Oleanna: A Play Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’d asked you to my room because I quote like you. (
Pause
)
    (
He reads.
) “He said he ‘liked’ me. That he ‘liked being with me.’ He’d let me write my examination paper over, if I could come back oftener to see him in his office.” (
Pause
) (
To
CAROL :) It’s
ludicrous
. Don’t you know that? It’s not
necessary
. It’s going to
humiliate
you, and it’s going to cost me my
house
, and …
    CAROL : It’s
“ludicrous …”
?
    ( JOHN
picks up the report and reads again.
)
    JOHN : “He told me he had problems with his wife; and that he wanted to take off the artificial stricture of Teacher and Student. He put his arm around me …”
    CAROL : Do you deny it? Can you deny it …? Do you see? (
Pause
) Don’t you see? You don’t see, do you?
    JOHN : I don’t see …
    CAROL : You think, you think you can deny that these things happened; or, if they
did
, if they
did
, that they meant what you
said
they meant. Don’t you see? You drag me in here, you drag us, to listento you “go on”; and “go on” about this, or that, or we don’t “express” ourselves very well. We don’t say what we mean. Don’t we? Don’t we? We
do
say what we mean. And you say that “I don’t understand you …”: Then
you … 
(
Points.
)
    JOHN : “Consult the Report”?
    CAROL : … that’s right.
    JOHN : You see. You see. Can’t you.… You see what I’m saying? Can’t you tell me in your own words?
    CAROL : Those are my own words. (
Pause
)
    JOHN : (
He reads.
) “He told me that if I would stay alone with him in his office, he would change my grade to an A.” (
To
CAROL :) What have I done to you? Oh. My God, are you so hurt?
    CAROL : What I “feel” is irrelevant. (
Pause
)
    JOHN : Do you know that I tried to help you?
    CAROL : What I know I have reported.
    JOHN : I would like to help you now. I would. Before this escalates.
    CAROL (
simultaneously with
“escalates”): You see. I don’t think that I need your help. I don’t think I need anything you have.
    JOHN : I feel …
    CAROL : I don’t
care
what you feel. Do you see? DO YOU SEE? You can’t
do
that anymore. You. Do. Not. Have. The. Power. Did you misuse it?
Someone
did. Are you part of that group?
Yes. Yes
. You Are. You’ve
done
these things. And to say, and to say, “Oh. Let me help you with your problem …”
    JOHN : Yes. I understand. I understand. You’re
hurt
. You’re
angry
. Yes. I think your
anger
is
betraying
you. Down a path which helps no one.
    CAROL : I don’t
care
what you think.
    JOHN : You don’t? (
Pause
) But you talk
of rights
. Don’t you see?
I
have rights too. Do you see? I have a
house …
part of the
real
world; and The Tenure Committee, Good Men and True …
    CAROL : … Professor …
    JOHN : … Please:
Also
part of that world: you understand? This is my
life
. I’m not a
bogeyman
. I don’t “stand” for something, I …
    CAROL : … Professor …
    JOHN : … I …
    CAROL : Professor. I came here as a
favor
. At your personal request. Perhaps I should not have done so.But I did. On my behalf, and on behalf of my group. And you speak of the tenure committee, one of whose members is a woman, as you know. And though you might call it Good Fun, or An Historical Phrase, or An Oversight, or, All of the Above, to refer to the committee as Good Men and True, it is a demeaning remark. It is a sexist remark, and to overlook it is to countenance continuation of that method of thought. It’s a remark …
    JOHN : OH COME ON. Come on.… Sufficient to deprive a family of …
    CAROL : Sufficient? Sufficient? Sufficient? Yes. It is a
fact
.… and that story, which I quote, is
vile
and
classist
, and
manipulative
and
pornographic
. It …
    JOHN : … it’s pornographic …?
    CAROL : What gives you the
right
. Yes. To speak to a
woman
in your private … Yes. Yes. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You feel yourself empowered … you say so yourself. To
strut
. To
posture
. To “perform.” To