Contemplating Three Tall Women

Imagine you are 92 years old and are actually able to have a conversation with the energetic, idealistic and naïve person you were at 26. Imagine further that your jaded 52 year-old self joins the conversation. What advice would you give to your younger selves? Would you disclose the heartaches and anguish that will befall their lives? How would you feel at 26 and 52 hearing about your life’s future disappointments and resulting bitterness?

 

Three Tall Women, a play by Edward Albee, explores these questions through the interaction of three women who are one and the same person at three different ages. Albee constructed the play so the three alter egos, played by three actresses, exist at the same time and ponder their singular life. The characters are simply named A, B, and C (all three obviously have the same name).

 

C is age 26. She is energetic, ambitious, and idealistic, looking forward to falling in love and marriage, and optimistic about what the future holds for her.

 

B is age 52. At middle age, she is bitter and disappointed in her life, which has not turned out as she expected. She married an older, wealthy man who engaged in extra-marital affairs. She continues in the marriage despite the infidelity because of the financial security he provides. Furthermore, B is estranged from their son due to her intolerance of his homosexuality.

 

A is 92 years old. She has had to resort to selling her jewelry in order to pay her living expenses, is incontinent, and nurses a broken arm. Her husband has died after a protracted illness that lasted six years. She has experienced the ups and downs of B and C and knows what will happen to their hopes and aspirations.

 

Their conversation devolves into an argumentative examination of the major events in their life that are the root causes for their bitterness, and remembering and confronting past grievances. C, upon hearing and seeing the misery facing her, refuses to accept that her life will turn out as A and B chronicle. She shouts “I’ll never become you—either of you.”

A, on the other hand, is resigned to the disappointments in her life. Detached from those events by the passage of time, she sees her early struggles as indicative of life’s capriciousness and that there is no grand design rendered by a cosmic overseer. Indeed, even her own young intentions and desires were not able to control her destiny.

 

Leaving aside that Albee wrote the play as an autobiographical anatomy of the strained relationship with his mother, the play is a metaphor for the self-contemplation inherent in the aging process. Some people willingly accede to the process while others reject it.

 

The Woman at the heart of the play, nearing death, looks back on her life in order to answer the big questions: WHO is she? WHAT happened to her?, and WHY did it happen? She learns that there is a lot to uncover and confront. At 92, The Woman embarks on self-discovery to resolve past inner conflicts.

After distilling the essence of her life, The Woman finally understands and accepts the forces that sculpted her life, leaving her in a more peaceful state. The end result of self-contemplation is enlightenment.

 

In the final scene of the play, A, B, and C hold hands in a powerful image representing integration and acceptance of the whole person.

 

A (to the audience): “…coming to the end of it, yes. So. There it is. You asked after all. That’s the happiest moment. When it’s all done. When we stop. When we can stop.”

 

Suddenly, the lights go out.

 

– Joe from Arizona, a FAR customer who is finding purpose in this new stage of his life.

 

* The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Finance of America Reverse (LLC).

This article is intended for general informational and educational purposes only, and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. For more information about whether a reverse mortgage may be right for you, you should consult an independent financial advisor. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional.