Inheritance
by Hannie Rayson
Teaching notes prepared for VATE members
by Jill Barker
CONTENTS
1.
Introduction
Page
1
2.
Ways into the text
Page
3
3.
Running sheet and structure of the text
Page
7
4.
Characters
Page
11
5.
Issues and Themes
Page
16
6.
A guided approach to selected passages
Page
21
7.
Further activities for exploring the text
Page
25
8.
Key quotes
Page
26
9.
Essay topics
Page
28
10.
References and resources
Page
29
Page numbers in these notes refer to Rayson, Hannie. Inheritance, Currency Press, Sydney,
2003
Purchasers may copy Inside Stories for classroom use
VATE Inside Stories – Teacher Notes
Section 1.
An introduction to Inheritance
In 2003, Hannie Rayson’s Inheritance burst onto the stage of the Playhouse at the
Victorian Arts Centre for its inaugural performance, the culmination of a journey into
the rural psyche by its writer and the actors who brought it to life. But whilst it is set
very firmly in the dust and despair of the Mallee, it encompasses issues that are of
concern to all Australians.
Born in 1957, Hannie Rayson’s play-writing experience began in the world of
community theatre in the early 1980s and this thinking continues to inform the way
she goes about her work today. With an understanding of the need to give
communities a voice about the things that shape their lives, Rayson likes to go to the
source for information. Hence, she visited the Mallee fifteen times both before and
during the writing of this play. Her discussions with the people she met on those
excursions seemed to have one major theme and that was the inheritance of the land
or ‘Who gets the farm?’1, the sub-text being, ‘Beware the daughter-in-law’. In this
world of inheritance away from the male line and divorce and property settlement laws
that can stipulate that the family farm can be carved up as part of these, rural families
feel themselves sunder threat as never before.
But the whole theme of ‘inheritance’ is not simply restricted to the hundreds of
hectares used for primary produce. This play spins out into the whole question of land
or property and our connection to it. It looks at contemporary questions about ‘family’
and our assumptions regarding its constitution. It touches on the fraught problems
associated with the dispossession of Aborigines from their land and the denial that
can surround their birth and even their heritage. But it doesn’t stop there in that it also
delves into the prevalence of depression and suicide in society generally, but in rural
areas in particular, and the plight faced by gay men in country towns. The personal
misery of her characters is set in the context of the gradually dying small country town
that has lost its bank, its medical practitioners and many of its other services. In these
towns everything costs more because of the so-called ‘tyranny of distance’, and even
if the costs are subsidised, there is always the sense of being ‘the poor relation’ to
contend with. It is not surprising that the city and all it embodies is seen to be the
villain of the piece by those who have to battle for their share of things others take for
granted. Add to this, unemployment and the exodus of young people as they head to
the cities for education and an attempt to make their fortunes, and the stage is set for
a bitter and divisive struggle.
We are told in the Prologue that it is 1934 and the twins are fourteen years old. As he
play opens, Dibs and Girlie are about to turn eighty, so the year is 2000, the beginning
of the new millennium. This timing clearly post-dates the Mabo decision in June 1992
and assumes an understanding of the crisis on the land fuelled by drought, high
interest rates and poor stock prices that led to many farmers finding themselves with
unpayable debts in the mid-nineties. There are also allusions to the two World Wars
and the toll these have taken on the young men from rural areas. The story we are
told of rural disadvantage and rapid decline makes the arrival of a politician with
policies like those of Maureen Delaney almost inevitable. She has obviously been
modelled on the erstwhile Member for Oxley, Pauline Hanson, who appeared on the
political scene in1996 and formed the party, One Nation, in April ‘97, but the sense of
Hannie Rayson in the Program for MTC’s performance of Inheritance March-April, 2003.
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disappointment and grievance Maureen seeks to address has a frighteningly
contemporary ring.
Hannie Rayson’ s style has evolved since her early interest in community theatre. In
the 1980s, she was seen as the next David Williamson and certainly, with his recent
retirement, she has gone some way to filling the gap. However, her writing has
developed through a series of positions as Writer-in-Residence into something that
moves beyond the stage. In recent years, she has won plaudits for her television
writing with episodes of Seven Deadly Sins and SeaChange to her credit. This more
‘filmic’ quality is apparent in Inheritance and it would be no surprise to find it produced
for television in the way that another of her plays, Hotel Sorrento, was produced some
years ago. Rayson sees herself as a political writer, and in this seems to be moving
beyond reflecting society as it exists to an intention to warn against what it might
become. Her play, Two Brothers, commissioned for the Melbourne Theatre Company
and opening there in 2005, was notable for the amount of media debate it fuelled. This
could mark yet another change in direction for this prolific writer as the issues she
raises on the stage become a part of current public discussion.
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Section 2. Ways into the text
Inheritance is located firmly within a specific time-frame against a series of
contemporary events which have grown out of a history that sits comfortably, or
perhaps uncomfortably, within living memory. It is set in a geographical area
surrounded by factual towns and cities; only Rushton and Allandale are imagined
places. Therefore, it is important for students to understand some of the history of the
Mallee and farming in that region in order to see the relevance of things like the rise of
Hansonism and the increase in cases of depression, particularly amongst men in rural
areas. The following ‘Glossary’ is provided, but students could be asked to conduct
their own Internet searches to build up a picture of the area and its people.
Glossary
The Mallee
The Mallee covers an area of 3,925,584 hectares of land in the north-west of Victoria.
It stretches from the South Australian border and follows the Murray River to Nyah
West on the outskirts of Swan Hill, then drops south to Birchip and back to the border.
It has a total population of 61,095.
Some intrepid farmers settled in the region as early as the 1880s, but real enthusiasm
for land in this area did not occur until rail services were established in 1906. The soil
is a very light sandy loam, and at first, wheat growing was the most prevalent use.
Sheep were introduced to the area in the 1920s but there was a massive swing back
to wheat and barley growing between 1935 and 1950, necessitating the use of huge
machinery to harvest the crops adequately. The Mallee was also the site of some
inventions that improved farming for all. For instance, the Smith brothers invented
their ‘stump jump plough’ specifically for this area, where land had been cleared but
the roots remained in the soil, making ploughing very difficult. ‘Mallee roots’ became
an essential part of keeping the family warm throughout the state when open fires
were the only winter heating option. Gradually the systematic stripping of the land led
to dust storms and problems with soil preservation that made farming even harder.2
The young male population of the Mallee, like many rural areas in Victoria, was
decimated in World War I. Entire football teams containing the finest young men the
areas could offer, were lost. After the wars, land in Mallee and the Wimmera became
part of the package set aside for the so-called ‘soldier/settlers’. In this way, the
depression associated with the land was reflected in the farmers and exacerbated in
those who had seen service in one or more of the wars. Farley Hamilton reflects this
part of rural life.
2
Southern Mallee District Council
http://www.southernmallee.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=152
Ozelections.com
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au
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Mabo
On June 3, 1992, the Australian High Court ruled in favour of the late Eddie Mabo, a
traditional man of the Torres Straight Islands, overturning the two-hundred-and-fiveyear-old legal doctrine known as terra nullius which means ‘empty land’. This belief
allowed those white colonists who arrived in Australia from the eighteenth century
onwards to believe that there were no prior owners to the land. Land was simply there
for the taking and there was no sense in which the traditional occupants were seen to
have any rights to ownership and all this entailed.
The Mabo ruling recognised Aboriginal prior ownership of the land. At the time, many
people with large landholdings, such as mining companies, farmers and others, felt
concern that they might be forced to rescind their tenure of the land. Hence the
distrust echoing through Girlie Delaney’s comment, ‘You wouldn’t tell the bloody Mabo
mob’ (p.39). The system that has eventuated from the ruling is a three-tiered one with
those with ‘white’ titles keeping their land, Aboriginal interests getting what is not
controlled by this, and a system of negotiated co-existence over some shared areas.3
Pauline Hanson and One Nation
As an unknown Liberal candidate, Pauline Hanson first rose to prominence after a
letter she wrote to the Queensland Times in January 1996 contained what were seen
as racist sentiments, leading to her expulsion from the Liberal Party. In the letter, she
said she felt that it was a ‘pity… as much media coverage or political grandstanding is
not shown for white deaths in custody’.4 In the federal election of March 1996,
Hanson, now an independent, won the federal Labor seat of Oxley in Queensland with
the biggest swing in that election. In her maiden parliamentary speech, Hanson
caused a mass walk-out when she said, ‘Present governments are encouraging
separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, monies and facilities only
available to Aboriginals … I and most Australians want our immigration policy radically
reviewed and … multiculturalism abolished … we are in danger of being swamped by
Asians …’5.
In April 1997, Hanson launched her One Nation party and in the Queensland state
election of 1998, One Nation attracted 23% of the vote and won 11 seats.6 Many of
the comments made by Pauline Hanson and the supporters of One Nation are put into
the mouth of Maureen Delaney.
