Hurricane Camille: This powerful, deadly, and
destructive hurricane formed just west of the Cayman Islands on August 14. It rapidly intensified and by the time it reached western Cuba the next day it was a Category 3 hurricane. Camille tracked north-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 5 hurricane on August 16. The hurricane maintained this intensity until it made landfall along the Mississippi coast late on the 17th. Camille weakened to a tropical depression as it crossed Mississippi into western Tennessee and Kentucky, then it turned eastward across West Virginia and Virginia. The cyclone moved into the Atlantic on August 20 and regained tropical storm strength before becoming extra tropical on the 22nd. (Hazlehurst, MS is located on the direct storm path where MAJOR HURRICANE becomes HURRICANE)
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/history/camille_1969_map.gif
Hurricane Camille sets up the conflict between Meg and Doc Porter. Also, Hurricane Camille drastically changed the lives of the characters, just as it changed the lives of thousands of Mississippi residents.
Equal Rights Amendment: Passed in 1972 by Congress, the Equal Rights Amendment was intended to guarantee equal rights under federal, state, or local laws regardless of sex. However, the amendment failed to gain ratification by its 1982 deadline. Mississippi did not ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era.htm
The Equal Rights Amendment may play a vital role in the case of Babe v. her husband and how she will be tried.
Watergate Scandal: Beginning June 17, 1972 when five men were arrested during an attempt to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel, the Watergate Scandal led to the downfall of President Richard Milhous Nixon and ended with his resignation on August 8, 1974.
http://www.watergate.info/
The Watergate Scandal was followed by almost every american. The characters, aside from Meg, most likely would be following the scandal to its end because of the president's involvement.
November 7, 1972: President Richard Milhous Nixon is elected to serve a second term as president in a landslide win over Presidential Candidate, Senator George McGovern.
This election effects every character, because the president of the US effects every citizen in one way or another.
Paris Peace Accords: Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, signed in Paris and entered into force January 17, 1973.
The Parties participating in the Paris Conference on Viet-Nam,with a view to ending the war and restoring peace in Viet-Nam on the basis of respect for the Vietnamese people's fundamental national rights and the South Vietnamese people's right to self-determination, and to contributing to the consolidation of peace in Asia and the world, have agreed on the following provisions and undertake to respect and to implement them: http://www.aiipowmia.com/sea/ppa1973.html
The Vietnam War is a defining moment in our country's history, therefore it is a defining moment in the character's history. In some way, this event effected each character.
1973 Oil Crisis: In October 1973 the members of OAPEC, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, declared an Oil Embargo in response to American aid to the Israelis. As a result, oil prices skyrocketed and began the oil crisis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis#Immediate_economic_effects_of_the_embargo
Every citizen of the United States was effected by the Oil Embargo, including our characters.
Emergency Daylight Saving Energy Conservation Act 1973: Act signed by President Richard Nixon in an attempt to conserve fuel during the oil crisis caused by the Arab Oil Embargo. A trial period of Daylight Saving Time began on January 6, 1974 when all clocks were set ahead and ended October 27, 1974 after congress amended the act. Daylight Saving Time resumed February 23, 1975 and ended October 26, 1975.
CRIMES OF THE HEART takes place during the initial trial period of Daylight Saving Time, just one more thing for Lenny to stress over.
Impeachment/Resignation of President Richard Nixon: On July 30, 1974, as a result of the Watergate Scandal, the House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee. To avoid impeachment, President Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974 being the first president ever to do so.
The lives of the characters were effected by the resignation of President Nixon, like all other American Citizens, they lost their leader.
August 9, 1974: At noon on this day Vice-President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States to complete the remainder of Nixon's term.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/080974-3.htm
The inauguration of President Ford marked the end of sandal and lies in the lives of Americans, including the characters.
Cost of Living 1974:
Yearly Inflation Rate USA:11.3%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK: 17.2%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average: 616
Average Cost of New House: $34,900.00
Average Income Per Year: $13,900.00
Average Monthly Rent: $185.00
Cost of a Gallon of Gas: 55cents
Average Cost of a New Car: $3,750.00
The cost of living helped to define the lives led by our characters.
Micro View
Hazlehurst, Mississippi: The county seat for Copiah County, Hazlehurst began with the building of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad on November 3, 1865. The town is named for George Hazlehurst, an engineer for the new railroad, and is now a part of the Jackson metro area.
Residents of small towns know and take pride in the history of their town; it is also important to know where "home" is on a map.
State of Mississippi: The following is a link to the symbols of Mississippi; including the state motto, flag, and various animals. http://www.mississippi.gov/symbols.jsp
Just as we were taught in Texas, the Star Spangled Banner and that the state bird is the Mockingbird and flower is the Bluebonnet, the characters were most likely taught the same growing up in Mississippi. It's all about state pride!
Personal Testimony: (The following is a post found on city-data.com. It is in response to a request for people to post their memories of life in Mississippi during the 60s and 70s to help enrich a production of CRIMES OF THE HEART at the University of Southern Mississippi.)
