Diary Of Anne Frank Character Traits

In the two-act play of The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Mrs. Frank enters the Secret Annex with her husband and two daughters, Margot and Anne. Margot is a mature, quiet, and obedient child; on the contrary, Anne is out-going, flirtatious, and accomplishes things her way. Consequently, due to Margot's more desirable character traits, Mrs. Frank appreciates her older daughter more than Anne. Mrs. Frank's obsession of favoring Margot over Anne is apparent in Act 1, yet her unhealthy habit improves in Act 2 by showing an equal amount of concern amongst her two daughters. Since Mrs. Frank constantly compares her two daughters, it is obvious that she has a tendency to favor others. For example, when Anne impertinently
Frank's tendency to rank her daughters diminishes by her effort to support Anne and her needs. Furthermore, when Mrs. Van Daan displeasingly classifies Anne's approach towards Peter as untraditional, Mrs. Frank disagrees with her statement by kindly claiming, "You know how young people like to feel that they have secrets. Peter's room is the only place where they can talk" (Goodrich 2.2). From this, it is clear that Mrs. Frank attempts to rationalize Anne's actions in order for Mrs. Van Daan to realize the importance of teenagers being able to express their feelings amongst themselves. Therefore, Mrs. Frank's response demonstrates that she approves of Anne's doings as long as it fills her daughter with content; nevertheless, Mrs. Frank would have thought of Anne's private discussions with Peter as irregular and immature a while ago. Similarly, when Mrs. Frank discovers Mr. Van Daan stealing a portion of the fugitives' food in the middle of the night, she bitterly cries, "I see the children getting thinner and thinner... And you come in the night and steal food that should go to them" (Goodrich 2.3). It is conspicuous that Mrs. Frank disrespects Mr. Van Daan's theft of food out of the concern that her daughters and Peter do not receive the right amount of nutrition they need for their age. This is important because it proves that regardless of the numerous ways Anne frustrates her mother, it does not cause Mrs. Frank to believe that Margot, the daughter who has a strong bond with her mother, needs the nourishment more than Anne does. Finally, the legendary writer's mother's equal protection over the youthful runaways and her approval of her daughter having secret conversations with the only young male in the Secret Annex justifies that her favoritism over one child no longer