A Comparison/Contrast of Catherine and Theresa from Marty

A Comparison and Contrast between Catherine and Theresa


Paddy Cheyefsky’s award winning television play “Marty”, takes place in an Italian district of New York City in 1953. During the first act of the play, the audience is introduced to two Italian sisters, in their fifties, named Catherine and Theresa. Though Catherine and Theresa show obvious differences, the similarities lie in the heart of their old fashion need to tend to their children.
As we get to know Catherine and Theresa, it is apparent that one of their biggest differences is their attitudes about life. Catherine has a very dismal outlook on life and everything around it. From the moment we meet Catherine, she is telling Theresa how “it’s a curse to be old”, referring to the pains in her left side, leg, shoulder, hip and right arm (1292). She also mentions her fear of looking in the mirror, “for staring back at her would be an old woman with white hair, like those ladies in the park, wrapped i...