Heidi Chronicles
... Wendy Wasserstein’s play, “The Heidi Chronicles” examines these values and practices of the feminist movement through the main characters identities, relationships, and development as the time periods and mainstream ideals of women’s roles in society change. ... As time progresses and mainstream ideals change we see the characters beliefs and desires change with the times, with the exception of Heidi. In the opening scene of the play we are introduced to Heidi and see that she is beginning to establish her radical political beliefs early on. This is viewed when Susan says, “You know, as your best friend, I must tell you frankly that you’re going to get really messed up unless you learn to take men seriously (10),” and Heidi responds with, “Susan, there is absolutely no difference between you and me and him. ... ” In this statement we see Heidi developing the feminist idea that men and women are equal in every aspect. Also in this scene we see that Heidi has no interest in relationships and boys. ... Susan who is also presented in the first scene is the complete opposite of Heidi. ... Peter is the perfect guy for Heidi. ... I believe his purpose was to present a conflict of ideas with Heidi because after Heidi has decided to give up on the party and the boys and sits down to read here comes Peter, who she can’t refuse to dance with. So, in this scene Wasserstein presents Heidi who is the developing feminist radical, Susan who is every thing opposite Heidi, and Peter who inadvertently challenges Heidi’s independent beliefs by appearing to be the perfect guy for her. In the next scene we are introduced to Scoop who also serves to challenge Heidi. ... He makes fun of Heidi as a liberal and challenges her views. ... ” This statement shows us how he begins to antagonize Heidi’s feminist ideas. He tells Heidi, “You’ll be one of those true believers who didn’t understand it was just a phase (16).” This statement foreshadows on the events to come and again shows how scoop antagonizes and challenges Heidi.