The Little Foxes

by Lillian Hellman

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Genres: Plays, Drama, Fiction, Theatre, Classics, 20th Century, American

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Lillian Florence "Lilly" Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American dramatist and screenwriter famously blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–52.

Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.

She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.

Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The century’s turning, the world is open. Open for people like you and me. Ready for us, waiting for us. After all this is just the beginning. There are hundreds of Hubbards sitting in rooms like this throughout the country. All their names aren’t Hubbard, but they are all Hubbards and they will own this country someday.

—The Little Foxes, or Turn of the Century Decaying Southern Aristocrats are Butt Hurt About Slavery Ending, Are Greedy and Generally The Worst.

Lillian Hellman wrote the words above in 1939, and it’s thoroughly disheartening how prescient they were. The Hubbard siblings want to invest in a cotton mill. Except their sister Regina’s husband, convalescing in Baltimore, doesn’t reply to their many letters asking him to provide a third of the seed money. From a slow and overly talky act one, the next two acts spin out a tale of avarice and betrayal.

Tallulah Bankhead played Regina on stage, Bette Davis in the film version. Not everyone agrees, but I loved Bette in this movie:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFM5tiB...

In 1946, Hellman wrote a prequel to this story, Another Part of the Forest.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea what I was getting into with this. The only thing I knew about it was that Cynthia Nixon won the 2017 Tony for best actress in a play for the revival. After reading the play, I found out Cynthia and Laura Linney actually alternated roles between Regina and Birdy, which I think would be fascinating to see.

The story here is excellently crafted and doesn't use too many words to say its piece. I do have to disagree with the blurb though; if anyone comes out of this play the "winner", it's Alexandra.

[Mahdi · Rating 4 out of 5]

یه نمایشنامه که همه چیز درباره‌ی تاریخ اون زمان‌های آمریکا داشت، نژادپرستی جنوبی‌ها، برای پیشرفت اقتصادی سبقت گرفتن به هر طریقی و... . اگه رسالت نمایشنامه‌ی رئالیستی رو این بگیریم که به خوبی جامعه‌ش رو نشون بده این نمایشنامه کاملاً رئالیستی بود.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This period piece is set in the US Reconstruction, about 3 older siblings squabbling over a business venture, and those unfortunate to have been sucked into their tornado. It was written in 1939, thus a little dated by today's standards, because it features two good-hearted but clearly less educated black servants and a fair amount of the N-word, although as a friend pointed out: Hellman was "proto-woke", raging against social injustice and the evils of capitalism and racism --even paying the price of blacklisting during McCarthyism.

Oh, and one of sympathetic characters says in the end: "Fuck around and find out." :heart:

[Maisie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

get behind me birdie

[Mira123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heute hab ich wieder einen Klassiker für euch. Und ausnahmsweise war es sogar einer, den ich eigentlich ziemlich unterhaltsam fand. In "The Little Foxes" geht es um die Familie Hubbard, die durch ein Erbe reich geworden ist. Allerdings wurde das auf die Familie aufgeteilt und einen Teil davon hat Horace. Blöd nur, dass Ben und Oscar eigentlich das Geld investieren wollen und wissen, dass Horace ihnen keinen Cent davon geben wird. Zumindest nicht freiwillig....

Ben ist ein ziemlicher A****, um das mal ganz klar zu sagen und Oscar ist auch nur wenig besser. Dann ist da noch Leo, der in einer Bank arbeitet und Bens Sohn ist, wenn ich das richtig verstanden habe. Und dann gibt's da noch Regina, die eigentlich mit Horace verheiratet ist, ihn aber seit Jahren ständig und ganz offiziell betrügt, Alexandra, die Tochter von Horace und Regina, die mit Leo verheiratet werden soll und Birdie, eine herzensgute Frau, die leider mit Ben verheiratet ist und von ihm ständig tyrannisiert wird. Merkt ihr schon an der Beschreibung, wieviel Potential für Drama es hier gibt? Lasst mich nur eines sagen: Dieses Potential wurde zu hundert Prozent genutzt! Diese ganzen Fernsehserien sind nichts dagegen! Es geht um Liebe und Hass, um Leben und Tod, um Intrigen und um Klatsch und Tratsch und Lügen und die Wahrheit und wirklich alles, was dazwischen liegt. Es geht um den Wunsch nach Reichtum und um das Sehnen nach einem einfacheren Leben. Und das alles gleichzeitig!

