Vivienne Torrance

artistic interpretation of Vivienne by Sharkie (@sharkdanko on tumblr)

### Family

Michael Witten (husband), Oleta (daughter), Nell (daughter), Elnora (grandmother), Constance (cat)

### Occupation

Child-bearer (formerly), florist (formerly)

### Known Physical Features

"cloud" of dark hair; broad shoulders; round cheeks

### First Mentioned

Season 3, Reel #1: July 3, 1953

**Vivienne** is a character in the third season of Within the Wires. She was the wife of Director of North American Trade, Michael Witten, and the mother of Oleta and Nell.

> "*"Are you ok?” I almost touched her hand, but stopped, not wanting to be forward with a stranger. But she just put her fingers in my palms and declared. “This pile of shit flipped me over a curb. Do you think I need stitches?”*" **--Michael in *Reel #4: February 15 1954***
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## Biography

### Meeting Michael

During early adulthood, Vivienne worked as a florist in South Sioux City. One day while cycling, her chain snapped outside a deli and she got flipped onto the curb, making her knuckles bleed. A man came over to ask if she was alright, and she asked him if she was going to need stitches on her hands. They exchanged introductions, and she learned that he was called Michael.

Vivienne excused herself, saying her girlfriend was waiting for her up the road. She started to jog away, but Michael called after her, and she waited. Michael became extremely flustered and blushed, which she noticed and pointed out. After he failed to construct a coherent sentence, she told him he could have the bike and left.

A year later, Michael came to the flower shop, although she didn't recognise him. He placed his order, and then excitedly showed her the work he had done on her old bike, and she suddenly remembered. She mistakenly thought that the refurbished bike was a present for her, and Michael let her keep it - she would later recall the incident as him insisting she keep the bike. The next day, they went on a date and eventually got married.

On their first anniversary, Vivienne and Michael took a trip and saw the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. There is a photo in which Michael looks stiff and terrified but Vivienne looks carefree with a big grin on her face, jumping in what Michael describes as a jeté*.* At first he hated the photo, but over the years started to love it just as Vivi did.

After moving to St Louis, Michael worked under a woman who mistreated her employees, and Vivienne encouraged him to keep a journal of his feelings about the job. He re-read the notes after a year and realised how little of what had happened was his fault.

### Childbearing

In 1953, Vivienne and Michael had decided to go ahead with a fertilisation procedure that would cause her to become pregnant. She was to be paid for doing this, and the procedure would be supervised by Dr Helena Wood.

On August 13, 1953, Vivienne and Michael found an injured cat, which they subsequently adopted. They named the cat Constance, and Michael asked Amy, his secretary, to embroider her name on a piece of orange fabric that would act as a bandanna.

On the weekend of that week, Bernice Jones and her (presumed) husband Miguel came to dinner at Vivienne and Michael's house. They brought Malborough wine and a jazz record which was greatly appreciated. Bernice was impressed and somewhat awed by Vivi's modern art collection, which she was very proud of. The collection included an original Claudia Atieno piece, and its recognition by Bernice caused Vivi to light up. After their visit, Vivienne and Michael discussed what they could do to help struggling artists.

On November 26, 1953, Michael inquired to Amy about the effects of declawing cats, as there had been some damage to an antique tapestry recovered from Belgium during the Reckoning. He also asked if there was a way to stop hairballs from happening, as although Vivienne loved Constance, she was going to ruin their rug.

In January of 1954, Vivienne became licensed to become a child-bearer for the Society. She was excited to start her new career. At some point, Dr Wood advised her to stop smoking cigarettes as it was in violation of her repopulation contract during pregnancy. Michael said that Vivienne "mostly" stopped smoking.

During March of 1954, Michael and Vivienne noticed that they were being followed by men in suits and hats, often walking unpleasant dogs. On the 23rd of March, they went out to a gallery opening and were relieved not to see anybody following them. However, when they got home, they found that the front door was unlocked. Taking knives from the kitchen, they searched the house, but found no intruder, or anything missing. It was then that Vivienne noticed that Constance was missing, and she called around the neighbours to ask if they had seen her, although they didn't answer their phones.

