Prompt 13: Three Viewings

A relatively apparent connection between the 3 stories that make up Three Viewings, by Jeffrey Hatcher, is the common thread of sorrow seen within each character as they all deal with the loss of their loved ones. After reading all three monologues, we learn these protagonists know the same pain, and we discover the tragedies they once faced that justify their current actions and perspectives. I feel as though these characters are so similar in their individual circumstances, that there must be a more intimate likeness between the characters involved. A commonality so momentous, it holds the ability to connect the 3 on a level deeper than simply “people in mourning”. Emil, MAC, and Virginia didn’t just loose the person or persons that mattered most to them, they lost them abruptly, without any warning, and with no form of closure. Emil’s love was killed in a car accident, MAC accidentally killed her own family, and Virginia’s husband passed on before they expected, and before he could settle his financial affairs. The way in which these characters were separated from those they loved most is a small detail. Yet, it more thoroughly and deeply explains the coincidence of their similarities, and proves a stronger connection than what we may assume at first glance.

The first time I read Three Viewings, I didn’t at all understand what any of these people had to do with one another, yet I noticed the funeral theme and the fact that each character suffers from a great loss. I have now read this play 4 times, and have discovered many physical motifs and connections that explain why these monologues compliment each other. Which has brought me to an underlying theme found in the dramatic action of each character that I feel is the reason they are so deeply affected and suppressed by the fate that has fallen upon them. Emil, MAC, and Virginia have an untamable desire to control what is going on around them. The reason they were each left without the ones they love stemmed from their inability to let things happen and urgency to make things happen. For instance, Emil has to freakishly control when he should approach Tessie rather than just telling her his feelings and giving her the power, an act that may have saved her life if he had. These three monologues are together because the need to control got these characters where they are, and the inability to accept things further is what kept them there. Their similar actions produce similar consequences.