The Children's Hour

When discussing Mary’s fake heart attack, Karen says, “It’s funny. We always talk about the child as if she were a grown woman” (14). Martha replies, “It’s not so funny. There’s something the matter with the kid” (14). The title of the play refers ironically to entertainment that sounds as if it is meant for children. It calls into question what is and isn’t appropriate for the girls at the school. Mrs. Tilford’s presumption that children are innocent fuels her insistence in believing her granddaughter and Rosalie. If Mary is innocent of any knowledge about sex, she could not possibly understand what she claims to have seen and heard. But Mary demonstrates that she does know, as she taunts Peggy for defending Karen, accusing, “That’s right, stick up for your crush” (28). When Karen questions Rosalie at the end of Act II, she explains Mary’s accusation, rather than presuming that Rosalie will understand, describing, “She says that once, when the door was open, you saw us kissing each other in a way that—women don’t kiss each other” (56). Rosalie asserts, “I never said any such thing ever. Why I never even could have thought of [it]” (56).

But Mary is fourteen.