Regarding Queenie and Bernard, I'm not so sure they'll be okay. The play seems to be conveying that Bernard is gay, even if he doesn't have the language for such a thing at the time. Queenie has seen what life can be, both as a sexually fulfilled person and as an independent woman in charge of her own life. I don't think the détente between her and Bernard will last for long. She won't stand for his "Lord of the Manor" routine and he will probably start seeking out sexual fulfillment in parks and public restrooms until he's caught and probably fired from his job.
Maybe they won't actually divorce, but I can't imagine them staying together much beyond what we see at the end of the play. It's the exact opposite of Gilbert and Hortense, in which we see a couple who barely know each other grow together and become a team to face a challenging future.
I was wondering if Queenie and Hortense might stay in touch or not, even if only by the occasional letter. Queenie seems determined through much of the play to force a friendship where Hortense is really not interested, but the whole saga of little Michael might actually give them a bit of a bond that might have bloomed into a close friendship if Hortense was not moving away. And, of course, neither woman knows that "her" Michael is also part of the life of the other. I wonder if that might ever come out. |
