Machinal

In these two episodes, the story moves quickly from the young woman’s wretched life at home with her nagging and stereotypical mother to the woman’s honeymoon. We hear sounds of offstage voices that echo the young woman’s fears and concerns. She moves from trying to oppose her mother’s insistence that she marry to, in Episode 3, to trying to survive her honeymoon, in Episode 4. We do not see her accept the marriage proposal or get married, and are instead moved directly to the honeymoon itself, where the woman’s husband takes on a similar, nagging role to the woman’s mother.

Voices of mothers and children introduce “At Home,” giving context to the cramped feeling of the young woman’s domestic life with her mother. From the outset, the mother nags her daughter about everything from what she is eating to the prospect of getting married. The mother objects to the young woman’s nervous energy, taking offense at her movements and telling her she isn’t too good to take out the garbage: “If it weren’t for garbage cans where would we be?” asks the mother angrily (461-462). At one point, the voices of a mother and little boy, from offstage, interrupt, presenting another modality of parent and child.