In the ending scene of The Skin of Our Teeth a baby appears.
Gladys says that the baby is hers. As I was reading, I was trying to figure out
who this baby is. Because the play has many biblical references I thought the child
might be Jesus. They do not give any hints to where the baby comes from or that
Gladys had relations with any one. The play begins to restart and the world has
a new chance at survival. This is where Jesus could have come in and helped his
people. They wanted to start new and Jesus can help. The baby just appears when the destruction and war is over. After all the biblical references made I see no reason to suspect that the baby is Jesus.
Alright this is gonna sound creepy: I thought it was Henry's kid.
ReplyDeleteNow hear me out - apparently in the bible, Cain married his sister. Being that Henry is actually Cain, and he has a sister... Well, stranger things than incest have taken place in this play, right?
Now I could be wrong. I don't recall if it was mentioned, but I don't think the length of time the war lasted was ever mentioned. It could be possible that Henry was around in a time just before Gladys became pregnant, and when were there really any other male characters (by this I mean major male characters, which is obviously apart from the the telegraph boy, Moses, etc.)?
Again, its creepy. But at the end of the play a lot of things were creepy. ...Speaking of which was I the only one who found it really creepy in the end where Sabina comes back out? ...no? ...Alright then...
I agree with you, Brielle. I find the child’s appearance to be strange. I think your idea of the biblical connection in it to be interesting and valid. Perhaps the war’s ending symbolizes the ending of everyone’s suffering when Jesus was born because he would lead everyone to salvation. I also questioned how the baby was born. Gladys and Mrs. Antrobus were in hiding during the war; therefore, they had no outside human contact. Technically, one needs a man and a woman to create a child. That being said, how was it possible for this child to be born. In connection to the bible, perhaps in Act Three, not only does the child symbolize Jesus, but Gladys may be symbolic to the Virgin Mary.
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