Lillian Hellman was born in New Orleans on June 20, 1905 and died in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1984. She married Arthur Kober in 1925 and divorced in 1932. She was also romantically involved for most of her life with the mystery novelist, Dashiell Hammet.
An
accomplished writer, Hellman was also a screenwriter, dramatist, editor, and
political activist for social justice.
She gained success and infamy for her first play, The Children’s Hour. The play dealt with a young girl’s accusation
of lesbianism against her teachers, an extremely hushed topic at the time. This was later made into a movie starring
Audrey Hepburn. Other famous works of
hers are The Little Foxes and Watch on the Rhine. It was one of the first extremely successful
anti-nazi plays in America and was made into a film in 1943. Hellman received the New York Drama Critics’
Award in 1941 for Watch on the Rhine and received the same award for Toys
in the Attic in 1960. Toys in
the Attic also won the National Book Award in 1970. Three autobiographical works have been
written by Hellman; An Unfinished Woman, Pentimento, and Scoundrel
Time. Pentimento was made
into the film “Julia”, which told the
story of her smuggling money to the anti-nazi resistance in Russia. Scoundrel Time concerned the haggling
of her and her friends during the 50’s and 60’s by the government for their
political connections.
Aside from writing, Lillian
Hellman was also known in politics for her aggressive attitude. She was the founder and head of the
political organization known as the Committee for Public Justice. She was in fact a communist supporter and an
anti-fascist and anti-nazi. To say she
was controversial would be an understatement.
The FBI might say that she was better defined as a leftist or
communist. For a time, she was
considered to be a “threat to national security” by the US Government. Testament to this would be the 307 censored
pages in her FBI file.
Hellman
was tracked and surveyed by informants and the FBI during the 1940’s and
1950’s. This was all due to her support
of Communist groups and affiliations not supported by the US government. Some of these were the Spanish Loyalists
during the Civil War in Spain. Her
screenplay, “North Star”, which came
out during the Second World War, was summarized by the FBI as “A movie which depicts the outrage committed
upon the peaceful people of Russia by the invading armies of Nazi Germany and
those who have sacrificed their homes and themselves in resisting the fascist
hordes”1. This seems
extremely subjective as they are seemingly trying to link Hellman to communism
because in her play the Russians are the good guys and the Germans are bad.
Hellman’s
position was extremely unique, accounting for her thorough secret surveillance.
She was an established author of
national repute. Even J. Edgar Hoover
took a personal interest in the matter and asked for updated comprehensive
reports on her during the communist “witch hunting” days of his
administration. Some of her plays were
blacklisted as being contrary to the political motives of the United
States. During the Eisenhower
Presidency, she was called before the House of un-American Activities. There, she declined to say if she had been
a member of the communist party. A very
famous line of hers is, “I refuse to cut
my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”2.
In
later years, even after she passed away, controversy continued to boil up
around Lillian. The latest stab at her
is in a form of a book, “A Likely Story: One Summer With Lillian Hellman”,
written by Rosemary Mahoney, a former servant.
Ms. Mahoney writes of how vain, cruel, and imperious Hellman was. The book is mostly about the personal, cruel
side of her. A recent book, “The
Stolen Legacy of Anne Frank”, by Ralph Melnick, tells of how procommunist
Hellman really was. According to
Melnick, Lillian and others close to the communist party in theatrical and
movie circles attempted to remove the Jewish characterization of Anne Frank. They wanted to turn her into a universal
icon of persecution. Melnick argues
that Hellman was an anti-Semite and prostalinist who worked hand in hand with
Communism, suppressing Anne Frank’s Jewish heritage as Stalin persecuted Jews
in Russia.
It
seems that one facet of Hellman that all of her critics touch upon is that she
was not as honest as could be. Hellman
filed a suit against Mary McCarthy for having said on a talk show, “every word
Hellman wrote was a lie, including the ‘ands’ and the ‘thes’.”3 Jerry Ludwig, author of a screenplay on
Hellman and Dashiell Hammet (Dash and Lily) said, “you had to work out what was
true and what wasn't true and what was exaggerated and what was
self-serving…she was a liar in many instances.”4 In these past years, Lillian Hellman’s once
radiant reputation has been tarnished further and further. Her literary works such as The Children’s
Hour, and The Little Foxes however, have kept her reputation as one
of the most controversial authors of her day alive even today.
