Winterset

Winterset Summary | Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Winterset intertwines the stories of three people struggling to escape their unhappy ties to a past crime. Written in a combination of prose and blank verse, the play develops a tragic love story at the same time as it explores thematic questions about the natures of both justice and death.

This scene is set on the banks of a river under a bridge. Two Young Men lean against the struts of the bridge. Trock appears, accompanied by Shadow. Trock tells the Young Men to watch his car, and they go out. In poetic language, Trock shouts at the city, referring to the stupidity and empty lives of the people who live there. Conversation with Shadow reveals that Trock has just been released from prison, that Shadow is concerned that bad behavior like shouting in public will put Trock back there, and that Trock thinks Shadow doesn't take life seriously enough. He talks poetically about how he feels poisoned after being in prison, referring to himself as having "one liquid puke inside where [he] had lungs." He also talks about how the authorities want him back behind bars. Shadow reassures him that they have no evidence with which to try, but Trock says he's there to find out whether that's true. He adds that he doesn't have much time and reveals that the prison doctor gave him six months to live.

Lucia and Piny, a street piano player and an apple seller, appear. Trock and Shadow quickly hide. Lucia (a man) wonders who they were. Piny talks about how frightened she was. Lucia tells her to look on the bright side, like him, referring to how, "every day in every way," he gets to raise hell.