The Iceman Cometh Lesson Plan

What is the effect of the three women entering what has previously been an all-male scene? And why does it occur so late in the act?

The entrance of the three women casts in relief the behavior of the men. It shows yet another type of pipe dream, another type of denial - and provides more opportunities for the characters to insult each other. Students should be able to get at least this much.

Structurally, the delayed entrance makes it clear that Hope's bar is a male space, and that women are interlocutors. There is a critique to be made, though, that the play is focused primarily on its male characters and that the women function mostly as foils; it's striking that the only...