Professor Vivian Bearing vs John Donne in the Play Wit by Margaret Edson

Vivian’s physical suffering is caused by her illness, which slowly deteriorates her identity. In W;t, Vivian’s physical character is enhanced by her power through Language and it’s discourse. As time progresses, cancer slowly cause’s her to suffer physically, and therefore inverts her powerful identity. On page 25, Vivian’s body is clinically deconstructed, the

Donne conveys how religion is a central idea through the use of many religious references throughout the holy sonnets. In ‘Death Be Not Proud’, Donne makes a religious reference to Jesus, ‘Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee’, expressing how religion was an underlying theme when handling many issues. When the two texts are studied in alliance, it allows the responder to draw a better understanding of the themes presented in ‘W;t’. This theme, science VS religion, has been emphasised due to the contrasts between Vivian and Donne and their context.

John Donne’s poems are similar in their content. They usually point out at same topics like love, lust, sex and religion; only they are dissimilar in the feelings they express. These subjects reflect the different stages of his life: the lust of his youth, the love of his married middle age, and the piety of the latter part of his life. His poem,’ The Flea’ represents the restless feeling of lust during his youthful days but it comes together with a true respect for women through the metaphysical conceit of the flea as a church in the rhythm of the sexual act.

In the play “Wit,” highly esteemed professor of seventeenth century poetry, Vivian Bearing, finds out that she has stage four terminal cancer. The Doctor who tells her the diagnosis, does so in a very clinical and non-emotional way; he appears to describe her cancer and treatment comparable to how her college literature professor described her punctuation in her poem. He explained everything in medical terminology, which was not understandable by those outside of the medical field. A research study showed that even college educated patients struggled with understanding the meaning of certain words used by medical staff and based on these results it is recommended that Doctors should adjust their language to match the patient's cognition

Throughout the entire play, Vivian dissects the medical banter between Dr. Kelekian and Jason. By doing so, Vivian is able to create meaning behind the language that Kelekian and Jason uses at her. This is first seen with Vivian’s aside that occurs simultaneously with Kelekian’s explanation of her cancer. Vivian decides that she “must read something about cancer. Must get some books, articles” (page 8). She continues on to dissecting medical terms with the definition of each component of the word. This can be seen with the word antineoplastic. “Anti: against. Neo: new. Plastic. To mold. Sharpening. Antineoplastic. Against new sharpening” (page 9). Words help fuel her life. By understanding the words used to describe her, Vivian could stand tall against her treatment. Whenever she didn’t know a word she would “look them up. It has always been my custom to treat words with respect. I can recall the time-the very hour to

At the opening of the play, we learn that Vivian Bearing has been diagnosed with a terminal cancer. As she was chatting with a nurse about her illness, she realized that death could be here sooner rather than later. Vivian starts looking back on her life, and what she wishes she could have changed. As a college professor she took up studying and analyzing plays, particularly John Donne, and doesn’t seem to care all that much about her students. As the play goes on, kindness starts to become an attribute that Vivian craves more and more.

A text is essentially a product of its context, as its prevailing values are inherently derived by the author from society. However, the emergence of post-modern theories allows for audience interpretation, thus it must be recognised that meaning in texts can be shaped and reshaped. Significantly, this may occur as connections between texts are explored. These notions are reflected in the compostion of Edson’s W;t and Donne’s poetry as their relationship is established through intertextual references, corresponding values and ideas and the use of language features. Edson particularly portrays key values surrounding the notions of the importance of loved based relationships, and death and resurrection: central themes of Donne’s Holy Sonnets

However, when Dr. Posner seems to exhibit this same attitude towards her when he is discussing her treatment, she begins to wish she hadn’t been so difficult because she now wishes that he would be more personal and accommodating towards her. It is here that Vivian really begins to re-evaluate her life and choices and further develops her attitude. She becomes a bit more lighthearted, even sharing a laugh here and there, and develops a close relationship with her nurse, Susie. After consciously having no visitors, Dr. Ashford comes to see her. It is revealed through flashback that Dr. E.M. Ashford is the one person who Vivian’ regards with the upmost care and respect. She is a former professor of Vivian’s, who was very tough on her. Vivian feels as though she helped turn her into the scholar she is today. Her close connection with the professor is apparent when Dr. Ashford becomes her only visitor. By the time she arrives, Vivian is not her former self. She is extremely sick, and very weak. Vivian tells Dr. Ashford that she “feels so bad” and then she begins to cry (1122). Dr. Ashford comforts her, and begins to read a children’s book to Vivian in an attempt to calm her. Through this she manages to lull Vivian asleep. When it is time to go, she leans over to give Vivian a kiss goodbye and leaves. It is after that scene, that Vivian’s heart gives out and she

