Wit

Edson has Vivian break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. How does this affect the audience’s relationship to Vivian? How would the play be different if it were more traditional, i.e. if Vivian pretended that the audience did not exist? 

Dr. Ashford tells Vivian that John Donne’s “Holy Sonnet Six” shows that death is “nothing but a breath—a comma—that separates life from life everlasting…Life, death. Soul, God. Past, present. Not insuperable barriers, not semicolons, just a comma” (15). Does Wit view death in the same way? Explain your answer. 

Pick two instances of John Donne’s poetry from the play and explain how the poems help communicate one of the play’s major themes. 

At the beginning of Wit, Vivian tells the audience that she has under two hours to live, so viewers know that the play will end with Vivian’s death. How does knowing the end of the play from the very beginning affect how the audience experiences the play? How does this foreshadowing also affect the audience’s relationship with the play’s characters?  

One of the central themes of Edson’s play is the wholehearted pursuit of knowledge. Using examples from the text, explain how the pursuit of knowledge can be both noble and harmful. 

As Vivian becomes more ill, she starts to lose autonomy. In other words, the worse Vivian’s cancer becomes, the less freedom and independence she has. How does Vivian’s decision to go “no code” restore some of her autonomy? Be sure to include a discussion of Vivian’s lecture on Donne’s “Holy Sonnet Five” (Scene 8, 48-50) in your answer. 

One of the major motifs of the play is the idea that “nothing but a breath—a comma—separates life from life everlasting” (14). Does the ending of Wit support or challenge that idea? Explain your reasoning with examples from the text. 

Compare and contrast Susie and Jason’s characters. How do they represent different approaches in the practice of medicine?