August: Osage County Lesson Plan

How does Karen respond to the discovery of Steve's behavior with Jean? How does she defend her reaction?

After discovering that her fiancé has been sexually preying on her underage niece, Karen decides to immediately forgive him and return to their life in Florida. Part of her justification is that the situation was not entirely Steve's fault. She says that Jean is "not entirely blameless," though she realizes how bad this sounds. She argues that she's not defending Steve's actions, she's just choosing to accept him despite his imperfections. She says that she is "no angel," and that she has also done things she's not proud of. Her main argument is that the situation is...