The Outside by Susan Glaspell
Basic Info
The Outside,
written by Susan Glaspell, premiered on December 28, 1917. The play was first
performed by the Provincetown Players at the Playwrights’ Theatre with Glaspell
herself playing the role of Allie Mayo (http://www.provincetownplayhouse.com/theoutside.html). Along with Glaspell’s Trifles and Suppressed Desires, The
Outside was revived in London by the Orange Tree Theatre in 2008. ("Glaspell
Shorts: Trifles, Suppressed Desire, The Outside"). I was
able to access this play when I found the Kindle version of Plays by Susan Glaspell for free on
Amazon.
Basic Plot
The play is set in an abandoned life-saving station, now
inhabited by Mrs. Patrick and Allie Mayo, her employee. As the play opens in
the station, two life-savers and their captain try to revive a dead man. Mrs.
Patrick is frustrated at the intrusion into her home, but the Captain is
determined to save the man. After Mrs. Patrick leaves, the men realize that
they cannot save the man and exit.
When Mrs. Patrick realizes that the corpse is still in her
house, she starts to pursue the men. Then Allie Mayo, who never speaks, stops
Mrs. Patrick and tries to convince her that she cannot keep living in
bitterness. The life-savers’ attempt to revive the dead man sparks Allie’s new
belief that life will triumph. Allie Mayo reveals that her husband went to sea
and never returned, while it is unclear what happened to Mrs. Patrick’s
husband. Allie maintains that Mrs. Patrick needs to choose life, but Mrs.
Patrick resists. At the height of their debate, the men return for the corpse.
After they leave, Mrs. Patrick mocks Allie and the life-savers. However, in the
final moment of the show, Allie’s message seems to pervade her.
Dramaturgical Choice # 1
One noteworthy dramaturgical choice is Glaspell’s decision
to set the story in a life-saving station. The setting’s original pupose
reinforces Allie’s argument that Mrs. Patrick must choose life over bitterness.
Speaking of the woods as a metaphor, she says, “But I’ll tell you something! They fight too. The woods! They fight
for life the way that Captain fought for life in there!” The life-savers’
attempt to revive the dead man probably would not have happened in this house
if not for the house’s background. This is significant, since this event is
what revives Allie’s belief in life.
It seems that this place, like Mrs. Patrick, has a
choice—life or decay. Glaspell seems to support this in the stage directions,
describing the live-saving station as “a place which no one cares either to
preserve or change.” Since the house’s old purpose is abandoned, the
life-saving house is frozen in a state between life and something else. When
the life-savers try to revive the man in the house, they are giving it a chance
to return to its life-saving purpose.
Dramaturgical Choice # 2
Another significant dramaturgical choice is Glaspell’s
decision not to reveal what happened to Mrs. Patrick’s husband. At first, Allie
Mayo assumes that Mr. Patrick is dead. The following dialogue is an important
moment:
Mrs. Patrick: (with a
cry of the hurt) Dead? My husband’s not dead.
Allie Mayo: He’s not?
(slowly understands) Oh.
Whatever happened to Mrs. Patrick’s husband is clearly
important, since her bitter decision to live alone in the life-saving station
is based on this. However, the women never mention the issue again.
I interpret this ambiguity in several different ways. The
fact that Mrs. Patrick never says what happened to her husband could be
connected to the motif of burying that crops up frequently in the women’s
dialogue. Perhaps Mrs. Patrick refuses to reveal her husband’s fate in order to
bury her past. Mrs. Patrick’s dialogue seems to support this when she says,
“Everything that can hurt me I want buried—buried deep.”
Another interpretation of this ambiguity could relate to the
bond between Mrs. Patrick and Allie Mayo. Perhaps since this is something that only
Allie understands, this shows the depth of their connection. Even though Mrs.
Patrick resists Allie’s message, it eventually gets through to her. Maybe this private understanding of such a crucial event helps Mrs. Patrick connect
to Allie’s message of life.
Link & Bibliography
Glaspell, Susan. "The Outside." Plays. 2012.
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