1) Catherine is grieving the loss of her famous mathematician father and is depressed. 2) Hal, one of her father's former students, wants to examine his notebooks and works to understand his genius. 3) Catherine is reluctant to share her father's notebooks but eventually gives in, though she claims one notebook as her own work, which Hal and her sister Claire doubt. 4) An argument ensues over whether Catherine could have done the work, leading her to question herself and reconsider her sister's urging to move on from her father's death.

1. Proof By: David Auburn LivFavaro

2. Exposition: Setting: Chicago Time Setting: Present Day Major Character:: Catherine : twenty five year old daughter of Robert. A mathematical genius just like her father Hal: one of Robert’s old students who finds Catherine after her father’s death and wants to look at his work. Robert: Catherine & Claire(Catherine’s sister)’s father : a mathematic genius, who has passed away. Claire: Catherine’s successful and happy sister who lives in NY with her fiancé, Mitch. She is trying to help Catherine out of her depression.

3. Catherine and Claire’s famous mathematician father, has already passed away before the play begins so Catherine is seen in a state of depression and Claire is only trying to help. Hal shows up and talks to Catherine about her father and his works and how much he had admired everything he taught him. Catherine really just wants Hal to leave her alone, but she ends up somewhat falling for him along the way. Hal tries to get Catherine to tell him more and show him more of her father’s notebooks and she finally gives in. When Hal finds a notebook with work in it that Catherine said she had done herself, he doesn’t believe her at all along with Claire , Catherine’s sister.

4. Catherine is upset by them not believing that she could have done the work all by herself so she gets into an argument with her sister and Hal. When Catherine once again decides to speak with her sister, Claire asks her to come back to New York City to be with her and Mitch. Catherine sees Hal again, allowing him to have the notebook and tells him to figure everything out.

5. Conflct: Catherine didn’t want her father’s memories and hard work to be ruined by Hal going through all his belongings and taking what she had left of him.

6. Protagonist: catherine I would say that Catherine became a round character during the course of the play. She encountered the problem of her father passing on and Hal coming into her life. She learned that maybe she should have listened to her father when he told her she was smart and she should have continued with school after he passed.