The Children's Hour

One of the headmistresses and founders of the school, Martha is “about the same age as Karen. She is a nervous, high-strung woman” (13). She went to college with Karen and discourages her best friend from marrying Joe. She was raised by her aunt, Mrs. Lily Mortar, who is an overly-dramatic actress with a tendency toward emotional blackmail. Unlike Karen, who most often stays calm and keep her emotions in check, Martha lets her emotions get the best of her. She is angry about her childhood with Mrs. Mortar and does not hold back when confronting her. Whereas Karen looks at the actions of the children logically, before Mary’s lie closes their school, it seems Mary gets under Martha’s skin. In the second act, when Martha and Karen confront Mrs. Tilford, Martha pushes for the libel suit, determined to punish Mrs. Tilford for believing her granddaughter’s lies.

Mary’s accusation also affects Martha deeply, causing her to question her own sexuality and whether the child has, even if accidentally, hit upon the truth. In the third act, she admits to Karen that she has never loved a man and that her feelings for Karen might extend beyond friendship. While Martha’s same-sex attraction might be real or the product of suggestion, she punishes herself for a feeling that she has never acted on. Martha chooses to kill herself rather than further consider what her feelings for Karen really mean, or consider alternate choices for living outside the closet, if she determines that she is a lesbian. When Martha tells Mrs. Mortar that she hates her, her anger goes beyond her unhappy childhood and the fact that she finds her aunt infuriating. Mrs. Mortar voiced and named something essential about Martha that Martha herself had not discovered. Once it was said, it couldn’t be unsaid, and Mrs. Mortar did not return to explain it away. It became a part of Martha’s identity whether she wanted it to or not.

Mary is “fourteen, neither pretty nor ugly. She is an undistinguished-looking girl, except for the sullenly dissatisfied expression on her face” (8). She has been raised by her wealthy grandmother who spoiled and doted on her, and has been angry and difficult since she arrived at school. She lies at the slightest provocation, and although the adults around her know not to trust everything she says, she has a talent for telling the kinds of lies that cannot be responsibly ignored. For instance, when she is caught and punished for lying about the reason she is late to class, she immediately “faints” and claims that she is having a pain in her heart. Although Karen and Martha know that she is lying, they cannot ignore such a potentially serious declaration. Even Mary’s cousin, Dr. Joe Cardin, knows that Mary is lying when he arrives to examine her. Mary also sticks to her lies, even when they are proven to be untrue.

She is a bully to her friends, hurting both Peggy, for refusing to give Mary her savings, and Evelyn, for trying to protect Peggy. She has no concern for consequences, counting on her ability to lie her way out of trouble. She is desperate to leave school and stay home, and when she lands on a lie that convinces her grandmother to keep her out of school, she pushes it, despite the fact that her lie is ruining innocent lives. At the end of the play, Mary’s grandmother no longer has any illusions about her granddaughter after discovering that her claims about Karen and Martha were lies. She tells Karen that she will keep Mary home because Mary is her burden to bear, and in order to make sure Mary can’t inflict her treachery on anyone else. Mary might be portrayed as an entirely evil child, or she might be staged as a selfish girl who does not know what it means to ruin an adult’s life.

Martha’s aunt is “a plump, florid woman of forty-five with obviously touched-up hair. Her clothes are too fancy for a classroom” (5). She is a former actress who has taken up residence at the school by the grace of the niece she raised. As a teacher, Mrs. Mortar is lazy and gives in easily to the students’ flattery. She is given to pithy sayings rather than substance. When Martha and Karen decide it is time for Mrs. Mortar to leave, Martha presents a rather generous offer to fund her trip abroad to London so she can work on the stage again. But Mrs. Mortar becomes angry, lashing out and accusing Martha of having romantic feelings for Karen. Whether Mrs. Mortar’s claims come from actual observation or an attempt to insult her niece, she is fully aware of the consequences Martha would face should such claims become known. When Mrs. Mortar reappears in Act III, it becomes apparent that during the libel suit, she refused to respond and address the remarks that were the core of the defense’s support of Mary’s lies. She returns only because she has no money. Mrs. Mortar is silly and self-absorbed, and in her last exchange with Martha, Martha tells Mrs. Mortar that she hates her. She never receives the apology she demands.

Mary’s grandmother and Joe’s aunt, Mrs. Tilford is “a large, dignified woman in her sixties, with a pleasant, strong face” (32). She is very wealthy and is raising her granddaughter, Mary. Although Mrs. Tilford dismisses Mary’s dramatic lies, such as her claims about her heart or her assertions that the headmistresses are singling her out, she does stand by Mary when she claims to have seen Karen and Martha kissing. For Mrs. Tilford, who has spoiled her granddaughter, Mary is a good child with a tendency toward the dramatic. She refuses to listen when Karen says, “Your Mary’s a strange girl, a bad girl” (51), replying, “I was waiting for you to say that, Miss Wright” (51), as if Karen is simply attacking Mary’s character for her own protection. Even as Karen and Martha pick Mary’s lie apart by pointing out the locations of their bedrooms and the lack of a keyhole on Karen’s door, Mrs. Tilford wavers only to grasp at her determination to believe her granddaughter. Rosalie denies Mary’s claim several times before giving in to Mary’s pressure, something which should have called her statement into question. But Mrs. Tilford, invested in her granddaughter’s innocence, refuses to believe that Mary would deliberately spread lies about something she should know nothing about. At the end, discovering that her granddaughter has lied and she has ruined two lives in vain nearly kills her. She insists that her conscience will never be clear, and she must live out her days with Mary, who has become her self-punishment.

