The Floating Rib: Whose Child is This? by Arda Darakjian Clark

The lineage of a soap opera character is significant. Regardless of the wealth or social position of the character or the specific stakes involved, the maternity and paternity of a character define and redefine the relationship of the character to all the other characters in the soap. Relations are so important in soap operas that soap magazines frequently feature genealogical charts showing how characters and families are related to one another. Soaps, after all, are primarily about familial, intimate interactions and the impact those interactions have on the individuals and the community portrayed in the drama.

Given the significance of lineage, parentage mysteries are staples in soap operas. At any time, on any soap, the true parentage of at least one character is in question. Over time, the parentage of most of the characters may come into question. On General Hospital, the lineage of about a third of the current characters is or has been a mystery: AJ, Alexis, Carly, Felicia, Justus, Katherine, Laura, Lucas, Michael Morgan, and Nikolas.

Either the maternity or the paternity (or both) of the character may be questioned. A maternity story typically involves a woman who has given a child up for adoption (or her baby has been switched at birth) and has had no contact with the child. The mystery is resolved by the mother's discovery that a particular person is indeed her child. Lesley's discovery of Laura as her daughter and Bobbie's discovery of Carly as her daughter are both examples of such maternity storylines.

A maternity mystery requires a mother and a child, at least one of whom is unaware of their relationship. Other characters may know the secret and may be involved in keeping the mother and child apart, but the mystery dynamic requires only the mother and child. In the examples of Lesley/Laura and Bobbie/Carly, the maternity mystery replays the Demeter and Persephone myth, with the time apart representing the abduction of Persephone and the discovery of the truth representing Persephone's return to her mother. (Although I haven't researched this thoroughly, maternal mysteries on soaps seem to involve a mother and a daughter, not a son. Other maternity stories that come to mind are Viki/Megan from One Life to Live, and Erica/Kendall from All My Children. Even the recent Veronica/Brenda story on General Hospital, though not treated for long as a mystery, replays the Demeter/Persephone myth.)

There is no need for a father figure in such a maternity story. The identity of the father may or may not be known, but the father figure remains largely outside the story, unexplored. In a paternity mystery, on the other hand, one needs a mother, a child, a true (biological) father and an assumed father, who may or may not be the mother's betrayed partner. The focus of such a story is "who's the real father" and the mother plays a key role in knowing or at least suspecting who the father is. (One exception to the significance of the mother in the paternity story was Sean Donely's discovery that Connor was his son. In that story, neither the mother nor the assumed father--if there was one--was significant. The Sean/Connor story parallels the maternity mystery.)

In reviewing paternity mysteries on General Hospital, I was struck by the similarities in the stories of AJ, Michael Morgan, and Nikolas. Not only do their stories share the common elements of a paternity mystery, but there are other remarkable similarities. I will present a brief synopsis of each paternity story, identifying the "key players" in each tale. Then I will discuss other common themes and parallels.

AJ's mother is Monica; the assumed father and Monica's partner is Alan; the suspected true father is Rick. Monica was married to Alan, and believing that Rick was the father, tried to keep Alan from finding out the truth. Alan and Rick both shared Monica's suspicion that Rick was the father, and became rivals for Monica's love and AJ's custody. Tests eventually proved that AJ was indeed Alan's son.

Michael's mother is Carly; the father identified by Carly is Jason; the true father is Jason's brother AJ; and the originally assumed father and Carly's betrayed partner is Tony. Initially, Carly was not certain who was the father of her child. She suspected that the father was AJ, and worked diligently to keep the truth from Tony as well as AJ. When Carly realized that both Tony and AJ would take her child away from her, she identified Jason as the father, knowing that Jason could not be the father. When tests proved that Tony was not the father, Carly (and Jason and later Robin) realized that AJ is Michael's father.

Michael's paternity mystery is two-tiered. Initially, Tony was the assumed father, stung by Carly's betrayal and the loss of a son he hoped to raise. Currently, Jason, who has come to love Michael, is in the role of the assumed father. The truth will eventually come out, and Jason will then be in the role of the betrayed partner, suffering from the loss of Michael.

