Fugard's The Road to Mecca
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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
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experienced. The final loss of later life that she is experiencing is the loss of social and environmental connections that define who she is within the community. This is why the question of whether or not she is willing to enter the nursing home becomes so important: it will take her completely away from her home, her church, her former friends, and her Mecca. Even regarded by the townspeople as the eccentric old woman who creates bizarre sculptures in her yard, she nevertheless still commands some respect from the community, albeit a suspicious respect, because of her artwork. As she says, "The only reason I've got for being alive is my Mecca. Without that I'm . . . nothing . . . a useless old woman getting on everybody's nerves" (1985, p. 25).
Rzetelny notes that mid-life loss can be gradually replaced and "lessened as people move on and reinvest their emotional energy into new ventures and new people" (1985, p. 141). Helen's loss of her husband is replaced with her enthusiastic dedication to creation of the artwork that the rest of the town sees as an eccentric hobby. Widowhood awakens in her artistic impulses she did not know existed.
Helen's loss also opens her up to friendship with Elsa, who becomes the only ful
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Approximate Word count = 3494
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)
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