The Miracle Worker: Act 1 Summary & Analysis

The play begins late at night in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in the 1880s. A couple—a young woman named Kate Keller and a “hearty gentleman in his forties” named Captain Arthur Keller—are standing around a crib, talking to a doctor. The doctor says, “She’ll live.”

Arthur Keller explains to the doctor that he has raised two children already, but that this is his wife Kate’s first child. The doctor advises the couple to wait for their baby daughter to get well again, adding that she’s been suffering from a mysterious “congestion of the stomach and brain.” He notes that he’s never seen a baby with more vitality and then bids the couple good night.

While Arthur Keller walks the doctor outside, Kate embraces her baby, murmuring that Arthur will post an editorial in his newspaper. Suddenly, she notices that the baby, whose name is Helen, doesn’t seem to be able to see. She shouts her child’s name, but the child doesn’t respond in any way. She calls Arthur and explains that Helen doesn’t blink or respond to loud noises.

Five years pass. Helen, now a little girl, sits outside by a water pump, next to a dog and two black children named Martha and Percy, who are cutting paper with a pair of scissors. Helen is blind and deaf, and she thrusts her hands around, occasionally hitting Martha and Percy. When Helen brushes Percy’s mouth with her hand, Percy bites her hand, and Helen recoils. Helen begins biting her own fingers. Then, Helen pushes Martha and grabs the scissors. Martha screams.

Another part of the stage is illuminated, revealing the rest of the Keller family sitting inside their home. Captain Arthur Keller sits at the table studying a newspaper while Aunt Ev sews a doll and a young man named James Keller sits by the window watching the children.

As soon as Helen attacks Martha, Percy rings a bell, which summons Kate Keller to come outside. Kate pulls the scissors out of Helen’s hands, and Martha and Percy run off.

As Kate tries to pull Helen into the house, Aunt Ev murmurs, “Something ought to be done for that child.” She gives Helen the doll she’s been making, and then suggests that Arthur Keller contact a famous oculist she has read about. Arthur refuses to contact this man, pointing out that Helen has visited specialists all over the South. Kate urges Arthur to contact the oculist, prompting Arthur to ask, “How many times can you let them break your heart?” to which Kate replies, “any number of times.”

Meanwhile, Helen runs her fingers over the doll. When she runs her fingers over the doll’s face, she notices that the doll has no eyes or features, and taps questioningly. Nobody notices.

Kate asks Arthur Keller for permission to write to the oculist, but Arthur refuses. He stands up and James mutters, “Father stands up, that makes it a fact.” He suggests that Arthur send Helen to an asylum, adding, “It’s not pleasant to see her about all the time.” Furiously, Arthur shouts that nobody will be writing to doctors on Helen’s behalf. Instead, Arthur wants to spend more time with Mildred, his and Kate’s newest child.

Helen crawls over to Aunt Ev and pulls at the buttons on Ev’s dress. She’s annoyed, but then realizes what Helen is trying to do: “she wants the doll to have eyes.” Kate takes pins and buttons from the sewing basket, attaches them to the doll, and gives it to Helen. 

Helen moves over to the cradle in which Mildred is sleeping. Suddenly, she overturns the cradle and Mildred comes tumbling out, but Arthur Keller catches her. Kate shouts to Helen that she mustn’t do things like this, and Arthur insists that it’s time they start disciplining Helen. Kate points out that it’s not Helen’s fault that she misbehaves. Kate insists that Helen just wants to “be like you and me.” Arthur sighs and promises that he’ll write to the oculist.

The lights dim, and a man’s voice can be heard. The man, whose name is Anagnos, explains that he has written to the Keller family to inquire if they have any need for a “suitable governess,” Annie Sullivan from Boston.

The lights go up, revealing a room full of equipment designed for teaching the blind. Annie Sullivan, aged twenty, is sitting with her eyes closed. Anagnos addresses Annie, explaining that Annie’s position as a governess for the Keller family will be challenging. But of course, Anagnos adds, Annie’s time here at Perkins has been difficult, too—one of the only reasons she wasn’t expelled is that there was nowhere to expel her to. Annie opens her eyes, revealing that she suffers from the “granular growth of trachoma”—a condition because of which she often closes her eyes to avoid the pain of bright light.