Nikolas's mother is Laura; the assumed father is Stavros; the true father is Stefan; the betrayed partners are Stavros (in the past) and Luke (in the present). Laura had been kidnapped by the Cassadines and forced to marry Stavros, whom she detested. During her captivity, having received word that Luke was dead, she had an affair with Stefan, Stavros's brother. Laura subsequently gave birth to Nikolas, not knowing whether Stavros or Stefan was the father. She thereafter escaped from the Cassadines, having entrusted Stefan with the care of Nikolas.

In addition to the recurring "key players," there are other noteworthy similarities in these tales. All three mothers--Monica, Carly, Laura--have been involved in parentage mysteries of their own. Monica was a foundling, raised by nuns. Carly and Laura had both been adopted at birth and were subsequently re-united with their biological mothers. Perhaps not surprisingly, all the mothers lie about the paternity of their children to shield themselves from the wrath of their partners as well as to protect the children from harm.

Additionally, in all the tales, a protective male adult undertakes the care of the child. When AJ needed surgery, Rick assumed the task, while Alan pretended to be unavailable. Jason purports to be Michael's father in order to protect the child from the influence of the Quartermaines. Stefan, on the other hand, purports to not be Nikolas's father, in order to protect Nikolas's life and his status as the Cassadine heir.

But the most significant correspondence in these tales is the juxtaposition of the theme of sibling rivalry with the paternity mystery. This juxtaposition is weakest in AJ's tale, but nonetheless the mother figure, Monica, was romantically involved with the brothers Rick and Jeff Webber. Although her marriage to Jeff had already ended at the time of AJ's paternity mystery, Rick and Jeff had previously been rivals for Monica's love.

Laura slept with both Stefan and Stavros, and conceived a child not knowing which of the brothers was the father. Since Nikolas was conceived off-screen, and since viewers have had no indication that Stavros ever suspected Laura and Stefan's affair, there have been no specific scenes or references of an acknowledged rivalry for Laura between Stefan and Stavros. But it is abundantly clear from Helena's disdain of Stefan and her adoration of Stavros (and his presumed son Nikolas) that the brothers were constantly compared to one another and pitted against each other.

Michael's tale provides the fullest juxtaposition of the sibling rivalry theme with the paternity mystery. Jason has consented to pose as Michael's father and thereby deprive his brother AJ from the company of his son. Initially Jason merely wanted to help his friend Carly; now he has come to love Michael deeply and wants to raise him as his own son. While Jason is not motivated by sibling rivalry in keeping Michael away from AJ, the underlying relationship between AJ and Jason as brothers cannot be ignored. The validity of the relationship is especially true when viewed from AJ's perspective. Since his accident, Jason has effectively divorced the Quartermaines and is barely aware of AJ as his brother. AJ, however, is only too aware of his relationship to his brother. It was AJ who caused the car accident that damaged Jason's brain and destroyed his memory. Although Jason himself does not condemn AJ's drunken negligence, AJ is consumed by his guilt and chagrined by the frequent reminders from the other Quartermaines that he failed as his brother's keeper. Even prior to the accident, the brothers' roles in the family were sharply defined: AJ was the drunken recalcitrant son, while Jason was the good son, excelling in all his endeavors.

The sibling rivalry theme is, of course, as old as "Genesis." Cain killed Abel, and protested that he was not his brother's keeper. Shakespeare's Claudius killed his brother and married his widow, Gertrude. The theme of brothers in rivalry for the same woman has been repeated from the House of Atreus to the House of Cassadine. Atreus's wife Aerope had an affair with Atreus's brother, Thyestes. Stavros's wife Laura had an affair with Stavros's brother, Stefan. (When the Cassadines returned to Port Charles in 1996, Luke would at times refer to them as the House of Atreus. Had Luke taken himself seriously, he might have realized then that Laura had slept with Stefan and that, quite possibly, Nikolas was Stefan's son.)

Sibling rivalry is not a component of every paternity story. But its pronounced inclusion in these three General Hospital stories points to a repetitive pattern. The complications sibling rivalry brings to paternity mysteries enrich and enhance these conventional staples in the soap opera genre.