Overtones Response

In the play Overtones, everyone can see and hear the characters of Harriet and Margaret. The only person to hear Hattie is Harriet and the only person to hear Maggie is Margaret, but neither of them acknowledge their ‘primitives selves’, as Gerstenberg puts it, other than to respond to them verbally. However, there is at only one point in the play when someone appears to see Hattie and Maggie and that is when they converse with each other. This only happens when the conversation between Margaret and Harriet becomes very heated and appears to be reaching the climax. It’s interesting that this would be the point where the inner selves acknowledge each other because it would suggest that this is not only the point where the separation between the outer appearance and the inner appearance are the closest, but it also suggests that the characters of Harriet and Margaret can see through each other to see exactly what the other wants.