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The Children's Hour
Cast 2 men, 12 women. One of the great successes of this distinguished writer. A serious and adult play about two women who run a school for girls. After a malicious youngster starts a rumor about the two women, the rumor soon turns to scandal. As the young girl comes to understand the power she wields, she sticks by her story, which precipitates tragedy for the women. It is later discovered that the gossip was pure invention, but it is too late. Irreparable damage has been done.
75 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
45 people are currently reading
13568 people want to read
About the author
Lillian Hellman
78 books205 followersLillian Florence "Lilly" Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American dramatist and screenwriter famously blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–52.
Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.
She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.
(from Wikipedia)
Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.
She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 413 reviews
January 25, 2016
This book brings back memories of what a bad girl I was in school. When I left I was very pissed off, I'd been expelled yet again (drunkenness from mixing rum with yoghurt for lunch, conducting the school choir quite literally behind the headmistress's back, cheating in exams - took me ages to get caught, I already had a job and a place in art college and my father wouldn't let me leave school) and I so wanted my own back.
I went to an extremely academic girls' school where there was a very small set of us, just six, who were two years ahead of our grade. Three were swots. The other two were my close friends and as equally boy-mad and bad-minded as I was.
So what we did was put an ad in a sort of local entertainment and men's magazine that came out monthly. The ad was about two leather lesbians who liked to punish men. I put down both the headmistress and deputy headmistress's phone numbers.
Since I'd left I had no idea what effect the ad had except, ironically, it might have backfired. It was a school joke that Shylock and Fishlips were lezzies. But my grandmother who was friendly with Shylock told me later they really were. They had lived together for years. So I hope they enjoyed themselves, and maybe even made some money :-)
What does this have to do with the book? A lot. The book is about the same sort of rumour an evil and manipulative girl starts in her girls' private school, which becomes a scandal and irrepairably destroys the lives of the teachers concerned. Lesbianism was such a wicked concept then, so anti-Christian in a time when people at least paid lip service to the Church, that there seemed to be only one way out...
Times change. Lucky for me.
Read Dec. 2013
Rewritten Jan 2016
I went to an extremely academic girls' school where there was a very small set of us, just six, who were two years ahead of our grade. Three were swots. The other two were my close friends and as equally boy-mad and bad-minded as I was.
So what we did was put an ad in a sort of local entertainment and men's magazine that came out monthly. The ad was about two leather lesbians who liked to punish men. I put down both the headmistress and deputy headmistress's phone numbers.
Since I'd left I had no idea what effect the ad had except, ironically, it might have backfired. It was a school joke that Shylock and Fishlips were lezzies. But my grandmother who was friendly with Shylock told me later they really were. They had lived together for years. So I hope they enjoyed themselves, and maybe even made some money :-)
What does this have to do with the book? A lot. The book is about the same sort of rumour an evil and manipulative girl starts in her girls' private school, which becomes a scandal and irrepairably destroys the lives of the teachers concerned. Lesbianism was such a wicked concept then, so anti-Christian in a time when people at least paid lip service to the Church, that there seemed to be only one way out...
Times change. Lucky for me.
Read Dec. 2013
Rewritten Jan 2016
December 14, 2016
It is 1934 and world is becoming polarized into two factions- fascism and communism. During the period between the two world wars, the United States maintained the stance of isolationism, not wanting to become involved in others' conflicts. In Europe, however, people who were regarded as different were already persecuted in the years leading up to World War II. It is in this light that New Orleans born Lillian Hellman penned her debut play The Children's Hour, about a vicious girl who falsely accused two of her teachers of lesbianism.
Martha Dobie and Kate Wright had met in college and upon graduation decided to start a boarding school for girls. Less than ten years later, they had raised enough funds from the wealthy to be self sufficient from their benefactors, and were ready to take full ownership of their school. Kate was to be married to long time beau Joe Cardin, who is also the school's doctor. Happy days seemed ahead for the trio, who along with the rest of Boston's Brahmin class, did not appear to be affected by the depression.
Before Joe and Kate could enjoy their marriage and honeymoon, student Mary Tilford accuses Kate and Martha of engaging in lesbian affairs. Mary believed that the teachers had been out to get her and complains to her grandmother, school benefactress Mrs. Amelia Tilford. Mrs. Tilford takes the side of her granddaughter, the school shuts down, and Martha, Kate, and Joe are ruined. Only Mary stands to gain from this situation because she returns to her grandmother's care and once again becomes the spoiled child that she is.