Longerenong7
Nugget Hamilton has a Diploma in Agriculture from Longerenong we are told. This is
now one of the rural campuses of the University of Melbourne near Horsham. At this
institute, Nugget could have studied a variety of courses in broadacre dryland farming
and associated industries such as pig, poultry, cattle feedlot and farm service
industries. Courses on the environment which support sustainable farming systems
are also offered. He might even have studied in one of the business management
Reynolds, Henry (October 25,1999) ‘Eddie Mabo’, Time Online Edition
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/0,9171,1107991025-33689,00.htm
4
The Internet edition of the Australian Jewish News, ‘The rise, fall and return of Pauline Hanson’,
February 28, 2003.
http://www.ajn.com.au/pages/archives/one-nation/one-nation-29.html accessed 31/3/05.
5
ibid
6
ibid
7
www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/depts/longc.html
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courses on offer. Lyle is scathing of this kind of education, but it does appear that
Rayson is suggesting that education is the way of the future, even in farming.
Kerosene baths
‘And before you know it they’ve locked you up in one of those rest homes and some
little Asiatic nurse is scrubbing you down with kerosene,’ says Girlie in order to try to
dissuade Dibs from throwing in her lot with William (p.53). The audience would
recognise the reference to the nursing home scandal of February 2000 when the staff
at Riverside Nursing Home were ordered by management to add kerosene to
residents’ bath water in an attempt to combat an outbreak of scabies. The outcry led
to the closure of the home and others like it, as well as improved accreditation for all
aged care residences and, eventually, the demotion of the Minister for Aged Care,
Bronwyn Bishop. There was no evidence to suggest that the kerosene was
administered by those of a particular ethnic group.8
Mulesing
Mulesing is the process whereby the hindquarters of a lamb are shaved, removing a
thin layer of skin to prevent the growth of wool on that area. This will protect the
grown sheep from fly strike which could kill them. It is a controversial system that has
caused some anger amongst Animal Liberationist groups and William’s reaction
(p.17), though mild, might reflect the city versus country attitude to such issues.
Rural life
a. Students from rural areas, particularly those whose families live outside the towns,
will be well-placed to understand some of the difficulties inherent in being primary
producers, reliant on the vagaries of the weather and the economy. They will also be
aware of some of the difficulties rural towns face regarding unemployment and the
‘drift’ of their young people towards the city. Urban schools might find it useful to
establish connections with schools in country areas whose VCE students are studying
this text. Emailing between students could provide a wealth of knowledge for students
from both environments.
b. There appear to be fewer media programs devoted to rural matters. However,
watching some excerpts from Landline or listening to some other rural radio programs
would raise awareness of issues that are of interest in the country. Material and/or a
speaker from the National Party or one of the farming organisations could also be
valuable.
Depression
Depression is a sensitive topic for everyone, and particularly in schools. But it is a
major concern of the play with farmers in two generations taking their own lives. Bring
in the experts. Perhaps your school has a program run by the school Student Welfare
Co-ordintor dealing with issues such as these. Perhaps it would be possible to invite
groups such as ‘Beyondblue’ to speak with students in the context of the play and of
their own lives. There are also excellent web sites on depression, and studies have
been conducted into its prevalence in rural areas. One of these links is included in the
Resources section at the end of the Guide.
8
The Guardian March 1, 2000
http://www.cpa.org.au/garchve2/990nurs.html
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Family
What constitutes a ‘family’? What does the law say? What does society believe? What
do young people feel? What rights do members of a family have? What do children
expect from their parents, now and in the future? Would the answers to these
questions vary between countries, between cultures, between urban and rural
communities?
Depending on your class, questions such as these could lend themselves to debates
or oral presentations. Hearing a variety of views and trying to see things from different
perspectives is quite important to an open reading of the play, Inheritance.
Inheritance
The word ‘inheritance’ has a variety of meanings both in the general community and in
the context of the play. Groups of students could create a list of synonyms for this
word. They could decide on the things that they might have inherited from their family
such as appearance, or relatives, or country. What do they think they will have
‘inherited’ from their school, their community, their friends? The characters in the play
are focused on the inheritance of land. How can the concept of ‘land’ be teased out in
a sense more relevant to themselves?
It is also important to consider ‘inheritance’ within the law. It is still a battle in some
families to see girls or women as worthy beneficiaries. Norm Myrtle didn’t have too
many choices as all his potential inheritors are female but, we are told, it is Farley who
holds the deeds to the farm, suggesting that these have been handed over on his
marriage to Dibs. What happens to property when a marriage ends in divorce?
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Section 3. Running sheet and structure of text
PROLOGUE Dec. 1934. Young Dibs and Young Girlie sing ‘Two little Girls in Blue’
ACT ONE, Scene One: The families prepare for the 80th birthdays of twins, Dibs
Hamilton and Girlie Delaney. Julia’s car breaks down on the Berriwillock Road.
Scene Two: The Hamilton’s farm. Girlie and Dibs are disappointed in their children.
Scene Three: At the Delaneys’, Lyle unveils his birthday gift for his mother, a
converted ride-on lawnmower to compensate for her lack of mobility, a result of
childhood polio.
Scene Four: The Hamilton’s kitchen. William arrives.
Scene Five: The Berriwillock Road. Julia reminisces over the sexual fixations of the
town’s youth when she was young and the games these led to.
Scene Six: Girlie rides her new motor. She and Lyle talk about alcohol for the party.
Scene Seven: The Hamilton’s kitchen. Farley’s attitude to William’s sexuality. The
mouse plague is bad. Dibs wants to ask Nugget to get Julia and Felix.
Scene Eight: Lyle and Nugget in the paddock. Lyle tries to persuade Nugget to go
halves in the cost of a seeder. Nugget refuses.
Scene Nine: The Berriwillock Road. Julia accuses Felix’s generation of being soft.
She tells Felix she’s pregnant.
Scene Ten: The main street of Rushton. Maureen and Girlie are buying food for the
party. They express a general intolerance of lifestyles even faintly ‘alternative’.
Scene Eleven: The Hamiltons’ kitchen. William thinks Farley needs full-time care.
He wants to sell the farm to finance future ventures. Nugget goes to get Julia & Felix.
Scene Twelve: The Delaneys’. Ashleigh finds a small suitcase. She puts on a Father
Christmas beard and hat. Girlie loses her temper and snatches it away.
Scene Thirteen: Berriwillock Road. Nugget arrives and warns Julia about William’s
regular visits to the farm and his fear of a possible sale of the farm.
Scene Fourteen: The Hamiltons’ kitchen. William and Farley argue. William recalls
Farley snatching money away from him when he thought it was being wasted.
Scene Fifteen: The Delaneys’. Lyle looks at farm machinery brochure. Maureen
talks of their lack of money. Brianna arrives to say the pigeons are sick.
Scene Sixteen: The Hamiltons’. William prepares food. Flash back to Dibs and
Norm and the desperation of his times as a farmer. Dibs sees Norm’s similarity to Lyle
Delaney.
Scene Seventeen: Lyle and Brianna fly the pigeons.
Scene Eighteen: The Delaneys’. Ashleigh dreams of Melbourne. Girlie’s hatred of it
dates from the onset of her polio. Brianna and Lyle wait for pigeons. Flash back to
Norm, Girlie and pigeons. Brianna asks why Norm hanged himself.
Scene Nineteen: The Delaneys’ kitchen. Ashleigh tells Lyle she’s heard that Dibs is
selling the farm. Maureen is told the news. William arrives and Maureen confronts
him. Scene Twenty: The Delaneys’. Girlie reminisces on Norm’s death. Flash back
(1934) to Norm finding ‘lucky’ coins for Dibs and Girlie. He talks of duty and freedom.
The young girls find Norm hanging in the barn wearing a Father Christmas suit.
Scene Twenty-one: The Hamilton’s yard. Julia, Felix and Nugget arrive. Farley is
confused. William insists that the farm needs to be sold. Julia doesn’t agree.
Scene Twenty-two: The Delaney’s kitchen. Maureen expresses her fear about the
possible selling of the farm. She hints at Nugget’s parentage.
Scene Twenty-three: The Hamiltons’. Felix joins Nugget and Farley. Farley fears he
is going mad and Nugget promises to look after him.
Scene Twenty-four: Girlie reminisces on Lucky Joe. Flash back to their first meeting.
Scene Twenty-five: The Hamiltons’ shed. Lyle wants Nugget to buy the seeder.
Scene Twenty-six: Main Street, Rushton. Girlie and Maureen prepare petition for a
rural transaction centre. Julia, William and Felix arrive. Maureen says Dibs is selling
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the farm. Flash back (1938) to the coin toss that gave Dibs ‘duty’ and the farm and
Girlie ‘freedom’. Girlie goes to see Dibs.
Scene Twenty-seven: The Hamiltons’ dining room. Family demand information about
sale of farm. William talks of his plans. Lyle and Nugget trade words and blows.
Scene Twenty-eight: The Hamiltons’. Nugget and Lyle fight.
ACT TWO, Scene One: Some months later. The Rushton Agricultural and Pastoral
Show. Maureen appears as the Independent candidate for Murray.
Scene Two: Farley’s coffin is carried in.
Scene Three: The family waits for the minister. Maureen returns to the subject of
Nugget’s parentage. Felix and Nugget talk about the adoption.
Scene Four: The Hamiltons’. Dibs and Julia sort Farley’s wardrobe. Nugget asks for
Farley’s hat. Julia and Dibs argue over use of the land.
Scene Five: The Delaneys’ backyard. Girlie and Brianna tell Maureen that the house
is being repossessed by the bank. Maureen leaves to claim ‘what’s ours’.
