The Sisters Rosensweig

The Sisters Rosensweig is a contemporary play by Wendy Wasserstein, first performed in 1992. It follows the complicated lives of three middle-aged Jewish-Americans. Critics hailed it as one of the first plays to focus primarily on middle-aged women; it won Wasserstein the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in American Theatre. Wasserstein was a renowned playwright best known for her feminist and family-based themes. She also taught as the Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Wasserstein said she wrote the play to celebrate her Jewish heritage and what it means to be a woman. She died of lymphoma in 2006.

The Sisters Rosensweig is set in London during the 1990s. The three main characters are sisters Sara Goode, Pfeni Rosensweig, and Gorgeous Teitelbaum. In her mid-fifties, Sara is the eldest sibling with a successful banking career behind her. Pfeni writes travel books for a living, spending most of her time on the road. Gorgeous is unemployed because she spends her days looking after her family. She is the most traditionally Jewish of the sisters.

When the novel opens, the three sisters meet in Sara’s apartment for her fifty-fourth birthday. Although it is Sara’s special day, Gorgeous has news for everyone. Although she prides herself on being a housewife, she is now going to work as an agony aunt on a local cable channel in America. She plans to use the extra cash to treat herself to nice things because all her husband’s money goes towards looking after the children. The sisters approve.



Meanwhile, Pfeni speaks with Sara’s children. She knows they shouldn’t be in London. Back home to watch music recitals, they’re miserable. Pfeni doesn’t understand why Sara insists on keeping them in England when they could build up so much life experience overseas. Sara says she doesn’t want her children to turn out flighty like Pfeni who travels so much because she hates commitment; this is no way to live.

Pfeni won’t let up because she knows that Tess, Sara’s eldest daughter, is unhappy in London. She is planning to marry Tom who is stable and grounded, but of whom Sara doesn’t approve. Pfeni encourages Tess to stand up for herself and to do what makes her happy. Sara, meanwhile, tells Pfeni to mind her own business, but she reluctantly agrees to arrange a dinner with Tom. She can’t risk losing Tess’s love.

Geoffrey, Pfeni’s boyfriend, shows up. He introduces them to Merv. When Merv sees Sara, he is instantly taken with her. He finds her ambition and success very attractive. Sara isn’t interested in him. She’s angry that Geoffrey invited this man to her birthday dinner and also because it seems Geoffrey and Merv are intimate, but he’s supposed to be seeing Pfeni.



Gorgeous questions Geoffrey about Pfeni. He says there is nothing Pfeni wants that he doesn’t give her; a comfortable relationship with marriage and children isn’t for them. Gorgeous worries that Pfeni might not feel the same way although she pretends that she is fine with it.

The next morning, everyone is in for a surprise when they find out that Sara slept with Merv. She says that she only used him, she doesn’t care about him. Tom shows up and Tess leaves with him. She claims that she doesn’t want her mother’s cold-heartedness rubbing off on her. Merv finds out how Sara feels, and he leaves, too.

Geoffrey then confronts Pfeni, telling her how much he loves Merv. He hates seeing Merv so unhappy and he wants to sleep with him. Pfeni knows that Geoffrey slept with Merv a long time ago, but she thought it was over. Now she knows how Geoffrey really feels, she sends him away. Gorgeous doesn’t know what to make of her two sisters and how they live their lives.



Sara confronts Gorgeous for making her feel inferior. She says that Gorgeous is lucky to have a man who looks after his family and pays for everything; Sara has no choice but to look after her own family. Gorgeous shocks everyone by declaring that her husband lost his job two years ago, and this is the real reason why she’s working on the cable channel.

Sara feels bad that Gorgeous didn’t feel she could tell her sisters this. Pfeni hears Tess returning and asks her why she is back so soon. Tess admits that she doesn’t know what to do with her life and needs time to clear her head. Pfeni decides that the sooner she is back on the road, away from all this emotional drama, the better.

Merv comes back with a gift for Gorgeous, wishing her luck with her husband. He asks Sara for another chance, and she admits that she wants to give it a go. She invites Merv to come over for a private dinner to see where things lead. Tess breaks up with Tom and plans to return to America without him. Sara tells her daughter that she is proud of her.