Lenny MaGrath
Lenny MaGrath is the eldest of three sisters in the play. She’s 30 years old and is badly trying to hold the pieces of her life together. She is dedicated and has strong compassion for her family. Lenny is the motherly figure, who constantly tries to keep her family together. According to the play, the burden of responsibility of the family falls on Lenny when her mother dies. She’s the one who takes care of the old grandfather, and then Babe because Babe finds herself in trouble with law. It’s further proven by her quotation that, “All this responsibility keeps falling on my shoulders, and I try to do what's right!”
Because of her constantly taking care of everyone, Lenny also expects some form of return from everyone else. All of the responsibility that falls on her shoulders, she takes her wishes seriously and expect them to be fulfilled. This is shown in the first act of the play, when it’s her birthday and she’s singing to herself with a lighted candle, blows the candle out and makes a wish. She takes it so seriously that Babe had to assure her that she really needs to mean her wishes in order for them to come true.
With all the pressure and responsibility on her shoulders, it’s understandable that she sometimes snaps. Her acts of snapping are shown throughout the play. Like for example, when she ran after Chick with a broom, yelling at her because Chick insulted Meg. Again this shows the motherly nature of Lenny because she felt protective of Meg as Chick was insulting her.
Lenny was also a very safe and nervous girl. This is in strong contrast to her sisters, Meg and Baby. This is shown by when Lenny ended her relationship with Charlie because she was scared that Charlie might leave her if he found out that Lenny had ovary problems, i.e. she couldn’t have children. She was risk-averse and did not even take the chance to see what Charlie’s response would be once he finds out about Lenny’s ovary problems. This is why her sisters were so proud of her when she decided to call Charlie up.