Scene Six: The Hamiltons’ bedroom. William finds the revised will. Dibs rips it up.
Nugget comes in to find the will Farley has told him about.
Scene Seven: Julia openly discusses Farley’s paternity of Nugget.
Scene Eight: The Delaneys move in with the Hamiltons.
Scene Nine: In the kitchen. Dibs tells William that she cannot turn her sister away.
Scene Ten: Farley’s bedroom. Brianna and Ashleigh blame Lyle for the situation.
Scene Eleven: The kitchen. Felix is horrified by local attitudes to Aborigines.
Maureen scorns his political correctness.
Scene Twelve: Dibs tells Girlie the truth about Nugget’s adoption and the revised will.
Scene Thirteen: Nugget ‘hears’ Farley explain his reasons for not revealing the truth.
Scene Fourteen: Lyle fires his rifle into the night as he yells his anger and distress.
Scene Fifteen: The Grand Hotel, Mildura. Dibs and Girlie talk about their families.
Scene Sixteen: The Hamiltons’ woolshed. Felix comforts Brianna and Lyle enters. He
misinterprets the situation. Lyle whips Felix. Maureen rescues him.
Scene Seventeen: The Grand Hotel. The sisters see Lyle as the farmer in the family.
Scene Eighteen: The Hamiltons’. Lyle drives tractor through the window of the bank.
Scene Nineteen: Main Street, Mildura. Dibs transfers deeds of farm to Lyle.
Scene Twenty: Brianna and Ashleigh find Lyle hanging in the woolshed.
EPILOGUE
Nugget and Felix watch the television interview that confirms Maureen’s win as the
Independent Member for Murray. She has sold the farm to finance her career.
Structure of the text
As a play script and not a short story or novel, Inheritance is obviously intended to be
performed. But performance presents quite a challenge for this play. The script is a
very busy and visual one with forty-eight short scenes divided between two Acts and
flanked by a Prologue and Epilogue. The action leaps backwards and forwards
through a number of settings and over three generations spanning sixty-six years.
There are very few of the long, psychologically revealing speeches that students might
have been accustomed to in other plays they have studied. Instead, the speeches, like
the scenes, are often very brief. It might take one character a number of speeches of
just a line or two spread over one or more scenes to convey a particular thought on an
issue. Sometimes, Hannie Rayson’s views need more than one actor to carry the
authorial voice. This means that a picture is built up as if by accident, and the
concerns she addresses are absorbed gradually, so that when realisation eventually
arrives, it comes with what amounts to the shock of recognition. In this we, the
audience, become complicit in the events occurring on the stage almost as much as
the members of the families concerned. This involvement is enhanced by the way in
which various characters speak directly to the audience on occasions to introduce one
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another or themselves or simply to complain about the way in which they are being
treated by those around them. It is as if we are engaged in a chat over a local back
fence rather than watching from the safe anonymity of a theatre seat.
The play script would lend itself to being revamped as a film or mini-series. Partly this
is because of the quite ‘filmic’ qualities inherent in the frequent switches between
scenes, quite sparse on wording but large on visual possibilities. This is supported by
its setting against a backdrop of a specific geographic area, the Mallee, with its own
history and range of problems, some of which are representative of issues common to
other rural areas. Overall, the play does much more ‘showing’ than ‘telling’ making the
stage directions an essential component in our ability to visualise the action.
Alternating views of the kitchens of the Hamiltons and the Delaneys privileges the
audience with information from both perspectives so that we are able to see
motivations that the players within the drama can only guess at. Removing the action
from these more domestic settings to places like the Berriwillock Road, the cemetery,
the show grounds and even the paddock where Lyle grazes his sheep, gives the
playwright a chance to broaden our grasp on some of the issues she will pursue in the
main body of the play: homophobia; racism and a deep distrust of the city and those
who live and are educated there; as well as reciprocal suspicion of those who have
never left the country and have been educated in different ways. Rayson likes to focus
on the contradictions in human nature and by seeing opinions we might initially reject
in different contexts, she increases the complexity of our reactions. It is not necessary
to have long didactic speeches about the depressed nature of the small country town
and the lack of basic services such as a bank and a doctor. We are shown this in the
main street of Rushton and in the scene where no medical help is available for Felix
after he has been whipped by Lyle. We therefore begin to recognise the genesis of
some of the more unpleasant attitudes expressed by the main players.
As well as the structural elements of the script itself, some of the dramatic business
presents quite a range of challenges for the set designers. Girlie’s ride-on mower is
just one of several mechanical devices that are required to appear on the stage. There
are two hangings and because the audience must ‘discover’ these at the same time
as the characters on stage, they present real difficulties. Even the television footage
at the end of the play requires yet another technique to be incorporated. In the 2003
Melbourne season of the play, Jill Singer was shown as the commentator to whom
Maureen Delaney reveals the sale of Allandale in the Epilogue. The inclusion of a
well-known media personality adds another level to the meaning of the play and
further blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction.
Another aspect of the structure of the play that adds a level of complexity and interest
is the use of flash-backs. These are essential components of the story as well as
allowing us to see the cyclical nature, not just of life on the farm, but also of the
ongoing problems faced by the farmers themselves. These elements are linked
thematically by the interest in pigeon breeding and racing, by the unforgiving land in
the Mallee and by the suicides of the only white farmer in each generation. The
echoes from one generation to the next are signalled by the singing of the song, Two
Little Girls in Blue, which begins in innocence and simplicity and ends for us in irony
and dismay. Whilst this flash-back information is vaguely chronological, it is not as
detailed as the ‘real-time’ action that is the subject of the main play. It functions as the
‘memories’ Dibs and Girlie have of their childhood and, in Girlie’s case, her first
meeting with Lucky Joe Delaney, her husband. Its other purpose is to clarify, explain
and in some cases prefigure action that is will occur in the characters’ ‘present’. The
appearance of Young Dibs and Young Girlie is the visual clue that points to a change
in time-frame. They are mirrored by Brianna and Ashleigh Delaney who, in their blue
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school uniforms, echo and reconstruct the motif in a way that adds an element of
visual horror to the apparent lack of awareness expressed in the dialogue.
Music other than the ‘signature’ tune is used within the script on several occasions
and for a number of purposes. The song ‘Lend a Hand’ is played as the doors at the
back of the stage roll open to reveal Maureen Delaney riding into the arena at the start
of her political campaign. This triumphal arrival subverts the image of ‘saviour’ and
the words are ominous in their message. Even more ominous is the inclusion of a
number of Christmas carols performed with varying degrees of dissonance to reflect
the growing dislocation of the situation. To begin with, these simply reflect the fact
that it is Christmas Day when Norm hangs himself, yet even here the girls’ experience
of finding their father is belied by the innocence and the irony of the strains of ‘Away in
a Manger’ that accompany the discovery. Musical irony becomes sarcasm when
Girlie’s family moves in with the Hamiltons, and Lyle puts a positive spin on this by
saying that he has arrived to help with the farm. The choir bursts into the two last
lines of yet another hymn, ‘Praise my soul the King of Heaven’. This is not a
particularly subtle comment on Lyle and his delusions, but it also makes it very clear
that Rayson is addressing a white, anglo-saxon, Christian and possibly tertiary
educated audience who would appreciate her various references.
NB: Beat
The word ‘beat’ appears at various points within the script. This is a term used to
direct actors to pause for a certain number of ‘beats’ before saying their next lines. It is
not usually included in the written script, being something that would be
communicated to the cast during rehearsals by the director.
Activities for the classroom
1. The cast list provides some family connections for the characters, but creating a
family tree that unites the whole family would be useful. In this way, those who are
dead and those who have been married and divorced and/or who have formed other
attachments can be included. This would unite the flash-back and ‘present’ time
sections of the play into one narrative.
2. Produce plans of the two parallel plays: the flash-backs to 1934 and the ‘present’
time one of 2000-2001. In what ways does one reflect the other? What are the
connecting elements within and between each time-frame?
3. The play is set in a number of different locations. Mostly the homes of the two
sisters are used. However, significant things happen in other places. List the various
settings such as the Berriwillock Road, the Grand Hotel in Mildura, Cromies’ paddock,
the Rushton Agricultural and Pastoral Show and so on. Who are the main characters
involved at each location and how is the action advanced? Provide at least one
important quote that reflects the consequence of that change of scene.
4. Obviously a play with so many short scenes could not be staged with a
conventional range of scenery changes for each new scene. How could this play be
staged? What would the set comprise? How would the stage change between scenes
if at all? This activity will necessitate a careful reading of the play and the stage
directions, the importance of which are sometimes overlooked by students,
incorporating an understanding of how the scenes fit together. Students could present
their findings orally as a discussion, or they could demonstrate through either acting
out one or two scenes with commentary or by using a form of puppet theatre or large
diagrammatic posters.
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Section 4. Characters
Dibs Hamilton (including Young Dibs)
At the start of the play Dibs and her twin sister, Girlie Delaney, are turning 80. It is this
birthday that is the catalyst for bringing all the main characters together at the family
farm, Allandale. The Hamilton half of the family seem to have led more privileged lives
than the Delaneys, the family of Dibs’ sister. We learn during the play that the farm
has passed to Dibs on the toss of a coin. At the time, this was seen as the less ‘lucky’
alternative, the acceptance of ‘duty’ over adventure. Dibs has been enjoying life as a
nurse in Melbourne and was keen to return to that life. But the twins’ father, Norm
Myrtle, commits suicide and one of the girls must remain at the farm to continue its
management and look after their mother. When Dibs marries her ‘handsome airman’,
Farley Hamilton, he moves to the farm as well and they embark upon what turns out to
be a prosperous time together. Dibs is instrumental in making sure that her mother
treats Girlie fairly by giving her ten thousand pounds for the purchase of a pub. At the
time, this seemed the better part of the deal, but with time, the farm’s value has
outstripped that of the pub, and the family lobbying for a part of it increases.
‘Duty’, too, informs the way in which she keeps secret the story of Nugget’s birth,
adopting him so that it was impossible for Farley to forget ‘his shame’. Yet she
appears to have real affection for Nugget as a son. Under pressure from William, Dibs
initially decides to sell the farm, but eventually she realises that land is everything and
she is too old to embrace the kind of lifestyle William has in mind. When she discovers
Farley’s revised will after his death, Dibs is shocked in two ways. She is, of course,
horrified that the farm would be left to the bastard son of her husband whom she does
not see as ‘family’. But equally confronting to her is that Farley would change his will
without telling her, indicating a lack of trust that she believes should not exist between
husband and wife. By the time she reaches this stage of her life, she has no intention
of moving the land outside her very narrow definition of ‘family’ and so she signs it
over to Lyle. As Girlie says, ‘My sister is a very Christian woman – but when it comes
down to it – she’s as mean as all get-out’ (p.15). As the play progresses, we see that
she is right. Dibs does indeed encompass a complex range of sometimes
contradictory attitudes.
Questions and activities
1. What prompts Dibs to transfer the farm to Lyle Delaney? Is it simply a matter of
keeping the land out of Nugget’s hands or is some deeper motivation at work?
2. Do you believe Dibs would support Maureen Delaney’s brand of politics? What
evidence from the play supports your answer?
3. We do not see the reaction of Dibs and Girlie to Lyle’s death. Either write a journal
entry for Dibs outlining her feelings at this time, or write another short scene for the
play in which to demonstrate her response.
Girlie Delaney (including Young Girlie)
Girlie’s history and fortunes are closely tied to what we have seen of those of her twin
sister Dibs. Hers, however, are quite literally, the opposite side of the coin: the
kangaroo that symbolised ‘freedom’ against the king’s head of ‘duty’ that gave her
sister the farm.
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Whilst she blames the onset of polio on the ‘sin against God’ (p.48) of her father’s
suicide, her early life seems to be touched with the luck the flip of the coin first implied.
She is lucky in love, marrying a man who sees past her physical affliction and makes
her laugh. The original gift of ten thousand pounds from her mother to off-set the
ownership of the farm that passed to Dibs, soon lost its advantage, and it is obvious
that the Delaneys are of a different socio-economic class from the Hamiltons. Lyle, the
only child, is a career farmer but ironically, although this is the part of the family most
wedded to the country, they are the ones without a farm of their own.
When Girlie first hears of the possible sale of ‘Allandale’, she feels aggrieved because
she has stuck to the bargain dictated by the flip of the coin, but she doesn’t think that
the next generation should be bound by this. It is obvious to her that her family is the
only one with a ‘real’ farmer and she is also painfully aware of what a mess Lyle has
made of this career. It is her sister who recognises the similarity between their late
father and Lyle, but it is Girlie whose desperation and loyalty set her up as a onewoman lobby group because her ‘children need to know where they stand’ in relation
to the farm she sees as their shared inheritance.
At the end of the play, sibling rivalry appears to dissipate when Girlie offers to use a
prize she has won in a raffle to take Dibs with her to Mildura for a little holiday. Just as
Dibs embraces Girlie and her family when they are evicted from their house because
‘she’s my sister’, Girlie calls on blood-ties in this action. In discussion about their
families, Girlie tells her sister how much Lyle loves ‘his Aunty Dibs’ and how he just
needs a little luck to get back on his feet. She is overjoyed when Dibs returns from the
solicitor with the news that the farm is now Lyle’s.
Questions and activities
1. What is Girlie’s motivation for inviting Dibs on the holiday to Mildura?
2. Is Girlie right? Should the situation of the farm return to its ‘pre-toss-of-the-coin’
status so that it remains in the family? Does her family have equal rights to the farm
with the Hamiltons?
3. The order of these notes suggests that Girlie is second in importance to Dibs. Is this
an accurate assessment?
4. Work together in groups to formulate a suggestion that might have solved the
impasse of the ownership of the farm and so might have prevented Lyle’s death and
the selling of the farm by Maureen.
Lyle Delaney
Lyle is the forty-eight-year-old only child of Girlie and ‘Lucky Joe’ Delaney. He is also
the only one of the natural grandchildren of Norm Myrtle who has taken to the land.
The irony is that his parents were publicans and not on the land, and so Lyle and his
wife, Maureen, and their two daughters live with his mother on the outskirts of the
small town of Rushton. Lyle sees himself as a farmer, however. He is particularly
angered by Nugget Hamilton’s influence at Allandale; partly because Nugget is
Aboriginal and also because he has a Diploma in Agriculture. As Lyle says to Dibs,
‘No-one can teach you to be a farmer. It’s either in you or it isn’t’ (p.45). The
antagonism between Lyle and Nugget is only just beneath the surface for much of the
play, and reaches a climax when word gets out that Dibs is thinking of selling the farm.
We learn later that Lyle has gone ahead with the purchase of a seeder despite
Nugget’s refusal to share the cost, claiming that Nugget has ‘welched’ on the deal.
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When they fight, Lyle’s fury is expressed in a torrent of drunken, racist expletives. Yet
later at Farley’s funeral, they joke together in a rough sort of camaraderie.
As the drama unfolds, we become increasingly aware of the difficulties that the
Delaneys are facing. With no significant tracts of land of their own and having to pay
the Hamiltons to run sheep on Allandale, Lyle is effectively ‘a farmer without a farm’.
Although he has made some disastrous decisions, buying equipment and using the
house in Rushton as surety on the loans, he has worked hard and been prepared to
take risks which under other circumstances might have paid off. When the bailiffs
move in to repossess the house, Maureen and Ashleigh turn on Lyle, calling him a
loser and blaming him for their predicament. Brianna, however, shows us a softer side
to the man when she tells Felix of the loss of his best bird, Little Red, the week before,
for which he blames himself.
Lyle’s rage, more often than not fuelled by alcohol, comes to a head in the last few
scenes in the play. In a reflection of that earlier tragedy, Lyle hangs himself before the
sisters return with the news of his ownership of the farm.
Questions and activities
1. Compare what we know of Norm Myrtle and Lyle Delaney. Is Lyle’s life and death
simply a case of history repeating itself?
2. Is Girlie right when she says that Lyle ‘just needs a little help from Lady Luck’?
Would things have been different if he had lived to take ownership of Allandale?
3. What is Rayson saying about the ‘older order’ of farmers, those who were born to it
rather than educated for it? (This question would be a useful one for Nugget as well
and the two could be compared in order to establish the message Rayson might be
trying to convey).
Nugget Hamilton
Nugget (Neville) Hamilton is the natural son of Norm Myrtle and Joyce, the Aboriginal
housemaid at Girlie’s and Joe’s pub. Nugget’s role in the play could be seen to be a
token one, in that he represents quite literally the push for Aboriginal land rights in the
political arena. In addition, the circumstances of his birth reflect what Julia sees in her
father as ‘a long line of farmers who’ve exploited Aboriginal women’ (p.77). Nugget’s
presence within the family and within the wider world of rural Australia also draws a
range of traditional anti-Aboriginal comments which, though sounding clichéd, are
delivered with such resounding conviction that they shock as much as if heard for the
first time. Despite Nugget’s superior ability as a farmer, Lyle uses his heritage to cast
doubt on the value of his suggestions: ‘Nugget’s a great bloke and that, but they make
hopeless bloody farmers’, he tells Dibs (p.45). Even Nugget’s name is redolent with
racism as Felix points out, but Nugget is as unconcerned about this as everyone else
around him.
However, to see Nugget’s presence in the play as simply two-dimensional, a
cardboard cut-out representation of a position, would be to deny the complexity of his
character. Nugget is educated, thoughtful and diplomatic in his relations within the
family; he is the only one who can cajole Farley into dressing up for the birthday party.
After the funeral he tells Felix of the relationship he had with Farley: they were mates,
he says, and he talks about how Farley has taught him to stand up against those who
would bully him. They shared a love of football and they fought, with Farley breaking a
couple of Nugget’s ribs on one occasion. Through all of this we get a picture of a
young man in control of his world, proud and capable and sure of himself. His regular
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proximity to the fiery, headstrong, impetuous and often drunk Lyle, tells us as much
about him as it does about the conventional and conservative white man. Lyle is only
a decade older than Nugget, but Nugget is years ahead of him in wisdom. Had
Farley’s revised will been honoured, it is possible that the farm may well have stayed
in the ‘family’ despite everyone’s furious attempts to claim that Nugget was not one of
them.
Questions and activities
1. Is Brianna right when she says, ‘Yous are so racist’? To what extent is Nugget a
victim of family prejudices? Do these simply reflect those apparent in the general
community?
