The Water Hen: A Spherical Tragedy in Three Acts: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Water Hen: A Spherical Tragedy in Three Acts" explores complex themes of identity, relationships, and existential dilemmas through its major characters. The narrative centers around Edgar Valpor, a conflicted young man grappling with his feelings for Elizabeth Gutzie-Virgeling, known as the Water Hen, and the impact of his actions on those around him. Albert Valpor, Edgar's father, embodies a pessimistic worldview, impressed yet ultimately unconvinced by the changes brought about by his son’s actions. Tadzio, who claims to be Edgar's son, evolves from innocence to confusion as he navigates his connections with both Edgar and the Water Hen. Duchess Alice of Nevermore provides a contrasting perspective, focusing on material pursuits while advising Tadzio against questioning life's complexities. The Water Hen herself is a tragic figure, caught between her perceived illusions and her attempts to affect the lives of others, even as she grapples with her own sense of futility. Ultimately, the interplay between these characters reveals profound insights into human relationships and the search for meaning within them.
The Water Hen: A Spherical Tragedy in Three Acts: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Stanisaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
First published: Kurka Wodna, 1962 (English translation, 1968, in The Madman and the Nun, and Other Plays)
Genre: Play
Locale: Unspecified
Plot: Absurdist
Time: Unspecified
The Father, Albert Valpor (or Walpor in some texts), a retired skipper of a merchant ship. He is an unflappable pessimist who does not believe that human beings make much difference in the scheme of things. Still, he is rather impressed when his son Edgar kills Elizabeth Gutzie-Virgeling, who is referred to as the Water Hen, and he thinks that perhaps Edgar can make something important out of his life after all. The revolution that takes place at the end of the play fails to impress Albert.
He, Edgar Valpor, Albert's good-looking, if inept, son. He is devoted to the Water Hen but balks at her insistence that he shoot her. He wonders with whom he will be able to talk if he shoots her. He is finally convinced by her arguments and actually kills her. He has no real convictions about life, and the murder does not affect him much. When his son Tadzio questions him about the murder, Edgar is unable to explain his motivations. By the end of act 1, Edgar believes that he has created a family by acknowledging Tadzio and marrying Lady Alice. He is amazed when the Water Hen returns and is puzzled when she denies that Tadzio is her son. Because the Water Hen is convinced that he did not suffer because of her death, Edgar submits to the physical agony of a torture machine to demonstrate the reality of his feelings.
Tadzio, who claims to be Edgar's son and eventually convinces him that this is so. By act 2, Tadzio has forgotten why Edgar is his father. Unlike the other characters, he tends to question why things are the way they are. In act 3, ten years later, Tadzio is much taken with the Water Hen, who is now beautiful and sensuous. Tadzio quarrels with Edgar, who has discovered him and the Water Hen in a violent embrace.
Duchess Alice of Nevermore, also called Lady Alice, a blond and beautiful woman, one of the objects of Edgar's affections. Alice is hostile toward the Water Hen because her first husband (also named Edgar) was obsessed with the Water Hen. Now married to Edgar Valpor, a friend of her first husband, Alice counsels Tadzio not to question the nature of things because there are no answers. Alice's main interest seems to be in accumulating capital for the Theosophical Jam Company, her latest enterprise, and she is not much concerned with personal feelings. Like Edgar, she believes that she must come to terms with the influence of the Water Hen on her life. When Edgar shoots the Water Hen a second time, Alice tries to take the blame upon herself, but Edgar will not let her do so.
The Water Hen, Elizabeth Gutzie-Virgeling, a confidant of Edgar and the object of Tadzio's affection and Alice's hostility. She dies twice in the play, each time apparently trying to make a difference in people's lives even as she expresses a sense of futility in trying to impress them. The Water Hen tends to think of herself as an illusion, a fiction that other characters, such as Alice's first husband, Edgar, have created. The Water Hen also claims that she is a liar and that she does not really exist. Her Polish name, Elzbieta Flake-Prawacka, is a combination of the words flaki (tripe) and prawiczka (virgin) and is a fitting humorous name for a woman who is a bizarre combination of the down-to-earth (the guts of things) and the unbesmirched ideal.
The Scoundrel, Richard de-Korbowa-Korbowski, also known as Tom Hoozey, who resembles Edgar and is devoted to Lady Alice of Nevermore. Korbowski despises Edgar Valpor as a weakling and keeps insisting that Alice abandon him.