The Rules of the Institution Flashcards
by Susan Glaspell — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Rules of the Institution
Why does Judith Brunswick visit Mary Graham at Severns Hall?
She is sent by the Woman's Club house committee to reprimand Mary for repeatedly breaking the 9 PM curfew rule and staying out late without explanation.
Why does Judith agonize over what to wear before visiting Mary?
She doesn't want her clothing to emphasize the class difference between them, but also doesn't want her plainness to seem contrived or patronizing.
What does Mary Graham reveal she was actually doing when she stayed out past curfew?
She walked alone up the river to a hilltop with a far view, sat in the moonlight, and spent time thinking about God and the meaning of life.
How does Mary respond when Judith tells her she must follow the rules?
Mary quietly says she will leave the home rather than comply, showing she values her freedom and inner life more than the security of the institution.
What does Judith do instead of going to a tea after the committee meeting?
She takes a car to the outskirts of town and walks up the river road to the same hill where Mary Graham had sat, seeking the same far view and solitude.
How does the story end after Judith's encounter with Charlie Emmons on the river road?
When Emmons insists they must keep the rules, Judith feels a surge of certainty and triumphantly declares 'I don't have to!' -- committing to freeing both herself and Mary.
What is the outcome of Judith's report to the house committee about Mary Graham?
Judith shocks the committee by defending Mary's rule-breaking, saying it would harm her soul to keep the rules, which leaves the women bewildered and disapproving.
Why does Judith dismiss the chauffeur and walk to Severns Hall?
She feels it would be hypocritical to arrive in an automobile to lecture a working girl, so she gets out early and walks to gain composure and avoid flaunting her privilege.
What kind of person is Judith Brunswick at the start of the story?
She is a privileged, college-educated young woman from a well-to-do family who feels trapped in a pattern of society life that doesn't fulfill her, but lacks the courage to break free.
How is Mary Graham characterized through her appearance and manner?
She has heavy features, a great deal of black hair done uncaringly, no interest in finery, and a smoldering intensity that suggests suppressed power and intelligence beneath a sullen exterior.
What is Mrs. Van Camp's role on the house committee?
She is the most forceful and rigid committee member, immediately dismissing Mary's spiritual experiences and insisting rules must be enforced regardless of circumstances.
What do we learn about Charlie Emmons's past that makes him sympathetic to Mary's situation?
He originally wanted to study and write rather than go into business, but his family forced him into commerce, and he gave in to convention despite his own youthful longing for something more.
How does Judith's mother represent a particular worldview in the story?
She embodies well-meaning but patronizing upper-class attitudes, seeing the visit as charity rather than genuine human connection and reducing the situation to simple rule-following.
What is the matron Mrs. Hughes like, and what does she represent?
She displays an official motherliness and conspiratorial superiority that irritates Judith, representing the institutional authority that monitors and controls the working girls' lives.
What is the central theme expressed by the story's title?
The 'institution' is a metaphor for all social structures -- class expectations, gender roles, routine -- whose rules suppress individual spirit and authentic living.
How does the story explore the theme of class solidarity across social boundaries?
Judith and Mary, despite vastly different economic circumstances, discover they share the same fundamental struggle against conformity, suggesting that the desire for authentic selfhood transcends class.
What does the story say about the cost of 'giving in' to social expectations?
Mary's passionate speech and Charlie Emmons's example show that conformity gradually kills one's vitality and individuality, changing who a person fundamentally is until 'you aren't there' anymore.
How does the story treat the tension between individual freedom and community obligation?
Judith feels the pull of affection and duty but ultimately decides that no social order deserves allegiance if it holds life 'in chains,' choosing self-liberation over comfortable conformity.
What is the significance of the repeated phrase 'give in' throughout the story?
It functions as a refrain that builds emotional intensity, with Mary's explosive repetition of 'give in, and give in, and give in' crystallizing the story's central argument against surrender to convention.
How does Glaspell use the motif of seeing 'far things' from a hilltop?
The hilltop with its open view symbolizes spiritual and intellectual aspiration beyond the confines of daily routine, contrasting with the fixed, built-up town below that represents social constraint.
What role does the foil technique play between Judith and Mary?
Despite their opposite social positions, they mirror each other's inner struggle, with Mary's raw and passionate expression of revolt awakening the same suppressed feelings in the more restrained Judith.
How does Charlie Emmons serve as a cautionary figure through Glaspell's use of characterization?
He represents the end result of giving in -- a man whose youthful love of books and learning was replaced by boosterism and business, showing Judith exactly what she could become if she surrenders.
What does the word 'asperity' mean as used in the story?
Harshness or sharpness of tone or manner. Judith's mother speaks 'with that asperity which edges the defense of a contemporary to a critical younger generation.'
What does 'fecund' mean in the context of Judith's college memories?
Fertile, fruitful, or intellectually productive. Judith remembers feeling 'conscious of herself as alive' and eager to be part of 'the fecund age she had a sense of living in.'
What does the word 'smoldering' suggest about Mary Graham's personality?
It means burning slowly without flame, suggesting Mary has intense passion and energy suppressed beneath the surface that could blaze forth powerfully if given the chance.
What is the significance of Mary's statement: 'I was wondering'?
Said with 'the pain and the glory,' this simple phrase captures the spiritual yearning at the heart of the story -- the act of open-ended contemplation that institutions and routines try to extinguish.
What does Mary mean when she says 'the whole thing's an institution, and you're to keep the rules of that institution'?
She expands beyond Severns Hall to argue that all of life is structured like an institution with rules designed to make people conform until they lose their authentic selves.
What is the power of Judith's final line, 'I don't have to!'?
It marks her decisive break from conformity. While Emmons insists 'we have to keep the rules,' Judith's defiant reply signals her refusal to accept that surrender is inevitable, choosing liberation instead.