"have a baby" is useful here.
- Lenny, let's have a baby. - Hey!Mighty Aphrodite · 1995 — Chapter 1 of 15 · 3'57" · B2
Lenny and Amanda Debate a Baby, Explained: out of left field
Amanda suddenly wants a baby, and Lenny stalls: he can't take a year off, won't adopt, and fears getting 'a bad seed' who might split their heads open with an axe. Their friends joke that he's paranoid, while the Greek chorus wonders why a child is coming 'out of left field' now.
What happens
At dinner, Amanda tells Lenny she wants a baby. He resists: she never wanted one before, he can't give up a year of work, and he refuses to adopt. The friends weigh in, and the Greek chorus of Laius and Jocasta comments on parenthood, wondering whether the sudden wish is really about filling a void in the marriage.
Listen for
chopped livermaking noise aboutpass them onpride of ownership
00:00 / 03:57Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
out of left field
from nowhere, unexpected
The chorus asks why a child now, from left field.
The resignation came out of left field after a quiet quarter.
Also in this scene
- chopped liver
someone treated as leftover
- making noise about
start agitating for something
- pass them on
hand something down
- pride of ownership
the dignity of owning it
- morning sickness
nausea in early pregnancy
Everything marked in this scene
29 notes across 90 lines
Practice have a baby with one clear stress group.
- Lenny, let's have a baby. - Hey!"had children" is useful here.
- No, it'd be fun. - Have you ever had children?Practice do you mean with one clear stress group.
What do you mean, "why not?" 'Cause my first wife didn't want to have a child."Give him a break" is useful here.
- You should have kids. - It's like stereo. Give him a break.children — casual; looser than children
- You should have kids. - It's like stereo. Give him a break.start agitating for something
He lists her old nos, then this sudden noise about a child.
Now suddenly she's making noise about having a kid and moving to Tribeca."swing it" is useful here. have a kid without pregnancy
How do you plan to swing it without being pregnant? I'm curious.preposition + gerund: The phrase without being pregnant shapes the meaning of the line.
How do you plan to swing it without being pregnant? I'm curious.Practice plan to with one clear stress group.
How do you plan to swing it without being pregnant? I'm curious.crazy — blunt disagreement among friends
- You must be nuts. With, with my genes? - Yeah?hand something down
He refuses adoption so his prize genes can be handed on.
- I want to pass them on. - No, that's crazy. No, the-- It's for the same reason we don't lease a car, okay?the dignity of owning it
He likens a child to a car you would not lease.
- 'Cause it's pride of ownership. - Okay."full of" is useful here.
It's crazy 'cause the world is full of needy kids.when-clause: The phrase when there are thousands of parent-less kids shapes the meaning of the line.
Why overpopulate the world when there are thousands of parent-less kids?the topic is finished
He shuts the adoption talk with a clerk's stamp.
Forget it. Subject is closed. I don't wanna-- I'd be afraid that I might get a bad seed.object clause: The phrase that I might get a bad seed shapes the meaning of the line.
Forget it. Subject is closed. I don't wanna-- I'd be afraid that I might get a bad seed."split our head open" is useful here. adoption fear as horror
and then he turns 13, we'd go to sleep at night, he'd split our head open with an axe."vivid imagination" is useful here.
You know Lenny's got a vivid imagination.the man — informal, everyday talk
Let the guy have a short stop or a point guard, will ya?"break your record" is useful here.
You pay, you break your record.Practice more and you with one clear stress group.
You-- One more and you break DiMaggio's record-- 56 straight."without realizing" is useful here.
and did, without realizing, hasten with me, his loving mother, to lustful bed.participial phrase: The phrase without realizing shapes the meaning of the line.
and did, without realizing, hasten with me, his loving mother, to lustful bed."move out" is useful here.
Children grow up; they move out."once in a while" is useful here.
You'd think once in a while they'd pick up a phone.Practice pick up a with one clear stress group.
You'd think once in a while they'd pick up a phone."speculating on" is useful here.
