W;t
By Margaret Edson
Background Information
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Title: W;t (or Wit)
Author: Margaret Edson
Publication Date: _________________
Genre: Drama
Setting: University Hospital Comprehensive Care
Center
• Protagonist: Dr. Vivian Bearing, a university
English professor, dying of Stage IV ovarian cancer
– Reflects on her life through the English language,
particularly through her study of John Donne’s
metaphysical poetry
• Won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Metaphysical Poetry
• British lyric poetry from the ________ century
• Characterized by __________ (intelligent humor)
and metaphysical ______________ (far-fetched
similes or metaphors)
• Topics of love and ______________________
• Examine religious and moral questions
• Major Poets:
Death, be not Proud (Holy Sonnet X)
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
(The punctuation of this last line is debated in the play)
Which Version Do You Prefer?
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Vivian’s version (as a college student):
And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die!
Professor Ashford’s version:
And death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die.
“Nothing but a breath—a comma—separates life
from life everlasting. It is very simple really. With
the original punctuation restored, death is no longer
something to act out on a stage, with exclamation
points. It’s a comma, a pause” (15).
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
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ARDENTLY
“I ardently wish this were not so” (6).
adv. __________________________________
(adj.=ardent)
Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• INSIDIOUS
• “Now it is an insidious adenocarcinoma, which
has spread” (7).
• adj. __________________________________
_______________________________________
• Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• SCRUPULOUSLY
• “The scholarly study of poetic texts requires a
capacity for scrupulously detailed examination”
(20).
• adv. __________________________________
• adj.=scrupulous
• Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• SALIENT
• “The salient characteristic of the poems is
wit” (20).
• adj. __________________________________
• Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• NEFARIOUS
• “[T]his scrutiny seems to me to be a nefarious
business” (40).
• adj. __________________________________
• Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• CAPACIOUS
• “Donne applied his capacious, agile wit to the
larger aspects of the human experience” (48).
• adj. __________________________________
• Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• MORDANTLY
• “VIVIAN: (Mordantly) Take a break!” (52).
• adv.
__________________________________
• adj.=mordant
• Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
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OCCLUDE
“It just gets occluded sometimes” (64).
v. __________________________________
Can you use this in a sentence?
Slam Dunk Word of the Day
• QUANDARY
• “I’m in a . . . quandary, having these . . .
doubts” (64).
• n. __________________________________
• Can you use this in a sentence?