Rent

The motif of “rent” has clear significance as the title of the play, and the opening number explores the immediate importance of rent in the lives of the main characters. Rent is the difference between living in an apartment and setting up a tent on the vacant lot, and Benny, who allowed Mark and Roger to live rent-free for a year, tries to coerce them to stop Maureen’s protest by flexing his power over their access to housing. As the musical demonstrates, rent, especially expensive rent, provides an obstacle for those who are trying to escape from poverty. It requires high payment for something that is essential to survival but provides no investment or asset for the renter. Rent is foundational in capitalist mechanisms that make advancement and property ownership difficult or impossible for much of the working class. Despite more recent criticisms of Rent that address the main characters’ refusal to acquire gainful employment and pay rent, the play also suggests that the bootstraps mentality of capitalism is faulty, and hard work hardly guarantees the ability to rise above poverty or even achieve self-sufficiency. Mimi, for example, works hard as an exotic dancer, which is a demanding and dangerous job.