2. Does our opinion of Nugget change when we realise that he has known of Farley’s
revised will for some time before Farley’s death?
3. What will happen to Nugget now? Choose a point some time in the future and
work in pairs to create an interview in which Nugget reflects on his time at Allandale
and his life since its sale.
Maureen Delaney
If it can be argued that there is more to Nugget Hamilton than just a representative of
Aboriginal Land Rights and a character to display some of the prejudices of others:
the same cannot be said of Maureen Delaney. Her sole role in the play seems to be
that of shining beacon to conservatism at its most extreme. She is Pauline Hanson relocated in Victoria and only thinly disguised by an alter ego. It is true that Rayson
allows the odd foray into maternal concerns when Ashleigh appears wearing a dress
she deems too short, but this is more of a token than her real place as the ‘Mouth of
the Mallee’. The irony of this sobriquet is not lost on us as she is indeed a ‘mouth’
rather than a ‘voice’. She alternately leaps to Lyle’s defence claiming that he is being
badly treated by the family, and condemns him loudly and harshly – ‘What a useless
idiot … I’m married to a hopeless piece of trash’ – when he drives them to financial
ruin with his unwise farming decisions and reckless borrowing (p.73).
Maureen is one of the more unlikeable characters in the play. Even the other
characters do not appear to be very fond of her, although Girlie, her mother-in-law,
tolerates her and joins in her lobbying activities for more amenities in the town, turning
to her when the bank is about to reclaim their house. Challenging her views, however,
is left to Julia and Felix who live in the city, where opposition to Hansonism was
traditionally strong. Despite this, it is William with a similar background to his sister
and nephew, who voices the standard pro-Hanson view that those who are against
her are ‘bleeding hearts’ and ‘lefties’ when his inheritance of the farm appears
threatened.
The dénouement of the play reveals another issue that sleeps beneath much of the
play and that is the ‘danger’ of the daughter-in-law and how the family farm is seen
increasingly by the courts as just another asset. Maureen claims that she has sold the
farm ‘to save the country’, but she has certainly not saved the family.
Questions and activities
1. Groups of students could investigate some of the issues that are raised through the
Maureen Delaney character:
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


Aboriginal land Rights and Mabo. (At the time of writing, the Federal
Government is revisiting the issue of land in relation to its use by its traditional
owners)
The rise of One Nation (and its demise). Will it rise again?
Rural attitudes to the city and vice versa.
2. One of the puzzles of the play is the age difference between Lyle and his wife.
Maureen is seven years older than her husband and, whilst it is not unheard of for
wives to be older than their husbands, it does raise questions about Rayson’s
intentions with such a very deliberate choice. Why do you think Rayson has chosen
this age discrepancy for these two characters?
Farley Hamilton
By the time we meet Farley, he is struggling with the early stages of dementia and is
only a few months from death. He is bitter and irascible and is clearly disliked by his
son, William, whose homosexuality and lack of interest in farming he finds equally
distasteful. But he has not always been like this and Dibs allows us to see the effect
that the war has had on people like Farley. He also occupies a representative role in
the play being the father of an Aboriginal son. Julia sees the relationship with Nugget’s
mother as being only abuse, but William points out that her view suggests she is
stereoptying the relationship. In the imagined conversation between Nugget and
Farley, the father tells the son, ‘some things are best left unsaid, mate’ (p.88) when
Nugget angrily accuses him of not telling the truth about his birth thereby disqualifying
him from the land he sees as rightfully his. Yet, Farley challenges the stereotype by
acknowledging Nugget in his will. This is not enough, of course, when pitted against
the hurt and simmering racism of his mother and brother. Farley’s behaviour is farsighted in one sense but foolish and blind in another. In the end, the revised will is
destroyed because he has not taken his wife into his confidence. Farley’s name might
be on the title to the land and he has made a good living out of it, but Dibs has shown
her strength over the years and it has been foolish for Farley to overlook this.
Questions and Activities
In Act Two, Scene 13, Farley is given a chance to speak for himself posthumously.
Why does Rayson choose to do this and how successful is her strategy?
William Hamilton Julia Hamilton
Felix Hamilton-Gray
William, Julia and Felix represent the move away from the bush. The siblings, William
and Julia, straddle both worlds but have been given the advantage of a city education
by their parents and have made their lives there. Felix, Julia’s son, is yet another
generation removed and so sees rural matters through very city-skewed eyes. He
accuses Maureen of intolerance, but there is more than a passing suggestion that he
is suffering from a similar condition himself.
It is through these three characters that we see one of the main difficulties of
inheritance. They are the direct blood-line of not only the farmer, Farley, but also the
original owner of the farm, Jessie Allan. But they do not work the land, and it appears
they would have no expertise in doing so. William wants it sold to finance his own
more ‘trendy’ lifestyle on the Mornington Peninsular. Julia, now pregnant to an Indian
man and involved in multiculturalism as part of her job, sentimentally wants it kept so
that she can use it for an equally ‘trendy’, and perhaps just as unrealistic purpose,
growing herbs and tomatoes. Felix doesn’t care either way for himself, but he has
quite inflexible ideas about the contenders.
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Section 5. Issues and Themes
Inheritance (and land)
‘Inheritance’ appears to have been Hannie Rayson’s starting point in writing. ‘Who
gets the farm?’ was a question she heard again and again as she journeyed to the
Mallee to research the play she had been commissioned to write. But Rayson has
moved the play’s concerns beyond that basic image bounded by the expectations of
one family’s members to encompass the interests of the broader community and the
country as a whole.
It is true that ‘inheritance’ is what is on the minds of the two sisters on the eve of their
eightieth birthdays. It is also the driving factor behind many of the discussions we
hear between their children. In farming families, it is possible, even probable, that at
least one of the sons of the farmer would work the farm until the patriarch’s death; a
sort of heir apparent. This would make the transition smoother and perhaps less
fraught with disagreement. But perhaps not, because the farm is a particular kind of
inheritance: valuable in its entirety; less so if divided up. What can be done if the farm
is passed to one person, effectively disinheriting the others?
When Norm Myrtle died, the farm would have passed to both girls, but Girlie didn’t
want it, preferring her marriage to Lucky Joe Delaney and the pub. At the time, the
farm was a kind of ‘poisoned chalice’ signifying as it did the acceptance of duty over
freedom, because with the farm came the girls’ mother who needed looking after. Dibs
tried to even the score by insisting that her mother gave Girlie ten thousand pounds
which, at the time, was generous in the extreme – but ‘it’s not land’ (p.57) as Girlie
points out.
The issue of inheritance of the farm is further complicated by the fact that it was
inherited by Dibs in the first instance but Farley’s name is on the title. Add to this his
son, Nugget, the facts of whose birth have never been openly admitted, and the
change in the will that would have seen him take over the property. These would be
complications enough, but Rayson shows us that this family is made up of a number
of individuals with personal agendas, the fulfilment of which rides on inheriting more
than ‘the pearl necklace’. All believe their needs are urgent and their claims
legitimate. Some, however, are in more need than others, and so the question arises
of whether need should be taken into consideration when property is concerned.
But the ‘inheritance’ Rayson investigates is not just about the farm or the property left
when the head of that family dies. It spills over into other things such as misery and
hard work. It looks as what we as a country have inherited and how this might lead to
a particular point of view that might advantage or disadvantage different sections of
the community. It investigates the fortunes of birth and the way in which it is difficult to
escape one’s origins, geographically and psychologically. We see depression in one
generation revisited in another. On the surface, we see William’s desire for Dibs to
sell the farm and use the money to relocate to the Mornington Peninsular as being
about his fear of losing Kevin. But it is also about his sexuality and the way his father
and the rest of the family and presumably the rural community at large have treated
him over the years. Having his mother sell the farm and move as far away as possible
from everything that has caused him misery over the years would be a pleasing, if
posthumous, payback.
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Rayson uses Nugget Hamilton to move the idea of ‘inheritance’ beyond the immediate
vicinity of one family and the community to the broader interests of a nation and its
history. Nugget is robbed of his inheritance of the family farm, but he comes from a
long line of people who have been disinherited across time. Nugget has told Felix that
Aborigines do not have to own the land, but Felix is quick to recognise that if ‘your
name isn’t on the title – they’ll shaft you’ (p.91). Farley has obviously recognised this
too and is prepared to do his bit to right the situation in his will. In some ways, Nugget
and Lyle are similar in that they are both farmers without farms and each of their
mothers recognises this. But when it comes down to handing over the land, whether
on the small scale or the larger national level, the ‘family’ will move to make rules to
include some and exclude others. Rayson shows that traditional exclusion is still alive
on the domestic level.
Questions and activities

Rule three columns and head them: Gain: Expect to Gain: Should Gain: For
each character (or ‘family’ or community) enter what they think they should
inherit, what they do inherit and what would be fair or right for them to inherit.
Does anyone end up with nothing? Is this what they deserve? Is there any
such thing as ‘deserving’ when it comes to inheritance?
Family
Tightly linked in this play to the theme of ‘inheritance’ is the notion of ‘family’. One of
the aspects of humanity that fascinates Hannie Rayson is the contradictions that are
part of us all. And it is through the definition of family that this becomes most obvious.
