The importance of clear communication
The main theme of the play is the theme of miscommunication, or lack of clear communication that can have dire consequences. Jan returns home to his mother and sister after twenty years, and he is unable to reveal who he is. He is stalling, finding the right moment to tell them, while his frustrated wife tells him to make it very simple and just tell them. In what will become the tragic irony of the play, the savior returning son will fall victim to the people he came to save, just because he refused to clearly communicate to them, hence the title of the play “The Misunderstanding”.
Crime
The mother and daughter Martha are involved in crime for their materialistic gain. They kill their guests who are well off, and then steal their money. Martha is a psychopathic character that sees no wrong in it, while the mother is a passive accomplice. To justify their killings, they discuss the painless method that they use by making them slowly die in sleep before throwing them into the river. The play shows the cruelty and injustice of their deeds, and it ends in a tragic irony that brings it to the end.
Hopelessness
The final scenes of the play contain the main theme of it, which is hopelessness in the sense of love, life and death. Martha holds a very grim speech to Maria, telling her to pray to be turned into a silent and emotionless stone because the entire humanity is doomed to injustice and grief. In the final scene, Maria calls out to God, and the silent old man enters to answer her. The play ends with a final strike of hopelessness, with him answering no to her.