I moved to Biloxi, MS in the summer of 1969, just a few weeks before hurricane Camille. Had never seen a hurricane before. I remember the days and weeks following the storm like it was yesterday. I was 13 years old. Also I remember segregation in my schools; 1970 was the first year we had a black student come to our school and the next year she made history when she became the school's first basketball cheerleader. It was the first year we were allowed to wear pantsuits to school and I remember the hem of our blouse had to reach our wrist when our arm hang by our side. There was no co-ed Phys. ED. and girls weren't allowed to take shop and boys couldn't go into the Home Eco. classes. Friday night high school football was big event. Our dress hems could be no more than 4" above the knee. The girls with the longest straightest hair were the most popular. Of course tight hip-hugger bell bottom jeans and platforms were the rage for girls. I remember selling Krispy Kreme donuts for .60c a dozen. The Klan and Dixie Mafia were always in the news. The Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo in Gulfport was a big deal then. I remember spending long hot summer days crabbing off old bridges and being on the Biloxi back bay piers when the shrimp boats docked. If you paid more than .90 cents a pound for 18 count you had to be a tourist. I remember floating down the rivers on inner tubes until we were so sunburned we couldn't move. There were no casinos on the beach and you didn't need a permit for a bonfire. The sand was clean and white. I remember floundering with a gig and light at low tide. There were just a just a few hotels all privately owned, no big name chains. The biggest headliner on the coast was Pete Fountain. Seems Huey P. Long and George McGovern were always in the news. Just like today, softball was huge in Ms. but most of the fields were way out in the country and none had infield grass or sprinkler systems. I remember the long hot weekends of tournaments, the shortest cut-off jean shorts a girl could possibly wear. We thought they were sexy but damn the huge strawberries we got sliding on the red clay. The men's teams won beer trophies. Do they still sell beer at ball parks today? The biggest employers in Stone County were the world's largest pickle factory and the lumber mill. Barq's rootbeer only came in bottles was the soda of choice and the return deposit on a coke bottle was five cents. Coors beer was boot-legged over the Mississippi river. The film "Smokey and the Bandit" made I-10 famous and made every young man in MS want a Trans Am. Highway 90 along the coast, known as the Hospitality Highway, was two lanes and had very few traffic lights. Soda vending machines and pay phones were 10 cents and 25 cents could buy a huge bowl of red beans and rice with corn bread as a side. A tailgate party was a truckbed full of cold beer on ice and dozens of boiled shrimp dumped on top of a wooden picnic table. Seems there were only two classes of white folks; the rich and the not rich. Blacks and whites didn't go to the same public places unless it was the jail. The best place to be on Friday night was the skating rink (when it wasn't football season). Despite the Child Rights Act of 1965 being passed, you could still get a belt whipping from Dad and the principle in my school had a big wooden paddle with holes in it he used quite often.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/mississippi/904780-mississippi-1974-what-do-you-remember.html
This personal testimony of growing up in coastal Mississippi is probably one of the best sources of material for actors. The lives of the characters can probably easily relate to the life of this anonymous blogger.
Hurricane Camille: On the night of August 17, 1969 Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf
Coast. Many had scoffed at the forecast of unprecedented high winds and expected a rising tide, but in the early morning hours of August 18th were firm believers. Many of those who refused to believe the forecast and stayed at home to ride out the storm lived to regret it. Some did not live through it. The latest survey reveals l34 deaths; 27 missing; 8,931 injured; 5,662 homes destroyed and 13,915 suffering major losses.http://www.harrison.lib.ms.us/library_services/camille.htm
Not only did Hurricane Camille effect the entire state of Mississippi, and many of the other states along its storm path, Camille directly effect the life of Meg. Camille gave Meg a chance to run and she took it.
Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo: Beginning in 1948, the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo is an annual salt and fresh water national competition, open to all ages and conducted during the 4th of July events on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
http://www.mississippideepseafishingrodeo.com/rodeo_history.htm
There doesn't seem to be much to do in Hazlehurst, Ms, so the fishing rodeo was probably a great chance for the Magrath family to get out and have a good time.
Dixie Mafia: The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operated primarily in the Southern United States, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs. It is also particularly well-known for violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Mafia
http://www.insideprison.com/prison_gang_profile_DXM.asp
The Dixie Mafia in Mississippi is probably like the Bloods and Crypts in Texas; not always a direct threat, but something to always be aware of. The citizens of Hazlehurst would definitely be aware of the Dixie Mafia.
White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Considered the most militant as well as the most violent Ku Klux Klan in history. They originated in Mississippi in the early 1960s under the leadership of Samuel Bowers, its first Imperial Wizard. The White Knights of Mississippi was formed in 1964, and it included roughly 200 members of the Original Knights of Louisiana. The White Knights were not interested in holding public demonstrations or in letting any information about themselves get out to the masses. Similar to the United Klans of America (UKA), the White Knights of Mississippi were very secretive about their group. They were formed in 1963, and within a year, their membership was up to around six thousand, and they had Klaverns in over half of the counties in Mississippi. But by 1967, the number of active members had shrunk to around four hundred.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Knights_of_the_Ku_Klux_Klan
http://www.kkk.com/
It is quite possible, if not definite, that citizens of Hazlehurst were members of the Ku Klux Klan. Zackery Botrelle may have been a member himself, or known a few, which would add another level to his reaction toward Willie Jay.