The Delaney and Hamilton families are quite certain that what makes a family is about
blood, about tradition and the law. But when it comes down to it, everyone also has a
sense that some are more ‘family’ than others. There is a tacit understanding that
there are privileges that go with being part of a family but that one has to earn these
privileges.
Moving to the city and all that implies about a possible shift of attitude and beliefs
might reduce the worthiness of a member of the family to inherit something important
like land. But in the eyes of those who have moved in this way, this might make them
superior in some ways and therefore more worthy. Embracing a lifestyle that is at
odds with the accepted and conservative wisdom of the community might also
disqualify one. Marrying into another area would perhaps confer a different family and
therefore would reduce one’s rights to the family left behind. Being family in an
alternative way (being a child of only one partner or being adopted) might also be
grounds for disqualification. Religion can confer ‘family-ness’ as can nationality and
culture and, of course, politics.
There is a general sense amongst the characters that everyone will think the same
about the common good and ironically the common good will narrow down to being
what is good for one particular individual. Whilst all members of the family would
probably agree with this general premise, trouble occurs when no-one agrees on
whose individual wishes should be supported. This is also exacerbated by the
different ways in which people interpret ‘family’ and it is not absolutely clear whether
interpretations of ‘family’ are held independently of the imperatives bound up in the
nature of ‘inheritance’.
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Questions and activities
 There are two families in the play: the Hamiltons and the Delaneys. But as the
play progresses, each family moves its sights back a generation and sees itself
as part of a larger family. What constitutes a ‘family’ for each character in the
play? Is it possible to ascertain how they would have defined this before
Farley’s death? Is there a change between this view and one they might adopt
when inheriting family property looms as a reality?
 In groups, take a character and prepare a case for that person arguing why he
or she have more right than others to be regarded as family and what that
means in terms of rights and responsibilities.
Prejudice (and Self-interest)
It is tempting to think mostly of racial prejudice in regard to this theme and certainly it
is rife throughout the play, expressed overtly and covertly by many of the characters.
Maureen Delaney is the most apparent exponent of views that could be regarded as
racist. She is openly against ‘every Asian, Moslem and Hottentot who come here and
refuses to sign up to the Australian way of life’ (p.61). She seems to recognise that it
is unwise to express anti-black sentiments, yet her ignorance and prejudice are
obvious when she refers to the ‘extra privileges’ gained by those of Aboriginal
descent. The fact that Nugget’s white wife, Annie, has been made miserable by taunts
about her marriage to a black man to the point that she has left him – ‘even the kids in
her class were having a go at her’ (p.20) – shows that Maureen’s views are simply an
extension of the common position. She, like nearly everyone else in the play, is also
suspicious of homosexuality and refers to William as ‘Pansy-boy’ (p.46). Homophobia
has apparently been a feature of William’s relationship with his father and he speaks
with the certainty of personal experience when he says that gay men are unwelcome
in this area. This negative stance is echoed by Girlie who equates lack of muscular
bulk in Felix with lack of masculinity saying, ‘he does look like a fairy’ (p.46).
Racism is never very far from the surface for other characters. When Dibs wants Lyle
to accept Nugget’s refusal to buy more farm machinery because he has the education
to support his views, Lyle’s response focuses only on the stereotypes associated with
his black identity. There is no evidence to support his view, and his fury when he goes
ahead with the purchase and ends up in financial difficulties, all because of what he
sees as a ‘welch’ by Nugget, is expressed in the crudest of racist terms.
Dibs’ attitude to Nugget is more complex. She appears to love him and feel concern
for his well-being when she expresses her disquiet early in the play that he might end
up as ‘a farmer without a farm’ (p.17). She seems to admire his expertise in farming
matters, taking his side against Lyle in the machinery and stock debates. She relies
on him to collect Julia when her car breaks down and is happy to find relief in his
ability to care for Farley when her husband is being at his most irrational. In all these
things, Nugget is simply one of her children, and the farmer who would be best placed
to take over the running of Allandale when Farley dies. But, when the revised will is
discovered, we see a totally different reaction. To say that Dibs’ reaction is racist
would be to ignore all the other things that have gone on in her life. Certainly, this is
part of the story, as adopting Nugget was to make sure that Farley’s ‘shame’ was
always before him, and there is no doubt that the shame is greater because Farley
‘porked a gin’ as Maureen so eloquently describes his infidelity (p.66). Dibs’ decision
to tear up the revised will might have something to do with Nugget’s aboriginality but
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given the earlier signs of Dibs’ affection and reliance on Nugget, it seems that it is
more a reaction to Farley’s sin and his secrecy over the changes to his will than a
racist response.
Prejudice, however, doesn’t stop with racism. The rivalry that is apparent between city
and country is redolent with intolerance. Those from the city are seen to have
intellectual leanings that divorce them from ‘real’ issues. They are seen to be selfindulgent and undisciplined. Farley’s reference to William’s sexuality is couched in
these terms. He believes that ‘there are people in this world who can’t overcome their
own … weakness’. (p.23) When Julia tells her mother that her ex-husband was
homosexual, hence their divorce, her mother’s reaction is that she ‘just didn’t try hard
enough’ (p.69). The city is seen as a place of danger and disease where Girlie was
struck down by polio and was kept in hospital for nine months. It is a place of ‘lefties’
and ‘bleeding hearts’ and people who don’t eat meat. Dibs, however, loves it for the
brief time she was there at the start of her nursing career. Like Ashleigh much later,
she saw it as a place where dreams could be fulfilled.
But those from the city can also be accused of being blinded by insularity and
unreality. William sees nothing incongruous in his desire to sell the farm and move his
mother to a place where she would not feel at home. Julia does not see any
peculiarity in turning a farm that has been used for crops and animal husbandry into
an overgrown vegetable garden to produce tomatoes and herbs. Each has turned
their back, years before, on a lifestyle that might have given them some experience to
sustain such projects, but they thumb their noses at local wisdom, believing that a city
education and life choices confer a kind of infallibility on their decisions now.
Prejudice grows out of ignorance, it is true. However, Rayson shows that it grows out
of a sense of grievance as well, and can surface very quickly when issues of land,
inheritance, family and their wider applications are broached.
Questions and activities
 What does ‘prejudice’ mean? What are some of its synonyms?
 We might like to think we are free of prejudice but are we?
 In groups, discuss some personal likes and dislikes. Could any of these be
regarded as prejudices? Might they stop us trying new food, meeting new
people, living in new areas? What is the difference between personal opinion
and preferences, and prejudice?
Duty/Freedom (and Luck/Fortune)
‘I slept and dreamed that life was beauty; I woke and found that life was Duty’ (p.33).
Whilst these words of Norm’s are the most obvious expression of this theme, the
issues of duty and freedom form a sub-text to much of the action in the play. Not only
do they reflect Norm’s own battle with life – he has ‘never wanted to be a farmer’
(p.63) – and the unforgiving Mallee, they are re-echoed in Lyle’s life and death and
they foreshadow the outcome of the toss of the coin that gives Dibs the ‘duty’ of the
farm and her mother and Girlie the ‘freedom’ of Lucky Joe and a life as a publican.
At the end of the play, these two elements appear to have been reversed and there is
a sense of envy in Girlie’s family suggesting that ‘luck’ has deserted them and that
Dibs has ended up with the better part of the deal. But when the agreement was
originally made and the coin tossed, Dibs was happily settled in Melbourne and
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looking forward with excitement to a career as a nurse and the independence of a flat
of her own. She is obviously not happy with the way the coin falls, but she is also a
little surprised by the fact that Girlie thinks life in a country hotel will make her happy.
Dibs’ attitude to ‘duty’ is seen again when the Delaneys lose their house and they
seek asylum with the Hamiltons. William objects and Dibs points out that the family
connection demands certain responses in times of trouble. She follows this up with a
comment that harks back to her father’s words: ‘That’s the hardest lesson in life, I
reckon. Accepting how the coin falls and making the best of it’ (p. 33). She accuses
her son, whom she admits to Girlie later, she doesn’t really like very much, of being
selfish and lacking a sense of duty. ‘You have never have to put yourself out for
anyone … you don’t know what it means to put yourself second.’ (p.81). It would
appear that for Dibs, duty is a driving force that defines her and supports the label,
‘Christian’ in its purest sense.
There is no suggestion that Girlie’s life has been governed by duty in the same way.
She briefly enjoyed the thought of doing a secretarial course in Melbourne before polio
struck, and her subsequent memories of the city are tainted with misery and pain.
Staying in the country is a choice she makes and it is fairly obvious that she does not
want to be tied to the farm and her mother when she has the opportunity to make a life
with a man who makes her laugh. Because of Dibs’ sense of ‘duty’ once again, Girlie
is given ten thousand pounds to help her and Lucky Joe become publicans.
Nevertheless, this is not the way Girlie sees it when it appears that Dibs is thinking of
selling the farm. In aggrieved tones she talks of Dibs having ‘won the farm on the flip
of a coin’ (p.56) and says that she has ‘honoured that all [her] life’. In her defence,
Dibs claims that she never wanted the farm and once again her sense of ‘duty’ is
called into play when Girlie hints that she has a responsibility to help others in the
family by giving away her heritage to someone who wants it. But they all want it, so
there is more to this bargain than just simple need.
