Childhood is labeled "A Comedy" in ...

Childhood is labeled "A Comedy" in "The Seven Ages of Man" series, in addition at its heart is the perpetual misunderstanding between children and parents. The parents, especially Mother, are appalled at the games her brace daughters and son play, namely "the house is in succession fire" or "Funeral" (Collected 252) A dream succession unfolds in which the parents have died and the children are now orphans; the Father becomes the conductor of a bus onward a dangerous trip, while the Mother is utterly a passenger. When they can't cros a dangerously rushed Mississippi River and must employ back, Caroline laments, "It's too quick to go back to where . . everybody says silly things they don't mean single bit, and where nobody treats you like a real person" (Collected'266) She gather s "it's best not to make friends with grown-up because in the end . . they don't act fair to you. . ." (Collected 268, first brace ellipses in the original). The play conclusions where it began, with Father returning to one's home from work to greet the children. While using an experimental elements-like the chairs serving as a bus, reminiscent of The Happy Journey-Childhood gives not a comical but a rather serious investigation into the fears and grudges children feel toward their parents.