Henderson: Wit (text)

When reading Wit, an interesting point about how Vivian is dealing with this disease with no one there to care for her. Though doctors are concerned there is a level of separation between treating their patient and caring about their patient. Richard Hornby, the author of the review, states, “The weakness of the play is that Bearing is shown in isolation. We see no family, no friends, no lovers, and certainly no colleagues.” I think this shows the vulnerability of Vivian. Maybe if she had an advocate she would not have had such a shameful pelvic exam. The fact that it was one of her former students also did not help. The lack of a loved one or person from her life that cared about her as a support system shows the power of the play. Typically people have faith or a person to lean on in times of trouble such as Vivian's ovarian cancer.

Her life of being cold and strict and having such a love for literature blocked her from reaching people. Even though she was a professor and was always in the presence of others she never established a strong love relationship with anyone. Hornby writes, “Bearing's students, who all appear to be undergraduates, view her with respect mixed with dread.” This is evident because it seems her only friend is the nurse that takes care of her.

Vivian speaks highly of herself before she dies about how many treatments she has survived and how she has set a new record. Vivian says, “The article will not be about me, it will be about my ovaries. It will, be about my peritoneal cavity. Which, despite their best intentions, is now crawling with cancer. What we have come to think of as me is, in fact, just the specimen jar.”It is interesting that she makes it know that the article won't be about her but rather her disease. She then feels useless knowing her doctors will write about the treatments they gave her, but not about her. Readers are only left to think her doctors only saw her as a science project and she died with no there.