We can see that the duty that motivates Dibs’ actions may not be the same as the
duty that Maureen Delaney would have us believe is behind the sale of Allandale to
further her political career. Her actions are couched in terms calculated to make those
around her feel too guilty to challenge her. Establishing herself as a martyr of sorts
and a champion of the underdog, or one breed of it, effectively casts those who might
challenge her as greedy, selfish and uncaring of the greater good of the country. Her
‘duty’ is a different beast entirely to that of Dibs who has accepted her lot and made
the best of it. Maureen is a winner of sorts, whereas the dutifulness that Dibs has
embraced leaves her open for manipulation by all around her so that, in the end, she
could be said to have lost more than anyone else.
Questions and activities
 Does duty always mean sacrifice? Students in groups could discuss occasions
they know of or could imagine when someone has made choices because of a
sense of obligation.
 Students could use the internet to research people who have made the choice
of ‘duty’ over ‘freedom’. Building up an understanding of this theme, and all
other themes mentioned here or in class, forms an invaluable basis for Part II
Text Responses. After the internet search, students could look for a range of
examples of for each theme within the play.
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Section 6.
A guided approach to selected passages
1. Act One, Scene Eleven (p.16-18)
From:
WILLIAM: I’ve made an appointment with the social worker for next week…
to:
NUGGET: It’s called farming, mate.
In this scene, we are given evidence of what Nugget will tell Julia two scenes later:
that ‘Brother William’s been in her ear … He’s been up here three weekends in a row’
(p.21). William has obviously been laying the ground work for his future, and for him,
this party is not just about his mother’s and aunt’s eightieth birthdays, but about
announcing the sale of Allandale.
Whilst there are good grounds for being suspicious of the altruism of William’s
‘support’ of his mother at this time – the money from his share of the farm will go a
long way to financing his new venture on the Mornington Peninsula – some of the
things he says make a kind of sense. His father is sinking into dementia and it does
take time to find an appropriate place in the aged care system. As he tells his mother,
it could take three years. William is also aware of how much she has hated the house
she inherited with the farm, and so his awareness of this and his offer of a new house
with, ‘No dust storms. No mouse shit’, could be seen as thoughtfulness and
generosity. We are dubious about his motives, however, when we hear that the
peninsular plan is a joint venture with Kevin. Our doubts are fuelled even further when
we realise, as Dibs does, that William has given little thought to the realities, simply
saying that there would be a place for Nugget if he wanted to go too. Dibs points out
two important things here. First, the sale of the farm would make Nugget ‘a farmer
without a farm’. This immediate concern for her adopted son is particularly interesting
when considered in the context of her later exclamations that Nugget is ‘not family’
(p.77) and ‘this is not Nugget’s land to give away’ (p.70).
Her second concern focuses on the fact that farmers, like everyone else, have their
own areas of expertise and Nugget knows nothing about grapes. Only a few lines
further on Nugget says how much Lyle loves sheep, yet we are told several times that
sheep are no longer a paying concern in the Mallee. Lyle’s refusal to give up his
sheep and the disastrous decisions he makes in relation to machinery for his crops
could suggest that he is a ‘useless idiot’ as Maureen sees it (p.73). But this scene
might suggest a kinder construction, indicating that Lyle is a man out of his time – or
out of his ‘timing’ (p.93). Nugget might end up the same way if he were forced to move
to a vineyard. William appears to have no understanding of this specialised
component of the world into which he has been born, seeing only the glamour of the
end product. Nugget, on the other hand does understand, and is a man who is in
exactly the right world at the right time. It is no mistake that the last words of this
scene belong to Nugget when he asks William to knock in some fence posts. William
refuses and Nugget with gentle irony says, ‘It’s called farming, mate’.
It is episodes like these that demonstrate how difficult it is to completely condemn
characters on the basis of their actions alone. When we look at their histories and
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their motivations we find it easier to understand the choices they make, even if we
cannot fully endorse them.
Questions:
 We are quick to recognise the negative aspects of characters in the play, but
what positive qualities can we see in this scene?
 To what extent is Nugget the new face of farming?
2. Act One, Scene Twenty-six (p.45-49)
From:
JULIA: The town’s so empty, isn’t it?
to:
GIRLIE: I need to have a talk with my sister.
This is a useful scene for a number of reasons. In its essence, it provides us with a
vignette of the problems being faced by small rural towns. Julia puts her finger on it
when she refers to it as ‘spooky’. There is vacant land that makes William feel
uncomfortable, representing as it does a past life, youth and dreams. The bank has
been closed and Maureen provides a succinct and telling description of the small
shopkeeper in the town whose business is required only for emergency supplies – the
ones people forgot when they were in the big centres like Swan Hill. There is a
general sense of gloom and down-troddenness in the air, whilst just beneath the
surface rage bubbles within those who have to face this situation every day.
William’s reminiscences reflect the sexual obsessions that Julia mentioned to Felix
earlier as they waited for Nugget and that are reiterated as the family anticipate the
arrival of the minister at Farley’s funeral. In not quite such amused tones, Girlie and
Maureen comment on William’s sexuality and Felix’s effeminate appearance whilst
they are out of earshot. The contrast between the two branches of the family is
heightened by the difference in their speech. Maureen and her two daughters
regularly use the colloquial ‘yous’ whereas Dibs’ family never do. The ‘country
cousins’ are generally disparaging about the others’ city ways and education, but it is
worth considering if Rayson is indulging in a little inverted snobbishness of her own
here. There is no doubt that we are positioned to distrust and dislike Maureen, even
more so because we are told she is going to become a politician. The lack of interest
this creates in Julia and the others could be seen to be symbolic of the way in which
urban and educated Australia reacted when the Queensland fish and chip shop
owner, (Pauline Hanson) made moves on the Senate in the early 1990s. Rayson
seems to be suggesting that we ignore the likes of Maureen Delaney at our peril. This
is fulsomely borne out at the end of the play when she is solely responsible for
disinheriting the entire family, including her own daughters.
When Maureen breaks the news about the selling of the farm in this scene, we can
only assume she means mischief. Stylistically, however, it provides the catalyst for the
flashback that explains to the audience how Norm’s property was divided up after his
death. Girlie’s memories serve two purposes. They allow us, the audience, to see that
‘winning’ the farm meant a degree of sacrifice for Dibs. This tells us something of her
character, just as we learn something about Girlie that helps us understand the
reasons behind her immediately going to confront her sister when her reverie is
broken at the end of the scene.
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Questions:



To what extent do the flashbacks help us gain an objective view of the
characters and their motivations?
How does our understanding of William grow in this scene?
We are given a thumbnail sketch of the town in this scene. The Delaneys live
on the outskirts of the town, the Hamiltons live further out. Might their different
living environments account for the way they behave and think?
3. Act Two, Scene sixteen (p. 90-93)
From:
The Hamiltons’ woolshed. FELIX is alone, smoking a joint. BRIANNA opens the
door.
BRIANNA: Hey.
to:
FELIX: Jesus Christ. Help me.
In this scene the contrasts between city and country values and older and younger
generations are emphasised. Brianna, the more sensitive of Lyle’s two daughters and
perhaps the one who has inherited her father’s personality to a greater extent, shares
her understanding and pity for her father’s predicament with Felix, her pot-smoking,
city cousin. Felix does not share his joint with Brianna, but she shares her find of an
Aboriginal axe-head with him, immediately moving them onto a different level. This
moment has links to an earlier scene (Act 1, Sc. 22) where Girlie and Maureen talk
scornfully about ‘eggheads from the university’ looking for Aboriginal artefacts in the
area. They have scoffed at the thought that such things might exist, connecting it with
Mabo and what they see as an outrageous claim for Aboriginal land rights. In the
same scene, Brianna has foreshadowed her conversation with Felix in the current
scene by exclaiming against the racism she perceives in her mother and grandmother.
Interestingly, it is Brianna who provides the bridge in thinking between the politically
correct, but locally uninvolved Felix, and the white farmer for whom the farm is literally
his survival. This small episode moves the idea of ‘inheritance’ to a philosophical level
beyond wills and title deeds and even traditional land rights. It is another moment in
the play when the black and white farmers are pitted against each other and Brianna’s
story of her father’s low self-esteem is one more example of how much better
equipped Nugget is to survive in his adopted world than is the man who was born to it.
When Lyle enters and sees Felix comforting Brianna, his frustration is unleashed in a
drunken fury of physical exertion as he takes to Felix with his whip. This is not just a
father protecting his daughter from someone he sees as a sexual predator. It is also a
man protecting his country birthright from invasion from the city. It is a man who is
clinging desperately to everything he has worked for over the years and sees it
slipping through his fingers. It is a man who hates himself and is on the path to selfdestruction through drink if by no other means. Felix stands for everything Lyle
despises at this moment, and what is worse, he is a ‘weak little git’ who is not born to
farming but might nevertheless inherit the farm some day.
It is up to Maureen to stop this orgy of rage and she does so by firing the rifle into the
air in an action reminiscent of Lyle’s (Act 2, Sc. 14) when he rants at the sheep in the
paddock, pretending to shoot them. The depth of his misery is revealed in his plea to
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his wife to shoot him, and those five words linked to Brianna’s disclosures about his
state of mind are enough to confirm that this is a man who is beyond endurance.