Pete Fountain: "The biggest headliner on the coast" of Mississippi, Pete Fountain is one of the greatest jazz clarinetists of all time, native to New Orleans, LA.
http://www.epluri.com/NOTfolder/Acts/PeteFountain.html
Depending on how big her shows were, it is possible that Meg would have performed with Pete Fountain. Lenny also seems to be the type to listen to jazz music and would most likely know the music of Mr. Fountain.
930 Blues Cafe: A blues cafe in Jackson, MS. Here, from 9:30 pm on, live music is played every night, aside from Sundays. 930 Blues Cafe is a venue in which Meg Magrath would've been likely to sing at before moving to California.
http://www.jesdablues.com/
Segregation in Mississippi: Segregation played a large role in the lives of Mississippi residents within the 1970s. It was 1970 when the school systems of the state were forced to integrate after orders from the US Supreme Court. Knowing that segregation had such an impact on daily life adds to the pickle that Babe has put herself in by sleeping with young Willie Jay.
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/305/the-last-stand-of-massive-resistance-1970
Sounds and Images
Pete Fountain "A Closer Walk With Thee": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BP-NGFooJU
Robert Johnson "Hellhound On My Trail": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC4M4eQlz5I
Robert Johnson "Me and the Devil Blues": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MCHI23FTP8
Elvis Presley "Are You Lonesome Tonight": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrojFR7jM9E
Elvis Presley "Always On My Mind": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9sRJ-eOHnc
Images from left to right, top to bottom:
- Hazlehurst sign with brief history
- Damage from Hurricane Camille
- Three color flag system used during the oil crisis
- Whitfield "Mississippi State Hospital"
- Parchman Prison Farm "Mississippi State Penitentiary"
Statement
With many aspects of the setting taken from her childhood in Jackson and Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Beth Henley gives the world sight into the lives of one not so ordinary family in her Pulitzer Prize winning play, Crimes of the Heart. Introduced to the Magraths during a time of crisis, Henley lightens what can be incredibly heavy circumstances with wit, charm, and the bond of sisterhood. To create a unique and believable world for her characters, Henley utilizes what’s going on in the world in 1974.
Completing the play in 1978, Henley writes of three women who find strength within each other during a time when women were still viewed as weak. The Equal Rights Act passed for ratification in 1972 plays a vital role in the lives of these women. Though the lack of ratification from the states was not the step forward that feminists were hoping for, it may have saved Babe’s life had she been brought before a jury and tried with equal rights under the law. It is not only the trial of one sister that brings these women strength. Together the sisters must prepare for the loss of their grandfather, and with the loss of one life will come the hope of new beginnings.
Hazlehurst, the sisters’ hometown, is experiencing new beginnings of its own during the time of this play. Just five years prior, in August of 1969, Hurricane Camille, one of the most powerful and damaging hurricanes in American history, drove through Hazlehurst and Jackson, Mississippi leaving many people to rebuild and start their lives anew. Meg was one of those people. Singing in Jackson jazz and blues joints, similar to 930 Blues Café, Meg was following her dreams of becoming a great singer in Hollywood. Instead of rebuilding her life in Hazlehurst, Meg used the hurricane as a way out to start new in California, leaving behind her old life with Doc Porter. Doc, as well as Lenny, Chick, and Babe, rebuilt their lives from the rubble at home. As the oldest of the sisters, Lenny has burdened herself with much more than necessary. It is not until she is given strength from her sisters that she begins to take the life rebuilt and allows it to blossom into something new with her old boyfriend, Charlie.
To fully understand the lives of these characters, one must first understand what is going on in the world around them, outside of Hazlehurst and Mississippi all together. Though not directly referred to within the piece, the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal were two major players in the shaping of our country’s history. Therefore, these issues were also present in the lives of Henley’s characters. The stress of an untrustworthy president may very well add to the stress Lenny has already brought upon herself. Chick, being the socialite she claims to be, would also be up to date with politics. Along the political front also lies the energy/oil crisis caused by the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. In an effort to conserve energy and increase fuel supplies, President Nixon passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Beginning on January 6, 1974, all clocks in the United States had to be set forward for daylight savings and would not be set back again until October 27, 1974. Therefore, the citizens of Hazlehurst are living in near perpetual daylight savings. Henley’s masterpiece takes place smack dab in the middle of the energy crisis. Again, though it is not mentioned directly within the script, it is important to know this bit of information in order to get a better idea of the lives these simple people live.
Though the world seen from viewing a play may be fictional, it always must be based on or inspired by some sort of fact. To understand a fictitious world is to understand the world in which it was created and the world in which it must represent. The world given to us by Beth Henley leaves open plenty of room for individual interpretation and at the same time, clearly represents the world that truly existed in 1974. Using childhood experience and history to her advantage, Henley gives us a world unique to her script and unique to her characters giving them a home in which to live.
(715 Words)
