Crimes of the Heart

Background of the Play

Beth Henley was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 8, 1952. She completed Crimes of the Heart in 1978. It is the story of three sisters who face tragedy after tragedy. They live in a small town in Mississippi.

Historical Context

Crimes of the Heart takes place after five years of Hurricane Camille. It was a time of significant events in American society. The characters in the play, however, are unmoved by the circumstances of the outside world. They are trapped in their personal life and crises.

Vietnam War

In1974, a war in Vietnam was going on. It also started a civil war in Cambodia. U.S. army was removed from Vietnam in 1973 but America still supported anti-communist forces. Students and other people protested against the war. They were kept unaware of the foreign interests of the U.S. government. The whole society was affected by the casualties. The destruction caused by the war was broadcasted by the media. Due to the frequent television coverage, the Vietnam War was called the “living room war.”

Crises: Food, Energy, Inflation

In 1974, a massive famine swept across Asia, South America, and Africa. People suffered from drought and many other natural disasters. In the industrialized world, people were facing social instability. Due to Arab’s embargo on exports, the U.S. faced economic crises due to its dependency on fuel. American workers lost their jobs. At this time, the West experienced inflation.

Civil Rights

In 1974, there was a movement to improve equal rights amendments. This movement defined the civil rights of women as well.

In Crimes of the Heart, the characters seem unaware of all the events going on at the national level. The absence of prominent historical and political events in the play reflects Henley’s perspectives on national politics.

It reflects life in a small town in the South, where people are more interested in living their personal life. They love sharing their time rather than watching on television what is going on in the world. The world of the characters in the play also seems unaffected by civil rights and other developments. They do not know why the era is called “the era of unprecedented change” in the South.

Crimes of the Heart Summary

Act One

Act 1 starts with Lenny MaGrath putting a birthday candle into a cookie. Chick, her cousin, arrives with depressing news in the paper that Babe, Lenny’s younger sister, has shot her husband. Chick is worried that how will she keep a high head in the town. Chick and Lenny decide to pick up Babe. Chick expresses displeasure with some aspects of MaGrath’s family. She then gives Lenny her birthday present, a box full of candies.

After this, Doc Porter arrives. He is an old boyfriend of Meg, Lenny’s other sister. Chick leaves alone to pick up Babe as Lenny starts a conversation with Doc. Doc gives Lenny the news that her old childhood horse, naming Billy Boy, is struck by lightning and is dead now. Doc leaves to pick up his son from the dentist.

A phone call comes and Lenny picks it up. It says that Zackery, Babe’s husband, is seriously injured and is hospitalized now. When Meg arrives, she and Lenny talk. It reveals that Babe is responsible for her husband’s injury. Babe has shot her husband, and she is in jail now.

Lenny and Meg then discuss Old Granddaddy which creates awkwardness between two sisters. Lenny has been taking serious care of her grandfather. She has been sleeping on a cot in the kitchen to be close to her grandfather. The grandfather is now hospitalized. Lenny also discovers that the singing career of Meg is not going well. For this reason, she has come back from California to Hazlehurst.

Chick comes back home along with Babe. Chick dislikes both Meg and Babe, who does not try to understand the seriousness of the time. Chick and Lenny run as they receive an emergency call from their neighbor. Meg and Babe are left alone at home. They discuss why their mother attempted suicide by hanging her cat along with herself. Babe also talks about the shooting of her husband. They talk about Lenny who has lost her ability to conceive. For this reason, she does not take an interest in men. Earlier, Lenny has dated a man named Charlie from Memphis. The box of candies reminds them of Lenny’s birthday. They decide to order a birthday cake.

Meanwhile, Barnette, Babe’s lawyer, arrives. Babe hides from her lawyer. Barnette gets familiar with Meg as he remembers her old singing days in Biloxi. Barnette explains that he has partially taken Babe’s case. He also reveals that he has a personal feud against Zackery. He informs her that the medical reports show that Zackery had abused Babe, for which she shot him. He then leaves, and Babe comes back. Babe tells Meg that she is protecting Willie Jay, a fifteen-year-old African American boy. Babe and Willie have an affair. She explains to Meg that the shooting happens because she was angry with her husband for threatening and pushing Willie down the steps.