The final few lines of the play reiterate the message that we have already been given
in part, and that is that rural areas of Victoria are in a severely depressed state. Julia,
to her horror, hears that there is no doctor in the town to attend to Felix’s injuries. It is
Maureen who delivers this message and it is the matter-of-factness of her manner that
makes it even more shocking. She doesn’t use it as an excuse for a political diatribe,
although no doubt it will become part of her platform later. Julia should have been
aware of the situation, as we see when she, William and Felix recognise the lack of
life in the main street of Rushton. But it is only when the dearth of services in the town
directly affects her immediate family that the horror of the truth strikes home. This is
very effective in questioning the insular blindness of the educated and ‘superior’ city
inhabitants, both on the stage and in the audiences who these characters represent.
Questions:


Would we know without the stage notes that it is a joint Felix is smoking? Is it
important to Rayson’s message that we do know? What might she be trying to
say about young people and the city?
To whom does the land belong?
In Act 1, Scene 17 we see Lyle launching his pigeons into the freedom of the air. Two
scenes further on we are again witness to someone who seems more rational and fair
minded than other members of his family when he points out that the money Girlie
has been given when Dibs is given the farm ‘was a lot of money’.
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Section 7. Further activities for exploring the
text
1. Ask students to make their own list of characters in order of importance to the play.
If this is done in groups, this will lead to interesting discussion about motivations and
outcomes. Alternatively, individuals within the groups could take a character each and
develop an argument about that character’s role and claim to be central to the
action/concerns of the play.
2. A play is intended to be performed. But, because it might not be possible for
students to see a performance, ask groups within the class to interpret, prepare and
perform scenes from the play for the rest of the class. Alternately, several groups
could be asked to prepare the same scene or scenes leading to discussion about
various interpretations.
As students are often fearful of reading in front of their peers, one way around this is
to ask students to mime scenes or to ‘throw away’ their books and act out the scene
using their own words.
3. Reproducing information in different formats is a useful revision strategy. In order to
sort out the order of events and their importance, ask students to work together to
create a diagram to represent the action in the play. Encourage them to think about
position on the page, using arrows and colours to connect interests, similarities in
character, reflective moments and so on. For instance, because the events echo
across three generations, this could be shown in a series of concentric circles with
various structures to connect them. An oral component would allow groups to explain
and compare their efforts with one another and perhaps even to go away and adjust
their original diagram according to their discussion with other groups.
4. ‘Really good political writing for the stage has far more in common with the work of
an investigative reporter than a speech-writer. It tells the untold story. It gives words to
the unheard voice. It goes in hard, investigating the story from every angle – not in the
name of balance and fairness, but in the quest for truth and complexity’. (Hannie
Rayson, in an article printed in The Bulletin 13 November, 2002, and quoted in the
program notes for the 2003 Melbourne season of the play).
This claim poses a number of questions. Is the purpose of the play political? Whose
‘unheard voice’ is given expression by it? Does the play cover the story from ‘every’
angle? Is the outcome one of ‘truth and complexity’? Provide evidence from the play
to support your views and find reviews of the play to discover whether reviewers
would generally agree with Rayson’s assessment.
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Section 8. Key quotes
Because of the structure of a play, and this play in particular, it has proved necessary
to provide longer sections as sample quotations than would normally be quoted within
an essay. This is partly due to the need to provide some sort of context for the quoted
words so that students might see how these might support a discussion on a specific
theme or discussion. But, in this play, characters tend not to make long declamatory
speeches. The ‘message’ or essence of the quotation is rarely conveyed in one
speech, or even by one character, and so sometimes, several lines from one or more
speeches and/or speakers are provided. It should be noted too that knowing who said
the words is just as important as the words themselves in what it tells us about the
character as well the author’s ideas. This does not mean, however, that students are
encouraged to insert huge quotations into their writing. What is being encouraged is
that students know the play well enough that they will be able to select short sections
to quote from within those offered, or others of their choosing, to add weight to their
argument.
i)
DIBS: You said you wouldn’t like to live in the city…
FARLEY: Two weeks and you’d have a suicide on your hands…
WILLIAM: How very operatic of you father…
FARLEY: I’m not planning on leaving this place… They’ll be carting me out of
here with me boots on, when the time comes. (pp 10-11)
ii)
LYLE: You can’t wait for things to come to you, you know. You’ve got to make
things happen. (p.12)
iii)
GIRLIE: My sister is a very Christian woman – Dibs – but when it comes down
to it - she’s as mean as all get-out. It’s the Presbyterian in her. Stingy. (p.15)
iv)
FARLEY: Obviously there are people in this world who can’t overcome their
own … weakness. (p. 23)
v)
GIRLIE: You never know what’s around the corner… You don’t know what the
future’s got in store. You just have to take it day by day.
MAUREEN: It’s bloody feudal. We’re living like peasants. (p.25)
vi)
DIBS: Something must have just snapped …He’d be laughing away, life of the
party, and then he’d get a visit from the black dog… You know who he reminds
me of? Lyle Delaney. (p. 27)
vii)
LYLE: You put in the work and you get your rewards. But you gotta have a bit
of faith too. (p. 27)
viii)
MAUREEN: They’re walking all over you, Lyle. It’s not fair.
LYLE: Who says life is fair? Life is not fair. (p.31)
ix)
WILLIAM: Maureen. It’s my family’s farm.
MAUREEN: Mate, the land belongs to the people who work it. Not the banks.
Not the multinationals. And certainly not a pampered city boy who turned tail
because he couldn’t hack it. (p.32)
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x)
GIRLIE (to the audience): Just goes to show, you don’t really know anybody
do you? (p.32)
xi)
NORM: That’s the hardest lesson in life, I reckon. Accepting how the coin
falls and making the best of it. (p.33)
xii)
LYLE: Take a risk for once in your life. (p.44)
xiii)
LYLE: Nugget’s a great bloke and that, but they make hopeless bloody
farmers.
(p.45)
xiv)
GIRLIE: We were eighteen. We tossed a coin. You won this farm on the toss
of a coin … But that toss is not binding on our kids. They have to be free of
that. This farm stays in the family. It’s a question of blood. Allandale belongs
to Lyle. (p.56-57)
xv)
JULIA: Dad used to say it was the silence that kept him here.
DIBS: He never wanted to be a farmer.
GIRLIE: We all got trapped into doing things we didn’t want to do. (p.63)
xvi)
MAUREEN: What a useless idiot … I’m married to a hopeless piece of trash.
(p.73)
xvii)
WILLIAM: Nugget has no claim on the farm. You are such a gullible little
bleeding heart. You’d believe anything. (p.79)
xviii)
ASHLEIGH: Even a baby knows you don’t borrow money when you’re like up
to your eyeballs in debt. (p.82)
xix)
LYLE: He started to get too big for his boots, ol’ Nugget … He’s a good
worker, Nugget. Trouble is, he’s got big ideas. (p.83)
xx)
MAUREEN: You’re a very arrogant young man, aren’t you?
FELIX: I have a very low tolerance for hypocrisy. (p.84)
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Section 9. Essay topics
Part 1
a)
Both Norm and Lyle claim that ‘life is not fair’ and their view is borne out by all
of the characters in the play.
Do you agree?
b)
William tells Julia, ‘This is not about what’s good for you’.
Is there anyone in the play, Inheritance, who is not driven by self-interest?
c)
Norm tells Young Girlie: ‘That’s the hardest lesson in life, I reckon. Accepting
how the coin falls and making the best of it’.
How accurate is this view of the world painted in Inheritance?
d)
‘A man has to live or die on his own piece of dirt. That’s always been the way,
hasn’t it?’
Lyle’s beliefs in his right to the land are both the motivation for his life and the
reason for his death.
Discuss.
e)
Is Maureen Delaney the only winner in the play, Inheritance?
Part 2
f)
Hannie Rayson’s Inheritance demonstrates that whilst ‘family’ is important, it is
not so easy to decide what constitutes a family.
Discuss.
g)
This play demonstrates that education alone cannot solve problems of poverty,
intolerance and depression.
Discuss.
h)
Inheritance shows us that misery is destined to repeat itself.
Discuss.
i)
This play supports the notion that people from the city are just as blind to
reality as their country counterparts.
Discuss.
j)
Hannie Rayson challenges the view that success in life is about luck and
‘timing’.
Discuss.
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Section 10. References and resources
Text
Rayson, Hannie. Inheritance. Currency Press, Sydney, 2003
All page numbers refer to this edition.
***
Artbeat (April 2001). ‘By George – she’s got It’. Department of Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts, Australian Government.
http:/dcita.gov.au/arts/publications/artbeat/previous/april_2001/by_george-shes…
Department of Human Services (April 1999). Corrections: suicide prevention in the
Loddon Mallee Region
This document contains a large reference list of other resources and websites.
Galloway, Paul (ed). Inheritance by Hannie Rayson. Program of the Melbourne
Theatre Company, Playbill Proprietary Ltd/ Showbill Proprietary Ltd, Pymble, NSW.
2003
Longerenong Campus of the University of Melbourne
www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/depts/longc.html
Ozelections.com
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au
Rayson, Hannie, ‘Theatre of Engagement’, The Bulletin, 13 November, 2002
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/site/articleIDs/217BAD2DEC94F9B7CA256C62
0021BAF9
Reynolds, Henry, ‘Eddie Mabo’, Time Online Edition , October 25,1999.
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