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American Drama

● Slice of life technique: European drama influenced modern American drama in a profound
manner. Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and Anton Chekhov were the three major
playwrights during the beginning of the century. These three playwrights bequeathed to
their literary heirs plays about life as it is actually lived.

● Ibsen was influenced by the psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
● Ibsen dealt with the themes of guilt, sexuality and mental illness
● A Doll’s House and Enemy of the People
● Strindberg brought unprecedented psychological complexity to his characters
● THE FATHER and THE DANCE OF DEATH
● Chekhov brought forth everyday life and concerns in THE THREE SISTERS and THE
CHERRY ORCHARD.

● The concept of the fourth wall and realism: realism became the dominant mode of
American drama. In 1916-17 two small theatre groups in New York, namely the
PROVINCETOWN PLAYERS and THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PLAYERS began
to produce new American plays. These groups provided the foundation to playwrights
like Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953). He introduced into American drama the techniques of
realism which were earlier associated with IBSEN, STRINDBERG and CHEKHOV.

● American drama prior to O’NEILL tended to be mild and sentimental. These earlier plays
rarely questioned the life and attitudes it depicted. The earlier plays consisted of shows
and spectacles staged by special effects that dazzled the audiences. Melodramas and
farces with highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters and slapstick
elements were popular. O’Neill’s father JAMES spent most of his life touring in a
popular melodrama based on THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

● Speeches in common language: O’Neill’s intense psychological plays marked a radical

departure from the romantic convention of theatre. He was one of the first Americans
who included speeches in common language or dialect. He concentrated on characters on
the FRINGES of society. These characters struggle to pursue their aspirations however
ultimately are disillusioned and are in despair.

● His characters were portraits of desire and frustration, delusion and failure. His enormous
output of 32 full length plays and 20 one act plays. His plays were produced abroad and
he was the only American playwright to have won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936

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● The Emperor Jones, by Eugene O’Neill: drama in 8 scenes, it was produced in 1920
and published in 1921. It was the first foray into EXPRESSIONIST writing. The play is
based on an event in HAITIAN HISTORY. The play presents the decline of BRUTUS
JONES. Brutus Jones had escaped from prison to an unnamed Caribbean island. Jones
persuaded the superstitious natives that he is a magician with the help of HENRY
SMITHERS. Thereby he is crowned as the emperor. He exploits his subjects and insists
that only a silver bullet can kill him. Jones flees into the jungle when he comes to know
about an uprising. In the JUNGLE he confronts his internal demons. Scenes show his
private past. Jones after being terrified fires all his ammunition. In the final scene, Jones
is finally found by the rebels and they shoot him. Henry Smithers mentions that JONE’S
own fears had already killed him. The original title of the play was THE SILVER
BULLET. The play uses pulsing drums, gunshots and the dramatic jungle setting.
JONES= symbolic of debased humanity

● The Iceman Cometh: this was a tragedy in four acts. It was written in 1939 and
published in 1946. The drama shows the intense human need for illusion and hope as
antidotes to the despair we all experience. Depicts the ragged collection of alcoholics in a
run down NEW YORK CITY tavern hotel run by Harry Hope. The regular visitors at the
saloon numb themselves with whiskey and make grandiose plans but they do nothing.
HICKEY/ Theodore Hickman is the big spending person. Hickey announces that he has
quit drinking and has put his pipe dreams aside. He even wishes to help the other
members at the saloon to achieve the same. He forces his fellow friends to pursue their
much discussed plans. Finally HICKEY confesses that he killed his long suffering wife
just a couple of hours before he arrived. Hickey turns himself to the police and others slip
back into an alcoholic haze, these folks cling to their dreams once more

● Long Day’s Journey Into Night: Drama in 4 acts; it received the Pulitzer Prize in 1957.
Considered to be autobiographical. It is a shattering depiction of a day in the dreary life
of a couple and their two sons. JAMES TYRONE is a semi retired actor, he is self
obsessed and miserly. Mary, Jame’s wife feels worthless. JAMIE, their elder son is an
alcoholic. Edmund suffers from illness which JAMES refuses to acknowledge. MARY
sinks into madness and the father and sons confront each other which depicts their hidden
motives and interdependence. The sequel to this play was A MOON FOR THE
MISBEGOTTEN (1952) which charts the subsequent life of Jamie Tyrone

● The Hairy Ape: drama in 8 scenes, produced in 1922. The play is considered to be one
of the prime achievements of Expressionism on stage. YANK SMITH, bullies and
despises everyone around him. YANK considers himself to be superior. Yank is
devastated when a millionaire’s daughter is repulsed by his ways and YANK vows to get

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even with her. Yank schemes to destroy the factory owned by the woman’s father but his
plans fail. He wanders into a zoo and he feels alienated from humanity. In the zoo he
releases an ape for whom he feels some kinship. The ape kills him.

