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Brighton Beach Memoirs tells the story of a chaotic week in a household made up of two families, when a series of events causes the members to grapple with how to support one another despite disagreements and economic worry. The play is divided into two acts. Act One opens with Eugene Jerome, who serves as an intermittent narrator throughout the play even though he does not have a major role in the family’s most important discussions and conflicts. Act One introduces several significant inciting issues that set the plot in motion. Eugene’s cousin Nora is offered the opportunity to land a role in a Broadway musical but taking the job would mean quitting high school, and Eugene’s older brother Stanley must decide whether to stick to his principles and lose his job. While Eugene’s father Jack must deal with the loss of his much-needed second job, the decisions Nora and Stanley face become Jack’s problem because, as the family patriarch, he is required to weigh in on them all. 

Nora’s conflict brings up other problems crucial to her immediate family. Nora’s mother Blanche won’t let Nora decide her future and won’t make it herself, but instead, says they will do whatever Jack suggests. Blanche’s inability to choose for her daughter upsets Nora, who has felt the lack of her father since he died several years ago. In a subsequent conversation with her younger sister, Nora reveals how helpless she feels that the trajectory of her life is dependent on her uncle Jack, and the dispute solidifies her family’s need for a home of their own. 

Immediately following the discussion of Nora’s conflict, Stanley comes home with a dilemma. Stanley stood up against his boss for another employee, and now he faces the serious question of whether to act against his principles and write a letter of apology to his boss for getting involved, or whether to stick to his principles and lose his job. While Stanley is inclined against the letter of apology, he feels the need to talk to his father Jack first. Thus, these two inciting incidents stand in direct opposition to each other. Nora distinctly does not want Jack to weigh in on her life, while Stanley seeks Jack’s advice. 

Numerous conversations and disagreements take place, forming the rising action that leads to the play’s eventual climax. Nora feels frustrated and angry that she is not allowed to go on the audition. Stanley apologizes to his boss but then gambles and loses his entire week’s salary. Jack suffers a minor heart attack which will keep him out of work for several weeks. Blanche has a date with a neighbor, Mr. Murphy, but he fails to show up because he had a car accident while driving drunk. These incidents all contribute to Kate’s anxiety and culminate in the climax of the play when Kate and Blanche fight over Kate’s scorn toward Mr. Murphy. This fight blows up into a rehashing of the roles each sister has played since childhood: Kate as the caretaker who makes sacrifices for others, and Blanche as the one who is cared for and who takes from others. 

Jack tries to help Kate and Blanche patch up their argument but Blanche, who had no idea that Kate felt this way, resolves to stop being dependent on Kate and Jack by getting a job and moving out. For her part, Kate refuses to tell Jack why she is so upset because she doesn’t want to further injure his health. Although Kate doesn’t admit to it, she feels guilty because she believes she endangered her husband by insisting that Blanche, Nora, and Laurie live with them for several years. Meanwhile, Stanley, feeling responsible for breaking up the family, leaves to join the Army. This action shows that Stanley believes that his value to his family comes more from the money he can earn rather than his presence.

The climax represents a turning point in the play because it changes how the characters view themselves and what actions they then take. After her discussion with Kate, Blanche has a frank conversation with Nora about dependence and self-pity, and they emerge from this conversation on a stronger footing to forge a deeper, more mature relationship. Blanche and Kate figure out a way they can remain close but not be interdependent. Stanley’s leave-taking is a direct response to his feelings of guilt. Even Eugene is impacted because once Stanley leaves, with no older brother to provide guidance and impart wisdom, Eugene feels like he is now an adult. 

The next day, Stanley returns home, having realized how much his family needs him. The family gathers at the dinner table but still faces one final incident, the denouement that shows where the family is going and what is important to them. Jack receives a letter from his cousin, whose family has fled Poland and the impending Nazi invasion. The family all agree to welcome their cousins into their home, showing their determination to continue to support one another, and any other family members, through tough times.

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