Last year my English class read a play entitled “Death and the Maiden”. In this play the stage directions in a key scene involved a giant mirror coming down and a spotlight illuminating the faces of random audience members.

Everyone puzzled over this for an entire class. Why would the playwright include that in there?

Although there were many different interpretations for this, there was one that stuck in my head: he did this in order to bring the audience into the situation of the play; to emphasize that the situation and distortion of morals could happen to anyone.

I think this is a feature of most plays (although not as direct). They absorb the audience into the plot and leave them questioning their own society. I think the play “Little Foxes” did a great job in doing this.

The aristocrats continually belittle their servants and others of a lower class. They call African Americans a derogatory name, and each time they do so, you can see the sneer on their face and feel the disgust in their voice. Especially in the beginning of the play this is surprising to hear, particularly because we are still trying to ascertain the time period. The characters have modern clothing, which is critical in the social criticism it produces. By staring at these characters we at first think we are looking at people of our time period (at least I did, since I had no previous knowledge of the play). Then we hear them say the “N” word and we are shocked. By having the characters appear as if they are from current times, Van Hove makes the audience wonder: does such racism as this still exist in our society?

Another element of the play that reminds the audience of their own society is the selfish desire the brothers, and Regina, have for power. They cheat honest working people out of wages in order to make themselves richer. This, of course, still happens today: there is such an uneven distribution of wealth, and in our capitalist nation there are those who strive to stay on top by sometimes using unethical means. When the audience is exposed to the disgusting animalistic attitude of the wealthy aristocrats they reflect on their own society.

Regina’s struggle is also the struggle of a woman trying to gain some power in society. When Oscar hurts Birdie we see just some of the oppressiveness women face. Regina is in a male-dominated world. As she struggles for power and goes against society’s gender roles her husband Horace ruins her attempts. When he dies she is finally able to have control, but she has gained it at the cost of her family. This makes us wonder: is she happy now? Was it really worth it for her?

“Little Foxes” is a play that criticizes a time period far before ours, yet the actions, dress, and dialogue indicate that the play is pointing out flaws that both time periods have in common.

Regina’s daughter Alexandra says to her mother: “there are people who raped the Earth, and those who stood around and watched them do it”. Alexandra did not stay around to watch her mother do it, and we should not stay and watch others do it in our own society. This play motivates people to take action, and teaches that there are more important things in life than power and money.