Part 1: Act 2, Scene 10 Summary

Joe's mother, Hannah, is talking to her friend and real estate agent, Sister Ella Chapter, who is played by the actor playing the Angel.

Hannah wants Ella to sell her house, because Hannah has decided to move to New York. Despite her principles, Hannah takes a sly drag from her friend's cigarette. Ella warns her that she is leaving "the right home of saints."

Part 1: Act 2, Scene 10 Analysis

Thematically, Ella's warning recalls Harper's agoraphobic anxieties about external dangers.

The two women in this scene represent conventional religious morality. Hannah's move to New York is a crusade. She is obviously planning to 'save' Joe from his sexuality. The plot is moving towards a dramatic confrontation between Joe's newly liberated sexuality and the religious principles that initially suppressed it. The sale of the house is symbolic: the site of Joe's early...