“To Follow Pleasure’s Sway”: Atomism in Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House

Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House is a study in transformation. Its protagonist, Lane, and her sister, Virginia, share a deep attachment to orderliness, which is signalled on stage by their ties to neatly organized everyday objects. This attachment masks a fear of mutability, and the play tracks them as they learn to accept chance, face death, and embrace joy. The work of the first-century BCE Roman philosopher Lucretius helps explain the implications of this shift. His De rerum natura demonstrates that the universe’s atoms are constantly in flux, that the soul dies with the body, and that tranquility is found in the pursuit of desire. On stage, this philosophy is represented through Ruhl’s manipulation of theatrical materiality and through the characters Matilde and Ana, who help the sisters embrace a mutable world. This shift culminates in a final scene in which the women embrace death as the play translates Lucretian philosophy for contemporary audiences.