The Return of Peter Grimm

"The Return of Peter Grimm" by David Belasco is a play from the early 1900s that asks big questions about love, family, and what happens after we die. The main guy, Peter Grimm, is a friendly, old-school dude who owns a garden and really wants his niece Catherine to find love and get married inside the family. As the story goes on, Peter makes us really think about death and what might happen in the afterlife, especially when he comes back as a ghost after he dies. At the beginning of the play, Peter is at home with his family and workers shown in a nice, cozy way. We are introduced to James, his helper, and Frederik, his nephew, along with Catherine, who Peter wants to see get married. The first part of the play focuses on how much Peter means to everyone around him, like how much he cares for the gardens, how he helps out the community with money, and how close he is to his family. Peter doesn't realize he's getting sick, we see this in talks with James and the doctor. This sets up the main conflict about Peter's future and how much he wants to stay connected to his loved ones.