A Comparative Study: Portrayal of Hetty Sorrel in George Eliot's Adam Bede and Halie in Sam Shepard's Buried Child

Both the authors George Eliot and Sam Shepard have created women characters with certain flaws in them. Though centuries apart, their characters especially women have displayed some immoral act that has brought shame to their families and the society. Hetty Sorrel in Adam Bede ends up committing the act of infanticide due to immaturity and lack of guidance while on the other hand Halie in Buried Child is a modern woman who enters into an incestuous act with her son, that results in the murder of the infant that had been just born. Eliot has embodied the personality of Hetty born out of a chasm of insignificance to a place of significance with the aid of an unlawful relation with someone of a superior rank. Hetty eventually gains maturity at the time of her pregnancy. She finally confesses to the crime with the aid of Dinah. Halie searches for another man power in her family. The play reveals a trait that she is unable to live without a man. She remains in search of a “phallus” throughout. To hide her mourning from her family and the world, she begins socialization with the local minister, Father Dewis.