The Father

At the end of the second act of The Father, the Captain hurls a burning lamp at Laura. His anger overcomes him, and his violent words turn into violent actions. The lamp becomes a symbol of the moment when he snaps, the attack showing that he has lost his grip on reality. The Captain's verbal rage at the women in the house is now a hot war.

More broadly, the lamp reflects the Captain's mental state. The purpose of a lamp is to cast light—to expose the reality of a room. By extinguishing the lamp in a violent fashion, the Captain descends into the darkness of his obsession, paranoia, and misogyny. He is alone and he is lost, unable to see a way out. The destruction of the lamp plunges the Captain into a literal and a figurative darkness.

The Captain's violent behavior has severe consequences: By attacking Laura with the lamp, the Captain has opened himself up to legal sanction. The legal system that typically protects men like the Captain can now punish him.