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- Ethel is also very compassionate with Norman's health problems and memory loss. Her nurturing attitude extends to the rest of her family and friends, and she likes to make their lake house feel like a home. Among her favorite things about the lake are the loons. She looks for them, listens to them, and watches what they do all summer.
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Ethel panics but finds his medicine; as she is trying to call a hospital, he begins to feel better. She tells him how scared she was to feel that she was actually losing him.
Ethel and Norman feel a special kinship with the house and recognize the parallels between it and themselves. Norman makes an interesting comment in the first scene, when...
This year, like every year, Ethel looks forward to seeing the loons… and talking to the loons. She watches them, she calls to them, and she thinks they're welcoming these two looney tunes back to their cottage on Golden Pond.
- Introduction
- Author Biography
- Plot Summary
- Media Adaptations
- Characters
- Themes
- Topics For Further Study
- Style
- Compare & Contrast
- Historical Context
Themes of mortality, family relationships, marriage, and generations all play out at Norman and Ethel Thayer's small lake house in Maine beside Golden Pond. Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pondhas been embraced by theatergoers since its first off-Broadway run in 1978 and by moviegoers since its 1981 adaptation. The play's believable characters are enga...
(Richard) Ernest Thompson was born on November 6, 1949, in Bellows Falls, Vermont. His parents were Theron, a college professor and administrator, and Esther, a teacher. Esther played the piano and the violin, instilling the importance of music in their home. Thompson spent his early childhood in New Hampshireand Massachusetts and his teenage years...
Act 1, Scene 1
On Golden Pondopens in May with Norman and Ethel Thayer returning to their lake house in Maine. Norman is content to sit and read a book, but Ethel is busily moving furniture back in place, dusting, and generally getting the house ready for their summer stay. Through their conversations, the audience learns that they have been married a long time, love each other very much, and have different dispositions. They will be celebrating Norman's eightieth birthday, and he makes frequent jokes about...
Act 1, Scene 2
It is now June, and as she putters around the house, Ethel tries to give Norman updates about their neighbors. While she is very interested in the lives of her casual friends, Norman does not care enough to remember most of their names. He is more interested in reading the local wants ads in search of an easy part-time job. This seems to be more of a fun exercise for him than an actual job search. Later, Charlie stops by with the mail. He is a local man in his forties who has known the Thayer...
Act 1, Scene 3
It is now July, and Chelsea arrives for her father's birthday. She brings her boyfriend and his thirteen-year-old son, Billy Ray. The unexpected arrival of the teenager delights Ethel, but Norman is initially unimpressed. After Billy has a tour of the house, Bill enters with the luggage and meets Ethel and Norman. Not interested in making Bill feel welcome, Norman gives him a chilly reception.
On Golden Pond, adapted as a film by Ernest Thompson and starring Katharine Hepburnand Henry Fonda, was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures (1981)
Charlie Martin
Charlie is a local man who has known the Thayers most of his life. He is described as big and round with a weathered face from spending so much time on the lake, and he has been the mailman for many years. Only two years older than Chelsea, he has been harboring feelings for her since their youth. Charlie is helpful, sincere, and sociable, but he has never married. Charlie laughs a little too often and does not understand the subtlety of Norman's sarcasm, although he is drawn to Ethel's hospi...
Bill Ray
Chelsea's fiancé, Bill Ray, is a dentist from California. He is father to thirteen-year-old Billy. Bill is an honest person who confronts issues in a straightforward way. When Norman tries to intimidate him, Bill stands up to him. This shows a great deal of maturity and self-confidence, and it wins Norman's approval and respect.
Billy Ray Jr.
Billy Ray is the thirteen-year-old son of Bill Ray. Billy is short, smart, and struck by the awkwardness that comes with his age. Like Norman, Billy masks his self-doubt by appearing confident and comfortable with himself. Billy is unusual in that he is not intimidated by Norman, as many people are. He is adaptable, open-minded, and expressive. As his friendship with Norman deepens, he becomes wiser and more sensitive. The friendship helps him mature, and it teaches him how to be a caregiver...
