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Claire
Hal is one of Robert’s former PhD students at the University of Chicago. After Robert’s death, it’s Hal who goes through Robert’s 103 notebooks, searching through delusional scribblings to see if there’s anything with mathematical value. This means that Hal is a frequent visitor at Robert’s (now Catherine’s) house, which leads him and Catherine to socialize. While they initially have an antagonistic rapport (Catherine even calls the police on him once), she grows to trust Hal due to his kindness towards her, and they eventually develop a romantic relationship. Despite this, Hal maintains a somewhat sexist and patronizing attitude throughout the play, reflecting the exclusionary atmosphere of the male-dominated field of math. Catherine is a mathematical genius, but Hal seems to believe that because she’s a woman and because she’s not formally educated in math, she couldn’t possibly have much knowledge or ability, and he often explains concepts to her that she already understands. Catherine proves him wrong multiple times throughout the play, but Hal still doesn’t believe her when she claims to have written a groundbreaking proof—he assumes that the work must be Robert’s, since Catherine couldn’t possibly be such an innovative mathematician. This betrayal devastates Catherine, and she hardly gets out of bed for a week. But despite Hal’s sexism, he’s not inflexible—he goes over the proof with several colleagues and realizes that Catherine actually is the author, which leads him to try earnestly to make amends. In order to rebuild their relationship, Hal has to re-earn Catherine’s trust, which he does by expressing confidence in both her sanity and her genius.
Hal Quotes in Proof
The Proof quotes below are all either spoken by Hal or refer to Hal. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act One, Scene 1
Quotes
HAL: […] When your dad was younger than both of us, he made major contributions to three fields: game theory, algebraic geometry, and nonlinear operator theory. Most of us never get our heads around one. He basically invented the mathematical techniques for studying rational behavior, and he gave the astrophysicists plenty to work over too. Okay?
CATHERINE: Don’t lecture me.
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HAL: […] “Talking with students helps. So does being outside, eating meals in restaurants, riding buses, all the activities of ‘normal’ life. Most of all Cathy. The years she has lost caring for me […] her refusal to let me be institutionalized—her keeping me at home, caring for me herself, has certainly saved my life. Made writing this possible. Made it possible to imagine doing math again […] I can never repay her.”
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Act Two, Scene 1
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ROBERT: […] I’m not doing much right now. It does get harder. It’s a stereotype that happens to be true, unfortunately for me—unfortunately for you, for all of us.
CATHERINE: Maybe you’ll get lucky.
ROBERT: Maybe I will. Maybe you’ll pick up where I left off.
CATHERINE: Don’t hold your breath.
ROBERT: Don’t underestimate yourself.
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Act Two, Scene 2
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HAL: I’ll tell them we’ve found something, something potentially major, we’re not sure about the authorship; I’ll sit done with them. We’ll go through the thing carefully […] and figure out exactly what we’ve got. It would only take a couple of days, probably, and then we’d have a lot more information. […]
CATHERINE: You can’t take it …] You don’t waste any time, do you? No hesitation. You can’t wait to show them your brilliant discovery.
HAL: I’m trying to determine what this is.
CATHERINE: I’m telling you what it is.
HAL: You don’t know!
CATHERINE: I wrote it.
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HAL: I’m a mathematician […] I know how hard it would be to come up with something like this. I mean it’s impossible. You’d have to be…you’d have to be your dad, basically. Your dad at the peak of his powers.
CATHERINE: I’m a mathematician too.
HAL: Not like your dad.
CATHERINE: Oh, he’s the only one who could have done this?
HAL: The only one I know.
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Act Two, Scene 5
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HAL: […] Your dad dated everything. Even his most incoherent entries he dated. There are no dates in this.
CATHERINE: The handwriting—
HAL: —looks like your dad’s. Parents and children sometimes have similar handwriting, especially if they’ve spent a lot of time together.
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HAL: Come on, Catherine. I’m trying to correct things.
CATHERINE: You can’t. Do you hear me?