● Anna Christie: it is a 4 act play, produced in 1921 and it was awarded the pulitzer prize
in 1922. Anna is long separated from her father. She is reunited with him in adulthood. A
seaman is smitten by her. Anna reveals her past, telling them how she has become a
prostitute. Both men abandon her and go their separate ways, they get drunk and
unwittingly sign on for the same voyage. At the play’s end, ANNA agrees to wait for
their return.

● Arthur Miller (1915-2005) and Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) were two popular
dramatists in the post world war period: they were dominant figures of the second half of
the 20th century. They were dealing with realism and realism with an attempt of
depicting something more imaginative. AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS HAVE TRIED
TO BREAK from the strict realism of Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov. They blended
realism with a more poetic form of expression. Some of the best examples of these types
of plays include:
○ Miller Death of a Salesman (1949)
○ Williams’ The Glass Menagerie (1944)
○ Thornton Wilder’s OUR TOWN (1938)

● Death of a Salesman (1949): Miller won the Pulitzer Prize for the work. It is the tragedy
of a man who gave his life or sold it in the pursuit of the American Dream. Willy Loman
has worked on the road travelling as a salesman. He realizes that he has been a failure as
a father and husband. HAPPY and BIFF his sons are not successful. His career is fading.
Willy escapes into dreamy reminiscences of an idealized past. Biff prepares to leave the
house and starts arguing with WILLY. He even confesses that he has spent three months
in jail. Biff even mocks at his father’s belief in A SMILE and A SHOESHINE. Willy is
bitter and broken and his illusions have been shattered. He commits suicide.

● ALL MY SONS: drama in 3 acts, it was performed and published in 1947. It is

considered to be Miller’s first significant play. JOE KELLER is a manufacturer of war
materials. Joe Keller sells substandard and defective airplane parts. These caused the
death of his own son and other fliers during World War II.

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● The Crucible (1953): a 4 act play which is set in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials.
The play is an examination of contemporary events in American politics.
● Tennessee Williams: A contemporary of Miller, his concern was not with social matters
but with PERSONAL ONES. In contrast to Miller’s spare and plain language, William’s
writing was delicate and sensuous. He probed the psychological complexities of his
characters, especially his female characters. For instance:
○ Amanda and Laura in THE GLASS MENAGERIE (1944)
○ BLANCHE in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1947)
○ Alma in SUMMER AND SMOKE (1948)

● Miller’s characters are ordinary people with whom we can identify as they are caught up
in the social tensions of our times. On the contrary Williams’ characters are often women
who are LOST LADIES, who are drowning in their own neuroses. But they do mirror a
part of our own complex psychological selves. In the works of Miller and Williams we
see the 2 strands of American drama:
○ Pure Realism (Miller)
○ Realism blended with an imaginative and poetic sensibility (Williams)

● The Glass Menagerie: one act drama by Tennessee Williams (produced in 1944 and
published in 1945). It is considered to be one of his finest drama. AMANDA
WINGFIELD lives in a ST LOUIS tenement, she clings to the myth of her early years as
a SOUTHERN BELLE. She repeats romantic stories of those years to her two children.
LAURA, her daughter who wears a leg brace is shy and often seeks comfort in her
collection of small glass animals. TOM, Amanda’s son, through Tom’s memory we see
the action. Tom is desperate to escape his stifling home life and his warehouse job.
Amanda encourages TOM to bring gentleman callers home to his sister. Tom brings JIM
O CONNOR for dinner, Amanda believes that her prayers have been answered. LAURA
blossoms during Jim’s visit and she is flattered by his attention, after kissing her however
JIM confesses that he is engaged to be married. LAURA retreats to her shell. Amanda
blames TOM and TOM leaves after a final fight with his mother

● A Streetcar Named Desire: a play in 3 acts: published in 1947, it was the winner of the
Pulitzer Prize for drama that year. It is one of the most admired plays of its time.
BLANCHE DUBOIS. It shows the mental and moral disintegration and ruin of
BLANCHE DUBOIS. Blanche, a former Southern belle. The harsh realities are
symbolized by her brutish brother in law STANLEY KOWALSKI. The genteel
pretensions of Blanche are presented.

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