At the end of the act, Babe decides to cooperate with Barnette. Meg and Babe decide to celebrate Lenny’s belated birthday.

Act Two

On the same day in the evening, Barnette interviews Babe. Babe tells him that after she shot her husband, she was frightened and her mouth was dry. She recalls that time and says that she then went to the kitchen to make lemonade. Meanwhile, Zackery calls and says that he has evidence against Babe to destroy her. Babe asks Barnette why he has a personal feud against Zackery. He reveals that Zackery has ruined his father’s life. After this, he leaves to meet Zackery at the hospital.

Next, Lenny enters the scene angrily. She is upset with Meg for lying to the grandfather about her singing career. The old jealousies among sisters come again. Lenny is jealous of Meg because the grandfather has given Meg twelve golden bells, and Lenny and Babe are given only three. These two sisters also recall the hurricane which destroys Biloxi. In that hurricane, Doc’s leg was also hurt. After that, many people were of the view that Meg had deliberately taunted Doc to stay with her which injured him.

Then, Meg enters with a bottle from which she has been drinking. She says that she lied to her grandfather because she couldn’t see him lying miserable and sad. The three sisters go through an old album and start to enjoy one another’s company again. As they decide to play cards, Doc calls, and Meg invites him to come over.

Lenny gets mad at Meg who asks Lenny about Charlie. She also gets angry at Babe for revealing her secret to Meg. Meg does not stop talking about Lenny’s affair with Charlie. It irritates Lenny. She goes upstairs and starts crying. Babe goes and gives her a crying shoulder.

When Doc arrives, he and Meg drink together. They talk about the hurricane and the hard times in the past. Meg reveals her health condition to Doc back in L.A. She lets him know that she almost lost her health mental, and was admitted to the psychiatric ward in the hospital. The two continue with their drink.

Next, Barnette comes. He informs Babe of bad news. He tells Babe that Zackery’s sister, who is already suspicious of Babe, has got photos of Babe with Willie through a detector. Babe gets upset.

At the close of the act, Lenny comes downstairs with news from the hospital. It says that their grandfather has got another stroke.

Act Three

The next morning, Babe lies down in Lenny’s sleeping chamber. Lenny enters, looking tired. After this, Chick’s voice is heard. It reveals that the grandfather is in a coma and does not look like he is alive anymore. Lenny and Chick make a list of those people who they must inform about the grandfather’s situation. Chick possesses a certain dislike regarding MaGrath’s sisters.

When Meg comes home, Lenny and Babe tell her about the grandfather’s health. Meg and Babe try to convince Lenny to contact Charlie and give a second thought to their relationship. Persuaded by her sisters, Lenny goes to call Charlie. Next, Babe shows Meg some photographs, suggestive of Babe’s guilt.

Barnette arrives and says that he has found enough scandalous information about Zackery that would make him drop the case. He intends to keep Babe and Willie’s photos in secret by not exposing Zackery. He plans to send Willie to the North and be safe. With Barnette, Meg also leaves to pick up Lenny’s belated birthday cake.

Lenny comes downstairs and seems frustrated. Chick arrives who is mad at Meg for going out with Doc. Lenny meets Chick and forces her to go out of their home. While leaving, Lenny hears Chick cursing the family. Next, Zackery calls and threatens Babe to admit her to a medical institution. Babe drops the call, disturbed by his threat. Lenny reappears and decides to call Charlie again. Babe takes a rope and goes upstairs.

Lenny and Charlie reconnect and go on a date. She wants to reveal this news to someone at home. For this purpose, she looks for Babe. At this time, Babe comes downstairs with a rope around her neck. She also puts her head in the oven to attempt suicide. Meg saves her.

