1. ‘Men Should Weep’ Ena Lamont Stewart
After Reading the play
Introduction to the play

2. Activities on Character and Theme

3. Activity 1: Maggie Morrison
Maggie is the central character in Men Should Weep and the one who undergoes significant changes in response to the events of the play. It is important that you understand how – and why – she changes. This will help you to develop your understanding of the central concerns of the play.
In groups of 6, divided into pairs
Pair 1 - focus on Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2, and how Maggie is presented.
Pair 2 - focus on Act 2, Scene 2 and the beginnings of change in Maggie.
Pair 3 - focus on Act 3 after Jenny arrives home. 
Each pair should prepare detailed notes on an ipad, including quotations, on the presentation of Maggie in your scene(s). It might be helpful for you to construct your notes around the following framework:

4. Start by summarising what happens in your scene(s), finishing with a summing-up statement about Maggie at this stage in the play.
Take detailed notes about what is revealed about Maggie. You should make close reference to what Maggie says and does, her interactions with other characters and what other characters say about/to her.
Make evaluative judgements about the way Maggie is and why she is like this.
Comment on the use of stage directions, if appropriate.
Make any relevant links to the development of theme through Maggie’s presentation. Relevant themes could be:
the role of women
the demoralising impact of poverty
the importance of community
the importance of self-determination as opposed to passive acceptance.

5. Feedback Present your findings to the other pairs in your group.
Send your notes to Edmodo.
Essay task: use your notes to write an extended response to the following question: 
Maggie Morrison changes throughout Men Should Weep. Describe some of the key aspects of this change, with evidence, and discuss how her development adds to your understanding of a central concern of the play.

6. Activity 2: The role of women: Lily, Jenny and Isa
Maggie is without doubt the most important character in Men Should Weep and it is through her character that we learn most about the role of women in 1930s Glasgow.
However, this is a play where women are very much the focus:
As well as providing some light relief, Granny gives us insight into the plight of the aged and infirm during this period.
Lizzie shows us a different kind of woman: resourceful but rendered hard, greedy and pitiless by her demanding economic situation.
Even Maggie’s neighbours give us insight into the community spirit that kept women going in these troubled times.
However, you are going to add to your appreciation of the play through closer study of three other female characters: Lily, Jenny and Isa.

7. Lily
Look again at the scenes in which Lily plays an important part: Act 1, Scene 1 and Act 3.
Working in pairs, make notes on what is revealed about Lily.
Now answer the following questions:
In Act 1, Scene 1, what criticisms does Lily make about the way Maggie runs the house, and about John in particular and men in general?
In Act 3, how does Ena Lamont Stewart suggest a warmer relationship between Maggie and Lily?
In Act 3, what is revealed about Lily’s attitude to Jenny, and what is confirmed about Lily’s attitude towards John?
Describe some of the ways in which Lily helps the Morrisons throughout the play.

8. Jenny
Look again at the scenes in which Jenny plays an important part: Act 1, Scene 2; Act 2, Scene 1, and Act 3.
Working in pairs, make notes on what is revealed about Jenny.
Now answer the following questions:
Make a list of all the things Jenny does in Act 1, Scene 2 with which her father, John, finds fault.
Jenny is representative of a younger generation in the play. In Act 1, Scene 2, what criticisms does she make of each of her parents?
In Act 2, Scene 1, what does Jenny do and say to show her rebellion against the older generation?
With reference to Act 3, how influential a part does Jenny play in bringing about Maggie’s positive action?

9. Isa
Look again at the scenes in which Isa plays an important part: Act 1, Scene 2 Act 2, Scenes 1 and 2 and Act 3.
Working in pairs, make notes on what is revealed about Isa.
Consider the following quotations and discuss and take notes on what each one tells us about Isa’s character and/or values:
‘Ach, he was a rotten tattie lang afore I was daft enough tae get landed wi him.’
‘If you think I’m gaun on like this a ma life, ye’ve anither think comin … If you want tae keep me, it’s time you wis makin a bit o dough again. I canna live on air.’
‘Love! There’s nae sich a thing … No roon aboot here, onyway.’
‘A woman disnae respect a man that’s nae a man.’
‘I’m speakin tae you and why should I no? Ye’re a man as well’s ma faither-’

10. Activity 3: The character of John Morrison
John is the key male character in Men Should Weep. Understanding John is vital to your understanding of the play as a whole.
The play is set at a time when the established role of men was under threat. Male dominance and authority were the accepted norms but these concepts were being challenged in the 1930s world depicted in the play.
It is important that you understand:
the beliefs, attitudes and values John has at the start of the play,
how these are challenged in the course of the play and
the extent to which John has changed by the end of the play.

11. In groups of 6, divided into pairs
In groups of 6, divided into pairs. Take notes (including quotations) on an ipad.
One pair should focus on Act 1 and how John is presented in the two scenes.
Key aspects to consider: John’s relationship with Maggie, what John’s argument with Lily tells us about him, what John sees as his areas of responsibility in life, the economic situation faced by men at the time, what John’s behaviour both before and during his confrontation with Jenny tells us.
One pair should focus on Act 2 and how John is presented in the two scenes.
Key aspects to consider: John’s view of fatherhood, John as a man in times of economic hardship, John’s relationship with Maggie, John’s view of male responsibility, John’s ambiguous relationship with women, any signs of changing attitudes in John.
One pair should focus on Act 3.
Key aspects to consider: John’s relationship with Maggie at the start of the scene, the values and beliefs espoused by John towards the end of the scene and how these are attacked by Jenny, Lily and Maggie, how John is presented at the very end of the scene and how important this is to our understanding of the play as a whole.

