Analysis on the character of Margot Frank

An analysis on the character of Margot

The Diary of Anne Frank has gripped the world from the moment it was first published in 1947 in Amsterdam, just 2 years after the war ceased. After years of enjoyment from the book, a play emerged in 1955 by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The story begins in 1942, when Anne is 13. Nazi domination has spread to the Netherlands, and a segregated anti-Jewish community forces the Frank Family to go into hiding with another Jewish family called The Van Daans. Living in cramped conditions, with barely enough food to nourish the 7 of them, Anne kept a diary, pouring all the events, her emotions, feelings and thoughts into its pages. At the end of the 2 years and 8 months that the families were hiding for, they were found by the Green Police (a Nazi organisation designed to uncover unruly Jews hiding or otherwise, and remove them from the community) and taken to concentration camps, one of the Nazi’s favourite forms of punishment for the Jews. When Anne died in 1945, just two months before her camp was released by British troops, Otto Frank, Anne’s father, the only surviving member of the group, found and published the diary we all know today. Whilst reading the dramatised version of the diary, I took a particular interest in the character of Margot, and by thoroughly revising the script have analysed her character in this essay.

In my first section of the essay, I will look at the scenes in which Margot’s character plays a significant role, and suggest reasons for her behaviour.

In Act 1 Scene 3, the scene opens on a tense atmosphere. Everyone has removed their shoes and they are still adjusting to the daily routine in the Annexe. It is a few minutes past 6 o’clock and Mr Frank is waiting anxiously by the window, waiting for the final workmen to leave the building before they can all relax. As soon as he confirms this, there is a stir of relief from everybody, except Margot, who is in her bedroom, actively studying, oblivious to the fact that she can now finish her work. It is only when she is prompted by her father that school is now over, that we see her stop. We can see this in the quote “School’s over... (Margot rises and stretches)” We can suggest here by the evidence given, that she will always obey anybody with any authority over her, because of in those times the role of a woman was considered to be modest, polite and never to argue or question the word of your husband, nor anyone with a higher status. Later on in the scene we see Anne having a dispute with her mother about Peter’s attitude towards her, and about how she only wants to have some fun. In a protest of boredom, she asks Margot to dance with her, apparent in the quote “Come on Margot – dance with me. Come on, please” and in reply we see Margot dismissing her, “I have to help with supper. (She returns to her duties with Mrs Frank)” Through Margot’s choice of words, we see here that by the use of the word have, she feels that she is compelled to help her mother. It intimates that she feels that she has no other purpose in the Annexe, and because of this it is her duty to help with the supper and household chores. We also see by the fact that she refused to dance with Anne that Margot has low self esteem and self confidence, despite the fact that she is often used as role model to Anne. Language plays a key role in this point here. Again later in the scene, when Mr Frank is discussing his daughters achievements in their studies that day, Mr Frank tells Anne when admitting he doesn’t have the knowledge to mark her algebra paper, “We’ll leave it to Margot to correct.”This proves that Margot is very clever, which could be one of the reasons why people compare Anne to her. Also it shows that Mr Frank can trust her with a responsibility of marking a paper, probably because from what we know of Margot’s character, she unearths herself to be very responsible. When Margot inquired her results, Anne exclaims in praise, “Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent!” even before Mr Frank has told Margot her grades. This shows that it is a common occasion that Margot gets high marks, and it would be an almost certain prediction of her results from Anne. When Mr Frank suggests a way of improving her work, Margot becomes immediately attentive, as shown in the stage direction “(Margot and Mr Frank become absorbed in the copybooks)” This shows that as well as being bright, Margot also is eager to improve on her work to be the best that she really can be. This could impart that she has an ambition of some description, or just a goal that she wishes to achieve. This deepens her character, and can imply her to be a bit secretive. When Anne spills milk over Mrs Van Daans coat, Margot helps her sister by immediately fetching a tea towel and helping, in the stage directions “(Margot hurries down to them with a tea towel)” Margot doesn’t say much; she keeps her head low and avoids controversy, as she is wise enough to know where it would lead. Margot thinks the world of her sister; it is obvious through all her actions. If the day came, Margot would put her sister’s life before her own. Anne seems to think that Margot doesn’t express, or even has an opinion about anything, and this is apparent after the accident, when Mrs Frank is talking to Anne, and discloses to her that it would benefit everyone if she were more like Margot, Anne defends herself by saying “And have them walk all over me, the way they do her?” This proves that Anne thinks Margot should stand up for herself, and not just always stand the middle ground. When she says this her Mother tries again to talk to her but Anne exclaims “Margot! Margot! That’s all I ever hear from anyone – how wonderful Margot is – ‘Why aren’t you like Margot?’” Margot replies with a rather feeble response and the drama ends with Anne running to her room. Subsequently, Margot comforts her Mother, whilst hushing her when her mother when she starts to say too much about the Van Daans. This displays maturity, and also great courage from Margot, as she appears to have an adult mind in the fact that her mother could have said something to offend their neighbours, but also she had the bravery to stop her Mother, which is usually something Margot would not do, seeing as she usually keeps her head down and never interferes. When Mr Kraler suggests the idea of another person coming into hiding, Margot doesn’t seem to have any negative views about the topic, as she happily welcomes all ideas of new sleeping arrangements with no objections, even though they affect her, when she says “That’s right. We could do that.” This shows that generally Margot is quite a welcoming and an agreeable girl. When Anne finds out that her best friend Jopie has been sent to a concentration camp, she cries and Margot puts an ameliorating arm around her sister, in the stage directions “(Margot puts her arm comfortingly around Anne)” This is another factor to prove that the love and compassion shared between Anne and Margot is very strong.