Around 11pm, they were still awake and too scared to sleep, when they heard a scratching at the door. It was Connie returned, but her left ear had been cut off. Vivi said that she must have got in a fight and some mean animal had taken her ear clean off. They patched her up and made an appointment with the vet.

Their house was broken into twice more, and one of the times the intruder cut holes in the left breasts of Vivienne's dresses, which was perceived as a threatening message. After this, she refused to stay in the house, and Michael gave her cash and told her to get several different cabs to a hotel. He also advised her to wear a wig and carry a knife. She snapped at Michael when he would not let her take Connie, which he believed would give her away too much.

He considered sending her out of Chicago for her stay in a maternity centre for the remainder of her pregnancy, possibly south closer to Bernice and Miguel. He did not consult Vivienne about this, as he had not contacted her since she left out of fear for giving away her location.

Michael and Vivienne had a long goodbye at the Pregnancy Centre at Wabash, believing that they would not see each other again for at least three months. However, evidence of Michael's innocence mysteriously appeared in their home shortly after he returned, and Dr. Wood gave him permission to visit the Centre to deliver the news. Vivienne was thrilled, and he hugged her with his whole body while sobbing into her extremely pregnant belly.

In September of 1954, Vivienne gave birth to her first child. Although she was not allowed to name the baby, the Child Development representative took their suggestions. He had to reject Vivi's, Elnora, because it was also the name of her grandmother, but he seemed to like Michael's suggestion of Nell. For a month after the birth, Vivienne had to stay in the Child Development Centre for blood tests and to breast feed the baby before they would be separated.

Vivienne had a second child in 1958 after moving to Toronto, which was a more difficult process than the first. The consultant she saw was less friendly than Dr. Wood, and it didn't seem like anyone cared about her outside of her pregnancy. She and Michael had to spend six months with hardly any contact, because she had been diagnosed with a mild heart condition and had to be kept more isolated while they treated it. The baby girl she gave birth to was more difficult to let go of than Nell. Even three years later, Michael still sometimes overheard her making calls to government offices trying to track her daughter down - the rules of the repopulation contract seemed to no longer mattered to her, if they ever had.

In June of 1961, Vivienne and Michael received a painting that Bernice had commissioned from Claudia Atieno. It depicted Vivienne smiling as if she was holding back a laugh, holding Connie who looked happy and safe, to be in "mom's" lap.

## Additional info

* The name "Vivienne" comes from the Latin name "Vivianus" meaning "alive"
* Vivienne took an interest in many contemporary cultural practices such as art, jazz, and new science (like DNA). She was also the one who got Michael to try espresso, and was later mentioned to be very good at making coffee.
* She liked yellow lilacs (primrose lilacs) that smelled like burnt butter, black pepper and molasses.
* Michael mentioned that he was the more organised out of the two of them.
* Vivienne enjoyed watching and possibly performing dance, particularly ballet.
* In 1953 Vivienne owned a collection of modern art that she was proud to cultivate, including a piece by Claudia Atieno. Sometime in the next eight years, Bernice Jones would commission a portrait of Vivienne holding her cat, Connie, which was presumably the painting that would eventually become known as "Self-Portrait with Cat" by Atieno.
	+ The fact that the subject of this painting is easily mistakable for Claudia Atieno herself could imply that she and Vivienne were identical twins or at least sisters.
	+ It's possible that other works of Atieno's believed to be self-portraits, such as "Child and Damselfly", were also in fact depicting Vivienne.

## Reference

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Season 3, Reel #4: February 15, 1954
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Season 3, Reel #9: September 13, 1954
3. ↑ Season 3, Reel #5: March 2, 1954
4. ↑ Season 3, Reel #1: July 3, 1953
5. ↑ Season 3, Reel #2: August 13, 1953
6. ↑ Season 3, Reel #3: November 26, 1953
7. ↑ Season 3, Reel #6: March 24, 1954
8. ↑ Season 3, Reel #8: April 20, 1954
9. ↑ Season 3, Reel #10: June 21, 1961