Normal people
When Lewis enters the theater, he is greeted by a mental patient with whom Lewis has a conversation. Soon, Justin, the man in charge of the mental patients, comes in as well and talks with Lewis. Justin described the mental patients under his care and the impression left is that they are misunderstood people. Justin does not see them as people incapable of anything in this life, but rather as people capable of achieving a lot but who think differently from the rest of the world. This image is important because it suggests that the healthy population must not be quick to judge the mentally ill population and should try to see them as humans and capable members of society.
Women
The women in the play are imaged both by the men and by the women themselves in a very degrading way. Even from the first scene, when the story from the Italian opera is mentioned, women are portrayed as creatures who can’t control themselves, people who can’t be expected to remain faithful and to commit. Julie highlights how men expect women to fail and disappoint them and how they feel a sort of satisfaction when this happens. This negative image of women influences the behavior of the female characters in the play who seem to behave as men would expect them to.
Unstable patients
While some of the six mental patients are stable and could live in a normal society, there are other two important characters, Dough and Cherry, who are portrayed as extremely unstable and unpredictable. Cherry is extremely violent and her violence is generally aimed at Dough who starts fires constantly. The image of the two is important because it has the purpose of showing how the rest of the society saw the mentally ill and how they were perceived by those from the outside.
Involvement in politics
The play takes place during the Vietnam War and two of the characters in the play, Lucy and Nick, are extremely involved in the movements against the war. Their efforts go towards trying to stop the war and for them this is the most important thing they can do. When Lewis expresses other interests, he is criticized by his two friends who can’t comprehend why Lewis has other interests. At times, Nick even becomes verbally violent towards Lewis because of his choices. The image painted here of those who get involved in politics is thus not a positive one, those people being painted as being just as unstable as the mentally ill characters in the play.