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In Act 1 Scene 4, in the initial sounding of Anne’s scream the Annexe, Margot sits up in her bed terrified, and hurries quickly to turn on the light. After Anne turns her mother away, Margot defends Anne when Mrs Frank confronts her. Margot displays great sympathy for both sides, both Anne’s and her mother’s. She comforts her Mother by saying “It’s a phase – you heard father - most girls go through it- they turn to their fathers at this age – they give all their love to their fathers” Then Margot helps her Mother ease her mind from the troubles that are haunting it, quoting from the stage directions “(Margot takes the shawl from Mrs Frank and smoothes the bed...Margot sits beside her a moment, comforting her)” This shows that Margot has a very benevolent nature, shown by the ways of comforting her mother, and it also shows that Margot has no favourites, and she comforted Mrs Frank whilst defending Anne, showing no nepotism towards either side. It is almost like whilst there is a war going on outside the Annexe, that a war between separate people or persons inside the Annexe. There is the constant bickering between The Van Daans, the almost painful disagreement between Anne and her mother, the feuding in the previous scene between Anne and Peter, the arguments between Anne and Dussel and the silent war between Mrs Frank and The Van Daans. It appears that they went into hiding to get away from the affects of war onto them, but instead inside here they seem to be thrusting war upon themselves. The only two people who seem to be in constant harmony with everybody are Margot and Mr Frank. I believe it is in this way that the two of them are similar, as they are patient, tolerant and courteous towards everybody.

In Act 1 Scene 5, Margot is delighted with the gift she received form Anne. Even though it is not new, and would seem pointless, she is elated, as it is something to do to relieve her boredom. We see her happiness when she says “It’s wonderful Anne. Thank you.” As always, she is gentle and modest, but she shows a great exuberance in joyous celebration of Hanukkah, and she is the most relaxed we have ever seen her. When Mr Frank turns to blow out the candle, Margot for once, not being her usual quiet self, makes a protest of tradition in the line “But Father, you’re supposed to let them burn themselves out.” This shows that Margot is not only quite pious and religious, but also a great lover of tradition. When the scene changes and they hear the noise, Margot is sent by her mother to get some water, stopped by Mr Van Daan and then sent forward again to get the water. It is a sign of her patience that she doesn’t challenge this in any way. Margot is concerned about everyone’s welfare, as it is shown when her father says he will go downstairs, to check when she says “No, Father. No. There may be someone there, waiting – it may be a trap.” Even when her father explains his reasons, she still is not convinced it is right. Even when Mr Frank resurfaces and asks her to turn on the light she replies with “Are you sure it’s alright?” when she is reassured that the danger has passed and then goes and switches on the light. Margot is interesting in this way. She is quiet and shy, but if there is any danger to anybody who she is close to, or there is an unfair treatment, she will speak out. This is demonstrated thrice in this scene, the first being the protest of the candles, which she spoke out about because it appears that she is lover of tradition however she also did it because she is close to God. The second Time, it was because she was close to her Father, when he wanted to advance downstairs plus the third because she was close to everyone in the Annexe.

In Act 2 Scene 1, Margot is ill with flu of some description. When Miep asks her how she is she replies “I’m all right” It seems that she doesn’t want to cause any hassle for anyone, and she is just trying to keep herself to herself as usual. When Mr Kraler and Mr Frank rise to go downstairs, Margot senses something suspicious. She questions “What’s happened. Something’s happened. Hasn’t it, Mr Kraler?” After they find out about the blackmail, Margot seems sad, and almost exhausted. She says “Sometimes I just wish the end would come, whatever it is” Mrs Frank is shocked by this remark, however Anne, who puts her arms around her seems to understand. She continues “Then at least we’d know where we were” Mrs Frank tells Margot off, but Anne jumps back in defence, defence of herself, but also for Margot and Peter too. For all the children in the war, convinced the world will be wrecked for them because of the adult generation then. Anne seems to be doing what Margot did for her, but in a much more obvious way, defending and backing her sister, because they are in it together.

