Nicolette Saner
Medical Research: Taking It Too Far? Wit Essay
In the play Wit by Margaret Edson, she really portrays the theme that sometimes medical
research can go too far. Edson used many examples in the play to show that medical research can
go to the extremes to gain knowledge. The theme can be supported by the fact that they needed
to go full force no matter the consequence, nobody had any “bedside manner” towards Vivian
and they disobeyed regulations to keep their research alive.
The first idea that Edson shows throughout the play that suggests that medical research
can go too far, is that they make Vivian take the full dosage of chemotherapy.
When Kelekian meets with Vivian he tells her she has to do everything that they “suggest” for
her:
KELEKIAN. Good. The important thing is for you to take the full dose of chemotherapy.
There may be times when you’ll wish for a lesser dose, due to the side effects. But we’ve
got to go full-force. The experimental phase has got to have the maximum dose to be of
any use. Dr. BearingVIVIAN. Yes?
KELEKIAN. You must be very tough. Do you think you can be very tough?
VIVIAN. You needn’t worry.
KELEKIAN. Good. Excellent. (Edson. 11)
This quote shows the audience how uncaring Kelekian is. Although he asks her if she can be
tough, the procedure probably would’ve been carried out anyways. In Wit, Kelekian is the head
doctor that only cares about Vivian’s ovarian cancer for the sake of his own knowledge and
medical research. Kelekian explains in this quotation that Vivian would want lesser doses but she
would have to essentially “suck it up” and deal with it for research. Also, Kelekian is very
impersonal and unaffectionate.
When Vivian finds out she has cancer from Kelekian, he doesn’t even really care to break
it to her gently:
VIVIAN. I’ll never forget the time I found out I had cancer.
KELEKIAN. You have cancer.
VIVIAN. See? Unforgettable. It was something of a shock. I had to sit down.
KELEKIAN. Please sit down, Miss Bearing, you have advanced metastatic ovarian
cancer. (Edson 7).
In this scene, Kelekian breaks the news to Vivian in an unloving fashion. He barely even cares to
say any comforting words such as “I’m sorry” and just breaks it raw to Vivian. He only cares
because Vivian could be a potential research body. Edson demonstrates that medical research
could be taken too far when researchers want to go full-force regardless of the consequences.
In addition to going full-forced with research no matter the consequence, research can go
too far when the examiners had no bedside manners. Numerous instances in Wit showed that
Kelekian, the fellows and especially Jason had no bedside manner. To show that Jason had no
bedside manner he first shows it when he examines Vivian.
Jason examines Vivian;
(Trying to be casual) Professor Bearing was very highly regarded on campus. It looked
very good on my transcript that I had taken her course. (Silence) They even asked me about it in
my interview for med school – (He feels the mass and does a double take) Jesus! (Tense silence,
he is amazed and fascinated.) (Edson 30).
Jason was very rude and astonished upon feeling the mass inside of Vivian. He clearly had no
professional experience treating patients with affection. He made Vivian feel awkward and
embarrassed when he discovered the tumor. This is taking medical research too far because he
made her condition worse by adding “insult to injury” in a sense. Jason is also very rude to
Vivian when he goes far too much into detail about how “great” cancer is.
Jason is unprofessional when he tells Vivian how cancer works:
JASON. Cancer’s the only thing I ever wanted.
VIVIAN. (Intrigued) Huh.
JASON. No, really. Cancer is… (Searching)
VIVIAN. (Helping) Awesome.
JASON. …They divide twenty times or fifty times, but eventually they conk out. You
grow cancer cells, and they never stop. They just pile up; just keep replicating forever.
(Edson 56).
Jason was too into his work and didn’t really understand that he couldn’t talk to patients in the
same way that he talked to fellow doctors. He didn’t comprehend that Vivian needed affection
and love, not a scientific explanation on how she was going to die. Jason, however, wasn’t the
only person that had no bedside manner. Jason and the fellows both disregarded the obvious to
get to the bottom of research and to diagnose Vivian. The fellows were looking so hard for
symptoms of the treatment that they overlooked the most obvious fact about Vivian’s treatment.
The fellows observed Vivian looking for something wrong:
KELEKIAN. Why do we waste our time, Dr. Bearing?
VIVIAN. (Delighted) I do not know, Dr. Kelekian.
KELEKIAN. (To the fellows) Use your eyes. (All fellows look closely at Vivian.) Jesus
God. Hair loss. (Edson 39).
This shows how much they cared about medical research that they all overlooked the face she
had lost all her hair. Along with Jason and the fellows lacking beside manners, Kelekian also
showed that he had no bedside manner throughout the play such as when he carelessly tells
Vivian she has cancer.
Finally, Edson shows the theme that medical research can go too far when Kelekian and
Jason go against regular procedures both in the hospital violating regulations of codes and
medicating Vivian so it didn’t interfere with their research. When Kelekian said that she could
not have the patient controlled medication to ease the cancer pains that was a big sign that
Kelekian didn’t care at all about Vivian’s wellbeing. He didn’t want his research to be interfered
with even if it meant she would have to suffer physical pain.
Kelekian sees Vivian in pain sprawled on the bed moaning in anguish:
KELEKIAN. I want a morphine drop.
SUSIE. What about Patient-Controlled? She could be more alert –
KELEKIAN. (Teaching) Ordinarily, yes. But in her case, no.
SUSIE. But – (Edson 72).
This is a perfect example of how Kelekian went too far with his research to get the knowledge
and didn’t even care about Vivian. In Wit, the most direct and supportive quote that shows that
Vivian is purely research to them is when Jason doesn’t respect the codes that Vivian is DNR or
DO NOT RESUSCITATE. Vivian chose to be DNR and when Susie tells Jason that he pushes
her away thinking that she is just trying to let Vivian die and he thinks that he is above her.
In the room when Vivian has died, Susie tries to defend Vivian:
SUSIE. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
JASON. A GOD DAMN CODE. GET OVER HERE!
SUSIE. She’s DNR (She grabs him)
JASON. (He pushes her away) She’s Research! (Edson
).
In this scene, Jason reveals what he had been thinking the whole time. He didn’t even care that
she was his teacher; she had been medical research to him the entire time. Jason and Kelekian
were obsessed with medical research that they basically tortured Vivian in those months before
she finally gave in and died for medical research.
In conclusion, Margaret Edson wrote Wit in a way nobody else could have. She
demonstrated throughout the play that medical research can go too far sometimes and end up
torturing somebody when they’re already very ill. The theme is portrayed through Vivian going
full force with no relief, the doctors showing no sympathy and bedside manners and finally Jason
and Kelekian disobeying regulations to get their desired results. In the end, Wit did an amazing
job showing how medical research can go extremely too far and get out of control.