Heidi, the protagonist
The theme of the play is how the role of women has changed over time. Wasserstein shows this through Heidi’s interactions with other characters. Heidi is the protagonist because she is not a feminist, she is a “humanist”, therefore throughout the play her character stays the same, while other characters change. In the 70s, women had the idea of being independent and having equal rights, while by the late 80s their ideas about the role of women have become superficial. An example is when Heidi goes to a feminist group meeting, where Fran talks about the goals of a feminist woman:
“Heidi, every woman in this room has been taught that the desires and dreams of her husband, her son, or her boss are much more important than her own. And the only way to turn that around is for us, right here, to try to make what we want, what we desire to be, as vital as it would undoubtedly be to any man. And then we can go out there and really make a difference!” (181).
The goal of feminists was to become independent women and to not succumb to the pressure of being a traditional wife and mother; they want to be in control of their life.
However, as time goes on, these feminist values change. Once the women actually have a family, they do succumb to the pressure of being a traditional mother and wife, while maintaining a superficial desire for equality. For example, Susan, Heidi’s childhood best friend, was a strong believer in feminism, until she was pressured into desiring the lifestyle that her friends had. Heidi asks the question, “do you ever think that what makes you a person is also what keeps you from being a person?” (224). To which Susan responds, “I’m sorry, honey, but you’re too deep for me” (224). From this, one can see how Heidi is trying to grasp their old ideals. In Act 2 Scene 4, Heidi still has her humanist beliefs, while other characters have abandoned them for the new modern take on the traditional role of a mother and wife. She is giving a lecture on “Women, where are we going?”, and she starts her lecture talking about the superficial role of women at the moment. This role is expected of her because she is part of the “feminist” movement, but at the end of her lecture, she shows how women haven’t achieved their goals that they had set years before. She says, “It’s just that I feel stranded. And I thought the whole point was that we wouldn’t feel stranded. I thought the point was that we were all in this together” (232). Heidi is the protagonist because her values don’t change during the time period, and it emphasizes how other’s values have changed. Overall, Wasserstein uses Heidi’s lectures and her reactions to convey the message of how women have changed over time, and that the idea of feminism has not evolved.
Even though, Heidi’s values don’t change, she still doubts herself due to how she’s alone in her beliefs. She relates to Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire because Blanche also maintains her beliefs throughout the play. During both of their lifetimes, the role of women changes, but they themselves stay the same. The only difference is that Heidi wants the way things are to change, while Blanche doesn’t want to accept the change and she creates her own reality to avoid it.
Conor and I wrote this blog post together as it includes both of our opinions.
kjha2 
Some really good points were made but i would like to add some thoughts. Heidi’s character is interesting because she seems a little confused. She joins a feminist group and befriends many feminists and yet declares herself to be a humanist. By definition a humanist is a person who focuses on human values and concerns. Heidi never in the play demonstrates any strong human value beliefs. Instead of fighting for real women’s concerns and rights such as female circumcision, violence against women, child trafficking or equal pay she spends her time fighting for a museum to give equal importance and display of the paintings of women artists. Further, her group of friends do not show the traits of true feminism when they succumb to the traditional roles of marriage and one even allows her boyfriend to mistreat her as she cooks and cleans for him.Heidi too allows Scoop to string her along for years without a commitment. She is also upset at Scoop’s wedding to Lisa revealing her hurt and frustration at his betrayal and yet she continues to love and support him. i wonder if Scoop had proposed to her would she have said yes and thrown caution to the winds as she gave up her independence and with it perhaps her ambitions. Perhaps these women do need to realize they can have it all not just at the same time as the saying goes.
I wonder though if Heidi and her values don’t change. At the end the desire to adopt a child out of traditional wedlock i wonder if this is a last ditch attempt to conform to the norm albeit without a man she loves, or is this a stay true to yourself rebellion against society to defy convention?
At the end of the day life is a discovery of finding out who you are so surely we all change along this journey of self discovery. Age and circumstance also changes a person so surely Heidi is no longer the same as the young naive girl at the start of the novel. Scoop changes when he leaves his paper to spend time with his children and even her gay friends attitude towards her changes. He tells her effectively there is a time to stop chasing rainbows and to grow up. Heidi finally comes of age and is comfortable in her skin. She no longer needs to change the world with the same passion or prove anything to the world, just being herself is the greatest victory of all.