In Act 2 Scene 2, the scene opens on Anne and Margot in Anne’s room, with Anne getting ready to go to Peter’s room. Anne asks for Margot’s opinion on how she looks, and then asks Margot a question, “Am I terribly ugly?” Margot tells her “Oh, stop fishing” because she disapproves of looking for compliments and vanity. Mrs Frank comes in and talks to Anne about how inappropriate it is that she goes into Peter’s room. Anne tells her that her opinions are unchanged, and Mrs Frank leaves. Afterwards Margot discusses with Anne the fact that Mrs Van Daan mocks them and Mrs Frank is compelled not to say anything. Margot says “You don’t understand Mother at all, do you? She can’t talk back...It’s not in her nature” This shows that Margot shows empathy for her Mother because even though she is like her mother in the way in which she is describing , she never had to suffer teasing from Mrs Van Daan, so it shows that she is sympathetic. When Anne reveals that she thought that Margot might be jealous of her and Peter, Margot replies with a simple ‘no’. When Anne questions again she says “Of course I’m jealous – jealous you have something to get up in the morning for – but jealous of you and Peter? No.” When Anne invites her to join them, she replies simply “I have a book.” This scene demonstrates the close bond between Anne and Margot, but also Margot’s individuality. Margot is not a brilliant socialiser, so when it comes to a book or company, I would think, as displayed in this scene she would select the book aloft the cortege.

In Act 2 Scene 3, we see Margot cry in despair at her mother’s anger-influenced behaviour. She cries in desperation “Please, Mother!” and begs Dussel to stop counting the potatoes, as she believes it is despicable attitude to display. We know this when she says “We haven’t sunk so far that we’re going to fight over a handful of rotten potatoes.” Margot seems along with Mr Frank and Anne, the only person who is seeing sense here. All her rules and past guidelines are gone because the community and the boundaries within the 8 of them come crashing down before her, and all she is trying to do is make them stop the arguing. When Miep arrives it is as if a wind of realisation has swept through all of them, and everyone suddenly feels very foolish. This scene shows the fall of Mrs Frank’s temper, and Margot reacted in a very mature way. It shows that even in the scenarios of the highest of tension levels, her temper and patience does not break.

During Act 2 Scene 4, everyone is waiting nervously, and everyone can almost foresee the future, like they are preparing themselves for the worst. When they are discovered by the Germans, Margot stays close to her mother, who by this time, after her outburst in the previous scene, seems very weak and fragile compared to previous encounters. We see Margot comforting her mother in the stage directions “(Margot moves to Mrs Frank and takes her hand)” It is almost as if Mrs Frank as had enough of taking the role of the hostess of the house, or the Mother Hen, and she is passing the responsibility on to Margot. Margot realises the hardship that they are going to take, and she probably knows the group’s chances of survival, but she knows that she has to keep it all together. The War that was going on inside the Annexe has stopped, they have signed the treaty and they have to work together to support each other’s weight. They have nowhere to hide; they have to accept and face the world, no matter how unfair it is, with as much optimism as possible.

In this section, I will try to summarise Margot’s character in my own words, according to the play.

Margot is the kind of person that is always helpful, kind, obedient, courteous pleasant and clever. Everyone praises her such as in this example Mrs Frank says “Watch Margot, she’s always courteous to them...And they respect her for it.” All in all, she is your ideal child. When Margot came into hiding, I think she realised immediately that this was not going to be effortless, and an odd sort of holiday, like Anne fantasised it as. She is wise, and she realised from the start what something as dangerous as hiding would endure. She became more helpful, and more courteous, in order to perhaps ease the burden on the people who would be more susceptible to the emotional stress of it. She becomes more helpful, and has less time for childish fun and games, like the time when she refuses Anne’s invitation to dance with the comment “I have to help with supper” Margot, throughout the play hates arguments, and never once got into one. She always however, attempted to resolve the situation in the most sensible way possible. The time Mrs Frank had a large dispute with Mr Van Daan, she pleaded with her Mother “Stop it, please!” She avoided arguments by being gentle and polite to others, especially the Van Daans, who she was less familiar with. Anne however, was wild and unruly, and was also purposely cheeky, and almost went looking for an argument in Margot’s eyes. Consequently, Margot was treated with the same respect as she gave out and others got on well with her, but with Anne’s fiery temper, she was bound to get insults thrown back at her.

In conclusion, the impression Margot makes on me is that she is an extremely humane girl who impresses everyone she meets. She is exceedingly clever, as we find out when Anne praises her work “Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent!” She is also very patient and good-natured, as we see when Anne is crying Margot goes to comfort her, even though she is probably upset too, in the stage directions “(Margot puts her arm comfortingly around Anne)” I think by the end of the play, Margot had accepted the role of the hostess of the group, because Mrs Frank had seen enough. She is very wise, so she knew the chances of survival were slim, but positivity was their friend, no matter who was not. I believe Margot is a good role model to Anne because she has a better temper, and Anne has a very short one, but I also believe strongly that everyone should be their own person, because if everyone aspired to be the exact double of one person, the world would be very dull indeed.

“ I still believe people are really good at heart” – Anne Marie Frank 1929 - 1945