Crimes of the Heart

Lenny loves to make wishes on her birthday cakes. When the play opens, the fact that only she remembers it’s her birthday implies that her wish might not come true—or that she might not even get a chance to make it. She is shown sticking a candle into a cookie, just to make sure that she’ll get a chance to make a wish. The comedy surrounding Meg’s and Babe’s furtive attempts to secure a cake also serves as a chance to show their generosity. Ultimately, the cake becomes the symbol of hope around which they gather, because it appears to lead to the granting of Lenny’s wish in the final pages.   

The saxophone is a symbol of misguided hope. Babe buys it hoping that it will turn her into a musician and allow her to attend music school. The Magrath sisters often take similar actions, hoping that they can make something true by taking a first, irrational step. Just as Babe doesn’t become a musician simply by owning a saxophone, Meg does not become strong simply by looking at pictures of skin diseases. Lenny decides that her deformed ovary means that no one will want her, so she then acts as if no one wants her. At each step, they hope that they are right about their actions, because the alternatives are too painful to contemplate.