12. It might be helpful for you to construct your notes around the following framework:
Take detailed notes about what is revealed about John. You should make close reference to what John says and does, his interactions with other characters and what other characters say about/to him.
Make evaluative judgements about the way John is and why he is like this.
Comment on the use of stage directions, if appropriate. These are particularly important to our understanding of John’s character.
Make any relevant links to the development of theme through John’s presentation. After all, one of John’s functions in the play is to symbolise working-class men in the 1930s. Relevant themes could include:
men’s view of marriage and the established roles of men and women within a marriage
men’s view of the role of women in society
men’s view of the role of men in society
men’s response to the economic situation of the time.

13. Present your findings to the other pairs in your group.
Send your notes to Edmodo.

14. Activity 4 – Essay writing
Choose one of the following options to write an essay on the play:

15. The Role of Women Lily: Jenny:
In the play, there is a clear contrast between the characters of Maggie and Lily. Describe some of the key aspects of this contrast and discuss how this contrast adds to your understanding of a central concern of the play.
In the play, in what ways does John’s relationship with Lily help to clarify his attitude towards women?
Jenny:
Discuss some of the ways in which Maggie and Jenny’s values differ in the play and discuss some of the values they share.
Explain what we learn about John’s relationship with Jenny when she was a child, then discuss the changing nature of their relationship over the course of the play.
To what extent do you regard Jenny as an admirable figure in the play?

16. The Role of Women Isa: All three women:
Describe the nature of Isa and Alec’s relationship in the play. Neither is particularly likeable but to which character do you feel more sympathetic?
To what extent does Isa’s manipulation of men reinforce some of the ideas about men suggested in the play?
Compare Isa’s and Maggie’s ideas about love in the play.
All three women:
How does a consideration of one or more than one of the characters Lily, Jenny and Isa influence our understanding of Maggie, the central character in Men Should Weep?

17. The Character of John
Explain the nature of John and Maggie’s relationship at the start of the play, and discuss the extent to which their relationship changes over the course of the play.
Explain John’s view of gender roles in society and discuss the extent to which his view changes over the course of the play.
Compare the presentation of John at the beginning and at the end of the play. Discuss how important his transformation is to our understanding of the central concerns of the play.
By studying the character of John, what do we learn about both the economic situation faced by men and the beliefs of men in 1930s Scotland?
How important do you consider Ena Lamont Stewart’s use of stage directions to be in helping us form an opinion of John’s character in the play?
Consider one of the following relationships: John and Isa, John and Jenny, John and Lily. Discuss in what ways this particular relationship adds to our understanding of the character of John as a whole.

18. Activity 5 - The theme of poverty
Men Should Weep provides a harrowing insight into the effects of poverty on a Glaswegian family during the depression of the 1930s.
In pairs / groups:
Using evidence from the play, make notes on the various aspects (both negative and positive) of poverty revealed in the play.
Write down key quotations from the play connected to poverty.

19. Poverty – Negative effects
Details of set design given (cramped conditions, overcrowding, outside toilet, no real bed for adults).
The role of Granny and what this tells us about the treatment of the elderly in 1930s Scotland.
The impact of poverty on women trying to bring up a family (exhaustion, desperation, self-sacrifice, despair).
The size of family units at this time.
The portrayal of the younger children in the play (clothing, hygiene, hunger, diet, deprivation, acceptance).

20. Poverty – Negative effects
Reliance on hand-outs (Lily’s vital contributions), acts of charity.
Endemic ill-health (rickets, Bertie’s tuberculosis, medicine has to be bought).
Slum conditions: lice, rats, no hot water, hygiene, damp (find key speeches by Lily and Jenny).
Lack of money, inability to make ends meet.
Hunger, appreciation of even the most basic foods, desperation for food no-one else wants, meagre resources.

21. Poverty – Negative effects
Desire of younger people to escape, unwillingness to accept that life can only be bad, resentment at expectations of older generation.
Impact on men (tremendous competition for few jobs available, transitory nature of work, resignation, failure to fight, despair at failure to provide, change to their status, reduction in their authority, bitterness, alcoholism, domestic violence, willingness to blame government, sense of being trapped, lack of self-respect, unwillingness to help out domestically).
The importance of Lizzie, symbolising someone who has become hard, greedy and acquisitive in order to survive.

22. Poverty – Negative effects
Temptation to fall into criminality to survive (Alec and Isa).
Differing reactions of men and women.
Difficult moral choices faced by women because of poverty.
Terrible impact of poverty also demonstrated by the dramatic improvement in many elements of the Morrisons’ lives when John manages to get secure employment.

23. Poverty – Positive effects
Response of women (resilience, determination, willingness to work and shoulder domestic burden, positivity).
Community spirit, women seeing the need to band together as neighbours, family unity.
Willingness to share.
Desire to maintain certain standards (eg of cleanliness) despite overwhelming difficulties.

24. Activity 5 - The theme of poverty
Write an essay in response to the following question:
How effective do you find Ena Lamont Stewart’s portrayal of poverty in the play Men Should Weep?
In your answer, you should consider such features as characterisation, key events, stage directions, mood, dramatic realism etc.