The Children’s Hour is probably the most famous and defining work of Lillian Hellman. It was the play that shot her into fame at the young age of 28 and earned her the respect or disrespect of many. Some of the characters in the play turn out to be very different from who we are initially shown. The others never differ from what we would expect. Mary Tilford, the pivotal character of the play, is a young student at a boarding house for girls. She is wiser, or slyer, than others of her age. Along with an attitude that everyone is out to get her, this will spell trouble for her teachers. Mrs. Amelia Tilford is Mary’s guardian. She is very well off and an extremely conservative, elderly woman. She is also a woman of influence in the town. The fact that her granddaughter is so spoiled is greatly due to her taking Mary so seriously. Karen Wright is a young, hardworking teacher who has tried to make ends meet all throughout her life. She is engaged to be married to Doctor Joseph Cardin. Martha Dobie is Karen’s best friend since college and also a teacher at the school. She guards her friendship with Karen very closely, a point that which tears her apart and one that will result in tragedy later on. She is slightly opposed to the marriage of Karen and Joe. Mrs. Lily Mortar is Martha’s aunt and a teacher at the school. She is very aloof and portrays properness but is certainly not a nice person. She abandons Martha and Karen at their time of need and comes back when her money runs out. These characters and personalities spell an extremely intriguing, tragic play.
The
play sets the trend of what will occur from the very beginning. The setting is at a boarding school for
young ladies where a mischievous young girl, Mary Tilford is quite a handful
for her hard working teachers, Karen and Martha. She pretends to have pains so she can go home but is punished
instead. While waiting for her
punishment she happens to hear Martha Dobie’s aunt tell Martha that she acts
unnatural, implying that she is lesbian.
The talk is precipitated by the fact that Martha always becomes tense or
unhappy whenever talk of her best friend Karen marrying Joe Cardin, a long time
boyfriend, comes up. Mary knows of such
things as homosexuality because of a book she is reading behind the teachers’
backs.
Mary Tilford runs away to
her grandmother after having stolen a fellow student’s money. She is desperate to stay home and acts sweet
and innocent to win over her grandmother.
After her grandmother says she must go back to boarding school. Anticipating severe punishment, she
fabricates a story of lesbianism to get her two female teachers into trouble,
and to get herself out of school. Her
guardian and grandmother, Mrs. Amelia Tilford is convinced and becomes truly concerned
for the children of the boarding school.
She calls the parents of the other children in the school, and soon the
entire school has emptied out. Within a
day, all of the students are moved out and nine years of hard work by the two
teachers is in shambles. The two
initially wish to confront Mrs. Tilford for what she has done and for the lies
she has spread. The elderly woman is
extremely tense having the two females in the house, demonstrating the fact
that the topic was not something commonplace or acceptable at the time. Karen, her fiancé, and Martha are absolutely
livid at the mention that Mary, the young, troublesome bully of a girl has made
the accusation. She is confronted by
the four full grown adults, but once again bullies a fellow classmate into
lying for her to support the false story.
The two teachers accused of being lesbian decide to file a libel suit
against Mrs. Tilford because she has absolutely destroyed their lives. The teachers lose in court though. Simply an
accusation of this nature was obviously enough to destroy someone at that time
in history.
After the court case Karen
sees that an impassable rift has been raised between
her and Joe Cardin and therefore calls off the
marriage. This occurs after he asks her
to truly let him know the truth concerning the accusations. Him having such a thought in his head
indicates to Karen that a marriage between them would never last. Joe is insistent in that he will love her
and marry her, but deep down Karen realizes that this marriage can never
be. She tells him to take a two-day
leave from her and think it over. She
knows that the lingering trace of suspicion will prevent him from marrying
her. This in the long run will be for
the better though.
Martha’s life ends in
violent tragedy. Since the seed of
suspicion has been planted in her, she begins to think that she really does
love her best friend Karen in a different way.
She confesses to Karen that she realizes why she has never loved a
man. It may be possible that Martha is
shocked to the core when she discovers who she really is because of the
repressed environment she lives in during the 1930’s, the setting of the
book. It was so socially unacceptable
that her conscious self might have repressed it as impossible. This tears Karen and Martha apart, and ends
when Martha commits suicide. At the end
of the play, Mrs. Tilford visits Karen to tell her that Mary and her friend
have confessed to their lie. The
elderly woman is extremely sorrowful and says she is willing to give anything
to Karen to repent for the mistakes that were made. The two reconcile, but we are left with a scene of Karen sitting
alone in an empty schoolhouse, the picture of the results of social stigmatism.
