Wit Prewrite

It feels kind of weird copying my whole essay to a blog post... But here we are! Very briefly edited version of my essay:

In Margaret Edson's play "Wit," a professor Vivian Bearing is diagnosed with stage-four ovarian cancer. She experiences physical and emotional trauma but is assisted through the process by her ambitious but narcissistic research doctor Jason Posner and her selfless nurse Susie Monahan. Vivian experiences a transformation as she faces her trial with the help and perspective of her life's work--the poetry of John Donne. One of her previous students was, in fact, her doctor Jason, who dedicated himself just as devotedly to her passion--cancer research. But although both of these characters ave great experience and intelligence, neither Jason nor Vivian could have found the answer to their most important questions because of their blinding pride and their solitary search.
Vivian Bearing was no doubt a great contributor to the research of John Donne's poems. She began early as a student struggling to find meaning in these poems. She continued her search into her career. In her classes, she taught each poem with precision. She expected complete understanding from her students, and set the example by continuously writing papers and researching about these great poems.
However, her success came with the price of constant dissatisfaction. She was never pleased with her students' work and never satisfied with her own evaluations. The poems were her world, but they presented questions that could never be answered. Jason, as a former student, explained to Susie that Donne's poems struggled with questions of salvation but could only quantify the possibilities, not bring any meaning. Donne's search--and Vivian's--could never be over. She sacrificed too much for too little as she gave up creating meaningful relationship. Even while in school, when she came across a difficult poem, she retreated into the library to figure it out for himself. She chose to walk this endless path alone.
Jason, too, was a researcher with experience and incredible skill. He was ambitious; he took the three most difficult college course--one of them Professor Bearing's--just to prove that he could. He was a focused researcher and was confident in his vast medical knowledge. Vivian's lead doctor trusted Jason to be a contributing member to this research process.
But just like the cancer that he studied so enthusiastically, Jason over-expanded himself. When knowledge was available to be found, there were no boundaries in his mind, not even a person's well-being. Jason despised working with others because he felt they were holding him back--but he was too proud to take their advice and too selfish to care how they felt. When treating Vivian, he saw only a tool of research, not a person with limits and emotions, and this was his downfall. He ignored the wise council of others to take Vivian's rapidly deteriorating health into account, but he refused only for the sake of his research, and this is what caused Vivian's eventual death. This source of research was lost, and ultimately Jason's test failed because of his stubborn pride and completely boundless ambition.
Ultimately, both Vivian and Jason sought for a prize beyond personal intellect, though this was the medium through which they sought-they were looking for satisfaction and happiness. But neither of them could ever find it this way. They both refused personal relationships and outside help, which doomed them to failure. Because of their pride and solo searching, not even their great intelligence and ambition could allow either Vivian Bearing or Jason Posner to find the answers to their deepest questions.