Karen’s fiancé and Mary’s cousin, Joe “is a large, pleasant-looking, carelessly dressed man of about thirty-five” (16). Joe supports Karen relentlessly, even speaking out against his own family. Whether this is the product of love or a manifestation of a sense of duty is unclear. Joe treats Martha kindly, working to win her over even though he knows she opposes his marriage to Karen. Unlike Martha, he does not take Mary seriously. To him, however, Mary has “always been a honey” (22), and is simply spoiled. When Mrs. Tilford warns him not to marry Karen, he becomes angry and defends her without question. He stands with not only Karen but Martha, as well, throughout the lawsuit. In the third act, Joe visits the two women daily, once they have sequestered themselves in their empty school. Joe is ready to give up the life he has made for himself in order to protect Karen and Martha. Karen prods him until he finally asks the question that suggests that he harbors doubt about Karen’s relationship with Martha. Although Joe’s actions have shown nothing but loyalty, Karen uses this small admission to let him go. She insists that he stay away from her for two days to make a decision. Although the play does not show the result of this suggestion, Karen is certain that he will not return.

Described as a “fattish girl with glasses” (7), Rosalie does not like Mary Tilford. However, she seems to get along with Mary’s friends, as Evelyn is cutting Rosalie’s hair at the beginning of the play. When Karen decides to move Mary into Rosalie’s room, Mary asserts, “Rosalie hates me” (23), and Karen replies, “That’s a very stupid thing to say. I can’t imagine Rosalie hating anyone” (23). This implies that Rosalie generally gets along with her schoolmates, at least as far as her teachers are concerned. She has, however, made a mistake, which Mary has discovered and uses to blackmail her. She borrowed Helen’s bracelet without asking and forgot to return it, causing the bracelet to be presumed stolen. Mary uses this information to force Rosalie to move all of her things when they are switching rooms. Peggy worries that Rosalie will tell the adults about the erotic book they are hiding, suggesting that Rosalie is a tattletale or at least has a big mouth. In the second act, when Rosalie has been pulled from school and is spending the night at Mary’s house, she attempts to stand her ground against Mary. When Mary tries to dangle what she knows about the reasons for the school closing in exchange for another secret, Rosalie claims, “I think curiosity is very unladylike, anyhow. I have no concern for your silly secrets” (42). But when Mary needs someone credible to substantiate her lies about Karen and Martha, she once again blackmails Rosalie into saying that she saw the two women kissing and told Mary. Rosalie is gullible and sick with guilt over the bracelet, believing Mary when she claims that she will go to the police.

One of the girls at the school and a third in the trio made up of Peggy, Evelyn, and Mary, Peggy tells Mrs. Mortar that she aspires to be the wife of a lighthouse keeper when she grows up. Peggy is a follower and did not become a rule breaker until Mary arrived at school and exerted her influence. While Mary responds to the punishment she is given as a challenge, Peggy accepts the headmistress’s word as law, just as most children at the school do. Peggy worries about consequences; when she and Evelyn are caught eavesdropping, she apologizes profusely. At the end of the first act, Peggy indicates that her family is not nearly as wealthy as Mary’s or those of the other girls at school. She has been denying herself movies and candy in an effort to save up for a bike. Despite the fact that she follows Mary’s lead, she bravely stands up for herself when Mary demands that she hand over her savings so Mary can take a taxi. She gives in when Mary applies physical force, but tries hard to resist.

A student at Martha and Karen’s school for girls, Evelyn is part of the friend trio made up of herself, Peggy, and Mary. She lisps and has no talent for sewing, as demonstrated by the misshapen and far too short dress that she has attempted to make for her sewing class. Like Peggy, Evelyn did not break rules until she met Mary. She is concerned about consequences and becomes afraid of getting in trouble when Mary breaks a vase. Evelyn expresses regret to Mary for eavesdropping, and Mary retorts, “Ah, you’re always sorry about everything” (25), implying that Evelyn is not a natural troublemaker. With Peggy, Evelyn tells Mary what they overheard. When Rosalie shows up at Mary’s grandmother’s house, Mary expresses her disappointment that it is Rosalie rather than Evelyn, suggesting that perhaps Mary prefers Evelyn to Peggy. Despite the fact that Mary obviously wants to spend time with Evelyn, even outside the confines of the school, when Evelyn tries to stop Mary from hurting Peggy at the end of Act I, Mary slaps her face, causing her to cry.