"Whenever I hear the word "humanizing" applied to something, it's always with the connotation of softening or making something less unpleasant. That's the impression I get when I read they want to "humanize" Margaret."
Thank you, Phyllis. That's exactly what I thought when I read that. While we're on the subject of Margaret's "motivations", let's review them. (Courtsey of Wiki:)
"In the novel, Margaret is a heavyset woman with hair that has recently gone from black to almost all white. She has rimless bifocals, and is usually cloaked in black. She works full time at a laundry and has held her job for many years. Born Margaret Brigham, her father was killed in a shootout, and she began attending a fundamentalist church group. Her mother remarried, at which Margaret denounced them, believing that they were living in sin.
In 1960, she met her soon-to-be husband, Ralph White. Margaret later tells Carrie she had sex with Ralph before marriage and then fell down the stairs to have a miscarriage. They married and Ralph vows their 'slip' will never happen again. However, Ralph tries to seduce Margaret before being thrown out the house. He returns, drunk and has sex with Margaret in a bizarre form of marital rape that Margaret both hated and loved. This resulted in the conception of Carrie. When Margaret caught Carrie suspending her bottle in midair, she tried to kill her, but Ralph stopped her. Sometime after Carrie's birth, Ralph was killed while working at a construction site.
Margaret gave birth to Carrie while in her house, without medical assistance. Her relationship with Carrie was extremely abusive. This deeply affected Carrie throughout the years, putting great strain on her. Whenever Margaret believed that Carrie had sinned, she threw her in a specially decorated closet to pray for forgiveness (for example, when Carrie had her first menstrual period at the age of 16)."
Alright, so I will give you that while her motivations are vaguely stated because of her relationship with Ralph in "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance", they are extremely vague, and makes it almost appear that Margaret had troubled relationships/experiences with *multiple* men. The marital rape should most certainly be clarified (as it is in the 1976 version when Carrie comes home).
However, when Margaret explains this to Carrie (in the book and the 76 version, along with haunting organ music to accompany) she uses this as a form of manipulation. Margaret uses this sob story to lure Carrie to her, (the objective is making Carrie feel guilty for underestimating her mother) and as an act of madness (convinced that Carrie is using powers of the Devil), she stabs Carrie during a prayer.
Because Margaret uses her sob story as means of luring Carrie to her as a mad act of murder, she loses all sympathy from me.
Sure, horrific, awful things happened to her, and in another situation- HAD she said all of this to Carrie in confidence (with no intentions of murder whatsoever), and Carrie still killed her- that would make Carrie the villain. But this is not the case.
I feel bad for Margaret in the sense that she is a clearly derranged woman with a dark past and her religious views have even further warped her perception of reality, but at the same time, because of this, she cannot feel any true sympathy for Carrie's downfall. In her mind, she told Carrie all along, and since she believes Carrie is the antichrist, she deserved her fate of ridicule.
Margaret can also be portrayed more or less evil depending on how mousey/sympathetic the girl playing Carrie is.
I know this was really long and entirely too over analytical, I just wanted to further communicate my point.
As one final question though, the book describes Margaret as:
"a heavyset woman with hair that has recently gone from black to almost all white. She has rimless bifocals, and is usually cloaked in black"
Although Buckley is nowhere NEAR heavyset, since the book's description portrays Margaret as a lot older (or at least, one of those people who looks older than she is)...so could Buckley revive her role, believably?
I think so. :)
Recent Broadway and Off-Broadway:: Carrie, Merrily, Ionescopade
Next On The List :: Clybourne Park, Once, Streetcar, BOM
