You were thinking to yourself, this girl's been playing around
on the beaches with savages . . . and what's been happening to her?
DR. MASTERSON. My dear niece, I'm afraid you'll have to take some
account of our civilized prejudices. We simply don't say everything
that we think.
OCEANA. [Springing up.] Oh, dear me! I'm so sorry ! I didn't mean to
make you unhappy! I was going to be so good. I was going to try to
conform to everything. Why, just think of it, Aunt Sophronia . . . in
Rio I actually bought a pair of corsets. And I tried to wear them. I .
. . Oceana! Around my waist! Think of it! [She looks for sympathy.] I
couldn't stand them . . . I climbed to the topmast and threw them to
the sharks. But now it seems that you all wear corsets on your minds
and souls. [A pause.] Never mind . . . let's talk about something
else. I'm getting restless. You see . . . I'm not used to being in a
room . . . it seems like a box to me . . . I can hardly breathe. The
air in here is dreadful . . . hadn't any of you noticed? [Silence.
Apparently nobody had.] Would you mind if I opened a window?
MRS. MASTERSON. It is storming outside, Anna.
OCEANA. Yes, but one can exercise and keep warm. just a minute . . .
please. [She flings up a window; a gale blows in.] Ah, feel that!
[MRS. MASTERSON, LETITIA and DR. MASTERSON draw away from the window.]
MRS. MASTERSON. This is simply outrageous!
LETITIA. It is beyond all words!
DR.
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