Throughout history both men and women engaged in endearing same-sex friendships. Hellman writes of lesbianism long before it was acceptable to discuss homosexual relationships in public. Those who were supposed homosexuals were ostracized for the rest of their lives. It appears to me that Hellman may have had an inkling of what was occurring on the other side of the Atlantic at the time of production, as those not in the aryan race were beginning to lose basic human rights. At a time- the Great Depression- when Americans desired upbeat escapes from everyday bleakness, Hellman instead produced a scathing debut play to begin her long, illustrious career.
The Children's Hour is a riveting character study that had me on edge to see what happened to both protagonists and antagonistic characters; which changed with each act. By reading classic American plays of the 20th century, I glean much about various time periods from these character studies. I would be interested in reading more of Hellman's works to see if her political stance changes. The Children's Hour, an intense character study, merits a solid four stars.
Martha Dobie and Kate Wright had met in college and upon graduation decided to start a boarding school for girls. Less than ten years later, they had raised enough funds from the wealthy to be self sufficient from their benefactors, and were ready to take full ownership of their school. Kate was to be married to long time beau Joe Cardin, who is also the school's doctor. Happy days seemed ahead for the trio, who along with the rest of Boston's Brahmin class, did not appear to be affected by the depression.
Before Joe and Kate could enjoy their marriage and honeymoon, student Mary Tilford accuses Kate and Martha of engaging in lesbian affairs. Mary believed that the teachers had been out to get her and complains to her grandmother, school benefactress Mrs. Amelia Tilford. Mrs. Tilford takes the side of her granddaughter, the school shuts down, and Martha, Kate, and Joe are ruined. Only Mary stands to gain from this situation because she returns to her grandmother's care and once again becomes the spoiled child that she is.
Throughout history both men and women engaged in endearing same-sex friendships. Hellman writes of lesbianism long before it was acceptable to discuss homosexual relationships in public. Those who were supposed homosexuals were ostracized for the rest of their lives. It appears to me that Hellman may have had an inkling of what was occurring on the other side of the Atlantic at the time of production, as those not in the aryan race were beginning to lose basic human rights. At a time- the Great Depression- when Americans desired upbeat escapes from everyday bleakness, Hellman instead produced a scathing debut play to begin her long, illustrious career.
The Children's Hour is a riveting character study that had me on edge to see what happened to both protagonists and antagonistic characters; which changed with each act. By reading classic American plays of the 20th century, I glean much about various time periods from these character studies. I would be interested in reading more of Hellman's works to see if her political stance changes. The Children's Hour, an intense character study, merits a solid four stars.
April 11, 2014
About 8 years ago, I had a sort of emotional crisis. I just couldn't deal with the compounded pressures of life, and most especially the breakdown of an intimate relationship, along with the sudden onset of serious illness of a parent. I quit my job, and camped out on my bed for a month watching the AMC and TCM network nonstop. I'm sure you're picturing an unbathed, unshaven me, in weeks old Garfield pajamas, and dirty cereal bowls piled precariously high on one nightstand. I assure you, it was a neater affair, but that's exactly how I felt on the inside. Beaten.
I've always been a film geek, and had a passion for the classics, but during this dark period of my life, film took on a deeper, lifelike meaning for me. Sometimes I felt like I'd literally stepped into another time period, and I took comfort in completely losing myself in a director's imaginary playground. I also fondly remember discovering Wes Anderson for the first time. I love that man!
I'm sitting here, index finger poised over the backspace key, debating about whether to erase this and start over again, on account of the "naked-in-front-of-the-class-dream-sequence-ish" feeling that's come over me. Waiting. Wait-ing. Bravery won out! It's a good day to be alive.
So I've set the scene, and now you know why I was primed to fully appreciate the genius of Hellman's mind! I woke up early one morning during that month, in time to catch a wonderful film called These Three, filmed in 1936, that was based on the play The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman, who also wrote the screenplay. The two main characters, a young pair of best friends, have pooled their resources to run a girls' boarding school in a small town. One mean-spirited student starts a vicious rumor about the teachers, that has unforeseeable consequences. Due to content and the audience at that time, Hellman had to revise a major plot element of her play for the screenplay, in order for it to be accepted by a production studio. Later in 1961, director William Wyler took Hellman's original play and created a poignant, atmospheric film gem, starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley McClaine.
I think what most got to me was that long after you watch these films, or read the play, you will be thinking about it. Although it seems like a pretty simple, straightforward story, it's so complex! Read the play, watch the films, see for yourself. Reading the play for the first time now, I feel this surging protective affection for that scared, beaten person of 8 years ago. Like Karen and Martha in the play, I wish I could tell her that things aren't as bleak as they seem, and that the sun really will come out tomorrow.
