The Night of the Iguana

Shannon, the play’s 35-year-old protagonist, is described as a nervous man “who has cracked up before and is going to crack up again—perhaps repeatedly” (330). When Shannon arrives at Costa Verde, he brings trouble and uproar with him. He only held his position as an Episcopal minister for a year after graduating from the seminary before he was locked out of his church. That year is implied to have occurred many years earlier than the narrative present, but Shannon clings still to his status as a clergyman and keeps the title of “Reverend” attached to his name, demonstrating that he sees the ministry as an integral part of his identity. Shannon is also cursed with a sense of exceptionalism, believing strongly in his own essential piety and the inherent value of his insight. When he gives in to temptation and has sex with young girls under his power or care, these transgressions clash so thoroughly with his belief in his own righteousness that he becomes abusive to the complicit girls and then pursues a path toward self-destruction and recurring mental health crises.

Ironically, Shannon believes that his insight and experience are so unique and valuable that his tour group should understand that his rogue travel choices supersede the ones on their expected itinerary. When Shannon feels the start of a  new mental health crisis, he personifies his struggles as the “spook” (335), separating his unethical behavior from his sense of self by creating the idea of a  demon that possesses him. From the perspective of his religious upbringing, Shannon’s sexual desire is his greatest weakness. When he gives in to temptation, he seduces women who are too young to tempt him to fall in love, and this dynamic is revealed when Shannon asserts to Charlotte that he is incapable of love. Shannon is enamored of Hannah, but because she is untouchable, there is no risk that she will love him back. Shannon also offers little gratitude toward Maxine for her constant help, but when he finally accepts her offer to stay at Costa Verde and manage the hotel with her, he takes the first step toward making better decisions with his life.

Hannah, an unexpected guest at the hotel, first enters to discover Shannon beating his fist against a wall in a private display of angst. She is “remarkable-looking—ethereal, almost ghostly” (338), and Williams also notes that she “suggests a Gothic cathedral image of a medieval saint” (338). This description imbues her with a sense of remoteness, as though she is above the concerns and desires of mere mortals, and Shannon is immediately taken with her seemingly angelic appearance, elevating her as a Madonna figure to contrast with his view of Maxine as an embodiment of promiscuity.

Hannah is traveling with her grandfather, whose wheelchair she pushes up the hill herself because she is unable to pay anyone to help her. When Maxine meets Hannah, she has no illusions that the woman is angelic, and she immediately recognizes that Hannah is broke. Although Hannah’s kindness and sense of morality are genuine, she is quick to embellish or stretch the truth for the sake of survival so that she and her grandfather can sleep indoors for one more night. When Maxine shows obvious reluctance to take on the responsibility of such an aged guest, Hannah describes him as “ninety-seven years young” (349), staunchly denying his visible frailty and delivering the false claim that the wheelchair is only needed because of a minor and temporary injury. Hannah is a talented artist who makes money by painting portraits and selling her works to tourists. She also makes the dubious claim that this is the first time that she and her grandfather have run completely out of money, reassuring Maxine that, with the presumption of access to the hotel’s guests at dinner, Hannah will generate some income that night by selling her art. Although Maxine is clearly envious of Shannon’s apparent attraction to Hannah, Hannah is both literally and metaphorically untouchable. She also struggles with mental illness, and she generously helps Shannon to cope with his own internal struggles. However, she is uncomfortable with being touched and avoids becoming emotionally close to anyone. When her grandfather dies at the end of the play, Hannah is left alone, and it is uncertain whether she will continue to remain alone.

While Nonno’s full name seems a bit on the nose for the one character who dies in the play, “Coffin” is also borrowed from the playwright’s father’s name, Cornelius Coffin Williams, although the inspiration for Nonno’s character came primarily from Williams’s maternal grandfather. At the age of 97, Nonno is aware that he is nearing the end of his life. He is a poet—“the oldest living and practicing poet” (353), according to Hannah’s unverifiable claim—and his final aspiration is to complete his last poem. Nonno relies on a wheelchair, and his faculties may be fading, as his hearing and vision have become so poor that he can no longer write his poems down or recite them, but he does not hesitate to follow Hannah’s lead in reassuring Maxine of his unconvincing spryness. Nonno’s memory is beginning to fade, and he is starting to become confused, as is demonstrated by his shouted misunderstandings, including an exchange when he mistakes Shannon for Hannah. This moment provides a brief comedic interlude, but his unraveling sense of self is also designed to strike a far more serious note. Nonno raised Hannah from childhood after her parents died in a car accident, which means that when Nonno dies at the end of the play, Hannah is left completely alone for the first time in her life. However, the manner of Nonno’s death is as ideal as death can be, for he completes his poem in a seaside hotel and then simply falls asleep. But as the play’s conclusion indicates, even such a peaceful, complete, and anticipated end leaves Hannah lost, and Williams suggests that no one can ever be fully prepared to lose a loved one.

Miss Fellowes is a matronly woman with Shannon’s tour group from a Baptist women’s college in Texas, and she has been charged with chaperoning Charlotte Goodall, a 16-year-old singing prodigy. Her efforts to protect and shelter Charlotte have recently proven unsuccessful, given that Charlotte had sex with Shannon two nights ago, Miss Fellowes is now on a rampage to punish Shannon for his actions. Charlotte and Miss Fellowes, along with the rest of the tour, are a connection to the stark “real world” of the United States that will await Shannon if he returns, and their baleful presence always adds tension to the narrative. First, the women are angered by Shannon’s deviations from their itinerary and their issues, as he has taken them very far away from their limited comfort zone and water that they can stomach. When confronted with Shannon’s sexual misconduct with Charlotte, Miss Fellowes spends much of the day contacting a judge in Texas to prosecute Shannon for statutory rape, bypassing any attempt to navigate the legal system in Mexico. Additionally, Charlotte invokes the puritanical leanings of Christian-based morality in the U.S. when she confronts Shannon and demands that he marry her. In the end, both women leave when a new tour guide arrives, and all of their rage and bluster amount to very little in Shannon’s life.