This makes Meg realize why her mother hangs herself along with the cat. She understands that her mother did not want to die alone. Meg tells Babe that Zackery will not do any such thing that harms Babe.

Meg and Babe surprise Lenny by celebrating her belated birthday. Despite their troubles and being in an odd situation, the act ends at three sisters laughing together.

Themes in Crimes of the Heart

Everyday Crimes and Guilt

Crimes of the Heart is about all those crimes that people commit every day. These crimes usually go unnoticed, but they develop a sense of guilt in people. These are the crimes of jealousy, dislike, betrayal, lying, insensitivity, unkindness, carelessness, forgetfulness, and thoughtlessness. The whole play revolves around the crime of Babe shooting her husband. However, everyone in the play is involved in crimes in one or another way.

Chick criticizes her cousins continuously. She is worried about her reputation in the community because it will be ruined by her cousin’s crimes. Likewise, Babe acts selfishly. She starts a sexual relationship with Willie without thinking about her husband. She does not take the situation seriously. She even refuses to talk to the lawyer who she has hired herself. She hides from him.

Meg is guilty of thoughtlessness. She makes promises with Doc Porter, but she leaves him. Due to her mother’s suicide, Meg is afraid of making emotional bonding. Therefore, she doesn’t care about relationships. Additionally, Lenny is guilty of jealousy towards Meg.

Old Granddaddy is another guilty character. He treats Babe and Meg especially. It forces Babe into an unhealthy relationship and Meg into lying about her career. Lenny is mostly affected by his actions. He makes Lenny believe that due to her infertility, no man will ever love her. In this way, he makes Lenny be his companion in old age. indirectly, Old Granddaddy pushes each sister into a lonely life.

Sisterhood

The relationship between the three sisters holds significance. Sisterhood gives them the power to rule their life. They become one another’s strength. They deal with the dominance of the male who is typical of the South. Sisterhood overcomes their identity crises.

In the first act, Henley depicts the troubled relationship among sisters. In the second act, the conflict increases. In the final act, the three sisters unite. They laugh and celebrate Lenny’s birthday.

Sufferings vs. Celebrations

This drama has an ending in laughter and celebration. The sisters celebrate Lenny’s birthday. They enjoy their new relationship among themselves. They come out from the influence of Old Granddaddy. Lenny reconnects with her boyfriend. Babe comes out of her unstable marriage. Also, Meg decides to stop lying about her singing career. Such acts give freedom of decision to the MaGrath sisters.

Patriarchy

Beth Henley’s other theme is the representation of patriarchy of the South. The father of MaGrath sisters leaves them which becomes the reason for their mother’s suicide. It shows how white Anglo-Saxon men of safe and sound minds victimize women.

This play is female-centered. The location is in-door. In the play, male figures are seen conventionally. They are treated as an attacker on female space. Doc Porter and Barnette are the only two present male characters. Despite the absence of MaGraths’ father, Willie, Zackery, and Charlie, their presence is still felt. Unlike typical men, Doc and Barnette support women in the play.

Although the relationship among sisters is focused on the play, each of them also shares a bond with a male. Henley has not made this play unrealistic by putting men outside the world. It represents her idea to find an understanding, compatible partner for oneself with equality and warmth. She let her female characters fight with their internal conflict before going to choose a life partner.

Henley has reshaped the stereotypical picture of the woman of the South. The female figures in the play violate the patriarchal codes. Babe makes an affair with a fifteen-year-old boy. She also shoots her husband, a well-established lawyer. They look for their own identity and freedom by out-throwing abusive patriarchy. Lenny also discovers herself which makes her feel her sexual desires for Charlie.

Physical and Emotional Death

Reminders of death appear in the play here and there. The suicide of the mother, Babe shooting her husband, the death of Lenny’s horse, Old Granddaddy lying on death bed, Babe’s attempts to commit suicide, are all the signs of impending death. Along with physical death, the characters in the play also experience emotional death.

