There Goes the Unicorn's Horn

SO, I started off with a whole character/theme analysis comparison between MM and The Glass Menagerie (hence the title, which stands) and then I realized something about "Shut the Door. Have a Seat.": everyone is getting a divorce! So I changed courses. Plus, the first one was getting kind of boring. Here's my breakdown:

Divorce #1: Don and Betty. (Don + Betty forever!)

I don't really want to talk about this one. The whole scene where Don was wearing that V-neck sweater and the kids were begging him not to go. Actual real tears came out of me. I have to say I am holding out hope for their reconciliation. I don't see how the narrative can survive if Don doesn't have Betty from whom to conceal his many mysterious secrets. But then, she already knows so much. Way more than I thought she ever would. It's like the facade of Don has faded and now he is a fuzzy Dick/Don hybrid (Dick when he's telling the kids he has to leave, Don when he concocts the crazy plan to steal Sterling Cooper, but more on that later). The Betty/Don split is devastating, no doubt, but it serves as a springboard into Inspiration Lake for Don, who, like always, is determined to rise from the ashes of tragedy. It's like he thought, "You want a divorce? Now wait a minute, that gives me an idea..." Which leads me to:

Divorce #2: Sterling Cooper and the British

If Sterling Cooper was Don's first love--the one he stumbled upon when he was young and ignorant--then Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is going to be his hot second trophy wife. It's a relationship founded on sneaking around at night, stealing other people's stuff, and hiding out in a hotel room ordering room service. Everyone is frenzied, fresh, and coming up with fantastic ideas--I loved the part where Roger (who we see actually working for the first time ever) says, "I'm so tired!" Divorce looks good on Work Don.

True to MM, we see one aspect of the theme protrayed in a positive light, while the other aspect is destroying Don's/Betty's/Peggy's/Joan's life. Home Don (Dick?) is distraught, fumbling, stuttering and OUT OF WORDS. While Work Don (there he is!) is thriving, glowing, well-kempt and all shiny-toothed. Betty's emotions, however, seem static regardless of her surroundings: quiet and stoic at home, passive and subdued at the lawyer's office, silent and pensive on the train* to Reno...with an empty seat** between she and Henry Francis. My guess? That seat may look empty, but it is really stuffed full of a whole lot of extra baggage.

And I'm a bit confused about Bobby and Sally--are we to assume they are staying home with Carla while their mom goes to Reno for six weeks?! I suppose Betty is not really angling for any Mother of the Year awards.

* and ** OK, so I have just been schooled about a couple of things. 1. They are on a plane not a train. Duh! They are going to Reno! What was I thinking? And 2. They don't have a seat between them, they are in first class and they just have really big seats. But for the sake of arguing, let's just say they have a metaphorical seat between them on the train to Reno.