Besonders gut haben mir die Dialoge gefallen, die zwischen diesen unterschiedlichen Figuren so zustande gekommen sind. Mein allerliebster Satz war wohl "Are you scared, Mama?", den Alexandra ganz am Ende des Theaterstücks zu Regina sagt. Das war so ein richtiger "Oh, Snap!"-Moment.

Ich gebe zu, zu Beginn war ich sehr kritisch. Man wird direkt ins Geschehen geworfen und im ersten Akt war ich einfach nur überfordert. Das ging dann aber später besser und im letzten Akt hab ich dann nur noch mitgefiebert.

Mein Fazit? Hat mir gut gefallen. Der Einstieg war schwer, aber der Rest des Stücks hat das schnell wett gemacht!

[Thomas George Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the South in 1900. It was a highly controversial play when it premiered in 1939. The "N" word is a common phrase when talking about blacks.

Controversy or no it was a popular play written by a controversial dramatist. Regina Giddens is the main female protagonist; and the matriarch of this family: her husband, Maurice who is seriously ill, their daughter, Alexandra; Regina's two brothers, Oscar Hubbard and Ben.

Oscar and Ben, both businessmen, have devised a scheme to steal some bonds from Maurice in order to finance a business project with a Chicago businessman. But the plan is discovered by Maurice.

Regina and Maurice's marriage is not a happy one. The two have not slept together for many years. In short, they both detest each other.

The title of the play is taken from the Song of Solomon: "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes."

[Sketchbook · Rating 1 out of 5]

Claptrap. It became a stage hit solely because of Tallulah Bankhead -- her first juicy role after returning fr London. Her wicked Regina was beautiful and deadly. She didnt get the film role because Bankhead was fiercely anti-Commie (whereas Lilly was Commie), and Tallulah protested the Russian invasion of Finland, which was aok w Hellman (who wouldnt know morality if it slapped her ass with a strap) ....Hellman said to pal Goldwyn, no no Tallulah in film. Bette did her best, but the film is a great stinker. Without Tallu, so is the play.

[Firuze mardani · Rating 5 out of 5]

این نمایشنامه همه‌چی داشت. نژادپرستی، مردسالاری، تقلب، دغل‌بازی، پول‌پرستی، خودبرتربینی، وقاحت، دورویی، دروغگویی و خیلییییی چیزهای دیگه

[Ariya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Little Foxes is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman about the Giddens family living in the South, who is concerned with keeping their wealth. The play focuses on Regina Hubbard Giddens, in her desire for a share of the family inheritance. The play deals with the themes of social class, domestic violence, race, and gender. By the end of the show, Regina, ends up with the family money because she threatened to blackmail her brothers, so she ends up being alone. I'm really disappointed with this play overall. I didn't hate it, but I wanted to love this play, and I didn't. Here is why...

First off, I found the first two acts incredibly boring. The entire play is set in the Giddens family living room, which seems like it would add continuity to the play as a whole, but after a while it just got monotonous because it felt like I was just reading a REALLY long scene. And secondly, even though it's a bit of an older text, I wasn't bored by the language because it was challenging. It wasn't. And that's another reason that I found this play boring. Everything about the language felt too straightforward to me, and I would have preferred to read more complex language and a less rigid story line.

Now that I've gotten what I disliked about the play out of the way, let me explain a few moments of the play that I did enjoy reading. I liked that each act began with a conversation between Addie and Cal. This gives the reader two characters to bring them into the scene, then slowly introduces them to the rest of the characters in the play. I also liked that this play dealt with such progressive issues, especially for having been written in 1939. The family has two black servants, Birdie is being physically abused, and Regina is a strong female character. This play deals with subjects that we still discuss today in 2015, so it has obviously stood the test of time.

Like I said before, I didn’t hate this play. It’s considered a classic and is a well-written play. If this play had a more interesting plot line, I would have enjoyed it more. It was difficult to read because although the characters and their relationships with each other gradually changed, the story itself didn’t progress significantly enough to be particularly exciting. Based on the way that I felt while reading it, it seems like a play that may have you shifting in your seat and nodding off when watching it live.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My initial college advisor (before I dropped English for the oh-so-much-more practical politics) passed away this spring. I hadn’t spoken with her in years, but whenever I sit down and write anything, she’s there, hidden in the lines. She had an enormous influence on my writing, and her voice is forever in the back of my head, reminding me I can do better.

