Heidi Chronicles

The feminist movement has played a major role in the accomplishment of many benefits regarding women’s situation in society. For example, nowadays they are active members of the economy of many nations and have privileged positions in governmental institutions. Tired of being defined by men, feminists demanded, among other issues, being defined for what they were as independent individuals capable of taking their own decisions. Precisely, such is the case of Heidi’s character in Wendy Wassertein’s The Heidi Chronicles. Throughout the play, Heidi is revealed as a woman concerned about the discrimination suffered by women along history, and she, together with her friend Susan, is determined to fight in order to revert their social situation. However, as the play continues, one can see that Heidi, in contrast to her friends who have changed from the persons that they were, has not moved on with her own life. Consequently, when she realizes that she remains the same person that she was 15 or 20 years before, she accepts that she is not happy at all, and, as a result, she looks for a change: adopting a child. Therefore, one can affirm that Heidi, culturally influenced by a socie

First, it is a fact that Heidi is revealed, throughout most of the play, as a woman who disagrees with the traditional role given to females along the history of humankind: the role of mother and wife. Since she is a teenager, she makes evident her belief about men and women being the same when referring to a boy at a high school dance: “Susan, there is absolutely no difference between you and me and him” (The Heidi Chronicles 164). Clearly, she implies that there is no reason why women should be discriminated and treated as mere servants. Such belief is even more evident when she tells Scoop that she does not want to spend her life preparing sandwiches for her husband and children. However, Heidi is reprimanded by her friend Susan who tells her that she is supposed to be interested in boys. In addition, when she meets Scoop three years later, he tells her that “(she) will be one of those true believers who didn’t understand it was all just a phase” (172), meaning that she will keep on believing that her position is the only one valid, and consequently, she will not move on with her life. Similarly, nine years later, Scoop insists on the way in which he visualizes Heidi’s life in the future: “you…are going to be one generation of disappointed women. Interesting, exemplary, even sexy, but basically unhappy” (202). Clearly, Scoop’s statements foreshadow the life of Heidi, for she remains faithful to her feminist views, but at the end has to adopt a child to reach the self-fulfillment and happiness that she lacked all her life. In spite of this piece of advice, Heidi still does not let her emotional side to come out completely; she maintains her “reason-ruled” position of rejecting the role that she is supposed to play in society, as opposed to other characters in the play, for instance, Lisa, who explicitly states that she always wanted to have children, or Denise, who says that she “can’t imagine (her) life without (her) husband or (her) baby Max” (226). Clearly, then, Heidi is reluctant to accept that she has to change the direction of her life to be happy.

ty represented by her friends, understands that becoming a mother is the last alt

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