You think you’ve figured something out? You run over here so pleased with yourself because you changed your mind. Now you’re certain. You’re so…sloppy. You don’t know anything. The book, the math, the dates, the writing, all that stuff you decided with your buddies, it’s just evidence. It doesn’t finish the job. It doesn’t prove anything.
HAL: Okay, what would?
CATHERINE: Nothing.
You should have trusted me.
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HAL: There is nothing wrong with you.
CATHERINE: I think I’m like my dad.
HAL: I think you are too.
CATHERINE: I’m…afraid I’m like my dad.
HAL: You’re not him.
CATHERINE: Maybe I will be.
HAL: Maybe. Maybe you’ll be better.
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Get the entire Proof LitChart as a printable PDF.
Hal Quotes in Proof
The Proof quotes below are all either spoken by Hal or refer to Hal. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act One, Scene 1
Quotes
HAL: […] When your dad was younger than both of us, he made major contributions to three fields: game theory, algebraic geometry, and nonlinear operator theory. Most of us never get our heads around one. He basically invented the mathematical techniques for studying rational behavior, and he gave the astrophysicists plenty to work over too. Okay?
CATHERINE: Don’t lecture me.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
HAL: […] “Talking with students helps. So does being outside, eating meals in restaurants, riding buses, all the activities of ‘normal’ life. Most of all Cathy. The years she has lost caring for me […] her refusal to let me be institutionalized—her keeping me at home, caring for me herself, has certainly saved my life. Made writing this possible. Made it possible to imagine doing math again […] I can never repay her.”
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Act Two, Scene 1
Quotes
ROBERT: […] I’m not doing much right now. It does get harder. It’s a stereotype that happens to be true, unfortunately for me—unfortunately for you, for all of us.
CATHERINE: Maybe you’ll get lucky.
ROBERT: Maybe I will. Maybe you’ll pick up where I left off.
CATHERINE: Don’t hold your breath.
ROBERT: Don’t underestimate yourself.
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Act Two, Scene 2
Quotes
HAL: I’ll tell them we’ve found something, something potentially major, we’re not sure about the authorship; I’ll sit done with them. We’ll go through the thing carefully […] and figure out exactly what we’ve got. It would only take a couple of days, probably, and then we’d have a lot more information. […]
CATHERINE: You can’t take it …] You don’t waste any time, do you? No hesitation. You can’t wait to show them your brilliant discovery.
HAL: I’m trying to determine what this is.
CATHERINE: I’m telling you what it is.
HAL: You don’t know!
CATHERINE: I wrote it.
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HAL: I’m a mathematician […] I know how hard it would be to come up with something like this. I mean it’s impossible. You’d have to be…you’d have to be your dad, basically. Your dad at the peak of his powers.
CATHERINE: I’m a mathematician too.
HAL: Not like your dad.
CATHERINE: Oh, he’s the only one who could have done this?
HAL: The only one I know.
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Act Two, Scene 5
Quotes
HAL: […] Your dad dated everything. Even his most incoherent entries he dated. There are no dates in this.
CATHERINE: The handwriting—
HAL: —looks like your dad’s. Parents and children sometimes have similar handwriting, especially if they’ve spent a lot of time together.
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HAL: Come on, Catherine. I’m trying to correct things.
CATHERINE: You can’t. Do you hear me?
You think you’ve figured something out? You run over here so pleased with yourself because you changed your mind. Now you’re certain. You’re so…sloppy. You don’t know anything. The book, the math, the dates, the writing, all that stuff you decided with your buddies, it’s just evidence. It doesn’t finish the job. It doesn’t prove anything.
HAL: Okay, what would?
CATHERINE: Nothing.
You should have trusted me.
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HAL: There is nothing wrong with you.
CATHERINE: I think I’m like my dad.
HAL: I think you are too.
CATHERINE: I’m…afraid I’m like my dad.
HAL: You’re not him.
CATHERINE: Maybe I will be.
HAL: Maybe. Maybe you’ll be better.
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