Lillian Hellman: The Little Foxes – anglicky

What is the nature of Alexandra’s rebellion in the end of the play?
The Little Foxes (1939) is a play consisting of 3 acts written by an American female Jewish writer
Lillian Hellman. The setting of the play is situated in Alabama in 1900 and deals with the themes of
a struggle for control of the family business and the non-existence and unscrupulousness of the
characters in the play who demonstrate their consumming greed, lack of humanity and the ultimate
wanting for a revenge. The play often uses citations from the Bible such as the song of Solomon
(2:15): “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”
The author introduces us Southern families who are overcome by the pursuit of wealth and social
position – the Giddens and the Hubbards. The Giddens consist of Regina Giddens, a well-born lady,
her husband Horace and their daughter Alexandra. The family is deeply consumed by the struggle
for the ownership of cotton mills which represent a substantial fortune. The characters seem to be
virtuous on the surface, but in fact they are not. Their behaviour could be compared to the
characteristics of a behaviour of a certain animal that has given the play its name – the fox. This
animal has been usually associated with the adjective “cunning” which describes perfectly the
attitude of some of the characters in the play, especially Regina who causes the death of her sick
husband when she refuses to give him his medicine and who eventually gets the money she
wanted but damages the cherished relationship she had with her daughter Alexandra. The
characters are essentially greedy because wealth is something that they believe will ensure them
happiness and a comfortable life. The only exception is the young Alexandra who refuses to be
implicated in the greediness of her relatives. She is the only person who does not place wealth
above heart and this feature of her personality alienates her from her family. Alexandra has to
rebell because she has different values than her mother and she has the misfortune of being a
victim and to be a part of a scheming plot of her mother. She represents a positive quality in the
play, the last remnant of humanity, even though she is very young. In fact, she has a better
character than her mother who is not able to love and only thinks about her social position. So I
would say the nature of Alexandra’s rebellion is a kind of a disapproving attitude towards her
mother’s behaviour.