Depicting Characterization And Heredity In David Auburn's Proof

Depicting Characterization and Heredity in Proof David Auburn’s Proof, tells of the struggle of a young Catherine who is the daughter of a mathematician, Robert, and although she inherited some of his genius she also believes she inherited his mental disorders. The play throws in a couple twists: tricking the reader into thinking Robert is alive when he is actually dead and finding out that Catherine wrote the proof. There are three themes that overrides the play: that is insanity, heredity, and family. Although Catherine and Claire are sisters, they are far from the same spectrum; however, Catherine and Robert are precisely what a father-daughter combination looks like. Catherine is more like her father than her sister. During the time of Robert’s sickness, Catherine was the only one to take care of him. This act of kindness shows how loving and caring Catherine is towards her father. In the play, Robert is portrayed as a figment of Catherine’s imagination. Auburn writes, “Robert: Well Because I’m also dead. Aren’t I? / Catherine: You died a week ago” (1887). This quote not only shows the death of Robert, but also shows, in a way, the mental instability of Catherine. Although Catherine and Claire share similar genes, they are different in more ways than one. Claire is a stand alone in
We understand that the theorem is called the proof but it is also ironic that Catherine can provide no proof whatsoever as to her writing it. Catherine also demands proof of Hal’s love for her when he does not believe she wrote the theorem. Auburn writes, “Hal: Your dad might have written it and explained it to you later…I’m just saying there’s no proof that you wrote this” (1218) and again, “I should have known she [Claire] wouldn’t believe me but why don’t you?” (1219). The inability to provide proof for the authorship of the theorem, delivers classes between the two main