Why Did Karen Put on Martha's Jacket?
I’ve seen this movie many times and I never noticed an interesting detail that I caught when TMC aired the movie a couple of weeks ago. In the beginning of the movie, when Joe shows up to take Karen for a walk on Sunday evening, Karen comes into the kitchen, wearing her own long coat and announcing that she has brought Martha’s coat as well; she leaves it on the table. After Joe and Karen leave, Martha puts the coat now identified as hers—a short double-breasted car coat with metal buttons, a style very consistent with her “skirt and blouse” image--and walks to the end of the drive, where she leans against the gate.
In every instance in the film save one, Karen wears her own long coat: out with Joe, in Mrs. Tilford’s living room, and of course, at the funeral. The exception is when she leaves Martha’s room after the confession. In this instance, she leaves her own long coat hanging to the right of the door, and puts on the coat that has been previously identified as Martha’s and walks to the end of the drive, where she leans against the gate. Of course, she is still wearing the coat when she finally breaks down Martha’s door.
When As a writer, I think this detail is significant, and adds to the "what was Karen thinking? / feeling" discussion based on the following:
If you read the original play, which caused a huge scandal when it opened on Broadway (back in the 30’s; it was banned from being produced in several cities, including Boston), the ending is quite different. Martha still dies—gunshot, offstage—but she does it before Mrs. Tilford shows up. When Mrs. T does make her apology, Karen agrees to accept her help, and the play ends with them being rather chummy—a little odd, considering ol’ Martha’s laying dead on the floor in the next room. The same ending was in place in the restaging done on Broadway in the 50’s.
Moving the suicide to after Mrs. T’s apology is a big change. Martha’s character now knows that the lie has been uncovered, and she still kills herself—in her mind, she has even more reason; she’s outed herself and she didn’t have to; she may have driven Karen away unnecessarily. But most important, it allows Karen’s character to change. She throws Mrs. T out; she re-engages with Martha; she asks her to go away with her to someplace new…all quite different from the original.
For years I thought this change just bowed to broadening the cinematic possibilities, but this coat thing adds a whole new dimension. In this film, with sets and costumes so carefully constructed to identify mood and character, I find this intriguing. Did Hellman and John Michael Hayes, who wrote the screenplay when Hellman had to back out due to her partner’s illness, decide to throw in a subconscious attempt by Karen to try Martha’s world on? Is it a representation of Karen acting out her budding thoughts of taking Martha away? Finally, is this act, observed by Martha from her window, what pushes her over the edge, as, in her self-loathing, she sees that “pollution” circling Karen, even though it’s Karen’s choice to try?
Just curious as to whether or not anyone else caught this and what they think.