The play Wit by Margaret Edson follows Dr. Vivian Bearing, an English professor diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer, during her treatment at the university’s hospital. Throughout the text, Bearing uses her impressive vocabulary to express...

In literature (novels, folk tales, plays, movies, etc.) one finds presented two forms of so called "coming-of-age" stories. The traditional method is preparation for adulthood. A youth (generally between 10 years old and 20) passes, by some...

In Margaret Edson’s Wit, Jason, Susie, and Professor Ashwood guide Vivian Bearing toward redemption, changing her into a person who can be both intellectual and compassionate. Jason’s cold intellectualism helps Vivian realize her own neglect of...

The play Wit by Margaret Edson addresses one of the most challenging topics that mankind is forced to grapple with: death. For Vivian Bearing though, death had always been more of a subject to study rather than one to face. Death in Vivian’s...

Margaret Edson’s play Wit, devalues the question ‘how are you feeling today?’ by the lack of emotion and the harsh clinical empathy that ruins the effect of the query in order to highlight the professional, physical, mental, and spiritual...

In Margaret Edson’s play W;t, a variety of characters with complex, unique personalities are brought to life. Edson uses vivid imagery and poignant monologues in order to highlight and simultaneously criticize the social structure, doctor-patient...

Existential quandaries remain ingrained within the human condition, where superficial evasions by intellectualizing such concerns are eventually addressed by universal values of humility and compassion within contextual constructs. When confronted...