ABSTRACT
David Hare’s portraits of “good” women have been castigated by some critics as plaster saints, as minor variants of the Virgin Mary archetype, or as victim figures—the Desdemonas and Cordelias of modern British drama. In Hare’s The Secret Rapture, Racing Demon, and Strapless, faith, hope, and charity do abide, and of these three the greatest is charity, which is seen through a glass darkly and known only in part. The Secret Rapture is Hare’s theatrical complement to an earlier film which portrays the destructiveness of a selfish pursuit of personal and political power—Paris by Night, shot in 1987. In the National Theatre production of The Secret Rapture, the figure of Isobel appeared in the garden at the end of the play. In his next play, Racing Demon, Hare again explores the possibilities of goodness in a materialistic, competitive, and violent society.