She was also a big fan of Lillian Hellman. When I saw The Little Foxes sitting on a bookshelf a few weeks after I heard of her passing, I was drawn to it. And I’m honestly not sure I can give an honest review about it, because all I kept thinking while reading was: Why did I never read this when she was alive, so I could drop her an email and get her thoughts on the play? Because I know she would have had dazzling insight, that she’d deepen my appreciation for the play in just a sentence or two.

The story of a Southern family, The Little Foxes features plenty of interesting women in these pages. And the world could always use a few more strong women, whether real or fictional. Recommended.

[Joanne Fate · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really need half stars here. Lillian Hellman was an expert storyteller. This play set in 1900 Alabama is filled with family tension. It was written in 1939, during the early years of World War II. It has themes of greed, a dysfunctional family, racism, and the changes of society decades after the Civil War and with increasing industry. This was adapted to the big and small screen. Be happy you're not part of this family.

[Carolyn F.]

I read this I think in the 1970s/early 1980s. I was trying to read only classics at the time.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just an everyday tale of modern greed.

[Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it! More and more and more as I read.
The ending was surprising! Will probably reread it this week.
Tom really made a good selection of texts for this course!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharp, edgy dialogue (especially for the day) drives this on-your-seat family drama.

[Florina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn.

[Audrey Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

i didnt really like this play but i think it does what it's trying to do very well so I guess it can have four stars

[Lukas Sotola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was excellent! It seems to me almost like an anti-comedy. Very powerful.

[sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

All women named Regina are clinically insane.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Lizabeth Something · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the early 1900s in Alabama, “The Little Foxes” captures the story of the manipulative Regina Hubbard Marshall and her greedy brothers Oscar and Ben Hubbard. Attempting to capitalize on the evolved cotton industry, “to bring the machine to the cotton, and not the cotton to the machine,” the Hubbard family is confident that they will soon become the wealthiest business people in the South (Hellman 159). Years spent saving money, choosing locations, and even marrying into the wealthiest families so as to receive the most fertile cotton-growing land, have characterized the Hubbard endeavor to create the money-making scheme of their dreams. However, one barrier remains. They are in dire need of $80,000 in order to build the mill and process the first year of cotton. But due to their reputation as cheaters of honest people, they must turn to the wealthy husband of Regina. Horace Marshall is a sickly but good man, investing in his community as his health rapidly declines. Thus, when he is manipulated back from John Hopkins by Regina to finally hear of their self-centered plan, he refuses participation. In response, Regina reveals her true colors as a character, asserting her dominant, aggressive nature in her rage against Horace. During this, she reveals she only married Horace to take advantage of him as a social and financial asset. In exposing herself, she verbally admits to her manipulative nature. Additionally, the greedy response of the Hubbard sons is to not readily accept defeat. Instead, very quickly, Leo, the son of Oscar Hubbard, confides with his father and Ben Hubbard a way to steal Horace’s money and continue with their plan. Therefore, overcome by their greed–the major theme of the play– the characters reveal they are willing to do anything to satiate their incessant selfish desires.

In “The Little Foxes” by Lillian Hellman, the authentic nature of the characters makes the play easier to read, the playwright using her real world experiences to develop their realism. Throughout much of Hellman’s literary career, as her memoirs suggest, she utilized her surroundings to create more realistic literature. For instance, not only are her plays strongly influenced by her urban Southern background, but she also admits to using her mother’s family as the source for the dysfunctional Hubbard family in her play “The Little Foxes” (Alder). Recognizing the business-motivated, greedy nature of her own family members and their apparent utter disregard for the negativity their businesses brought to their communities, she used them as inspiration for the manipulative Regina, the hypocritical Ben, and the greedy Oscar of her play. As the play commences and the characters and their individual behaviors thus reveal themselves–Regina’s disapproval of her kind-hearted husband, Ben’s confident desire to succeed but soon-after acceptance of failure, and Oscar’s willingness to commit outright criminal actions to satisfy his greediness–the play becomes easy to read as the characters refrain from moral change. Thus, through using the real-world to create her characters, Hellman sets her play up for the notable excellence of authentic characters.

