Mean Girls: The Modern Overtones?

Gerstenberg’s “Overtones” have a very specific set of rules of the world that are laid out. What’s nice about “Overtones” in particular, is that one doesn’t have to read the stage notes to understand the rules. Since the opening scene is Hetty and Harriet talking to one another, it is easy to see that they are both not physically in the room, that Hetty is in fact a physical manifestation of her innermost feelings and desires. The veils, that the primitive selves wear, are another tool to show the audience the idea of burring one’s true feelings in order to do the “civilized” things. These veils are used to cover up the woman’s true feelings, emotions, and their primitive selves entirely. I would also like to comment on the color of the gowns and how that plays a role in the distinctions between the civilized selves and the primitive ones. I would argue that the color of the primitive selves gowns are darker in order to show how they are more passionate beings, more driven my emotions then the rules of society. 

For the most part, I believe that the rules of the world, such as who can hear and see whom, are blatantly clear. The only time I find the rules a little confusing is when it says Hetty, Harriet’s primitive self, and Maggie, Margret’s primitive self, address one another. I don’t see how inner selves could talk to each other without the civilized one’s consent, unless talking to one another was more like subtle looks put into words. I find it interesting that that the inner selves seem to be more powerful then the civilized selves, yet the consent to being veiled and stifled. It as thought they know that in the world of civilized people they are out of place, and wrong. This play does an amazing job of displaying the cattiness of most women’s minds, but the sugary sweetness of their disposition. “Overtones” could be seen as an older version Mean Girls.