Sarah In Ragtime- A Sugarcoated Character?

[Soaring29]

Sarah in Ragtime is an extremely noteworthy role with amazing vocals and some very juicy material for an actress to sink her teeth into. However, I think something that often goes over people's heads is that Sarah actually committed a terrible crime: She attempted to murder her baby by burying him alive, a pretty horrifying method of killing, not to mention the killing of one's own baby. Now, she was obviously devastated by Coalhouse's treatment of her and her current situation which was why she broke it off with  him, but the musical implies and even states in one instance(The  woman who starts to sing Till We Reach That Day is referred to as "Sarah's Friend" )  that she had support in the Harlem community that both she and Coalhouse shared:  Why did she not turn to them for advice or support? And although we don't know exactly how she came to be there and when, it is told to us that Sarah worked as a washerwoman for a family close to Mother's residence in New Rochelle. And since the baby was born fairly recently(perhaps even the same day she tried to kill him), how the hell did the people who she was working for not know that she was pregnant? 

From this, I'm assuming Sarah was hired fairly recently by this family after she left Coalhouse and most likely hid the pregnancy from them, since in those days(correct me if I'm wrong), I'd assume an upper middle class/upperclass family would have either slammed the door or thrown out onto the street a young black woman who was  largely pregnant with no husband, although it is possible Sarah lied and said she had one. Anyway, it seems  slightly more likely then not that Sarah left Coalhouse before her pregnancy became noticeable and that she spent a long period of it working for the family in New Rochelle. Either way, she had  other options that may or may not have been good ones, but they were options none the less:  she could have gone   back home and gotten  help from her  parent's ,  she could have gone  back to Harlem and sought  support from her friends,  she could have possibly gotten  an abortion(although obviously it was illegal at the time and probably highly unsafe, so this would have been a pretty bleak  option), confront  Coalhouse and tell him that she was  pregnant with his child, leave the baby at a church, or even abandon the baby on a street corner, all options that are arguably better then what she decided to do,  which was kill the baby by burying it in the ground. Yes, I   recognize that she was in a difficult situation, but to me, her act of attempted murder was something that she should have been held responsible for.  I think that being convicted of or pleading guilty  to an attempted murder or attempted manslaughter charge and serving a 10 to 15 year sentence in prison would have been a just punishment for what she had done.  That said, she probably would have been hanged for it in these times and the child would have lived a difficult life being raised by the state, so I can admit that Mother's compassion was justified. My question is do you think that Sarah should have been held responsible for her actions? Or do you think that she made a terrible mistake and made up for that by giving the baby love in the end? 

[adamgreer]

Sarah’s a simple-minded character. Remember, her solution to Coalhouse’s later problem with the car and Willie Conklin was to go speak to the President with her baby in her hand.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

My biggest problem with Ragtime is how Coalhouse’s murdering of people after Sarah’s death is glossed over in literally about thirty seconds (“Say goodbye to music...”). It would have been so much more interesting to have him be more complicated than he is portrayed in the musical - and truer to his characterization in the novel.

[Soaring29]

The Distinctive Baritone said: "My biggest problem with Ragtime is how Coalhouse’s murdering of people after Sarah’s death is glossed over in literally about thirty seconds (“Say goodbye to music...&rdquo. It would have been so much more interesting to have him be more complicated than he is portrayed in the musical - and truer to his characterization in the novel."

 

I think it does a good job in showing his reasonings for it, no matter how wrong the acts were. 

 

[Soaring29]

adamgreer said: "Sarah’s a simple-minded character. Remember, her solution to Coalhouse’s later problem with the car and Willie Conklin was to go speak to the President with her baby in her hand." 

 

It was idealistic of her yes, but literally nobody else was helping them- She decided to be brave and to go for it. Unfortunately, she gets killed instead. I don't think that that is an equivalent example to her attempting to kill her baby however as she admits that she tried to kill him due to her devastation over Coalhouse's actions and her feelings about her situation. 

 

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Soaring29 said: 
"I think it does a good job in showing his reasonings for it, no matter how wrong the acts were."