Furthermore, the authenticity of the characters provides the play an overall realism due to their interconnecting human characteristic of consuming greed. Undoubtedly, greed is, for most of mankind, a temptation. For some, however, it becomes a consuming vice. In “The Little Foxes”, the coldness of the characters, resulting from their greed, is reflected in the play’s denial of off-stage space for the characters. In other words, there are no private spaces because, ultimately, “the characters have no authentic selves: what is seen on stage is what constitutes the character” (Hayes 8). Yet, paradoxically, the inauthentic nature of the characters is, in its resilient consistency, an aspect of authenticity. By never disconnecting themselves from their greed, the characters show no sign of redemption throughout the play. For example, Regina refuses to evolve from her use of manipulation. Throughout her life, she has always depended on her ability to control people and this is revealed through her words and actions. For instance, when her husband dies, leaving her behind very little money despite his abundance of wealth, she remains characteristically confident. Even when her beloved daughter declares that she will now be separating from her mother’s name and household, Regina tries to convince her by beseeching her: “Would you like to come and talk to me, Alexandra? Would you- would you like to sleep in my room tonight?” (Hellman 225). Thus, even as she attempts to manipulate the last person in her life into not leaving her, her character remains the same, greedily desiring only what she thinks is best. Similarly, Leo, Regina’s nephew, denies his involvement in stealing from Horace Marshall, even though he knows he did (218). Aware that his entire life could crumble if his greed is exposed, he remained consistent in his characteristic of cowardice, especially when it came to admitting his offense. In this way, the author uses the authenticity of her characters to provide realism to the play.

Overall, Hellman provides realistic characters by using her surroundings as a way to establish characters who retain their individual actions and behaviors, with a particular emphasis on their negative attributes. Thus, she makes the play easy to read as the characters carry distinct components of individualism. Additionally, the authenticity of her characters establishes the interconnecting human characteristic of greed. In their consistency, her theme of greed reveals its effect upon the characters, despite the reality that, throughout the play, they do not change. Finally, Hellman proves the literary quality of “The Little Foxes” through her characters, their consistency in both action and desire, providing an authentic and understandable storyline.

Works Cited
Adler, Jacob H., and Katherine Lederer. “Lillian Hellman.” Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition, Apr. 2003, pp. 1–8. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.as.... Accessed 10 May 2022.
Hayes, Richard, and Carl Rollyson. “‘These Three’: The Influence of William Wyler and Gregg Toland on Lillian Hellman.” Critical Insights: Lillian Hellman, Sept. 2011, pp. 157–68. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.as.... Accessed 10 May 2022.
Hellman, Lillian. Six Plays by Lillian Hellman. Random House, 1979.
The Little Foxes. Directed by William Wyler, RKO Pictures, 1941.

[Jasmine Walston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea what this was going to be about when I started reading it, but I really enjoyed it. Usually reading a play feels disjointed because it is meant to be acted out, but I could visualize everything happening quite clearly in my mind. I liked that I could make my own judgments on characters by what they said, without being strictly told by the author how to feel toward them, as a novel might do. That being said, it was quite obvious who the kind and unkind characters were, and where pity was due. My only complaint was the slurs which were used, though I understand that was common for the time and setting of the play, and that did make it even more clear which characters were not to be trusted (those completely lacking in compassion). I read this from start to finish without stopping.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Little Foxes is a play about family dynamics gone wrong set against the Old South, complete with hateful, greedy, rapacious family members. The characters are all disturbing in some way – the worst are really grasping and dishonest, the best are ignorant or naïve, and some are somewhat resigned to both behaviors. Birdie represents the last vestiges of southern aristocracy, and its victimization. Regina’s husband is resigned to events, and Regina’s daughter is the voice of integrity, albeit without any real power or authority. The play is Ibsenesque at many points, in that the villainy is presented as it is – it survives as part of the reality of life. The play is not entirely enjoyable as a result, but it is an American classic nonetheless.

[Nathan Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This play is about the wealthy and how they destroy the earth and those around them in order to line their pockets. It's about how having money leads to a cycle of needing money but also a reduction in happiness. And about what it takes in order to break from that cycle. It takes a willingness to be uncomfortable and to live with fear of the unknown. But don't we all know that already? In two hours I wanted more to be revealed about the human condition. I gained all I was going to get from this play within the first half. it just... didn't have enough to say.

[Meg Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play is INTENSE. The family is more akin to ravenous wolves than "little foxes." Almost every one of them lies, steals, even kills to advance their own interests. Some powerful themes, and Hellman's writing is psycho cool. I saw it onstage once in the Brechtian style. Decent. But I cried more reading it. (if tears are any judge of greatness)

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for my drama class in school. In fact, I had to memorize a monologue from this work. My favorite line from this play is "Are you scared Mama?" It was a very good look in to a very messed up family.

