Inverted Love

Milton's famous line, "One can make a hell of heaven and a heaven of hell" is the motto of the matron of the upscale Dudleys. She feels that she has succeeded in creating a fine world for her family. She is proud of her four sons until she discovers that one son is perverted, another son is an adulterer, a third son is arrested in possession of drugs and the forth son marries into an immoral family that lives only for money. She realizes that her faith and moral scruples have deceived her. They did not prepare her for the modern world. She wants understanding, but can only find confusion and dereliction. Accepting the true nature of her sons forces her into unusual situations. Formidable circumstances lead her into incest in an effort to save one son. In doing so, she fears that she will lose the respect and love of the others? Mrs. Dudley sacrifices her own integrity for a son's salvation and faces the shame of the world and the loss of her own self esteem. Yet again her motto comforts her and she courageously accepts her fate.