Well, yes, his reasonings are made very clear. But he's ultimately designed in the show to be this noble hero when he's really almost an anti-hero. The musical almost seems to suggest he was justified for his actions. He sings a pedantic song about justice, and then dies a martyr's death...even though he has killed several people and was about to blow up a building. It's always struck me as weird.

 

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Ragtime is a well-meaning show, but its politics are, frankly, a little bonkers.

[Rainah]

My reading of Sarah is that she is definitely suffering from mental illness, possibly postpartum - I have worked with mothers who have had psychotic episodes after the birth of a child. Then she either tries to kill her baby or perhaps thinks he's already dead and tries to bury him, only to realize he's alive. The mental illness angle is supported by her extremely unrealistic plans to help Coalhouse. 

[Kad]

Sarah is a character that requires no less a talent than Audra McDonald to make work.

[SonofRobbieJ]

^ True. F*cking. Story.

I missed McDonald in both Ragtime and Master Class, but when seeing other women play these parts on Broadway, I thought, 'What in God's name did she do with these underwritten roles to win Tonys????"

[newintown]

1) The OP has the chronology wrong; the family doesn't even meet Sarah until after she buries the baby. She was not working for them while pregnant. Mother takes her in after finding the baby buried in her garden. The text does seem to me to make it clear that Sarah lost her mind after Coalhouse abandoned her, and was not operating from a sane position when she buried the baby.

2) As with most adapted novels, the musical has pared away a great amount of detail, replacing it (as commercial needs demand) with sentiment and easy-to-follow plotting (although clearly it's not as easy to follow as some might think). In the novel, Sarah is presented as a near-simpleton, and far from mentally/emotionally stable (yet sympathetic, for all that, in that her heart is good).

[raddersons]

^^Piggybacking off of this, the novel that the musical is based on relies pretty heavily on symbolism, not character, to get its point across. Most of the characters themselves are archetypical in nature, trying to adapt to a changing world around them. Meanwhile, the best musicals (imo) are the ones that create strong characters, putting the adaptation in direct conflict. I mean, Sarah's not the only one with a far-fetched throughline:

-Tateh becomes a movie director because he made flip books?

-Coalhouse wants a car and goes directly to the man himself, Henry Ford?

-Coalhouse decides he can't marry Sarah because... Justice? He can't have both?

Maybe Sarah's is the most tragic and morally wrong, but there's a lot of giant plot holes. In the novel you're willing to accept the bizarre choices because it's more about a statement of what they're doing -- not to mention there's a lot of talk about thought processes of characters that there's no time for in an already three hour musical.

Score's still one of the best, though.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Yes - great score, problematic in its overuse of archetypes, onstage narration, and easy to digest, let-the-audience-pat-themselves-on-the-back-for-not-being-as-racist-as-the-evil-white-characters storytelling.

[Soaring29]

newintown said: "1) The OP has the chronology wrong; the family doesn't evenmeetSarah untilaftershe buries the baby. She was not working for them while pregnant. Mother takes her in after finding the baby buried in her garden. The text does seem to me to make it clear that Sarah lost her mind after Coalhouse abandoned her, and was not operating from a sane position when she buried the baby.

2) As withmost adapted novels, the musical has pared away a great amount of detail, replacing it (as commercial needs demand) with sentiment and easy-to-follow plotting (although clearly it's not as easy to follow as some might think). In the novel, Sarah is presented as a near-simpleton, and far from mentally/emotionally stable (yet sympathetic, for all that, in that her heart is good)."

No I don't- I did not say that she was working for Mother's family- I said she was working for a family nearby as a washerwoman.  

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Just correcting something said earlier- Sarah did not bring her baby with her when she tries to speak to the vice presidential candidate. She hands it to Mother right before the song President. I’ve been Mother 3x before the age of 23...I love this show! I’ve always considered Sarah to have PPD and also probably a lot of anger towards Coalhouse as he says himself he wasn’t good to her and she sings that he was cheating on her. Not an excuse of course...

[Soaring29]

Yeah, I think the baby would have made it obvious that she wasn't carrying a gun to those trigger happy officers. 

[saxpower]

I was able to see it with Audra and the original cast.  She was amazing ... I still remember the look  of shock on "Sarah's" (ie, Audra's) face when Mother referred to her as "Miss Sarah"