[E.M. Murren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful play about old southern families and the imposition of modern ... well modern for the time it was written... sensibilities. The rigidness of the old can't withstand the vigor of youth. Brilliantly written... the Bette Davis version of the movies is the best I've seen.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Saettare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greed and bald-faced self-interest plagues one of the theater's great dysfunctional families. Seems to sound familiar these days. Somehow Hellman managed to dig her teeth in timeless universals (as the greatest artists do) that speak at least to our current times in often startling ways.

The year is 1900 and the South is still playing catch up with the industrialized North. We open in a business dinner. The Hubbard boys (and their sister) are angling to bring a cotton mill to town. The investment, they hope, will make them rich. Oscar: “My brother always says that it’s folks like us who have struggled and fought to bring to our land some of the prosperity of your land.” Ben: “Some people call that patriotism.”

It’s avarice under the guise of patriotism, though to put it in context, they’re also trying to overturn the historical trend of Northern industrial domination over Southern resources.

Ben goes on to say that their aim is: “To bring the machine to the cotton, and not the cotton to the machine.”

The more sensible husband of Ben and Oscar’s sister Regina lashing out against their moneymaking schemes: “I’m sick of your brothers and their dirty tricks to make a dime. […] Why should I give you the money? (Very angrily) To pound the bones of the town, you and your brother, you wreck the town and and live on it. Not me.”

The legacy of slavery was just one iteration of the kind of exploitation that underlies the culture of capitalism in Hellman’s worldview.

Oscar’s alcoholic wife Birdie has a few sparks of conscience left in her no matter how dissipated she seems to grow by the day. In one happy moment, in the throes of a mildly drunken reverie, with her guard down because she is comfortable with her favorite members of the extended family (her brother-in-law Horace, her niece Alexandra and the wise old “servant” Addie), she rambles on about her mother: “[My brother] said Mama didn’t like [the Hubbards] because they kept a store, and he said that was old-fashioned of her. (Her face lights up) And then, and then, I saw Mama angry for the first time in my life. She said that wasn’t the reason. She said she was old-fashioned, but not that way. She said she was old-fashioned enough not to like people who killed animals they couldn’t use, and who made their money charging awful interest to poor, ignorant niggers and cheating them on what they bought. She was very angry, Mama was. I had never seen her face like that.”

To which the wise old “servant” Addie waxes philosophical: “Yeah, they got mighty well off cheating niggers. Well, there are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. Then there are people who stand around and watch them eat it. (Softly) Sometimes I think it ain’t right to stand and watch them do it.”

Addie issues one of the call to arms in the play. To stand up to the corrupt and disgusting. Not to do anything about it, to stand by and watch is to be complicit in the depravity of their crime.

All this capitalist speculation and exploitation is a sport not limited to men apparently in this world. Though the Hubbard siblings have a particular penchant for it. Their sister Regina is the ruthless “queen” of the situation and she is not going to let any scruples get in her way. She’s a strong woman but also a heartless one. She’ll let her husband croak without lifting a finger and then blackmail her brothers out of more than her fair share of the cake. It’s quite a scathing portrait of American capitalism set in the American South round about the year 1900. A new century is about to dawn on the country and its core values are under the microscope here. If the Hubbard family is any indication of the rest of the world in which they live, then it would seem that the future of the country lies in the hands of individuals who are clambering to sell their souls for an in on a lucrative investment, that is if they had a soul in the first place. It’s a pretty crummy lot.

Alexandra's little speech – just one among many gems – from the end of Act III: "All in one day: Addie said there were people who at the earth and other people who stood around and watched them do it. And now Uncle Ben said the same thing. Really, he said the same thing. (Tensely) Well, tell him for me, Mama, I'm not going to stand around and watch you do it. Tell him I'll be fighting (rises) some place where people don't just stand around and watch."

To which her mother Regina responds spitefully with a bit of hauteur: "Well, you have spirit, after all. I used to think you were all sugar water."

Is there but a glimmer of hope in the younger generation of this despicable southern aristocratic family? The end of the play suggests it, but the saga continues in the form of a prequel. To find out how Regina and Oscar and their kin became what they are, see Hellman’s “Another part of the Forest,” which is set this time about twenty years earlier in 1880.