Night, Mother was a very heavy script to read in terms of the context and storyline of the play. With a topic as "difficult" as suicide, one can only imagine what sitting through a live production would be like. Nonetheless I found the script to be pretty good. If I were to be hired as the dramaturge for this play I would have to disagree with the director in terms of the Major Dramatic Question. Even though the play ends not long after Jessie kills herself and the question as to "will she actually follow through with the act" is answered, I feel as though the MDQ is much deeper than the obvious. Jessie spends the entire play preparing herself and others for what is to come after her death. It is almost as if it is destined to happen and no one, not even her own mother, can stop her. Instead, I believe that the MDQ in Night, Mother is "will Thelma ever understand Jessie?" In a one act play Norman was able to summarize years of stress and strain and miscommunication that caused a rickety relationship between mother and daughter. The MDQ is heightened once Jessie reveals to Mama that she plans on killing herself. Though Mama doesn't quite know to show her emotions towards her daughter, she fights to come to the meaning as to why Jessie would ever consider such a thing. Thelma pleads with her daughter for answers and then retracts in a continuous cycle. With the constant switch of Mama's emotions towards Jessie's decision I feel as though "will Thelma ever understand Jessie" is the MDQ. The whole script Jessie just wants to be heard, understood, and respected. It is sad that it took Jessie's drastic measures to make Mama understand that all she wanted was to be listened to.
Thelma: Jessie, Jessie, child … Forgive me.
(A pause.)
I thought you were mine.
(And she leaves the door and makes her way through the living room, around the furniture, as though she didn't know where it was, not knowing what to do. Finally, she goes to the stove in the kitchen and picks up the hot chocolate pan and carries it with her to the telephone and holds onto it while she dials the number. She looks down at the pan, holding it tight like her life depended on it. She hears Loretta answer.)
Loretta, let me talk to Dawson, honey.
When Thelma finally respects Jessie's wishes the play ends.
I like the phrasing of your question, asking if Mama will ever "understand" Jesse, as this is a much deeper inquiry. This makes a lot more sense considering Mama's last lines before the phone call are "forgive me" and "I thought you were mine," as they imply that Mama finally realizes that Jesse was a much more complex individual than just her daughter, and that Jesse was suffering through things that even she, her mother, never knew about.
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