August: Osage County

The second act, which occurs in one long scene, opens in late afternoon after Beverly’s funeral. The house has been straightened and cleaned, presumably by Johnna, who is in the kitchen. The dining room is set for a large family meal. Barbara and Karen, the third Weston sister, are in the dining room. In Beverly’s study, Violet is “relatively sober” (57) with a pill bottle in hand. She talks to a copy of Meadowlark and reads a dedication to herself as she takes pills. In the dining room, Karen prattles happily about how she used to dream about her future husband, but men in real life never measured up. She had looked to Beverly and Bill as examples. Karen had tried to convince herself to love men who treated her badly, blaming herself for their behavior. Then Karen decided that she was enough and that she would be single and focus on herself. After she did that, she met her fiancé Steve, who is a good man. Karen asserts that planning for the future is impossible because the unexpected always happens. As a sign of support, Steve cancelled a big work presentation to be with her at her father’s funeral.