Wit Case

“Life, death… I see. It’s a metaphysical conceit. It’s Wit! (Edson 15)” Vivian says this to her professor E.M. Ashford while discussing over her with her. Ashford simply says that it is not wit, it is truth and she is not implying the paper. Vivian is already focusing too much on school work and even one of her professor’s is telling her to forget about the paper and to go out and have fun, but she goes back into the library. Wit, written by Margaret Edson, is the story of Vivian Bearing while in the hospital suffering from ovarian cancer. Vivian Bearing literally means bearing life. Throughout the play we watch as Vivian finds the true meaning of life and death.

Throughout the play and movie, we see Vivian as she looks back upon her life. She was disappointed at herself when one of her students came to her asking for an extension on a paper. She said to him, “Don’t tell me. Your grandmother died.” She was right but said to him, “Do what you will, but the paper is due when it is due. (Edson 63)” While lying on her death bed and remembering that moment she couldn’t think of a word to feel for her actions and the way she treated her student. One word that would describe how she probably felt was angry. She was angry and disappointed at herself for not even taking the students situation into consideration. She learned from her nurse, Susie, how to feel and show compassion.

Vivian lived in her head, she only thought about what was to be taught or to be learned. Vivian is similar to her doctors Jason Posner and Harvey Kelekian. They both live from the neck up, just like Vivian. Also they prefer research over humanity and when Vivian becomes the patient, she realizes how she is treated and how she once treated her students. She isn’t fond of her doctors because for once she is on the receiving end and instead of giving like she was for her students. She learned a whole new spectrum of vocabulary so she can