Charlie is the only man with whom Lenny shares a romantic affair. At first, she rejects him by killing her sexual desires. Due to their father’s betrayal and mother’s suicide, Meg gets mentally unstable. She stays away from making any emotional connection with the opposite gender.

Towards the end of the play, the sisters experience the rebirth of emotions. It also re-establishes the unity among them.

Good and Evil

Through the diversity in her characters, Henley has let the readers decide which characters are their favorite. MaGrath sisters disagree with one another on many occasions. In the end, they all normalize their relationship. They keep their differences aside and reunite. Lenny and Babe forgive Meg and understand her motivation. Through the complex human relations and human psyche, Henley has said that human actions cannot be labeled as completely good or completely good. There is always goodness in bad, and bad in goodness.

Cruelty and Violence

The suicide of mother, Meg’s abandonment of Doc after injury, and Babe’s shooting her husband are all of the signs of violence and cruelty. Through these actions, Henley has depicted that fact there is always a reason behind each cruel action. Also, no violent action goes without consequences. Self-awareness, forgiveness, acceptance, and understanding reduce such bad events in one’s life.

Limitations vs. Opportunities

In this play, all characters experience limitations of the choices and lack of opportunities. Lenny is responsible to take care of Old Granddaddy. Babe goes through an unstable relationship because her husband was chosen for her by Granddaddy. Meg faces hard luck in her singing career in Hollywood. Granddaddy once tells Meg that all she needs is the exposure for her talents. However, her experience proves that opportunities are not easily available, even when one is super talented.

Reputation in Public Life

At the opening scene, when Chick enters with the news of Babe shooting her husband, she worries about her image in the community. She thinks of others’ opinions regarding MaGrath sisters more than her own. Similarly, Babe is worried about her affair with Willie being exposed in public.

At the end of the play, the unity of three sisters declares that the personal relationship between sisters is far more necessary than their perception in public.

Self-identity

Each of the three sisters suffers from identity crises. However, they realize their worth towards the end. After realization, Lenny kicks Chick out of the home. It reflects Lenny’s power and control over her life. She gets her freedom of choice and decision. She also calls Charlie and agrees to go on a date.

With time, Meg’s interest in life and self-esteem also repairs. Also, tired of her abnormal relation, Babe shoots her husband. The drama ends in all three sisters celebrating Lenny’s birthday.

Crimes of the Heart Characters

Lenora (Lenny) MaGrath

Lenny is around thirty-years-old. The play starts with her thirtieth birthday. She is the oldest MaGrath sister. She is a thoughtful and responsible, yet frustrated and lonely lady. She takes care of her old and sick grandfather, Old Granddaddy. She sleeps on a cot in a kitchen to be close to her grandfather. The relationship of Lenny is not stable with her sisters. She is jealous of Meg for receiving extra care from her grandfather. Meg is always around men but Lenny is lonely. It develops a feeling of dislike in Lenny’s heart.

Lenny faces rejection from men. Due to her inability to conceive, she never dates, but for a brief time. She has one romantic relationship with a man, naming Charlie. She is secretive. She does not want to reveal her affair with Charlie to anyone. When Babe tells Meg about her affair, it offends Lenny.

Due to her self-consciousness, her relation with Charlie does not go well. Meg and Babe convince her to give their relationship a second thought.  Therefore, towards the end of the play, Lenny decides to go with Charlie on a date. It shows that Lenny has an element of insecurity. It also shows that she is the one who can be easily persuaded with a small gentle push.

Despite the unhealthy relation between sisters, Lenny still cares for them. Being an elder sister, she tries to protect them and solve their problems. When Chick constantly criticizes her family, she eventually pushes Chick out of her home. Such an act by Lenny represents her sense of family bond.

