The Sisters Rosensweig

The Sisters Rosensweig Summary | Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Seventeen-year-old Tess listens to a recording of a women's chorus that her mother used to belong to and comments into a tape recorder on the choir's technique.

Tess's aunt Pfeni arrives, juggling handfuls of shopping bags, apologizing for being late and blaming a taxi driver in India. Just then the choir begins to sing another song, and Pfeni asks why Tess is listening to that particular recording. Tess explains she's doing a biography of her mother's early life for a summer school project. She goes on to say that she hates living in England and wants to go to university in the States but her mother won't let her because she thinks American universities are declining.

Tess's mother Sara comes in and greets Pfeni happily. After a bit of small talk about Pfeni's writing career and how it's not as successful as Sara thinks it should be, Sara leaves. She takes a phone call from a man called Nick whom Tess can't stand. When she's gone, Tess asks why Pfeni travels with shopping bags instead of suitcases. Pfeni explains that Rita, her mother and Tess's grandmother, said that only crazy people travel with shopping bags, adding that she's made it a point to prove her right. She gives Tess a statuette of Shiva, the Indian god of destruction and renewal. Tess asks whether she can give it to Sara, saying that her mother is more in need of renewal than she is.

Sara returns and announces that Nick will be coming to dinner that night. Tess complains that it's wrong to have a capitalist like Nick coming for a meal when there are homeless people living under the tracks at the train station. Sara comments on how beautifully her daughter has grown up and tells Pfeni that some day she has to have a child so she can experience the joys of raising children. Pfeni responds with a slangy expression, Sara comments that Pfeni is sounding very "New York," and Tess wonders what New York has to do with anything. Pfeni tells a story about her childhood in New York, which Sara says is romanticized. She then tells Tess to tell Pfeni about her boyfriend Tom. Tess tells Pfeni that Tom works in his father's radio equipment supply store and that they're working together to support social revolution in Eastern Europe. Pfeni quickly lists some good restaurants and cultural centers for them to visit, and Tess invites her to join them for tea. Sara wonders aloud how a nice Jewish girl from Connecticut like her daughter became a revolutionary, but Tess says she's not a nice Jewish girl from Connecticut at all. She then manipulates Sara into inviting Tom for dinner, kisses her, and goes out.

Sara complains to Pfeni that Tess seems to be doing everything she can to be exactly the opposite of her mother. Pfeni reminds Sara that that's exactly what they did. Sara responds that they were right, and Pfeni answers that Tess might be right, too. She then offers Sara the statuette of Shiva, but Sara says she's too old for rebirth. She says she's glad Pfeni is there, and Pfeni comments that she wasn't about to let their other sister, Gorgeous, be the only sister to show up for Sara's birthday. They also talk about Pfeni's close friend Geoffrey, whom they both hope will also be at dinner that night, but may not be able to make it because he's so busy. Finally, they talk about Tess's project, and Sara says she can't imagine that anything about her early years has any bearing on who she is now. They play a childhood clapping game, and as they're playing Geoffrey comes in and joins them. At the end of the game he picks Pfeni up and carries her downstairs, leaving Sara alone and thoughtful.