THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS

'The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds' is a play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher (many of his works focus on science or youth), in 1964, and was the 1971 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, an Obie, and the New York Drama Critics Award. The play's world premiere was staged in 1964 at the Alley Theatre in Houston. It was adapted into a film in 1972 directed by Paul Newman and starring his wife Joanne Woodward and daughter Nell Potts. The play was also conducted Off Broadway.

Contents

Plot

Synopsis

Characters

Main Characters

Minor Characters

Plot

The play revolves around the dysfunctional Hunsdorfer family consisting of Beatrice, a single mother and her two daughters, Ruth and Tillie who cope with their abyssmal statuses in life. The play is a lyrical drama reminiscent of Tennessee Williams' style.

Synopsis

Matilda "Tillie" Hunsdorfer prepares her experiment for the science fair, but is constantly thwarted by her mother, Beatrice's, self-centeredness and abuse and her sister, Ruth, who submits to her mother's will. Over the course of the play, Beatrice constantly stamps out any opportunities Tillie has of succeeding, due to her own lack of success in life. During this time, the paths of the three characters diverge, with Tillie winning the science fair through perseverance, Ruth regaining her individuality and finally standing up to Beatrice, and Beatrice, driven to the edge by her deep-seated enmity towards everyone, killing Tillie's pet rabbit, Peter, and then wallowing in her own perceived insignificance. However, Tillie, in secret, still believes that everyone is valuable, just like the atom.

Characters

This play features an small array of main characters with varying personalities. These variations and the actions of the characters induce conflicts with one another, allowing the characters to develop thoroughly, effectively making their development a driving force in the plot of the play.

Main Characters

'Matilda "Tillie" Hunsdorfer'- The main protagonist of the play. A tomboyish character, she copes with her life by immersing herself in science, hoping to reach a philosophical epiphany through it. She is openly insulted and abused by her mother, Beatrice, due to her willingness to be an individual and repeated defiance towards her wish of total control over the family. Due to this, she receives the brunt of the abuse. Tillie also owns a rabbit named Peter.
'Ruth Hunsdorfer'- Ruth is Tillie's younger sister. A confused adolescent, she looks to others for advices, but often gains this insight from Beatrice. Although abused as well, she often bends to her mother's will, preventing her from feeling the full extent of the abuse by putting her into her mother's favor. She also takes a liking to Tillie's pet rabbit, Peter, even to the point where she threatened to kill her mother if she harmed him.
'Beatrice Hunsdorfer'- Beatrice is Tillie's and Ruth's mother. A single mother whose life has gone awry, she copes with it through self-loathing, cynicism, drug abuse, and by verbally and physically abusing her two daughters. As the main antagonist, Beatrice is mainly narcissistic, domineering, and lethally short-tempered, which is only worsened by the aforementioned drug abuse. However, she is quite sympathetic as her past reveals that her life is steadily going downward, with the experiences often forcing her to self-destruction.

Minor Characters

'Mr. Goodman'- Tillie's science teacher. He serves as a mentor to Tillie. Mr. Goodman is mentioned on many occasions, but never seen, although the dialogue often implies that he is the only positive role model in Tillie's life.
'Nanny'- A board in the Hunsdorfer household. Silent throughout, she doesn't contribute much except another burden to the already-stressed out Beatrice.
'Beatrice's Father'- A deceased vegetable vendor. After his wife, Beatrice's mother, died, he raised Beatrice on his own. Although he had a lowly status, Beatrice holds him in high regard, even to the point of saying that he "makes up for all the men in the world" and smiled at the prospect of her daughters meeting him.
'Janice Vickery'- Tillie's rival at the science fair. Her experiment involved boiling the skin off a dead cat so she may use its skeleton. Oddly enough, she plans to use a dog in her next science fair project.