Summary
Pierrette delivers a soliloquy. She details her frustrations with her life, as she feels increasingly trapped without money or a reliable partner. She says Lise will be able to start over but that she is running out of options. Lise also speaks about her concerns, saying she doesn't know what to do next. She wishes she was more like Pierrette, who she thinks is beautiful and in love. Pierrette says that Johnny dumped her and left without any money. She says all that she has left is alcohol. She then comforts Lise.
Marie-Ange talks about going to a show and being harassed by a man. She says he was a "bum" and that she hit him in the face with her purse when he grabbed her knee. Linda tells Lise not to get the abortion, but Lise makes up her mind and asks for the address. Ginette, Linda's friend, talks about her miserable home life with an abusive father and neglectful mother.
Germaine asks Linda to stand with her. She asks what Lise was writing down and tells her that she hopes it's not Pierrette's address. They argue again and Rose comments that she thinks Linda is picking up some bad habits. Everyone then begins talking about someone's daughter who they believe is pregnant. Rose says unkind things about how she dresses and talks more broadly about her contempt for unwed mothers and how they deserve no sympathy or concern.
Lise is infuriated and leaps up, nearly coming to blows with Rose. Pierrette tries to calm her down and Lisette says that it's not always the woman's fault. Rose says she only feels that way because she watches too many French movies with loose morals. Rose delivers her soliloquy and says she is profoundly lonely in her marriage and wishes she had refused her husband. She wants a better, more fulfilling life for her daughter and hopes she can avoid the traps she fell victim to.
Angéline returns and says she has confessed to their priest. Rhéauna takes her back as a friend and tells her to never speak to Pierrette again. Pierrette decides it is time to leave and is unimpressed by Angéline's lack of fortitude. Suddenly Germaine notices that there aren't very many books on the table. She grills everyone about where the stamps are and they are all offended by her accusation.
She grabs everyone's purses and finds that they have all been stealing her stamps. She demands them back, but everyone else says they won't return them. They instead try to take the stamps remaining in the box. The scene fully descends into mayhem as people grapple for the stamps and shout at one another. Germaine is shaken that her friends and even sisters would steal from her.
During the ensuing melee, Olivine sings "O Canada" as she circles the room in her wheelchair. Pierrette tries to comfort Germaine but Germaine demands that everyone leave. She cries, saying she has lost so much. She then seems to briefly regain her composure, and joins everyone in singing "O Canada" as stamps fall from the ceiling.
Analysis
In one of the only displays of sympathy in the play, Pierrette comforts Lise. After telling Lise she can help her get an abortion, Pierrette expresses that she believes Lise has time to start over. The two even have overlapping soliloquies in which they each express admiration for the other. Lise sees Pierrette as beautiful and wishes she were more like her. At the end, Pierrette tells Lise things will work out for her. This moment is particularly poignant given that so many of the other characters are solely concerned with their own frustrations and disappointments. Pierrette reaching out to Lise in this moment is surprising in that she has many of the same problems as the other characters, but does not let that stop her from trying to comfort someone in need.
This part of the play also adds some nuance to the characters, showing that they do not all exactly align with the viewpoints of their age group. Linda states that she does not think Lise should get the abortion. While she sympathizes with her plight, she expresses hope for the idea that she could potentially marry the father, despite Lise making it clear the father is not present in any way. Her trepidation is somewhat surprising given all of her pushback on her mother's opinions. It suggests that for all of her anger, she has still internalized some of her mother's social stances. In contrast, when Rose is saying harsh things about unwed mothers, Lisette surprisingly jumps in to defend them, saying she is being overly judgmental. These instances suggest that there is variation in how the characters feel, even if many of the conflicts are framed as generational.
The argument between Rose and Lise deals with the themes of both generational conflict and motherhood. Rose expresses her intense lack of sympathy for unwed mothers, blaming them for their predicament and saying that they are entirely unworthy of sympathy. This sends Lise into a rage as she feels Rose is being incredibly cruel. This heated exchange highlights how narrow Rose's view on the subject has become as a result of her closed social circle and personal misery. As it is revealed later, her commentary on the subject has less to do with actual unwed mothers and much more to do with how she has come to view marriage and motherhood as a trap that destroyed her future.
In her soliloquy towards the end of the play, Rose talks about the life she would like to spare her daughter from having. She describes the loneliness she feels in her marriage and the disgust her husband's physical advances fill her with. In her mind, marriage and motherhood robbed her of any sense of a future as the sum total of her domestic life has left her with nothing but an unchanging present and no chance to start over. Her comments show the profound loneliness of her experience, while also implying the source of the many resentments she has discussed over the course of the evening.
The ending scene is the climax of all of the simmering class conflicts in the play. When it is revealed that everyone has been stealing from Germaine, she is enraged. She is even more upset when everyone refuses to return the stamps and they try to take more from the boxes on the floor. What the ending reveals, among other things, is that Germaine has not given any thought to how her friends and family would respond to her win. The irony of this is that her own self-involvement stopped her from perceiving the selfishness driving everyone else's theft. There is some redemption suggested in her joining in singing the national anthem at the end, as she has lost her stamps but is still able to experience a moment of communion with the other characters. However, this scene can also be read as ironic, a biting commentary on the emptiness and repressiveness of national culture.