The role of women is paramount in the play simply because of the nature of the topic dealt with. Almost all of the characters are women as well. The subject of lesbianism was a hushed topic at the time, but it was nonetheless something that many people knew about.
Had Mary Tilford’s life been expanded upon after the play, we would probably have seen someone a bit more mature. We might also have seen someone who becomes psychologically unstable considering she has caused a person’s death at such a young age. Karen Wright learns that tragedy results when the established order is disturbed, even if it is a lie. I don’t believe any of the other characters learned any moral, philosophical, or ethical lessons. Mrs. Tilford is repentant in the end not because she has ruined two lives, but because it turns out she ruined them because of a lie. Had the charge of lesbianism been true Mrs. Tilford would have remained quite satisfied. The play did not teach me, as the reader, any lessons except that a small lie can go a long way. What happens in the story would most likely not have the same drastic effect today. There is a great deal more tolerance or nonchalance nowadays. In a small town such as in the story, the effects would probably be greater. However, in a city such accusations wouldn’t even be noticed today.
The
play can surely be considered a classic.
A classic is a work that endures changes in time, standards, and the
opinions of society. The subject dealt
with in a classic is still relevant for decades and centuries after it has been
introduced. I believe that this play, The
Children’s Hour, is a classic in the sense that it is striking how human
the characters are. Values have changed
today in the sense that lesbianism would not induce the reactions today that
were induced back in the 1930’s, but some other risqué topic would do the
same. Basic human reactions to risqué topics today are just the same as they
were when the play was first written.
The
Children’s Hour was made into a movie in 1936 titled, These Three. In 1962 it was
made into a movie of the same name, starring Audrey Hepburn. This later movie received 5 Academy Award
nominations. I saw this movie and found
it to be watchable. With very few exceptions,
I personally do not enjoy very old movies, especially those that are black and
white. This movie fit that category but
it was not as I had predicted it. This
may have been due to the fact that I had already read the book and therefore
knew what to watch for so as to understand the plot. Had I not read the book I would most likely have found the movie
to be yet another dull, old movie. I
would give this book 3 stars for the plot and the very human acting and
emotions. The technical aspect of this
movie takes a few stars away.
1
Herbert Mitgang, Dangerous dossiers: exposing the secret war against
America’s greatest authors. New York, 1988,
http://dept.eglish.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/hellman-per-fbi.html
2
Sharon O’Brien, Oppressed by an Idol. New York Times on the web,
November 5,
1998,
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb? getdoc+site+site+86302+0+
wAAA+oppressed%7Eby%7Ean%7Eidol
3
Luane Lee, Hammett & Hellman meet Shepard & Davis. Scripps
Howard News Service, May 20,1999, http://www.nandotimes.com
4
Ibid
Bernstein,
Richard. “An Unfinished Reputation: Reassessing Lillian Hellman” New York
Times on the web. November 12, 1998,
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fast
web?getdoc+site+site+64076+0+wAAA+reassessing
Hellman,
Lillian, Six Plays By Lillian Hellman. Vintage Books, New York, 1979
Lederer,
Katherine. Lillian Hellman. Twayne, Boston, 1979.
Lee,
Luane, “Hammett & Hellman meet Shepard & Davis” Scripps Howard News
Service. May 20,1999, http://www.nandotimes.com
Melnick,
Ralph, “Park Avenue Stalinist?” New York Times on the web. November 16,
1997,
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+site+80590+0+w
AAA+ park%7Eavenue%7Estalinist
Mitgang,
Herbert, Dangerous dossiers: exposing the secret war against America’s
greatest authors. 1988, http://dept.eglish.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/hellman-per-fbi.html
O’Brien,
Sharon, “Oppressed by an Idol” New York Times on the web. November 5,
1998, http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/b
in/fastweb?getdoc+site+site+86302 +0+wAAA+oppressed%7Eby%7Ean%7Eidol
Rollyson,
Carl. Lillian Hellman: Her Legend and Her Legacy. St. Martin's Press,
New York, 1988.
Wright,
William, “Why Lillian Hellman Remains Fascinating” New York Times.
November 3, 1996,
http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/hellman-today.html