Annie asks Anagnos to describe the child she’s being sent to teach. Anagnos replies that nobody knows anything about her personality—the child is like “a little safe, locked, that no one can open,” adding that “perhaps there is treasure inside.” Anagnos also adds that he has told the Kellers nothing of Annie’s own personal history. Although Annie thinks this is a good thing, Anagnos suggests that she inform the Kellers, so that they understand that she has “trouble.”

Anagnos reviews Annie’s new situation with her. She is now a graduate of the Perkins School. She will teach Helen Keller for twenty-five dollars a month. Finally, Anagnos gives Annie a small gift, a ring. Annie’s voice begins to tremble. She tells Agagnos, “everything I am I owe to you.” She remembers coming to Anagnos’s school years earlier. After “Jimmie died,” Annie recalls, she enrolled in the school, where she got her “eyes back” and learned “how to help” and “how to live again.”

Anagnos opens the door and ushers in a group of blind children, who announce that they’ve bought Annie a going-away gift: a pair of smoked glasses (i.e., tinted glasses). One of the children explains that Annie’s eyes have hurt “since the operation,” and the glasses will help her see without pain. The children give Annie another gift—a doll with movable eyelids, which can make a “momma” sound. The doll, the children explain, is for Helen. Some of the younger children tell Annie that they don’t want her to leave. Annie smiles sadly and says, “I’m a big girl now, and big girls have to earn a living.”

Anagnos shepherds the children out of the room. As Annie thinks back on her past, two echoing voices can be heard. They belong to the young Annie and her brother, James (or Jimmie) Sullivan. The voice of young Annie tells her younger brother, “I’m takin’ care of you.” Then, a third echoing voice is heard—that of a grown man. The man reports that Annie, aged nine, is “virtually blind,” while James, aged seven, can’t walk without a crutch. The man explains that Annie and her brother will have to be separated. James’s voice cries out, “Don’t let them take me—Annie!”

The lights dim, and when they go up, we’re back in the Keller household. Upstairs, Helen sits alone. Downstairs, Kate adjusts her bonnet, while a black servant named Viney attends to her. Kate explains to Viney, “I can’t wait to see her.” Kate runs upstairs to Helen, who clutches at Kate’s skirt, dirtying it. Kate offers Helen a peppermint, which Helen eats eagerly.

Meanwhile, Arthur Keller arrives downstairs, where he notices that James is dressed nicely. James explains that he’s dressing for Annie Sullivan, who’s due to arrive today. Kate greets Arthur and tells him that she’s headed off to meet Annie. Alone, Arthur studies Helen, who has wandered out onto the porch. He says, “She’s gone, my son and I don’t get along, you don’t know I’m your father, no one likes me.” He gives Helen candy.

The lights dim, revealing Annie Sullivan standing outside a railroad station, where James and Kate are waiting. James greets her and introduces himself. Annie replies, “I had a brother Jimmie.” James explains he’s Helen’s half-brother and adds, “You look like half a governess.” Annie greets Kate and observes that Kate hasn’t brought Helen along. Kate is surprised that Annie is so young, and wonders if anyone has ever succeeded in teaching a deaf-blind child even a fraction of what “an ordinary child” learns. Annie admits that the answer is no.

Annie, recognizing that Kate looks dismayed, tries to “take the bull by the horns.” She admits that she’s young and inexperienced, but that she has some advantages, too: she’s energetic, she has studied the “reports” of Dr. Howe (the doctor the Kellers previously hired), and, finally, she herself was formerly blind. Annie will begin by teaching Helen language—and language, she explains, ‘is to the mind more than light is to the eye.”

The lights dim, and when they rise, Annie, James, and Kate are coming back to the house. Arthur Keller greets Annie politely, just as Helen Keller rushes through the room and out to the porch, chasing after the family dog, Belle. Helen is messy-looking, and her shoes are untied.

