Proof

Proof Literary Elements

Genre

Drama

Language

English

Setting and Context

Chicago, near the University of Chicago, 2000

Narrator and Point of View

None

Tone and Mood

Serious, Dramatic, Comic, Realistic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist is Catherine. Antagonist is Claire.

Major Conflict

Catherine is trying to piece together her life and prove that she is the author of an important proof, but her sister Claire wants to take her to New York to get special care for mental illness.

Climax

The climax occurs when Hal admits that he believes that Claire wrote the proof.

Foreshadowing

The opening scene with Catherine's dead father foreshadows that Catherine struggles with some mental health issues.

Understatement

Catherine understates the importance of the fact that she wrote the proof. She is not excited or enthusiastic about it.

Allusions

Allusions to Sophie Germain, as well as various mathematical principles.

Imagery

The play stays on the porch of the house for its entirety.

Paradox

Catherine believes that she has not made, nor will she ever make, any great contribution to mathematics. Paradoxically, she has already written a revolutionary proof. Making it all the more paradoxical is the fact that no one believes she wrote it.

Parallelism

Claire and Catherine are contrasting parallels for one another. The scene in which Robert is well is a contrasting parallel for the scene in which he is beginning to unravel again.

Personification

Use of Dramatic Devices

Auburn uses flashbacks in this play in order to deepen our understanding of the sacrifices that Catherine has made in order to be where she is. These flashbacks reveal the inner workings of her nature in the present day and help us to understand her fears to an even greater degree.