The scene opens with John and Carol seated, once again, in John’s office. Against his better judgment, John has asked Carol to return to his office. Throughout the conversation, John and Carol talk over each other, with the dialogue coming across in fragments. Implying that she has initiated legal proceedings, Carol tells John that the court officers have warned her not to visit him. She states that perhaps it would be best if she leaves, to which John replies that he would like Carol to hear him out. Referencing a list of accusations, he tells Carol that he owes her an apology. Carol takes issue with the word “accusations,” stating that everything has been proved.
The phone rings and John picks up. From the dialogue, it is unclear what the subject matter is but a reference is made to Jerry, a recurring character in previous phone calls about the house. After he hangs up, John turns his attention back to the list of accusations, which he now refers to as an “indictment.” Carol is unfamiliar with the word “indictment” so John explains it as a “bill of particulars” with “allegations” against him. Once again, Carol takes issue with the word “allegations.” Using legal terminology, Carol tells John that these claims against him have been proven through the tenure committee’s system.
Angered, John informs Carol that, as a result of this case, he will be discharged. Carol responds by telling John that a discharge is well-deserved and is nothing more than a consequence of his own actions. Reversing the dominant power dynamic, Carol informs John that this will destroy his entire life, including the house he was planning on buying. John tries to get Carol to forgive him, which she declines to do. When John once again tries to assert that nothing malicious occurred, Carol pulls out her notes and reads a list of remarks he made to women in his classes. She refers to these incidents as “rape,” and tells John that he is ideologically bankrupt. John objects, claiming that he believes in freedom of thought. If that was so, Carol says, he would not question his suspension as it is a consequence of him exercising this freedom.
In her newfound position of power, Carol makes a point of informing John that the reason he feels intimidated is because of this new power structure. Furthermore, Carol says, he is now subject to the same system of selection and dismissal that Carol and her peers deal with in the higher education system. This capricious system, in which a single comment can result in a bad grade, should also be imposed on the faculty, Carol says. While John asserts that touching her shoulder was not sexual, Carol says that she believes it was and that, like a professor, she now has the power to punish him. Cornered, John says that he is not too old to learn, to which Carol replies that she wants him to understand the new dynamic.
John realizes that it is futile to continue the conversation because he will be fired soon either way. Noting John’s self-serving attitude, Carol replies that it would be possible for her group to withdraw their complaint. She presents a list of books that she calls “questionable,” one of which is John’s book, and demands that these be removed from the curriculum. Enraged by this suggestion, John demands that Carol leave his office. On her way out, she hands him a statement to read, with the hope that he will sign it. He replies that he has a responsibility to his profession and that this incident has been so detrimental to his own self-worth that he has spent the past two days away from home, thinking over everything that happened.
In the midst of this admission, the phone rings. Carol tells John that he should pick up the phone, which he does. Speaking with Jerry, who is familiar from previous conversations about the home sale, John references something related to Carol. After he hangs up, Carol reveals that she is pressing charges against John for attempted rape and battery. Hearing this, John tells Carol to leave so that he can speak with his lawyer.
The phone rings again and John answers, talking to someone he calls “baby.” Carol asks if it is his wife and John replies that whether or not it is his wife is no concern of hers but that she should leave. On her way out, Carol mentions in passing that John should not call his wife “baby.” John snaps, beating Carol and yelling at her for destroying his life with “political correctness.” He raises a chair above his head to throw at her but realizes what he has done and puts it back down. The play ends with Carol cowering on the floor.
Analysis
In Act I, John held a great deal of power over Carol. As an anonymous undergraduate from a relatively disadvantaged background, Carol had little sway at the university. She relied completely on her influential, well-regarded professor to ensure that she could continue her education. In Act II, the characters are on a more even playing field: Carol has some leverage over John, whose power is in decline while hers is rising. By this act, the dynamic seems to have completely shifted. John is to be fired from the university, while Carol has the administration and her peers backing her, as well as a newfound confidence and eloquence. She is unapologetic in Act III about displaying her power over John. When he implores her to change her mind, or to offer sympathy, Carol explicitly tells him that she will not, and that he is getting nothing more and nothing less than the punishment he deserves—a punishment, moreover, that is no worse than the abuse faced for so long by Carol and her peers.
Readers, yet again, will likely have a range of understandings and sympathies as they see these events play out. Carol’s decisions in this scene are more extreme and, because she has more power, are more significant than her decisions in previous scenes. As a result, audiences are more likely to judge her harshly and to find fault with her. Still, some people will likely believe that she has reasonable motives, while others will believe her actions to be indefensible.
Defenders of Carol might point out that, in some objective ways, she is correct. John has, by now, behaved towards her in ways that are quite obviously inappropriate, and he has recently attacked her, physically forcing her to remain in his office. Furthermore, as Carol points out, this is simply justice playing out. A single complaint has caused John to lose his job, just as a single bad grade might cause an undergraduate to lose his or her spot in college. In the grand scheme of things, one might believe, Carol is simply evening the score. People who believe that Carol is right might find her request to John—that he consent to his book being banned—to be reasonable, since it gives him a chance to keep his job.
Others will believe that Carol is acting out of cruelty, perhaps because she has become power-hungry. After all, this side might argue, John’s intentions were never anything but kind in the first place. If he has overstepped certain boundaries, then he must know by now and be given a chance to change his behavior. Instead, Carol continues to seek punishment for him. And, one might argue, to the extent that Carol offers him a second chance, she does so in an unfair way. By asking him to choose between losing his job and getting his book banned, Carol gives John an impossible choice: he can support his family, but only by sacrificing his life’s work.
The act, and the play, end with a sudden and sobering shift in the power dynamics, reversing the slow switch that has been taking place throughout the play. When John gets off the phone, Carol tells him not to call his wife “baby.” It is clear that, by correcting John on this point, Carol is displaying what she believes to be her complete power over the situation. However, following this triumphant moment on Carol’s part, John loses his cool completely and begins to beat her. It seems that John could have caused Carol even greater harm, or killed her, had he not chosen to stop. Therefore, after so many scenes that show the power balance slipping into Carol’s favor, it slips back to John within a matter of seconds. No matter how much power Carol gains socially, in the context of the university, John is older, male, and stronger than her. Thus Mamet leaves us with a question. Do these external arbiters of power mean anything, or are they fundamentally unimportant in the face of the brute reality of force?