Facing Mortality
Early in the play, Norman starts making references to his own mortality in jokes and offhand comments. He talks about living on borrowed time and preparing to celebrate his last birthday. In one way, he seems to have a healthy attitude about his mortality, but, in another, his incessant joking makes one wonder whether he is trying too hard to maintain that facade. Cleaning the living room, Ethel finds that her old doll, Elmer, has fallen into the fireplace. Because it is a sentimental item fo...
After reading the play, watch the 1981 movie adaptation of On Golden Pond. Was the director's vision of the play the same as yours, or did you picture some of the scenes and characters differently?...Alzheimer's disease and other forms of mental decline are devastating for sufferers and their families. Research Alzheimer's disease to find out about common experiences of people in the beginning...Many people find lake homes to be relaxing getaways. What is it about this particular setting that is both calming and rejuvenating? Write a poem or essay expressing your thoughts on this subject.What do you think the Thayers were doing the summer after the events of On Golden Pond? Write a plot summary of a sequel, along with one scene from any part of your play.The Lake House as Setting
Thompson keeps all the action of the play in the setting of the lake house. Every scene is played out in the same set of rooms, with the only changes showing in what is packed or unpacked, based on what time of the summer it is. Setting the play in a place that is so familiar and comfortable for Norman and Ethel communicates a sense of who they are and what their history is. Their house by Golden Pond has been a home to them for decades, and it reflects their personalities and their life toge...
The Lake House as Symbol
Thompson uses the lake house as a symbol of Ethel and Norman's aging. The house was built in 1914, and Thompson's stage directions say that "it has aged well." The house has the character and patina of an old, well-loved house, just as the Thayers are advanced in years but are still doing well. Their marriage has lasted close to fifty years, and they are healthy enough to make another annual trip to the lake. At the same time, they are showing signs of age. Norman walks slowly and suffers fro...
1970s: Although the medical community can recognize and diagnose Alzheimer's disease, treatment options are very limited and do not yet include medications. Patients and families are encouraged to...1970s: The traditional family structure is challenged by increasing divorce rates and acceptance of couples living together. During the 1970s, premarital sex becomes more common, and more women are...1970s: As a result of the large number of college professors hired in the 1960s and early 1970s, college faculties are relatively young. In fact, in 1977, the median age of college professors is fo...New York Newspaper Strike of 1978
In 1978, a prolonged newspaper strike meant there were no issues of the New York Times, Post, or Daily News being published. Theater producers turned to television and other media to promote their plays, but reviews of those plays were not available. As a result, theatergoers had no way of reading new reviews and had to rely on chance and word of mouth to find good productions. It was during this time that On Golden Pond opened off Broadway and began building its base of support from theater...
Broadway in the 1970s
Many of the nonmusical plays in the 1970s reflected the cynicism of the era, which made On Golden Pond unique. In an era so dominated by youth culture and music, musicals seemed to characterize theatrical expression. Broadway in the 1970s saw various styles of musicals vie for the attention of theatergoers. There was the new brand of musical called the rock opera, which included shows such as Jesus Christ, Superstar, Godspell, and The Me Nobody Knows. Other shows, such as Grease and The Wiz,...
Retired couple Ethel and Norman Thayer are spending their 48th summer at their vacation home on Golden Pond, in the woods of Maine. Their delightful summer routine--fishing, picking strawberries, enjoying old mementoes, listening to the loons call--is given a bitterly comedic edge by Norman’s unreliable memory and cantankerously morbid ...
Ethel's ongoing battle with spiders, blackflies, and mosquitoes takes up a fair share of her dialogue, as do her reminiscences about her childhood on the pond, her "conversations" with the...
Jul 7, 2021 · “Come here, Norman!” says Katharine Hepburn’s character, Ethel Thayer, as she arrives at a Maine cabin in the opening scene of “On Golden Pond.” From the lake comes a melancholy hooo. “The...
