PDF file: Drama - Higher - Lovers - Education Scotland

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OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY
with Andy and Hannah. She does, however, conform to a narrow view
of Christianity. She visits Mrs Wilson every night at 10 o’clock for the
Rosary. This has become a routine. She is expected to do this out of
propriety. She doesn’t cheer Mrs Wilson up or try to confront Mrs
Wilson’s unreasonable behaviour.
• She adds to the gloom of the repressive environment of Mrs Wilson’s
bedroom.
• She blindly supports Mrs Wilson, and Friel uses her to point up the
hierarchy of the status of each of the women. Mrs Wilson has the
highest status, then Cissy as an elderly friend and neighbour, then
Hannah. Andy as the outsider (and a man) has the lowest status in
this female-dominated environment.
Mrs Wilson
• Friel’s notes on Mrs Wilson are also clearly stated: ‘Like Cissy, she is a
tiny woman, with a sweet, patient, invalid’s smile. Her voice is soft
and commanding. Her silver hair is drawn back from her face and tied
with a blue ribbon behind her head. She looks angelic.’
• This is not quite the vision that we expect. The impression we get of
this formidable woman right from the beginning of Losers is supplied
by Andy. He informs us that Mrs Wilson ‘keeps Hannah on the hop’
for little reason other than to exert her authority and position. Andy
paints a cynical picture of a pious old woman who is suspicious and
manipulative. This description is confirmed once we eventually see
Mrs Wilson and watch her interact with the other characters.
• In truth Mrs Wilson is frightened of losing Hannah and of being left
an isolated, lonely old woman. She doesn’t want Andy to take Hannah
away from her. She doesn’t want to leave the home that she has lived
in all her married life. Her house is her power base. She is
comfortable there and can do as she pleases. As long as she lives
there she is the one who is in control and can thus exert power over
Andy and Hannah. Morally they have to conform to her wishes. This
is perhaps why she feigns illness. As long as she overplays her ‘illness’
she has a stronger hold on Hannah.
• Mrs Wilson is a symbolic representation of the Catholic church. She is
the embodiment of Mother Church. Friel uses this character to
convey the influence that the Catholic church has in this religious
community. We also see the blind obedience that Mother Church
commands from her followers. Mrs Wilson’s demanding illness is an
indication of the unbearable weight of responsibility that the Church
can put on people in the name of religion.
• Mrs Wilson echoes the guilt feelings the Church can elicit from each
individual conscience, the restrictions these impose, the rituals, the
unquestioning belief that all true followers of the Catholic faith
DRAMA