I've always been a film geek, and had a passion for the classics, but during this dark period of my life, film took on a deeper, lifelike meaning for me. Sometimes I felt like I'd literally stepped into another time period, and I took comfort in completely losing myself in a director's imaginary playground. I also fondly remember discovering Wes Anderson for the first time. I love that man!
I'm sitting here, index finger poised over the backspace key, debating about whether to erase this and start over again, on account of the "naked-in-front-of-the-class-dream-sequence-ish" feeling that's come over me. Waiting. Wait-ing. Bravery won out! It's a good day to be alive.
So I've set the scene, and now you know why I was primed to fully appreciate the genius of Hellman's mind! I woke up early one morning during that month, in time to catch a wonderful film called These Three, filmed in 1936, that was based on the play The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman, who also wrote the screenplay. The two main characters, a young pair of best friends, have pooled their resources to run a girls' boarding school in a small town. One mean-spirited student starts a vicious rumor about the teachers, that has unforeseeable consequences. Due to content and the audience at that time, Hellman had to revise a major plot element of her play for the screenplay, in order for it to be accepted by a production studio. Later in 1961, director William Wyler took Hellman's original play and created a poignant, atmospheric film gem, starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley McClaine.
I think what most got to me was that long after you watch these films, or read the play, you will be thinking about it. Although it seems like a pretty simple, straightforward story, it's so complex! Read the play, watch the films, see for yourself. Reading the play for the first time now, I feel this surging protective affection for that scared, beaten person of 8 years ago. Like Karen and Martha in the play, I wish I could tell her that things aren't as bleak as they seem, and that the sun really will come out tomorrow.
November 10, 2023
Deeply moving. I want to play Martha some day
4.5
4.5
July 9, 2022
Evil has no age
January 2, 2016
I remember being floored by this play when I first read it in high school, not the least reason being we were assigned to read a play with a lesbian theme in a Catholic school. I would say that this is similar to "The Crucible" with a lesbian relationship substituting for witchcraft--except Hellman's play was written 18 years before Miller's. Ultimately it's about the devastating effects of malicious gossip.
I read online that Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss (from 'Mad Men') starred in a London production of "The Chidren's Hour" in early 2011. I liked this line from the review, how the play acts "as a prescient commentary on how suburban puritanism and its sidekick, gloating prurience, stick their big noses into relationships between teachers and charges, especially today." Gloating prurience! Now there's a band name for ya.
I read online that Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss (from 'Mad Men') starred in a London production of "The Chidren's Hour" in early 2011. I liked this line from the review, how the play acts "as a prescient commentary on how suburban puritanism and its sidekick, gloating prurience, stick their big noses into relationships between teachers and charges, especially today." Gloating prurience! Now there's a band name for ya.
December 3, 2021
"The wicked very young and the wicked very old."
This is a bit like a combination of The Bad Seed and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, although it predates both of those novels by at least a couple of decades.
A spiteful sociopathic girl and her wealthy grandmother destroy the life's work of two women who run a successful boarding school. Mary Tilford, evil girlchild demon, tells her grandmother vague lies about possible lesbian love between Miss Wright and Miss Dobie. Tragedy ensues.
About a month ago I watched the 1961 film adaptation of The Children's Hour with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. I then wanted to read this original play to see how it differed from the movie. Before I got the chance to do that, I discovered that there was a 1936 film called These Three that was also an adaptation of this play, with the screenplay by Lillian Hellman herself. So I watched that movie about week ago.
Although both films stick with the basic core of the story, and much of the dialogue comes directly from the play, they differ quite a bit on key plot points and presentation of the main issue. So then I really wanted to read the play, to see which film adhered most closely to the original story.
I would have guessed that the 1936 film would have been more faithful to the play. And I would have been very wrong. Much of that I'm sure is due to the Motion Picture Production Code, which in 1936 prohibited "any inference of sexual perversion." And that, of course, would have included mention of homosexuality. So they substituted a muddy sort of insinuation of Miss Dobie engaging in hanky panky with Miss Wright's fiance. And then they wrap it all up with a sappy happy ending, the absolute opposite of the real ending. And so it went in Hollywood in the old days.
The 1961 movie version stays much more true to the play, and is thus rather more depressing. But far more realistic. Once you have destroyed someone's reputation and livelihood, you can never take it back. You can never make things right again, no matter how you try to atone for your mistakes.
September 27, 2025
How many times must you say a lie before it becomes the truth? Sounds like a riddle. How many people were going to St. Ives. This play though is serious.
