The Subject Was Roses: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Subject Was Roses" is a poignant exploration of family dynamics, focusing on the Cleary family—John, Nettie, and their son Timmy—who grapple with unfulfilled dreams and strained relationships. John Cleary, a coffee merchant, is portrayed as disillusioned with his life choices, particularly his missed opportunity for a better future in Brazil, which leads to a deep-seated resentment that manifests in his interactions with Nettie and Timmy. Nettie, John's wife, reflects on her unfulfilled expectations and the bitterness resulting from her husband's perceived failures, ultimately creating a life of service that leaves her feeling trapped. Timmy, having returned from World War II, finds himself navigating the conflicting expectations of his parents while struggling to assert his independence.
The interplay of these characters reveals underlying issues of communication and emotional estrangement, as each person is unable to fully connect with the others. John's rigidity and Nettie's nostalgia for a lost past create barriers that Timmy’s attempts at reconciliation cannot overcome. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that Timmy’s return, instead of mending their fractured relationships, highlights the profound disconnect within the family. The play culminates in Timmy's decision to leave once more, emphasizing the unresolved tensions and the persistent search for personal identity amidst familial expectations.
The Subject Was Roses: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Frank D. Gilroy
First published: 1962
Genre: Play
Locale: The Bronx, New York
Plot: Realism
Time: May, 1946
John Cleary, a fifty-year-old coffee merchant. John is deeply disappointed with the course his life has taken. He had the opportunity, years ago, to relocate in Brazil, but his wife, Nettie, did not want to make the move. Instead, they settled in the Bronx, near Nettie's mother. The man who took the position in Brazil became rich. Having failed to achieve the American Dream, John now turns his frustration toward others, particularly Nettie and Timmy, his son. John's unhappiness also reveals itself in his rigidity (particularly about morality and religion) and reticence. He is unable to speak about those things that are deeply meaningful to him. He drinks to excess, though he does not approve of his son's drunkenness. John's long-standing estrangement from his wife has intensified during Timmy's absence from home. Now, with Timmy's return, he finds himself both envious of and frustrated by his son. Although he reaches tentative agreement with his son at the end of the play, his deeper problems are unresolved.
Nettie Cleary, John's wife, a bitter, estranged woman. At the age of forty-five, she contrasts her present life with a happier past. She recalls (or imagines) her childhood at home, a world of gentility, culture, and love. She had several suitors and chose John as the most energetic and ambitious of them. He alone, she believed, would be able to give her the life she sought. His failure to do so disappointed her, and her love diminished. To replace her expectations, she has created a life of service to her husband, her mother, her son, and her retarded cousin, but it is a life that has left her unfulfilled. The day that she walks out of the house and spends hours wandering around the city is, she says, “the only real freedom I've ever known.” Like her husband, Nettie is caught in a self-created worldview, unable to appreciate the different reality of others and unable to communicate with those others. Timmy's return home is yet another failure of reality to meet her expectations.
Timmy Cleary, their son, who left home at the age of eighteen to fight in World War II. Now twenty-one, he returns to his parents' house, precipitating the family crisis for all three characters. Timmy is now better able to perceive his parents' relationship with each other, as well as his relationship with each, though his insight is colored by his own quest for independence. Although he attempts to meet each parent's separate expectations of him, he cannot alter the person he has become. When he tries to reconcile John and Nettie, for example by buying her roses, he fails. Like his father, Timmy drinks excessively, providing a convenient escape from the shattered home he is trying to reenter. His behavior merely makes the situation worse, and although he almost manages some moments of communication, first with Nettie and then with John, his decision to leave home at the end is the only resolution to the family conflict.