Annie hesitates, and then follows Helen, “entering her world.” She crouches down and, gently, touches Helen’s hand. Helen feels Annie’s hand, then her arm, and finally her face. Then, she finds Annie’s suitcase. She tries to open the suitcase, but when Annie stops her, she begins to push and fight with Annie. Helen lugs the suitcase into the house, and Annie helps Helen get it up into the room where Annie will be staying.

As Annie meets Helen, Arthur and Kate talk about Annie. Kate likes her, but Arthur finds her “rough,” remarking that northerners “certainly rear a peculiar kind of young woman.” Arthur notices Annie’s smoked glasses, and Kate explains that Annie was blind, and has had nine eye operations. Arthur mutters, “here’s a houseful of grownups can’t cope with the child, how can an inexperienced half-blind Yankee schoolgirl manage her?”

Meanwhile, in her room, Annie gives Helen a key. Helen uses the key to open the suitcase. She finds a big shawl inside, and wraps it around her body, then puts on Annie’s bonnet and smoked glasses as well. Then, she finds Annie’s drawers (i.e., underwear), and a large doll. Helen seems to like the doll. Annie, amused, murmurs, “All right, Miss O’Sullivan. Let’s begin with the doll.”

Annie takes Helen’s hand and gently manipulates the fingers, spelling out “D-O-L-L” in sign language. James, who’s been watching from the doorway, says, “You spell pretty well.” Annie explains that she’s using “an alphabet for the deaf.” To Annie’s delight, Helen repeats the finger movements exactly. James, unimpressed, asks, “You think she knows what she’s doing?” Annie next takes away the doll, hoping that Helen will spell its name to get it back, but instead Helen becomes enraged and swings her arms, causing the shawl, glasses, and bonnet to fall off of her. James says, “She doesn’t know the thing has a name, even,” and Annie, exasperated, shuts the door in his face.

Alone with Helen, Annie produces a piece of cake from her suitcase, and holds it under Helen’s nose. Then, she spells out C-A-K-E. When Annie pulls the cake away, Helen immediately spells out C-A-K-E. To reward Helen, Annie gives her the cake, which Helen eats immediately.

Annie shows Helen the doll again, prompting Helen to spell its name. Helen does so, and Annie gives her the doll as a reward. Satisfied, Annie says, “Imitate now, understand later.” Just then, Helen swings the doll into Annie’s face, drawing blood. Helen rushes out of the room, holding the doll, and shuts the door, turning the key in the lock. Annie yells out for Helen before she realizes the pointlessness of yelling.

James hears Annie’s yelling, but instead of unlocking the door, goes out to the porch and sings mockingly to her window, “Buffalo girl, are you coming out tonight.” Annie turns to her mirror and realizes that Helen has knocked out one of her teeth.

The lights dim, and echoing voices can now be heard. A boy moans, “Annie, it hurts,” and a harsh-sounding elder woman’s voice shouts, “shut up!” The boy whispers, “You promised! Forever and ever, you said forever.” Then, a man’s voice says, “Little girl, I must tell you your brother will be going on a …” but  Annie claps her hands to her ears, and the voices stop.

The lights rise. Kate tells James to summon Arthur Keller for supper. James calls out to his father, and when Kate asks where Annie is, James replies, very pleasantly, “In her room.” He explains that Helen locked her in her room. Appalled, Kate finds Helen, sitting outside by the water pump. She finds that Helen has no key. While James cheerfully finds a ladder and carries it outside to Annie’s window, Kate tries to figure out where the key might be.

Arthur, realizing that Kate will never find the key, takes the ladder and climbs up to Annie’s room, telling her that he’ll have to carry her down. Annie agrees, trying to look “as composed and ladylike as possible.” James notices Annie and quips, “might as well leave the l, a, d, d, e, r,” implying that she’ll likely need it again.

Annie notices Helen sitting by the pump, oblivious to the chaos around her. The lights dim, and Annie walks over to observe her young pupil, a little awed. When Helen is satisfied that she’s alone, she opens her mouth, revealing the key. Annie can’t help but smile: “You devil,” she says, “You think I’m so easily gotten rid of? You have a thing or two to learn, first. I have nothing else to do.”