In the drama play Proof, the main character, Catherine, questions whether or not she may inherit her father’s mental illness. Catherine’s father, Robert, was a mathematical genius but, he eventually developed a mental illness. For this reason, Catherine had to take some time off of school so that she could care for her father at home, where he felt more comfortable. After her father’s death, Catherine started to worry about herself sealing the same fate as her father, with a mental illness. She struggled with the idea that she might inherit this illness but not the idea that she inherited her father’s genius instead. Catherine has inherited her father’s mathematical genius because math comes naturally to her, she does not have trouble remembering or learning mathematics, and she created the proof.…show more content… ROBERT: 12 cubed plus 1 cubed equals 1729.
CATHERINE: And 10 cubed plus 9 cubed. Yes, we’ve got it, thank you.
ROBERT: You see? Even your depression is mathematical. Stop moping around and get to work. The kind of potential you have- (1184-1185).
Even though Catherine is depressed because of her father’s death, she still has mathematical thoughts that come naturally to her, whereas to other individuals these kind of thoughts would be difficult to understand in general. This shows that Catherine still has the ability to perform mathematical calculations in her head with no effort at all, even when she is going through a challenging time, such as mourning her father’s death. Furthermore, apart from Catherine’s naturally ability to work with mathematics naturally, she can also internalize and remember mathematical rules with ease. She holds a great talent for remembering complex mathematical numbers. For instance, while talking to Hal, Robert’s former student, she demonstrates that she remembers these complex numbers. In their conversation, Catherine and Hal say:
HAL: Germain Primes.
CATHERINE:
