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Anna Phillips-Brown

Prof. Melissa Flaim

Theatre 101-2

November 18, 2015

August: Osage CountyJean

Each character in Tracy Letts renowned work, August: Osage County, is heavily affected

by the highly energized familial atmosphere in which the plot ensues. Incestuous relationships

are established, child molestation, drug abuse, romantic affairs, and more run rampant through

this particularly unique family, leaving a remarkable impact on each member, but particularly the

youngest of the Weston brood: Jean. While her parents are experiencing a tumultuous and

secretive separation, the wise beyond her years Jean is left on her own to essentially fight off yet

consequently be damaged by her hazardous aunts, uncles, and pill-popping grandmother.

Because she is left to her own devices in a toxic environment at such a young age, she is the

most susceptible to the chaos and its lasting emotional effects. In August: Osage County by

Tracy Letts, the actions of the family and general plot heavily affect Jean in ways of a desire for

attention, a desire to be different, and a necessity to mature as quickly as possible.

A child witnessing a parental split often craves the attention that was shifted from the

child to the marital relationship. This rings true for Jean, as she her parents lose any focus once

had on her in order to tend to their crumbling marriage. In response, Jean turns to drugs,

morbidity, and a wildly inappropriate relationship with her Aunts fiance, all in a desperate

subliminal cry for help. When a person acts out in such a way, it is likely to bring attention to

themselves, even if not in the healthiest of fashions. This is especially common in teenagers,
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such as Jean, as they have not matured enough to understand rational ways to get attention and

dictate needs. Such an ability becomes exponentially more difficult to develop and strengthen

when the adults who are meant to serve as role models for a developing teen have not developed

these skills themselves, and seem only capable of demonstrating precisely how not to interpret

ones feelings. When Jean sits down to have a heart to heart with Johnna, she casually explains

that her father is fucking one of his students, which is pretty uncool (p.35), and she is not

wrong. However, the bluntness with which she describes this event is clearly in the interest of a

shock factor, so as to secure the coveted attention she is receiving from Johnna. She also points

out that her parents do not mind if she smokes, and are in fact quite aware of the action. This

alone seems to suck the thrill right out of it, leaving her the image of a lifeless woman left with a

joint to lean on like a walking stick in life. Without an uprising from her neglectful parents, Jean

is left to seek activities that will surely get them talking, like a sexual relationship with her

Aunts fiance. The relationship was clearly not established for pleasure, as she appears to have

received no satisfaction from it, but instead for shock value from the family, which is exactly

what she got.

Another way in which Jean reacts to the wild environment she is trapped in is by craving

to be different from the rest of her familys dysfunctional members. Among a traditional southern

family inclined towards meat, she almost immediately upon her arrival identifies herself as a

vegetarian, leaving the entire clan in shock, and provoking jeers from all members. She justifies

herself by explaining that when you eat meat, you ingest an animals fear (p.65). Her

explanation alone is a practically purposeful alienation from her bizarre family, a desperate

attempt to establish herself as a separate and unaffiliated individual from them as humanly

possible. She subconsciously believes that if she becomes the family pariah, she has the potential
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to simply not be a part of the family antics at all. However, her admission of meatless-ness

provokes attention to herself, fulfilling her other conflicting subconscious desire, and identifies

her as the subject of family dinner jokes. She inflicts upon herself a vicious cycle of self-

destruction, both physically and mentally, by setting the family on her like a pack of attack dogs

and by demanding individuality and attention at the same time by means of substance abuse.

The final example of the repercussions of the Weston family trials on Jean is her

necessity for maturity. Due to the child-like behavior demonstrated by each and every one of her

elders, particularly her parents and their bickering, Jean feels a powerful desire to rise above the

madness and act as an adult, not only for herself but for those around her. While she is troubled

and jaded, deep down she feels a sense of responsibility to her family, and a need to be a parent

to the apparent children running wild around her. She also has a duty to herself to grow up faster

than she would like, as if she does not, she will become just like all the others, and will not be

able to function in the real world with legitimate functional people.

The entire Weston family is severely emotionally damaged as a result of the events that

transpire over the time of the play as well as throughout their development as a family, leaving

Jean to bear all of their extraordinarily heavy burdens as well. She struggles to claim attention

for herself, stand out as much as possible from the disturbing tribe that is her family, and all the

while grow up at a startling rate just to be able to survive among the turmoil.
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Works Cited

Letts, Tracy. August: Osage County. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2008. Print.