Margaret (Meg) MaGrath

Meg is the middle sister. She is twenty-seven years old. At the age of eleven, Meg has discovered the dead body of her mother who committed suicide. This traumatic experience changes Meg’s personality. She wants to test her strength by looking at offensive and unhealthy incidences. Looking at the photographs of sick people and crippled children become her center of attention to block her feelings and suffering. She smokes, drinks, and flirts with danger.

At the start of the play, Meg comes back to her home after her singing career does not go well in Los Angeles. She faces a nervous breakdown in L.A. and admits to a psychiatric ward as well.

The other two sisters seem jealous of Meg. They consider that Meg has always received extra treatment from their family. On one occasion, Lenny complains about their grandfather who gives three golden bells to Lenny and Babe, unlike Meg, who gets twelve.

Meg is also a bit irresponsible as she leaves Doc when he is seriously injured. Lenny also gets mad at Meg for lying to their grandfather about her singing career. Due to her careless nature, Lenny and Babe show their concerns when Meg disappears with Doc one night. The other two sisters are also protective in her case. Lenny chucks Chick out of her home when she criticizes Meg continuously.

Rebecca (Babe) Botrelle

Babe is the youngest among the MaGrath sisters. She is twenty-four years old. She is married to a wealthy lawyer, naming Zackery. At the opening act of the play, the news of Babe shooting her husband comes. To explain this incident, she says that she doesn’t like her husband. As the play proceeds, it is revealed that she shoots her husband when he threatens her boyfriend, Willie. Her affair with a fifteen-year-old boy forces her to shoot her husband when he discovers their relationship.

Zackery annoys Babe time and again. He threatens her that he will expose her photos with Willie. It causes mental stress for Babe. She tries to attempt suicide two times. Her try to kill herself makes the situation of her mother’s suicide clear to Meg. Meg understands that her mother was afraid of dying alone. This is why she hanged her cat along with herself.

Chick Boyle

Chick is the MaGrath sisters’ cousin. She is twenty-nine years old. She has yellow hair and shiny red lips. Chick is very concerned about her reputation in the community. When the news of Babe shooting her husband comes, she worries that how will she keep her head up in the community. Chick criticizes MaGrath’s family now and then. She recalls their past experiences, such as their mother’s suicide.

Chick is always critical of Meg. She calls Meg “low-class tramp.” She finds Meg undisciplined. She also feels unpleasant about Babe. According to Chick, Babe does not know the seriousness of her shooting her husband. She only feels good with Lenny. She also celebrates Lenny’s birthday and gifts a box of candies. In the end, when Chick gets on Lenny’s nerves, Lenny kicks her out of her home. Chick keeps on cursing the MaGrath family.

Barnette Lloyd

Barnette is a lawyer who Babe hires to fight her case. He is twenty-six years old. He is a graduate of the Ole Miss Law school. He opens his firm in Hazlehurst. He is a clever man. She takes Babe’s case as a chance to take personal revenge from Babe’s husband for ruining his father. He possesses a strong attraction to Babe.

Banette has all the evidence against Zackery. He does not expose Zackery openly to protect Babe’s secret affair with Willie from the public. The play ends with the hope that his efforts will prove fruitful.

Doc Porter

He is Meg’s old boyfriend. He is thirty years old. He gives the news to Lenny that her horse has been killed. He is still called by “Doc” even when his medical career died after he was seriously injured in a hurricane. His love for Meg makes him stay with Meg when other people go away from the place of the storm. For this reason, many people believe that Meg persuaded Doc to stay with her there.

Doc starts his new life. He marries another woman and has two children as well. He remains close to the MaGrath family. When Meg comes back from California, they both start their friendship again. His closeness makes Meg happy.

Crimes of the Heart Analysis

Crimes of the Heart reflects the life of three sisters – Lenny, Meg, and Babe – who are the victims of the patriarch of their family. Each one of them goes through a crisis. All three sisters have different personalities. All the acts in the play open in the MaGrath sisters’ home. The house is old but its condition is not described in the play. 