I first read it to play one of the parts as a young girl. I'd barely any lines but there was an action scene. Mary had to hit me. Yes, that Mary, the one at the center of it all, the kid who whispers something that gets passed around and alters her life, the lives of other students, and the two female teachers running her boarding school most of all.
Not to spoil things by telling you what happens in the play, I'll just say that the kid playing Mary's part was method acting by the night it opened. My jaw still makes a crunching sound when I open my mouth. Dentists complain that I can't open it wider. And if I could remember her name I'd look up that child actress to see what she's doing now. I bet she doesn't have my dental bills.
But she was convincing. That's the point of the play. Liars sometimes are. And results can be tragic.
I first read it to play one of the parts as a young girl. I'd barely any lines but there was an action scene. Mary had to hit me. Yes, that Mary, the one at the center of it all, the kid who whispers something that gets passed around and alters her life, the lives of other students, and the two female teachers running her boarding school most of all.
Not to spoil things by telling you what happens in the play, I'll just say that the kid playing Mary's part was method acting by the night it opened. My jaw still makes a crunching sound when I open my mouth. Dentists complain that I can't open it wider. And if I could remember her name I'd look up that child actress to see what she's doing now. I bet she doesn't have my dental bills.
But she was convincing. That's the point of the play. Liars sometimes are. And results can be tragic.
January 20, 2023
The Children's Hour, by Lillian Hellman
I learned one thing from this work. It is one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned. Every word we say counts and we have to consider the harm or good each word can do. This is an excellent play. I am just sorry I didn't read The Children's Hour again much sooner. 5 stars
I learned one thing from this work. It is one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned. Every word we say counts and we have to consider the harm or good each word can do. This is an excellent play. I am just sorry I didn't read The Children's Hour again much sooner. 5 stars
July 31, 2017
This tiny play is packed with tension. I knew the basic plot (at a 1930s boarding school for girls, one of the students starts a harmful rumor about the two women who run the school), and technically there's not much that happens beyond that. But Hellman is so skilled at building a creeping, chilling dread, and she creates an interesting portrait of a little girl who compulsively lies. Recommended for a quick, dark read.
August 10, 2014
Abigail Williams (The Crucible) is one of the most hateful literary characters I've ever come across - she's high up on my top 5. Mary Tilford, the little demon, may just have kicked Abigail down a notch on my Characters I Hate the Most list. Although this is a work of fiction, it is scary to think how very possible it is for a bully to intimidate others into spinning a web of lies that can ruin people's personal and professional lives. How someone who has always done right by everyone and worked their fingers to the bone for a patch of happiness can end up with nothing. If she were real, I think I would track Mary down and choke her with my bare hands!
November 29, 2022
2022: Reread to prep for local auditions in a few weeks! I'd forgotten how heavy this was.
Update: Playing Agatha in February! https://stowplayers.net
2018: This is my second Hellman play, and I'm definitely interested in more of her work after being mesmerized by this and The Little Foxes. I connected with Martha's character right from the beginning -- her sarcasm, her cynicism, and by the end, her desperation were all wholly real to me.
I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who envisioned a link between Mary Tilford and Abigail Williams from The Crucible. What a spiteful little brat.
Update: Playing Agatha in February! https://stowplayers.net
2018: This is my second Hellman play, and I'm definitely interested in more of her work after being mesmerized by this and The Little Foxes. I connected with Martha's character right from the beginning -- her sarcasm, her cynicism, and by the end, her desperation were all wholly real to me.
I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who envisioned a link between Mary Tilford and Abigail Williams from The Crucible. What a spiteful little brat.
November 28, 2017
Children are the worst.
November 30, 2010
This play has really stood the test of time to become one of the most horrifying and saddening plays ever written. Readers need to understand that the play is less about lesbianism and more about a specific lie. Maybe Hellman did consider lesbianism just a plot device. But "unnatural" love and society's disapproval of it are fundamental to the play, just as anti-Semitism is central to The Merchant of Venice. Readers still argue over whether Shakespeare was criticizing or endorsing the prejudice Shylock endures, and the homosexual element in The Children's Hour stirs similar debate.
The plays depiction of a suicidal lesbian who is ridden with guilt may seem a little old-fashioned, laughable, or even possibly offensive.But The Children's Hour is far less dated than that. Consider the conflicts within the Catholic, Episcopal, and other churches and the efforts around the country to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. Evangelist Ted Haggard's recent fall from grace illustrates the pain and self-destruction that can result from denying one's nature.
Overall, this play strikes a chord with readers and audiences around the globe and surely will live on for quite some time.
