe and especially Nessa and Sam embrace. However, the women's movement brought, like a slap in the face, a backlash for men. Samantha says on page sixty,“It’s a hard time to be a guy.” New POLITICS brush up against old SOCIAL values and it generates a spark of disdain for men who can’t move fast enough to adjust.

Socially progressive trends expand personal choice and make homespun ideals seem out of style and repressive. David and Doe got pregnant at a point in their lives when they were flooded with new opportunity, primarily regarding their careers. They became crippled when it was time to choose whether to have the child or not. Doe says on page fifty, “We waited until the last possible moment [to choose to have an abortion] and that made the procedure more difficult.” The line suggests that there was either a back-and-forth battle whether to keep the baby---OR----they decided at the last minute to abort the pregnancy after all. CHOICE carries BLAME. Had Doe become pregnant before 1973 she and David would have had fewer choices and none of the guilt, disassociation, or underlying resentment would come into play in their relationship.

Time alone forces action in several ways. Foremost, the characters in A Weekend Near Madison have not seen each other for many years and they have fixed in their minds a past that is golden and idyllic. The characters must re-establish a rapport with each other---a handy tool for letting the audience catch up as the characters do. Further, passage of time creates a sense of urgency as the characters try to regain the sweet sense of belonging they once had together.

Nessa’s and Sam’s time with Jim is short---a couple of days at most. They have a tight schedule to follow regarding their concerts and must forego a cautious approach when they ask Jim to be the father of their child.

For David, TIME is an enemy. The more time he has, the more likely he is to ponder Doe’s abortion---something too painful for him to face. Likewise, an abundance of time leaves him open to Doe. She radiates a quiet desperation that David (a psychiatrist) must recognize. By working constantly and eliminating any personal time, traveling from University to office to Hospital over and over, David insulates himself from Doe and from dealing with his part in her choice to abort their child.

Time has stopped for Doe. Since her child died and she found that she can no longer have children, she has been waiting for permission to mourn---waiting for almost a full year.

The play uses PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE in the following ways:

The PAST sets up an ideal. Jim was deeply in love and happy. Doe and David were the cornerstone of a quartet that included Jim and Vanessa. They were all a part of an extended family and participated in a fulfilling way with a larger set of families living communally.

The PRESENT brings potential for a reconnection and is a reminder of what has been lost. Driven by a longing for past happiness, the characters must find a way to reconnect. Surrounding their own personal agendas (Vanessa needs a father, Jim needs a sounding board, David needs a surrogate for his lost child) is a real sense of respect and love. Vanessa and Jim present the best example of this. The baby is vital for Vanessa and Samantha and they push past discomfort and common courtesy to make the pregnancy happen. However, when Jim’s vulnerability becomes evident, Vanessa’s love and regard for him takes precedence over her personal desire. She says on page seventy-three, “ I guess all I could think of was this life was going to begin…here…and I didn’t think. I’m sorry. I do remember you Jimmy." Although external specifics have changed, the feelings remain.

The FUTURE lures or drags the characters through the action of the play, depending on how you look at it. The desire for a baby and a stable home life draws Nessa and Sam through a series of awkward scenes with Jim and, given their TUNNEL vision, shines like a light at the end. Each day that Doe cannot write (create) is a reminder that she will never be able to have children of her own again---that the future is a long series of moments that may never culminate in a sense of completion. Jim is not able to see a future for himself because he is stuck in the past, dazed by the present and clinging to a vague image of a day long ago when he felt truly complete.

In terms of American history, TIME and POLITICS are very significant in setting rules of behavior and in creating tension between the characters but in the inner workings of the play it is TIME alone that becomes the crux for both the LONGING and URGENCY that drive the play.