This is portrayed in the scene in which Vivian goes back to her old college Professor, E.M. Ashford. Vivian’s fear is shown through the use of ellipsis’ as Vivian feels uncomfortable due to the fact that she can no longer hide behind words. Furthermore Vivian’s view on death is also conveyed in this scene as Vivian believes there is far more separating life and death than that of a comma, a breath, as said by E.M Ashford. Death, towards the end of the play, becomes an acceptance for Vivian as she finally embraces the true faith in which Donne had towards an afterlife and overcomes her salvation anxiety. Vivian begins to crave kindness and comfort when she never has before, this conveys Vivian’s change of heart. Through the quote ““It”: such a small word. In this case I think “it” signifies being alive” one can see that Vivian no longer feels the pull towards life as she did in the beginning of the play. The audience knows when Vivian is truly ready to die upon Vivian’s stage direction as she “attempts a grand summation” as if trying to conjure up her own ending. She then recites her original interpretation of John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” where only a breath separates life from death. Thus one can observe that through contextual connections that a greater understanding can be obtained in relation to the play Wit by Margaret Edson and the theme of death. Furthermore it is through these

In the movie Wit, English literary scholar Vivian Bearing has spent years translating and interpreting the poetry of John Donne. Unfortunately, she is a person who has cultivated her intellect at the expense of her heart. Both colleagues and students view Bearing as a chilly and unfriendly person lost in her private world of words and mysterious thoughts.

Bearing, a hard teacher of poetry. Vivian could see herself in Kelekian. In their separate fields they both held doctorates. But in each profession there are words that one outside of the field would believe that their meaning of particular words mean something different. The passage, “Insidious means undetectable at an-….Insidious means treacherous” (Edson, 8) Dr. Bearing interrupts Dr. Kelekian because she is used to being around her students, and being known as the one who knows everything. Which is also what she believes to be to in everything. Here, she is still seen as the ‘teacher’ or the one who has more influence and power over the other in this particular moment in the play. The go back and forth on the idea about learning as much as you can, and in the end Vivian wins out. As the chapter progresses we can see Vivian explaining her position and why people should look up to her. “I am, after all, a scholar of Donne’s Holy Sonnets….And I know for a fact that I am tough. A demanding professor. Uncompromising. Never one to turn down a challenge…” (12). This quote sets up the idea that Vivian, as just coming into the hospital, still has the authority and influence over others. She still holds the knowledge above everything else, which is also all that she

Initially, the audience see Vivian as a person who is very uncompromising. The students she taught knew her as harsh, making her an unfavorable teacher. She appeared to not care about the students she taught, and her coldheartedness was reflected in her actions, an example being when one of her students tried to receive an extension on a paper because of the recent death of her grandmother, at this request Vivian concluded “ Do what you will, but the paper is due when it is due.” This impenetrable exterior that Vivian places upon herself discourages the formation of beneficial relationships from being formed in her

Over the course of the play, Vivian reflects on her life through the intricacies of the English language, especially the use of wit in the metaphysical poetry of John Donne. Throughout the play, she recites Donne's Holy Sonnet X, "Death Be Not Proud," while reflecting upon her condition. As a professor, she has a reputation for rigorous teaching methods. She has lived her life alone, is unmarried and without children, her parents are deceased, and she has no emergency contact.

In his first quatrain, Donne approaches “Death” as if it was standing in front of him. In a defiant tone, he tells him “Death be not be proud…” (1). He builds his defiance by telling “Death” that, in spite of what others may have told him, he isn’t “mighty” (2) or “dreadful” (2). The sarcasm climaxes as Donne tells “Death” the reality that those whom he thinks he has slain really aren’t dead, nor can “Death” slay this

Donne's purpose is clear: he is writing to convince himself and society that no matter what denomination one chooses to adhere to, they are all seen as one under the eyes of God. He concludes the