Madonna

In Tennessee William's "Portrait of a Madonna", the theme of society's influence on the individual is relevant. Lucretia Collins, the unmarried, "spinster" daughter taking care of her aged mother feels the pressure society puts on her in many instances. For example, she wants the feeling of freedom. She aches to live her own life, find someone to marry and just live happy without the constant worry of her mother and society's opinion on her mind. Unfortunately, she can't because her will to express herself is silenced by her duty to take care of her mother. Ultimately, this drives her mad and she never accomplishes what she wants: freedom. I found this particular piece interesting because I know someone who is in the same type of situation. My next door neighbor all throughout my childhood had the same character traits as Lucretia. She was living with her mother, only went out to go to the grocery store and occasionally the Blockbuster on the corner. She took care of her mom and ignored her own feelings. She expressed her feelings to me whenever we ran into eachother outside, her feelings of discontent and lonliness. To be honest, I felt sorry for her the same way I felt sorry for Lucretia Collins. However, meeting such a woman as my next door neighbor helped me relate to Lucreta in "Portrait of a Madonna". In some ways I understood what she was going through because I had seen it before, because I had seen it in real life. Because of this, I really enjoyed reading this piece and picking apart such an interesting character as Lucretia.