Dan
Dan's character is an aspiring novelist who hasn't yet broken through. His character is a metaphor for a man who will never become the poet his former girlfriend Ruth married because he does not know the meaning of words to a depth to be able to express them fully to others. Instead, he is a clod of ailments who expects his wants must be fulfilled whenever he feels them emerge.
Alice's Death
Alice dies alone in New York City with no one there to even identify her body. This is a metaphor for her life being one of loneliness and isolation despite the seemingly abundant amount of life that she has lived.
Anna
Anna is left alone at the end of the play. It is a metaphor that the women have been imparted with the worst of this tragic lusting. Alice is dead and Anna is left in complete loneliness, while the men depart for what's next--Larry to his new girlfriend and Dan to New York to identify Alice's body. Anna is the only one left without a connection to another person at the end of the play.
The Doctor
Larry being a doctor in the play is a metaphor for the fact that he works in a profession that was created to heal, but he as an individual seeks to destroy. He tears down Dan when given the opportunity as well as Anna.
Jane
Alice returns to stripping after her relationship ends with Dan. Alice uses the name Jane at the club and it is a metaphor for her desire to not have to tell the truth of her life, to slip into the skin of another human being so as to not have to experience the pain that comes with the truth.
