Margaret Edson's play Wit tackles one of the most challenging topics humanity is forced to grapple with: death. For Vivian Bearing, however, death has always been more a topic to study than to address. Death in Vivian's experience is a tool to teach with, an inevitable end of life not to be feared, and, as she will discover through her own experience, a force that will totally change the way social status is perceived. Edson approaches Vivian's transition through the use of intertextual references in order to align Vivian's experience with her studies of poetry and give her work an extra dimension for the audience to explore. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Vivian Bearing's illness begins to cost her a lot of money when she signs the informed consent form, because at this moment she is forced to recognize that her destiny is no longer hers. Similar to Donne's “Holy Sonnet 6,” Vivian has been forced to realize that her life is quickly slipping away due to her diagnosis with terminal cancer. This first phase of Vivian's treatment represents a coming to terms with her future. Coming to terms with the fact that “This is the last scene of [his] scene, here the heavens establish / [his] pilgrimages the last mile, and [his] race / lazily, but he runs fast… " (Women, Holy Sonnet 6). Donne's numerous references to time and the repetition of the word "last" within the sonnet help build the idea that life moves faster and faster and will not move forward until its fate is accepted. Although Vivian understands that her death is approaching, she initially maintains her confidence and social status with the help of Dr. Kelekian, who calls her "Dr. Bearing", and creates a level playing field so to speak by referring to the dots in common between the two professors. Here Edson builds a relationship of equality between them. Jennifer Givhan also notes this relationship, writing that “Like the medical researchers who dissected her body, Vivian in turn learned to dissect poetry with her deft employment of language” (79). As a result of the mutual respect between Kelekian and Bearing, the audience is able to feel comfortable that although Vivian's medical procedures are invasive, her new and unique relationships are supportive. Before Vivian's arrival at the Ground Rounds, her position of power at the university was all-consuming. Jason describes Donne as the “most difficult poem in the English department” and Vivian’s role in the class made its consumption mandatory (Edson, 31). As a result, she was unable to build supportive relationships that helped her overcome challenges she didn't know she faced. This power over language worried Vivian during initial treatments (as she questioned her relationship as a subject of study to a poem in her study), but her extensive knowledge of language also had a negative effect on her. According to Givhan, Vivian's upbringing pushed her “…to erect walls of distance between herself and other people…over whom she [was] dominant…” and as a result, she became increasingly lonely (78). This may have contributed to the digression from Vivian's initial confidence to suffering, and forces the audience to consider their own social position and the relationships that fluctuate as a result of that position. Vivian's second phase in the hospital begins with her inspections by the doctor. comrades, but solidifies upon his entry into the isolation unit. This second phase marks a change in the relationships between Vivian and the hospital staff and is illustrated by the way Jasondeals with it. A clear example is Jason explaining his ailments to the other companions and to Dr. Kelekian: “He takes a sheet and carefully covers her legs and groin, then pulls up her dress to reveal her entire abdomen. He is barely audible, but his gestures are clear” (Edson, 36). Jason's abrupt and degrading actions show a clear change in Vivian's social status from how she is treated by Kelekian, beginning her entry into a much less safe time period. In Jennifer Givhan's perception, "Jason uses Vivian's body—indicated by the captions that he 'puts his finger on the spot on her abdomen' and 'moves his hand all over her body' (36)—as a demonstration of his own superior intellect , as he enumerates her symptoms, seemingly indifferent to her presence as a thinking, subjective person in the room with him (78). he undeniably finds himself to be the dominant one in the relationship, illustrating the rapidly changing power dynamics referenced earlier and showing the audience the effect that perceived social status has on how people are treated afterwards having been socially degraded, comes Vivian's physical suffering from the moment she takes the popsicle as a child, explaining that "The epithelial cells in [her] gastrointestinal tract have been killed by the chemo [and] The cold popsicle makes feel good..." Vivian's illness becomes increasingly painful. This phase is characterized by the following Sacred Sonnet in the sequence “if poisonous minerals”. Donne writes: “To God, in his severe wrath, why does he threaten him? / But who am I that dare argue with you? / Oh God, oh! …” (Donne, Holy Sonnet 9). Throughout this sonnet, the speaker approaching death asks God why they must suffer while animals and objects that have sinned can pass away in peace. Vivian also finds herself in this situation. “There is a cancer eating away at my bones, and I didn't know there could be such pain on this earth. (He drops onto the bed and shouts out loud to them.) Oh, God” (Edson, 71). Vivian will not move beyond this pain until it passes, and until then her linguistic choices will become more and more similar to those shown in “Sacred Sonnet 9.” Vivian's former social status and references to poetry are replaced with laments and basic questions directed at higher powers, once again illustrating to the reader that even after a respected career studying death, often the only conclusion is to face it, and in the case of Vivian all the pain that came with it. From page 84 until the end of Wit, Edson creates a situation characterized by a final struggle for power and contrasted by the peace of Vivian's death to further connect his text to the poems of John Donne and form the final phase of Vivian's sojourn. Vivian in the hospital shown through diction choices and chaotic characterization in this final passage. As Vivian begins to have cardiac arrest and Jason calls the code, the hierarchy of the medical world becomes immediately apparent. The coding team, yelling "Go away!" and “Move it!” he is in control. Susie's flimsy attempts to stop them are a clear failure, putting the code team in the position of power and Vivian in the lowest position of all. In connection with “Holy Sonnet 10,” Susie is attempting to allow Vivian to die and plays the role of death. In this case, however, Vivian's choice will be made at the mercy of the code team. Their role is destiny, illustrated by the inevitability of their actions. In essence, Edson connects the final roles of Wit's characters to the "Holy Sonnet 10" ending through the phrase "[death,] Thou art a slave to.