The plays depiction of a suicidal lesbian who is ridden with guilt may seem a little old-fashioned, laughable, or even possibly offensive.But The Children's Hour is far less dated than that. Consider the conflicts within the Catholic, Episcopal, and other churches and the efforts around the country to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. Evangelist Ted Haggard's recent fall from grace illustrates the pain and self-destruction that can result from denying one's nature.
Overall, this play strikes a chord with readers and audiences around the globe and surely will live on for quite some time.
January 14, 2015
I love when lesbian characters are punished for their sins. love it. It was so great to read another book where the dirty lesbian dies. great. love it.
///sarcasm
///sarcasm
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2015
I had to read this for my Uni Acting For Stage module in which I am directing and excerpt from this piece. I really enjoyed it! I'm really excited to get down and do some directing and hopefully we will all do really well!
The play is set in a boarding school for girls where a particularly bratty student starts a viscious rumour about two of the teachers.
It provides great social commentary and touches on the themes of LGBTQ+, secrecy, lies, suicide, gender and family.
A great read!
The play is set in a boarding school for girls where a particularly bratty student starts a viscious rumour about two of the teachers.
It provides great social commentary and touches on the themes of LGBTQ+, secrecy, lies, suicide, gender and family.
A great read!
May 30, 2008
Lillian Hellman's great play "A Children's Hour" is the story of two women who run a private school for girls and whose lives are ruined by the evil and vindictive accusations of one of their students. The implications of lesbianism and society's intolerance for differences are among the many themes addressed in this fine work. I believe it is timeless but others may see it as dated. Guilt by accusation remains as much a part of our society as ever...sadly. The inference that homosexuality is equal to criminality still exists despite the many decades that have past since this was written.
October 22, 2019
Exceptional.
I first read The Children’s Hour in high school. I remember absolutely loathing Mary.
Rereading it as an adult and having a better appreciation for the work and effort it takes to build things like a school and a career, my lack of sympathy towards Mary remains much the same. What disturbed me more on this read, though, were the adult characters. That they blindly follow Mary and see little wrong with destroying the lives of two women based on gossip is a cold and powerful message.
In this age of public shaming via social media, The Children’s Hour is perhaps more relevant now than when it first premiered. Highly recommended.
I first read The Children’s Hour in high school. I remember absolutely loathing Mary.
Rereading it as an adult and having a better appreciation for the work and effort it takes to build things like a school and a career, my lack of sympathy towards Mary remains much the same. What disturbed me more on this read, though, were the adult characters. That they blindly follow Mary and see little wrong with destroying the lives of two women based on gossip is a cold and powerful message.
In this age of public shaming via social media, The Children’s Hour is perhaps more relevant now than when it first premiered. Highly recommended.
July 19, 2022
the children's hour walked so the crucible could run. nowhere near the same story but i'm sure you could put a lot of crucible fingers in a production of this, too.
February 17, 2023
I loved this play so much. The way little subjects were snuck in and were important later meant I had to really pay attention to everything going on. The characters all had defined personalities and it made everything more interesting. Anyways it also made me sad read at your own risk.
Read
October 21, 2025crying laughing loving lying
September 3, 2016
Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour (1934) proves itself to be of perennial relevance. From HUAC to the Tumblrized call out culture of the 2010s, the little liars and exaggerators like Mary Tilford bully and blacklist and attempt to destroy anyone who gets in their way. THAT SAID, isn't it kind of funny that Lillian Hellman's most important play was all about the dangers of lying while the writer herself was accused of making up and exaggerating sections of her own memoirs? Although, to be fair, her lies never set out to wantonly destroy others.
February 10, 2017
A harrowing play about how the lives and relationships of Martha Dobie and Karen Wright are changed when accused by a pupil of having a romantic relationship. It's a timeless play in that it explores the damaging effects of gossip and lies. And boy, did I hate Mary. I don't think there's very many fictional characters I hated as much as her in the span of 60+ pages.
September 10, 2020
Absolutely infuriating in the best way - your outrage will be visceral. The final scene was a bit clumsy and perhaps melodramatic but in the hands of a good director this is a strong show with timeless messages.
April 14, 2018
well that sure was a waste of my time. oh yikes
November 2, 2022
A play about gossip and bigotry. Well designed but a bit sensationalist.
May 26, 2020
I actually read this play in the big six play collection by Hellman but have since decided to dnf it as I do not want to slog through numerous plays that are essentially boring to me, just to have read the lovely looking book that I had to buy for a play-reading group a few years ago. Alas, I did enjoy this particular play. Witty and tragic.
February 15, 2023
Poor Martha. The bury your gays trope has clearly been a thing for a longgg time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 413 reviews