Date Presented

Spring 4-2026

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Dr. Robin Bates

Second Advisor

Mr. Aidan Daniel

Third Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth Sharrett

Abstract

“For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather” (Goblin Market, lines 562-563) I grew up with 1, 2, 3 sisters and even though my childhood was shaped by countless fights, hair pulling and scratching, it was equally formed by built-in best friends, advisors and bodyguards who would go to bat for me without hesitation. There are not many people you can fight with like no other on one day and be best friends with again the next without holding a grudge. While I can count myself lucky to have had this experience of unconditional sisterly love over and over again, I could not help but be curious about what would happen if one day after a fight we would not find our way back to each other. How could a close relationship reach a point at which it ends abruptly? What has to happen for sisters to become estranged? And even more importantly, what has to occur for sisters to reconcile after years apart? These questions were the starting point for my one-act play Not My Fault, and the sisters’ relationship remained at the heart of it. As Christina Rossetti so wisely states in her poem Goblin Market: “There is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather”, emphasizing that a sister will be there for you through everything no matter what, as well as the bad decisions that are made along the way. Writing this play aimed to explore the dynamics of a relationship that consists of support but is rarely ever perfect or ideal.

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