Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers at Anti Essays

The play, “Crimes of the Heart,” written by Beth Henley, is

brilliantly charming, and Henley is completely deserving of her

Pulitzer-Prize for this piece. My mother suggested I read this play

because she says that I am very much like one of the main characters

Lenny Magrath, and she said that I would be able to relate to many parts

of the story. I found that the beginning of the play was somewhat slow

and not very uplifting, but as the play progressed, I found it to be

heart-warming, intriguing, and overall very entertaining.

Henley, being from the South herself, wrote many of her plays in a

small southern town setting. The intended meaning of this play is one

that can be interpreted in many ways, depending on the reader, but what

I believe to be the meaning, that the author was trying to send across,

was to simply share the story of three sisters, who no matter how far

misunderstandings, quarrels, or rages stretch the bonds between them,

the sisters always bounce back to the core of their family which is

love. Though they go through many hardships, including sibling

conflicts, personal problems and the inevitable death of their

grandfather, through everything, family proves to be a very important

key factor in their difficult lives. The bonds formed between the

members of your own family is one of the most “solid” things in life,

and in turn should always be something you can count on.

The plays’ title “Crimes of the Heart,” relates directly to the

play in many key ways that Henley makes evident as the play progresses.

The three sisters, all lead very separate lives and are very individual

in their characters and personalities but all,...