We're all just speculating on possible motives."slept with" is useful here. Oedipus: bed with his mother
and slept with his mother.Lenny and Amanda Debate a Baby, explained
What's really going on
The scene takes a normal couple's argument and lets tragedy mock it from the wings. Amanda wants a child; Lenny, who never complained before, suddenly finds every reason against it — time, adoption, even the fear of 'a bad seed' who will grow up to kill them. 'And why a child now, out of left field?' the chorus asks, and the question is the point: the wish arrives without warning, so everyone treats it as suspicious. The joke is the mismatch of scale. Their small argument is judged by the story of Oedipus, where having a son really does lead to murder and incest. Yet the chorus also concedes 'a woman's urge to motherhood is old as the earth,' which quietly sides with Amanda. Comedy and tragedy are watching the same dinner.
Theme
MarriageA dinner-table talk about a baby becomes a test of a marriage, with each partner reading the other's motives.
ParenthoodThe wish for a child is treated as suspicious, and the chorus ties it to fate, void-filling, and fear of the child itself.
What you'll learn
- Debate having children with natural questions
- Catch the complaint in make noise about
- Understand pride of ownership as ironic
- Use out of left field for surprise
- Notice how "chopped liver" changes the exchange.
Listen for
- have a baby — Practice have a baby with one clear stress group.
- do you mean — Practice do you mean with one clear stress group.
- plan to — Practice plan to with one clear stress group.
- more and you — Practice more and you with one clear stress group.
Why overpopulate the world when there are thousands of parent-less kids?Amanda's pro-adoption argument: since so many children already need homes, having another baby is selfish.
and then he turns 13, we'd go to sleep at night, he'd split our head open with an axe.Lenny's dark fantasy about the adopted child he fears — a comic exaggeration of his fear of an unknown kid's nature.
A woman's urge to motherhood is old as the earth.The chorus's defense of Amanda's wish: it is natural and ancient, not something to be argued away.
You'd think once in a while they'd pick up a phone.The chorus's wry note on children growing up and moving away — parenthood as loss, not just joy.
I love it. You get treated like the Queen of England.Amanda's reason for liking pregnancy: the attention and pampering that come with it.
Questions about this scene
Why does Lenny suddenly doubt having a baby?
He says he can't take a year off work and refuses to adopt, and he fears an adopted child's unknown nature. Amanda points out he never wanted a child before either.
Why does Amanda want to adopt instead of having a baby?
She argues the world already has thousands of parent-less children, so adopting makes more sense than adding another baby — though Lenny suspects she just wants to avoid pregnancy.
What is the Greek chorus doing in this scene?
The chorus of Laius, Jocasta, and Tiresias comments on the couple's argument from a mythic distance, comparing it to the tragedy of Oedipus.
What does 'a bad seed' mean?
It means a child thought to be bad by nature, not by upbringing. Lenny uses it to explain his fear of adopting a stranger's child.
Does the scene end with them deciding anything?
No. They only stop arguing and ask for the check. The baby question is left open, which is why the chorus keeps speculating about their motives.
Mighty Aphrodite · 15 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 2put my foot downLenny and Amanda Name the Baby
Watching · Chapter 1out of left fieldLenny and Amanda Debate a Baby
Chapter 2put my foot downLenny and Amanda Name the Baby
Chapter 3old passionLenny and Amanda's Hamptons Fight
Chapter 4Let sleeping dogs lieLenny Wants to Find Max's Mother
Chapter 5in the ballparkLenny Meets Linda Ash
Chapter 6gone straightLinda Tells Lenny Her Backstory
Chapter 7long shotLenny and Linda at the Races
Chapter 8a hundred percent definiteLinda Reveals She Gave Up a Child
Chapter 9a way with wordsLinda Asks Lenny for a Favor
Chapter 10level with youLenny Negotiates With Ricky
Chapter 11gave up on youLinda Says She's Starting Over
Chapter 12killer instinctLenny Visits the Boxing Gym
Chapter 13drove me up the wallLenny Sets Linda Up With a Farmer
Chapter 14superfluousLinda and Kevin's Blind Date
Chapter 15flew off the handleKevin Blows Up at LennyChapter 1 of 15 · about 50 min to go