Criticism on the play Proof by David Auburn Essay

Criticism on the play Proof by David Auburn - Essay Example Criticism on the play Proof by David Auburn As Robert’s funeral preparations get ready, his other daughter Claire returns from New York. Meanwhile, Catherine gets connected with one of her Father’s former student called Hal. Catherine is a college drop out and is depressed and seemingly also susceptible to mental illness. Catherine is shown to be in dilemma as towards her future after the death of her beloved father. The plot of the movie takes an interesting dimension when Hal discovers in Robert’s notebook a proof of a mathematical theory which was thought to be an unsolvable mystery. It is a captivating discovery. But Hal get astonished when he understands that Catherine is the person who wrote the proof. But did really Catherine write it? However the hand writing of the proof matches with Robert and the story continues to untangle the mysterious nature of connection between genius and madness and it’s inheritance. The story reveals how the appearance of the Mathematical proof creates havoc in th e life of the three characters living. Review Proof is a wonderful drama, which explicitly describes the mathematical world and the mystery attached to it. It is a family drama which is mathematical and human relationship centered and the three characters Catherine, Claire and Hal revolve around it. The primary fact that is noticeable about the play is the similarity which its hold against some other plays like â€Å"Arcadia†. ... The character of Catherine also brings about lots of questions and arguments towards her capability of formulate brilliant mathematical formulas and theories. Because, in the play, Catherine demands that the mysterious mathematical theorem is written by her and not by her father .Here the focus is on the fact whether women have this potential element to bring about mathematical works and achievement like man. â€Å"Catherine in the play has been trained (up to a certain point) as a mathematician, so a question is raised and tackled in the play — can a woman really do highly original work?†(Weber).The movie displays Catherine to be suffering manic depression and shown to be susceptible to her father’s disease. However the mental illness of her father, Robert is not clearly mentioned in the play. The question as to the relevance of Robert’s illness to his mathematical geniuses is also left in dark by Auburn. Catherine here is depicted to be uncertain with re gard to her chances of succumbing to the mental illness as her father. The central focus of the play is whether Catherine has inherited the illness of Robert and the heightened tension surrounding a home with recent death. Catherine’s mood swings and sarcastic nature and exclusive intelligence are the possible warning that she could be a victim to her father’s illness. Catherine shared an intricate relationship with her father, and withdrew from outside world just to take care of him. They grow closer despite the illness, and the love that the father and daughter have for each other comes through, even beyond his death (Auburn, 25). There is no question about the great amount of love and compassion between the father