Character analysis
Maretha
in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson
Maretha is the young daughter of Berniece and the only child in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. This role positions her as the most innocent character in the play, yet she has the most to lose in the central conflict. Living with her mother and great-uncle Doaker in their Pittsburgh home, Maretha is growing up amidst a family history that she can barely comprehend. Her mother teaches her to play the piano — the beautifully carved ancestral instrument that lies at the center of the drama — but intentionally keeps the stories behind it a secret, worried that the weight of the past will burden Maretha as it has burdened her.
Maretha's journey is marked by exposure and awakening. At the beginning of the play, she is a dutiful girl practicing her scales, somewhat sheltered from the harsher realities around her. The turning point comes when she goes down the stairs and comes face-to-face with Sutter's Ghost — a terrifying encounter that makes real the haunting Berniece has tried to shield her from. Her screams shake the household and compel the adults to confront the issues they have been avoiding.
In terms of themes, Maretha embodies the next generation, whose identity will be influenced — or hindered — by how the adults handle their conflict over the piano. Boy Willie believes she deserves land and a future, while Berniece insists she deserves to be shielded from pain. By the time we reach the climax, when Berniece finally plays the piano and calls upon the ancestors to banish Sutter's ghost, she does this not only for her own healing but also for Maretha's safety, suggesting that the child's well-being is the primary reason the past must be faced rather than ignored.
Connected characters
- Berniece Charles
Berniece is Maretha's mother and primary caregiver. Their relationship embodies the play's central tension: Berniece teaches Maretha to play the piano but withholds its history, trying to shield her daughter from grief while inadvertently cutting her off from her own identity. Maretha's encounter with Sutter's Ghost ultimately forces Berniece to break her silence and play the piano for the first time since her husband's death.
- Boy Willie Charles
Boy Willie is Maretha's uncle. He is affectionate and boisterous with her, and his argument for selling the piano is partly framed around giving the next generation — Maretha included — a tangible future through land ownership rather than a painful relic.
- Doaker Charles
Doaker is Maretha's great-uncle and a steady, stabilizing presence in the household. He witnesses her daily life and is among the adults shaken when she screams after seeing Sutter's Ghost.
- Sutter's Ghost
Sutter's Ghost is the supernatural antagonist Maretha encounters on the stairs, triggering her terrified screams. This confrontation is the play's pivotal crisis moment, forcing all the adults to reckon with the haunting they have each been navigating in their own ways.
- Avery Brown
Avery is the preacher courting Berniece who is called upon to exorcise the ghost after Maretha's encounter. His attempted blessing — ultimately ineffective — underscores that conventional faith alone cannot resolve the family's ancestral trauma.
- Wining Boy Charles
Wining Boy is Maretha's great-uncle. His presence in the house adds to the generational tableau surrounding her, though his relationship with her is peripheral compared to her bonds with Berniece and Boy Willie.