August: Osage County

“‘Life is very long…’ T.S. Eliot. I mean…he’s given credit for it because he bothered to write it down. He’s not the first person to say it…certainly not the first person to think it. Feel it. But he wrote the words on a sheet of paper and signed it and the four-eyed prick was a genius…so if you say it, you have to say his name after it.”

Beverly published an award-winning book of poetry in the 1960s, but despite the expectation of a continued rise in success, he never published again. He is expressing a sense of disillusionment with the idea of authorship, as his Eliot quote resonates with him as deeply as if he had written it. Although there is no definitive explanation as to why Beverly stopped writing, he seems to be having a crisis of originality, as if everything worth saying has already been said and signed.

“My wife. Violet. Violet, my wife, doesn’t believe she needs treatment for her habit. She has been down that road once before, and came out clean as a whistle…then chose for herself this reality instead.”

Beverly is stating that Violet chooses her addiction after working to achieve sobriety and then deciding of her own volition that being high is better. Certainly, addiction isn’t chosen, and sobriety doesn’t equal a cure from addiction, as the cravings may not ever go away. Violet has no interest in attempting sobriety again, which suggests such a deep dissatisfaction and unhappiness in her life that she isn’t willing to face it sober. Given Beverly’s alcoholism, it seems as if they both have reached that conclusion.

“Honey, you have to be smart to be complicated.”

Mattie Fae is responding to Charlie’s comparison of Beverly to their son, Little Charles. When he calls her out for saying that their son is unintelligent, Mattie Fae staunchly reaffirms her statement.