‘The Hearth and the Cell: Art in The Old Wives Tale', Studies in English Literature, 21, pp. 208–21

Where Madge tells her story (the hearth) and Sacrapant's cell are the features of the stage that take up the most space. They should be as far apart as possible. Necessities of blocking, as well as my interpretation of the play, dictate they be on opposite sides of the stage, dividing it vertically, and at opposite corners, creating a diagonal tension. The hearth and the cell set up the spatial tension for the stage.