The Stone Angel

In The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley, age ninety, tells the story of her life and in doing so comes to terms with the fact that the very pride that sustained her during a stormy marriage but which lost her a favourite son, deprived her of joy. Hagar was a truly dreadful character with no admirable or likeable qualities. She marries a man just to spite her father, hates the son that takes care of her, …

…Lord, just as you please, for I’ll not beg.” Hagar’s last act in life is her refusal to allow her nurse to help her drink from her glass by holding it for her. Even in the end Hagar is too proud to accept or admit that she needs it. She dies alone, unhappy and unfulfilled but with her pride intact just the way she wanted. Her life’s struggle fought until the end.