The MaGrath sisters do not have a happy childhood as they pass through the traumatic experience of their mother’s suicide. Although the play starts in sorrow and depression, the sisters handle the tough situation by understanding the reason of their mother’s suicide. They all get united to fight against an abusive husband, a bad career, and the dominant male of the MaGrath family. 

The three sisters are the representation of different societal images of an ordinary woman. They show the struggles of a daughter, sister, girlfriend, and wife. These sisters have respect for each other. They are protective of one another. The overall attitude of the characters shows that family is important.

Beth Henley’s personal life and experience are reflected in this play. Her father was an attorney, and her mother was an actress. She was the second oldest in her four sisters. She had a better understanding of love-hate relationships among sisters. She expressed her deep insight into such a relation in Crimes of the Heart. Her mother’s acting and rehearsal aroused in Henley her love for theatre and writing plays. 

Style

Crimes of the Heart shows a unique perspective about life in a small town in the South. This play has creatively blended different theatrical styles and moods. It is the representation of tragedy in a strange way that has amazed its readers as well as critics.

This play has characteristics of naturalistic work.  It is a complete drama through a few characters. The play introduces conflict in act one, complicates it in act two, and resolves it in act three. Through the macabre sense of humor, this play has mated the conventions of naturalistic play with unconventional characters of absurdist tragicomedy.

Crimes of the Heart has a highly structured plot. It has central as well as several side conflicts. With the unity of all three sisters at the end, Henley leaves other conflicts unresolved. In the perfect balance between comedy and tragedy, plot and characters, and conflict and resolution, Henley’s style matches Chekhov. She does not judge her character but shows them in comic and tragic ways.

Title of the Play

The title “Crimes of the Heart” is strongly connected to the play in several ways. The three sisters possess distinctive characters. They all get involved in crimes of the heart and face consequences afterward. Mother’s crime was killing herself because her husband left her. Babe’s crime was shooting her husband because he attacked an innocent man. Meg’s crime was being afraid of emotional attachments. Lenny’s crime is that she does not openly express her feelings to a man as she is insecure.

Setting of the Play

The whole play is located in a small town in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, 1974. Henley was once asked why she chose this town as the setting. She replied that she liked the idea of a small town where everyone knows the story of everyone else. Hazlehurst is a small town where rumors spread easily.

Motifs/symbols

Limitations and opportunities are the core ideas in the drama. Throughout the drama, all the characters are limited in their life choices. Characters go through the experience of lack of the opportunity. Lenny takes the responsibility of her family upon her shoulder. She ignores her life. Similarly, the troubles of Babe start when she marries Zackery. She does not choose Zackery herself but is pressured by her grandfather to marry the successful lawyer. 

Kitchen as the Heart of the Home

There are three acts in the play, and all of them happen in the kitchen. The characters do their casual conversation in a kitchen. The kitchen has a special role in feminist theatre as it signifies a women’s personal space. The kitchen is also used as a symbol of prison and tying women to domestic activities.

Time of the Story

The time of the story in play is autumn, five years after Hurricane Camille. The characters state the exact time of the play. It is on October 23rd, 1974.

Patriarchal Southern Family

Southern families with their conflicts make the central subject of this play. All three sisters come home to unite and take care of the dying patriarch of their family. The role of grandfather in their life is important. These sisters want to change their destiny, but they are tied up to him. Throughout the play, it seems like the sisters have sacrificed their dreams for their grandfather. They lack self-esteem and self-identity because of the Old Granddaddy. 

Grandfather marries off Babe to Zackery. He also convinces Meg to try her luck in her singing career. Likewise, he makes Lenny believe that she must stop dreaming of her husband and family because she is unable to conceive.

Ordinary Southern Women

The female characters of the play represent the ordinary women of the South. Life is hard for them in the male-dominant society. They are over-conscious about their weaknesses. Babe is slightly insane. Meg is an alcoholic. Lenny is insecure about her shrunken ovaries. They commit mistakes and as a result, they recognize their actual worth.  They continue the process of self-awareness and self-discovery.