In the next room Analysis

Few plays approach women as In the next room does. In a time when women are

still societal outcasts, in a place where women aren’t allowed to experience life as men are, we

are given a glimpse into the world of wonder that is the female orgasm. Sarah Ruhl allows her

characters in this play experience things that they had not been allowed to experience before.

Dominance, freedom, lust, anger, and joy. Through the vibrator play, we are shown four

different women who are confronted with sex. Mrs. Givings yearn for love grows as she

discovers more about herself. Sabrina is flooded with an attraction that has no place in society

yet. Annie, a servant, maintains her objective stance throughout the show. Elizabeth is the only

character who understands herself, yet she has the least control over her life compared to the rest

of the girls. The men that play opposite the women are both foolish and cruel.

Dr. Givings, a character I initially read as passive about sex altogether. However, when

approached with another student’s - that student being female- perspective, I understood that he

is more of an aggressor. He truly believes that what he is doing is helping them. It came to a

shock when this other student pointed out to me that Sabrina clearly says “No” nearly five times

to Dr. Givings on page 22 of the play. I didn’t notice the weight of this statement until I saw it

through the eyes of a contemporary young woman. I assumed that Mrs. Dauldry was acting like a

child at the doctors office who didn’t want to receive another shot or blood test. I do see this type

of aggressive objectivity throughout the play with this character, but also with Annie.

Annie is aggresively objective throughout the show because, I believe, she is a lesbian

woman who cannot give her love to anyone. Dr. Givings is cruel because he has love to give, but

is too wrapped up in science and medicine to care for the person that loves him in any capacity.
 I’d like to take a moment to admire how Sarah Ruhl approaches the idea of the female

orgasm in the stage directions, she states that “there is no cliche of how women are supposed to

orgasm” (21) She breaks the fourth wall when talking to the reader to tell us that her play takes

place before the days of pornography, and that Mrs. Dauldry is free to orgasm as she pleases

through the play. I think that this is a very important note to make in one’s script, a perfect use of

stage direction. She knows that her play could easily be made a campy comedy, but she forces

the reader and therefore future directors to take the whole matter seriously. Even while reading

the play aloud, our Leo gave a very campy orgasm when given the opportunity, which took away

from the tone of the moment.

Speaking of Leo, let us examine him momentarily. Leo receives prostate stimulation

during the play. I, of course, assumed that Leo was going to reveal to the audience that he was a

homosexual, which seemed to be the logical first step. He instead reveals himself to have a case

of toxic masculinity worse than what we found in Dr. Givings. An artist with narcissistic

qualities is an archetype that I find incredibly irritating and incredibly true to life. He becomes so

full of lust that he desires anyone and anything. I know too many men like this, and found him

entirely unscrupulous.

The story as a whole reads like something one might find in the attic or memoirs of any

lady in this time. It all feels so true. I suppose this is because Sarah Ruhl has created such rich

characters with real problems, problems that still affect women today, and even some men. I

certainly learned a lot about how women feel about the subject while reading the play aloud with

women in the room.

Sex and the female orgasm are topics that are still taboo. I am certainly grateful that we

have plays and playwrights like this. These are topics that need to be acknowledged, brought into
the limelight, and unmasked. Discussions like this one, even about our cultures past, push us to

grow as a culture and a nation. This isn’t an overtly political play, but I think it might have great

political impact in a small southern town.