Wit: A Play

A play about a cancer victim and her experiences with treatment as she moves through the medical system. Although it appears to be an indictment of the medical system, and of runaway intellectualism in general, for many of us it can be a celebration of what is possible. While the doctors are cold and unfeeling, they are still doing their best to fight death; there is a kind hearted nurse who assumes the role of caretaker. It could lead us to ask the question about which is more important: a doctor that holds our hand and does nothing to fix us or to teach others the skills; or a doctor that is quite competent, even if a bit cold. I don't think the play answers this question, though the preference of the author comes through. Instead, I show more think there is a lot of room to disagree with the author, and make our own decisions. She leaves enough up in the air to not shove a set answer down your throat. In fact, one of the kindest acts in the entire show was performed by a woman who was herself an intellectual, hard headed and non-compromising. This shows that there is room for both intellectualism and emotion. A good philosophical exploration of a serious question. show less

Margaret Edson’s Wit is an earnest look at how terminal illness affects one’s perspective. Dr. Vivian Bearing, a respected professor and scholar of the works of John Donne, is diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer and has to undergo intense chemotherapy if there is to be any recovery. Her doctor is of course very clinical in his treatment of her, and his protégé is a former student (making for very awkward encounters). During the course of her treatment, Bearing gets sicker and more introspective. The play focuses on Bearing’s assessment of her life and learning as she deals with her imminent death.

Edson’s integration of Donne’s metaphysical poetics is interesting as it transforms the audience from simple spectators to show more students in Bearing’s classroom. We get a lesson in literature as she receives a lesson in life. Bearing’s life has been in the pursuit of learning, truth, and wisdom, but not companionship, so the only people left to guide her through the treatment are the staff of the hospital. At the risk of engaging in too much wordplay, Bearing’s life has too much bearing and not enough distraction. The vignettes we get of her past show that she was offered the choice to expand her horizons beyond literature but stuck with her studies. In the end, the good professor lets a bit of the outside world in as the cancer takes over.

Edson’s writing is interesting in that it breaks a lot of supposed rules about play-writing. Bearing is constantly breaking the fourth wall, there is overlapping dialogue, and there are no real scene or act breaks. That being said, it is a engaging piece of modern literature and a heck of a debut play. Wit still remains Edson’s only written work and she seems content in keeping it that way. I don’t have a lot of other plays sitting around the house to compare it to, but I liked it. It probably works a bit better on stage, but it wasn’t heavy-handed or hokey. All in all, a decent read. show less

"Nothing but a breath--a comma--separates life from life everlasting." This remark by E. M. Ashford, D. Phil. to her student, a young Vivian Bearing, is an early indication in this remarkable play that the story of Vivian's battle with cancer is going to be more than just one of doctors, medicine, sickness, and emotion. It will be a battle of wits and wit, mind and matter, the body and soul of Vivian against the destiny that nature has given her. Like all great plays, the reader is presented with questions, conundrums, and perhaps paradoxes if you will; presented in this case as they involve life and, ultimately, death. But does not all living, whether displayed on stage or lived as one's own life, ultimately involve the question of show more death?

This play is almost a one woman show as Vivian Bearing, Ph. D., professor of literature specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne, is on stage for the whole play. She is surrounded (I hesitate to say supported) by her oncologist and his chief clinician; but she is supported by the primary nurse who develops a bond with her that is unique in the play, for Vivian is alone in this world and must depend on her mind as she experiences "aggressive" cancer treatment. She eventually receives support from her nurse and a touching visit from her former professor and mentor.

Among the questions raised by the play is one that contrasts the medical doctors with Vivian herself as they treat the cancer in a way that mirrors the methods used by Vivian to analyze and dissect the poetry of John Donne. Is it appropriate to treat the patient as a science project, a body that will provide evidence for some future paper? Is she no different than a work of literature? "What a piece of work is a man!" as Hamlet says, but in Wit we see the wonder, but not the humanity. The clinician, who has a vast knowledge of medicine, must refer to his notes to remind himself that his patient is a human being who deserves at least a minimal amount of polite concern. Vivian bears his lack of feeling with her own brittle stoicism. She consoles herself with the thought that "they always . . . want to know more things." But at the same time she buries her true emotions until she is too ill to respond in a way that is able to demonstrate any strength or depth.

