Helen Bechdel, Alison’s mother, is portrayed as an emotionally distant character, for she tends to withdraw from family interactions. For example, Alison notes that Helen had a troubled yet “rather mild” disapproving reaction to her lesbian coming out (Bechdel 77), suggesting a reserved discomfort that makes her difficult to connect with on a deeper level. While practicing the piano in another scene, Helen curtly tells young Alison, “Don’t bother me now” (Bechdel 132). This moment highlights her proclivity to prioritize her talents over her daughter.
However, Helen’s emotional detachment is not innate. It stems from a deep sense of misery. Helen had the potential to be a real actress, but her life was diminished by her husband, Bruce. This dynamic is foreshadowed in their first encounter, when Bruce becomes interested in Helen after watching her perform as Katherine, the female lead in The Taming of the Shrew, who is defined by her lack of agency in her relationship with Petruchio (Bechdel 69-72). Like Katherine, Helen finds herself in a marriage where her thoughts and feelings are overlooked (e.g., she has no voice in the household decorations) and where Bruce’s deceit (his gay affairs) further isolates her. This parallel suggests that Helen’s distance is less a choice and more a consequence of prolonged neglect that eventually leads her to filing a divorce two weeks before Bruce’s death (Bechdel 27).
To cope with her unhappiness, Helen turns to theater as a form of escapism. She becomes so immersed in local productions that she memorizes not only her own lines but everyone else’s as well. Plus, Helen makes her own costume (Bechdel 163-164), which is a level of commitment absent from her family life. Additionally, Alison notes that “all the actors except mom fluffed their lines at least once,” emphasizing how theater provides her with a sense of control and competence that her real life lacks (Bechdel 168). On stage, Helen can fully inhabit a role, which she uses to avoid her reality.
However, Helen’s emotional detachment is not innate. It stems from a deep sense of misery. Helen had the potential to be a real actress, but her life was diminished by her husband, Bruce. This dynamic is foreshadowed in their first encounter, when Bruce becomes interested in Helen after watching her perform as Katherine, the female lead in The Taming of the Shrew, who is defined by her lack of agency in her relationship with Petruchio (Bechdel 69-72). Like Katherine, Helen finds herself in a marriage where her thoughts and feelings are overlooked (e.g., she has no voice in the household decorations) and where Bruce’s deceit (his gay affairs) further isolates her. This parallel suggests that Helen’s distance is less a choice and more a consequence of prolonged neglect that eventually leads her to filing a divorce two weeks before Bruce’s death (Bechdel 27).
To cope with her unhappiness, Helen turns to theater as a form of escapism. She becomes so immersed in local productions that she memorizes not only her own lines but everyone else’s as well. Plus, Helen makes her own costume (Bechdel 163-164), which is a level of commitment absent from her family life. Additionally, Alison notes that “all the actors except mom fluffed their lines at least once,” emphasizing how theater provides her with a sense of control and competence that her real life lacks (Bechdel 168). On stage, Helen can fully inhabit a role, which she uses to avoid her reality.
Hi Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you did a blog on Alison's mother! As I was reading, she was one of the most interesting characters to me, and I ended up feeling bad for her a lot. I agree with your point that Helen uses the theater as escapism from their family life. Bruce is controlling over the family's home life, represented in how much he polices the house's furniture itself, so the only way for Helen to regain control of something is by escapism. Great Blogs!
Hi Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteI love your choice to focus on Helen as a less-discussed person represented by the book (I also really love your blog design). Your perspective that Helen pursues theater as a means of escapism is fresh. I've read Bechdel's book on her relationship with her mother (it's really good!) and I think your perception that Helen also wasn't an ideal mother is pretty astute given that she doesn't get that much focus in Fun Home.
Reading about how Bechdel's mother was able to keep doing plays after her ex-husband died was somehow relieving.
Hi Kaylee, I agree we did not take a lot of time to discuss about Alison’s mother and it’s interesting how you noticed Alison mother was distant and had taken theater as a form of escapism. I did not think much about Alison’s mother as much because the book was so focused on Bruce and Alison’s relationship. I want to read the book that Alison wrote on her relationship with her mother, I think it’d be interesting. I am glad Helen was able to find comfort through theater. Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI know that Alsion did write a book on her mom, so that is a reason why she isn’t spoken about too much in the book focused on Bruce, but of course, she is an important character. I feel really bad for her, as she seemed to have a genuine connection with Bruce, but when they became attached, there was almost this sense that they couldn’t detach, both living in misery. One cool thing that I have never thought about before was the use of theather for escapism. Humans tend to search for ways to escape, and even Bruce might have used fashion as a way of escape.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kaylee
ReplyDeleteI think Alison's Mom is an interesting part of the book that isn't really mentioned all to much. When it comes to the theater as escapism, I'm just starting to realize just how much of the book Alison's mom was doing something related to theater. It is a lot. I agree with you that escapism is definitely something that Helen is doing.
Hi Kaylee! I do wished Alison focused a bit more on her mother in the book, but I think your blogpost does a great job of going deeper on what was already said about her. I do feel bad for Helen because she was stuck in a marriage she didn't want. I feel that Helen's distance was more of a choice because I think she was caught up in the Bruce mindset of everything and everyone needs to look perfect so our image doesn't get tainted. I'm glad that she was able to get into theatre and believe that it was because of theatre she was able to gain the courage to ask for a divorce and step into reality. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee!! I love that you chose to write your blog post about Alison's mother because she isn't discussed much. I do think that Alison's mother is a little more reserved and likes to be left alone more than the other characters. I find your point about Bruce ruining her acting career interesting because I never thought of that before reading your posts. You made some good points in your post. Good Job!!
ReplyDeleteOh my god I'm glad I'm not the only one who kept thinking back to Alison's mom. While she is rather passive throughout the story, I definitely think there could be a lot of worthy information we are missing out because we are reading Alison's perspective. I almost wish Helen had written her own version. Its a really unfortunate pattern that women tend to get the short end of the stick. Helen had to largely give up on her dream of acting because she is a housewife. She also had to deal with her husband being closeted and cheating on her throughout their entire marriage. That makes Bruce even more unlikable because he doesn't even recognize how much she has given up and put up with for the sake of their image in society.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that the most sustained attention to Helen in this book is when she is rehearsing to play Lady Bracknell in _The Importance of Being Earnest_. It suits the "fictional" nature of so much of the Bechdel household, as depicted by Alison--the most we hear her speaking aloud, at times "in conversation" with Alison, features her speaking words written by Oscar Wilde. I definitely agree that her art/theater/performance serves as a kind of escape for her, given the bleakness of her domestic life and the sense that she has missed opportunities: the scenes of her rehearsals at the theater imply that she finds a real and supportive community here, even if she outshines the rest of these community-theater actors with her talents.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned it in class a few times, but if you're interested in getting more insight into Helen's experience--both before and after the publication of _Fun Home_--I recommend Bechdel's second graphic novel, _Are You My Mother?_ (which also contains some good Sylvia/Aurelia Plath content).