I just saw The Group on TV and really enjoyed it. Can someone tell me why Dottie had to go to the doctor the morning after she hooked up? I know the Richard Mulligan character told her to, but I can't figure out why. I'd appreciate some light on this, thanks!
shareWhat I want to know is what was in the package she was taking to Mulligan. The one she left in the park and remarked "Can you imagine the suprise on the persons face that finds it?" to her mother.
shareI'm watching it now and it would appear that he wants her to get on birth control. Don't know if that is the case but his little speech about being a man's man...that's what came to mind!
shareI have the original book by McCarthy. At the time this was all taking place - 1933 - birth control, or contraception (as it was more commonly referred to) - was a shocking concept. In the book, Dick tells Dottie to get herself a birth control device or diaphragm. He tells her to consult Kay, as he presumes that Kay "would know about those things." Kay was shocked when she heard that Dottie had (1) hooked up with Brown (Kay probably knew that Brown didn't like her) and (2) made an appointment (USING HER OWN NAME!!!) to get herself fitted for the device. In that era, it was unheard of for a society gal like Dottie to do something considered very bohemian. When Dottie mentions the Margaret Sanger Clinic, it's also a little offbeat - those clinics were raided and picketed much like abortion clinics are today.
In the movie she calls his landlady's number and tells her to tell him that "Miss Renfrew" is sitting in Washington Square Park. Same thing happens in the book however, Dottie failed to realize that he would never have remembered her by name. He called her "Boston" and had she used the name "Boston" in leaving her message he probably would have put two and two together. He would probably not have remembered "Miss Renfrew" at all - in the book he makes a very long speech about no attachments, which he more or less says in his condensed speech in the film. Hope this helps.
Not only helpful, but makes me need to read the book! Thank you for enlightening me!!
shareI recently completed reading The Group, after a 20-odd year hiatus. It still holds up and, of course, gives a bit more detail of the characters. I had forgotten that the Norine character makes a couple of additional appearances.
BTW - not only was birth control shocking in the 30s, it was illegal in most states, which is why the Margaret Sanger clinic was raided.
I'm watching the movie now and decided to check this board. They just finished the segment where Dottie goes to the clinic. I absolutely love the prior scene when she tells Kay that she's "taken Dick Brown for her lover." I love that wording - and when Kay accuses Dottie of using Brown, Dottie's casual retort, as she exhales her cigarette, "Don't you think it's about time?" is perfectly timed.
I agree, the book has held up well. Another film close to this period - takes place in the late 1930's, is "The Women." Another interesting book to juxtapose (sorry, M.A. in English!) with reading "The Group" is "Marjorie Morningstar" which again, takes place around this era. The eponymous film, while showing a gorgeous Natalie Wood, is a distinct disappointment. Anyhow - I try to imagine Morningstar's character against these gals - it's an amazing comparison.
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This is a great explanation, but there were other elements to the "Dottie Makes an Honest Woman of Herself" chapter that make it even more shocking, and that are not too clear in the movie. It was first published in 1952 as a short story (the book came out a decade later). Dottie first loses her virginity to Dick Brown, and McCarthy recounts this episode in gleeful detail (she has two orgasms, and Dick's ejaculate is elaborately described). Afterwards, Dick tells Dottie to get herself a "pessary" (antiquated word for diaphragm), which she confuses with the word "peccary" (a small pig-like animal). She's disgusted as she thinks Dick is trying to solicit all kinds of dirty sex acts from her. When she works up the nerve to get the pessary, McCarthy describes this scene, too, in hilarious detail (it is so slippery with lubricant that it shoots out of her hands across the room; the nurse helping her asks her all kinds of embarrassing questions). Of course, as in all of McCarthy's books, this is largely roman a clef, so she's satirizing two people she actually knew.
shareExcellent commentary! I remember the pessary incident from the book and in my head I remember McCarthy's description of Helena and her curiosity about Kraft-Ebbing and I believe Kay had that interest in such a "taboo" book - and I'm sure either of them spent countless times reading passages about perversions and such aloud to the Group.
By and far, Dottie is one of the more forward-thinking characters to a degree; I did not like the way the movie portrayed her descent into alcoholism - leaving us to believe that her unrequited love for Brown ruined her life(I didn't recall either her drinking heavily or her having children in the book).
"...truth against the world..."
<< Afterwards, Dick tells Dottie to get herself a "pessary" (antiquated word for diaphragm), which she confuses with the word "peccary" (a small pig-like animal). She's disgusted as she thinks Dick is trying to solicit all kinds of dirty sex acts from her. >>
Yes! And the book then says something like "Dottie had a sudden vision of that girl who kept a goat at school."
I'll look up the actual wording later.
Richard Mulligan (Dick Brown) and Joan Hackett (Dottie) eventually married in real life. Did they meet while making this movie?
shareWell, don't I feel stupid. I suspected it was birth control but the SIZE of the package had me leaning towards a hot water bottle/douche device. I mean MAN!... that indicates what she bought was the size of a dinner plate!
shareDick Brown (Mulligan) wanted her to get birth control equipment if she was going to sleep with him, and to do this, Dottie had to visit a doctor, as contraceptives were not commercially available in the 1930s, like they are today.
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