This paper is a study of the biopsychosocial processes and social systems which affect the aging of the human female, through the examination of one remarkable case study, Miss Helen in Athol Fugard's play, The Road to Mecca. The example of this case provides an excellent opportunity to look at the issues, problems, and concerns faced by women as they grow older. As women age, they must deal with substantial losses, deteriorating health, changing roles in society, and other related difficulties. They are helped by having a strong support system and remaining clear in their ability to evaluate their own situation, rather than relying completely on outside evaluations. Fugard displays his skill as a playwright by presenting a plausible portrait of many of these factors, in part because he has based his fictional character on an actual case study, but adding an artist's understanding of human psychology, biopsychosocial processes, and social systems to the study of Miss Helen.
South African playwright Athol Fugard drew the inspiration for The Road to Mecca from a case he had heard about of a woman living in a small town who was regarded as the local eccentric by the rest of her community. Fugard retained her name, Miss Helen, and the basic facts of her life: she had been widowed 15 years earlier and had then begun to create cement sculptures in her yard which puzzled and concerned the townspeople, who began to consider Helen to be a public nuisance. In his foreword to the play, Fugard notes that the real Miss Helen suddenly stopped creating her artwork and, 18 months later, committed suicide by drinking lye.
The fictional Helen is still very much alive in Fugard's play, providing an intriguing biopsychosocial picture of a woman facing growing old and what aging means in modern society. Shortly before the play begins, Helen has stopped creating what she refers to as her "Mecca," a fantastical sculptural city of mermaids, ...