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Part 2: In the Study
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fefu and Her Friends, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Abstract Representation and Interpretation
Empowerment, Female Independence, and Feminism
Attraction, Romance, and Companionship
Friendship and Mutual Support
Suffering, Repression, and Violence
Summary
Analysis
Julia is lying in an extra room that has been turned into a bedroom for her stay. The mattress is on the floor, and she’s wearing a hospital gown as she “hallucinates,” talking about a group of people who severely beat and demoralized her. She refers to these people as “the judges,” though it’s unclear who, exactly, they are. Nonetheless, she says that they beat her while she tried to maintain a smile—if she stopped smiling, they would hit her, claiming that they did so because they loved her. If she objected to this idea, they would kill her.
Again, the exact meaning of Julia’s predicament is left intentionally vague. At the simplest level, what she says is just an abstract representation of internal suffering as a result of living in a hostile world. The play never clarifies who the “judges” are, but it’s arguable that they’re nameless manifestations of a kind of menacing patriarchal influence on Julia’s life—they are, in other words, an embodiment of the many ways in which women are forced to endure suffering and hardship while living in a sexist society.
Themes
Julia explains—to nobody in particular, since nobody is in the room with her—that she tried to tell the judges that “the stinking parts of the body are the important ones: the genitals, the anus, the mouth, the armpit.” But the judges said that these parts of the body must be “kept clean and put away.” One judge insisted that women have heavier “entrails” than men and that, for this reason, they shouldn’t run. Moving rapidly, this judge claimed, was “anti-aesthetic,” so women should try to hold themselves in ways that suit their bodies (and “entrails”). Women who exert themselves physically, the judges believe, are crazy, but Julia voices her disagreement.
Again, it’s not entirely clear who these “judges” are, but what they say to Julia taps into the play’s exploration of the hardships women face while living in sexist and domineering patriarchal societies. The idea that genitals have to be “kept clean and put away” hints at the strict narrow-mindedness of American society in the 1930s—a society in which most people repressed and refused to acknowledge sexuality (hence why Emma previously complained about how everyone pretends like they don’t even have genitals). Similarly, what the mysterious judges say about women’s bodies is yet another sign of the wide-ranging and unreasonable restrictions patriarchal societies place on women.
Themes
As soon as Julia disagrees with the judges, her entire head jerks to the side as if she has just been slapped. She has a strange conversation, and it’s unclear whether she’s talking to the audience or to the “judges”—either way, she says, the judges are after Fefu, too. She also says that the bullet didn’t hit her on the hunting trip—it hit the deer. And yet, Julia says that she’s the one who died, not the deer. But then she “repented” and ended up staying alive while the deer died. “They said, ‘Live but crippled. And if you tell…,’” she says, trailing off and pantomiming slitting her own throat.
The stage notes in this section of Fefu and her Friends very clearly state that Julia is “hallucinating,” so what she says here isn’t necessarily supposed to make perfect sense. Rather, her story about these malicious judges is little more than an abstract representation of what it feels like to deal with the internal suffering that living in a harsh, sexist society causes.
Themes
Julia then asks the judges why they have to kill Fefu, considering that she’s “only a joker.” In response, the judges seem to say that they aren’t going to kill Fefu—they’re going to “cure” her. This causes Julia to despair, lamenting the fact that the judges want to take Fefu’s “precious light” from her.
The play links Fefu and Julia, implying that they are connected by their internal suffering. However, what makes it particularly difficult to understand the nature of this suffering (or why Julia came about such hardship in the first place) is that the play doesn’t provide any information about Julia’s life before the hunting accident. In contrast, the audience already knows that Fefu is in a tumultuous, strained relationship with her husband—a relationship with violent tension at its core. This, in turn, suggests that Julia has perhaps experienced a similar kind of tension in her life, even before her strange accident. But this, of course, is mere speculation, as the play is mostly interested in exploring an abstract representation of suffering, ultimately leaving most of the details surrounding this suffering vague and undefined.
Themes
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The mysterious judges force Julia to deliver a monologue about how the entire world is set up to accommodate men—every idea about human nature is based on an understanding of humanity rooted in masculinity. Any kind of evil on earth is simply there for men to “conquer” and turn “into good” so that these things can “nourish” men. Women are one of these evils, Julia says. They aren’t human—they’re mysterious and “undefined.” But they are man’s “mate,” so they’re a “cross [he] must bear.”
The fact that the strange “judges” force Julia to say these things suggests that the nature of their menacing antagonism represents—in the world of the play, at least—the extent to which 1930s American society is structured to accommodate men instead of women. Julia and her friends all have to navigate a world that is not only built for men but also outwardly hostile toward women, as Julia’s suffering symbolizes.
Themes
The judges listening to Julia seem to hit her again, but she doesn’t know what she did wrong—she was just saying her “prayer,” which she genuinely believes. But they hit her again, prompting her to explain (presumably to the audience) that they’ve told her that she’ll finally be able to forget the judges once she genuinely believes the “prayer” she has just said. And, conversely, once she forgets the judges, then she will truly be able to believe the “prayer.” According to the judges, believing the “prayer” and forgetting the judges happen simultaneously, and all women have undergone this process. And yet, Julia doesn’t know why she can’t seem to do the same. At this moment, Sue comes in and gives Julia some soup, and Julia promises to come downstairs.
The judges’ strange rules are essentially incomprehensible, partly because they contradict themselves and partly because the audience doesn’t have enough contextual information to fully grasp what, exactly, this section of the play even means. What’s clear, though, is that Julia is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation—only by internalizing the judges’ sexist worldview will she ever be able to forget about the judges themselves, but she’ll only be able to fully internalize it if she forgets them. Either way, she’s forced to effectively accept a sense of powerlessness in the face of the judges’ influence.
Themes
