Marsha Norman - "'Night, Mother"

Though the merit of using “Will Jesse kill herself?” as the MDQ is evident, I do not believe it to be the most interesting question of this text. Jesse’s struggle is not whether or not to kill herself, nor does she ever waver from her task to Mama. Therefore, I do not think that the text necessarily supports that as the MDQ, though it is of course the question on the audience’s minds throughout the play. Dramaturgically speaking, I believe the MDQ supported fully by the text is “Will Mama understand?”

Jesse’s goal throughout the play is not only to get Mama to understand that she absolutely is going to follow through with her plan, but also why she absolutely cannot do anything else for herself at this point. Though Mama tries her hardest to relate to Jesse and to get her to see another option, Jesse remains tired; already through with life. Jesse’s only purpose in telling her mother of her plan was to get her to understand, and to then proceed with the evening she had planned for herself before her self-service silencing. Mama cannot come to Jesse’s view, however, and continues to alternate between berating Jesse and begging her to stay. For Jesse, I believe the only question that remains for her is whether or not Mama will eventually find a way to understand the inevitability of her plan, though I do not think she is looking for Mama to understand why she is doing it. Though she does eventually come to a climactic moment of tension when she lists for Mama the factors in her discontent, I do not believe Jesse’s goal to be a self-explanation. Rather, I think that her purpose is to have Mama understand that there was nothing, and remains to be nothing she can do about it. The most interesting MDQ for Jesse (who I believe to be the protagonist) is “Will Mama understand that I (Jesse) am already gone, and that it isn’t her fault?”