She has an epiphany when, upon completion of chemotherapy, she reflects: "I have broken the record. I have become something of a celebrity. Kelekian and Jason are simply delighted. I think they foresee celebrity status for themselves upon the appearance of the journal article they will no doubt write about me." But she immediately realizes that, "The article will not be about me, it will be about my ovaries." She goes on to relish the relief that returning to her hospital room will be, even as the play proceeds and her room slowly begins to resemble the inside of a coffin.

This is a play filled with literary wit. It plays on the difference and the similarity of words and life. At one point Vivian thinks, "my only defense is the acquisition of vocabulary". She is learning and reflecting even as she is slowly losing the battle with cancer. Should we live our lives like Vivian, continually learning and thinking and growing, even as humans we all move closer to our own personal appointments with mortality? This reader says yes! Even so, this play reminds us that the road will be difficult, but that there are ways to face one's destiny that may not be known today. It is the ability to deal with this unknown and the possibilities of tomorrow that make the battle worth engaging and our lives worth living. show less

The main character, Vivian, is a professor of English, who has always prided herself on her intellect at the expense of everything else - indeed, she's taken pains to strip away any hint of sentimentality from her character. Now, though, she is in the last stages of an aggressive cancer, and her intellectual armoury is not providing the solace that she needs. One of the remarkable things about the play is that it manages not to be either sentimental or devastatingly sad, mainly through Vivian's personality, which remains prickly and proud - you can't pity her, despite her awful situation. There's a lot packed into the play's 85 pages and I think its impact will grow the more I think about it.

It's been awhile since a book has made me cry. And, in the end, this one did. Wit is both heart wrenching and inspirational. The central character--Vivian--is diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and undergoes 8 rounds of an experimental treatment at their maximum dosage. Through the course of Vivian's diagnosis and treatment, we see reflections of her life as a Professor of Poetry specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne.

Wit is one of those texts that stops you in your tracks with its raw exploration of Vivian's coming to terms with her cancer and the fact that she is terminal. The focus of the play, however, isn't on Vivian's impending death but rather the focus is on an inspirational exploration of the human spirit as she show more reflects on her life and the choices she made with both acerbity and a dry humor. show less

It's been awhile since a book has made me cry. And, in the end, this one did. Wit is both heart wrenching and inspirational. The central character--Vivian--is diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and undergoes 8 rounds of an experimental treatment at their maximum dosage. Through the course of Vivian's diagnosis and treatment, we see reflections of her life as a Professor of Poetry specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne.

Wit is one of those texts that stops you in your tracks with its raw exploration of Vivian's coming to terms with her cancer and the fact that she is terminal. The focus of the play, however, isn't on Vivian's impending death but rather the focus is on an inspirational exploration of the human spirit as she show more reflects on her life and the choices she made with both acerbity and a dry humor. show less

This play is almost perfect in its ability to discuss life in the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects, The main character, Vivian Bearing is a very exacting professor of 17th Century Poetry concentrating on the John Donne's Holy Sonnets. At the beginning of play she is diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer (there is no stage 5). The only treatment is a research protocol of a combination of drugs over 8 months. The drugs have "pernicious" side effects and she is warned she will have to be tough to take the full course. Well, Vivian Bearing is nothing if not tough. She has chosen as her life's work the study of a poet who can "tie your brain in knots" while trying to understand him. She has been ruthless in the use of her show more considerable wit in trying to inculcate the ability for analysis and the precision of language in her students. Empathy has not been one of her attributes, but now as she is dying, she wishes her doctors could show some for her. Her primary nurse, Susie Monahan, is both competent and empathetic and becomes her lifeline in the hospital as she is regarded by the research doctors to be just a fascinating experiment.

Her ex student, Jason, the research fellow sums up her study of Donne. He says Donne was suffering from "Salvation Anxiety... You know you're a sinner. And there's this promise of salvation, the whole religious thing...It just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. But you can't face life without it... So you write these screwed up sonnets. Everything is brilliantly convoluted. Really tricky stuff...The puzzle takes over. You're not even trying to solve it anymore." Of course Vivian can't solve her life, or death, any more than anyone less brilliant than she can. She just has to get on with doing it. show less