One weekend during a gathering of intellectuals for political deliberation, Art did something his wife Mary thought he should not have done. Considering the boredom that hangs like a fog over these events, perhaps his wife might have excused his “sin.” But he told me Mary was unyielding. What astonished me was that Art appeared to agree with his wife. He paid for his “lapse” without resentment strong enough to cause a rebellion. If we are to judge solely from his next play, The Crucible, we would have to say that Art did think of himself as a sinner; the central character in it expresses contrition for a single act of infidelity. I had to guess that Art was publicly apologizing to his wife for what he’d done.