Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 15, 2023 February 8, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The imaginary picture of Barbara Mandrell that the Old Man sees on the invisible wall is real to him because he sees her in his imagination. In his mind he is married to this country star. He calls her, "the woman of my dreams." This has a double meaning. One, because she is a star she is an unattainable romantic figure who is larger than life because of her stardom and second because she is unattainable by the senses because she is in the Old Man's mind. The Old Man describes her picture as "realism." He sees realism as the thing that an individual decides to call reality for oneself and believe in, even if what one believes is not necessarily based on reality. His strange sense of reality permeates the feeling of the unrealistic play as well as the mutating emotions of its characters.
The Countess's Mercedes Benz is never actually seen on stage but imagined through the description of May's character who sees it outside of the motel room door. May describes the car as a "big, huge, extra-long, black, Mercedes Benz." May seems to emphasize the size of the car because to her it is solid evidence that Eddie lied to her about his affair with the Countess. The car is exaggerated and flashy—a tangible object that flaunts Eddie's new relationship in May's face as it is symbolic of power and status—things which May lacks. The car stands out in the environs of the small, dusty, middle- of-no-where-town where May lives and represents an outside, far away, glamorous world she cannot be a part of which Eddie has now joined. The car also represents May's jealousy and the way she has inflated her feelings of jealousy. May says that the car looks exactly like the car she always pictured the Countess in and one gets the sense that May has created the arrival of the car in her mind, not in reality, as in a bad dream.
The play ends with the image of fire blazing from outside the hotel window as Martin stares out at the scene of Eddie's car burning. The blaze glows around the actors remaining on stage as a testament to the passion and sins of May and Eddie. The fire is similar to their relationship in that the more it burns the more energy it creates all the while, destroying the very thing it feeds on. May and Eddie likewise are more potent, alive and engaging people in each other's presence—their passion stirs their deepest feelings but their passion is self-destructive.
Please wait while we process your payment