UNIT 1: ORIGINS OF AMERICAN THEATRE IN THE 18TH

CENTURY
1. The beginning of American drama in the colonies
Beginning -no thought of an American drama.
The first complete and real American play to be performed professionally in America was
in 1767.
By the end of the 18th century →American theatre was well established.

Features
1. Imitation of English and European literature
2. Presentation of distinctive American qualities

Context situation: Problems at the beginning of the colonies

★ Colonies being controlled by religious people: Puritans, among others. → Radicalism, very
critical w/ public spectacles
★ Problems related to war - Continuous war, attacks of the Indians and conflicts with the
natives.
★ Illnesses →The yellow fever.
★ Lack of Copyright →American authors weren’t able to have a law, therefore plays were
royalty free (copyright bogy).
★ Opposition by Governments.
★ Opposition taxed inventive resources and finesse of Colonial actors and acting companies that
led to → Bankrupt.

Famous plays that were not American:

- Spanish comedia (Marcos Farfan de los Godos, 1598)
- Le Theatre de Neptune La Nouvelle-France (Lescarbot, 1606)
- The Lost Lady (Sir William Berkeley, 1641)
- Ye Bare and Ye Cubb (William Darby, 1665, Accomac County, Virginia)
- Androborus (Roberts Hunter, 1714).

Different companies:
- W. Murray & Th. Kean (Virginia Company)
- L. Hallam’s Company of Comedians (1752)
- D. Douglass - main figure before Revolution.
 American Theater
The first theatre that we know of is Williamsburg, Virginia (1716).
→New Theater, New York (1732): plays represented such as George Farquhar’s The
Recruiting Officer
Temporary Theatres in Annapolis, Newport.
The first permanent theatre → Southwark Theater in Philadelphia.
Most important group of actors → David Douglass’ The Prince of Phartia.
The first play written, produced and presented by professional actors in America was in 1767.
Its themes were:
- Love
- Honor → Middle class.
- Politics → Democracy, freedom and tyrannical attitudes.
Plays by Americans disappointing and few.

II. Drama during the Revolution

British military <-> Spirit of nationalism:
Moral lessons & dramatized political issues that had to do with the situations of the time.
→ The Contrast
Social farces: They are adapted to the new society in America like The Contrast.
Figures of the Native yankee or Negro character, sometimes the Indian, although this
character is not that important.

❖ National plays
❖ Most of them were imitative of English drama
❖ Authors were not strictly professionals.
❖ Famous authors: William Dunlap and Royall Tyler (The Contrast).

DIVISION OF PLAYS

I. Plays Reflecting Patriot Views during the Revolution

● Talk about nationalistic issues; have to do with important historical moments, but also talk
about the different political parties (they did not wanted to directly address the matter)
- Long before Lexington & Bunkers Hill
- Contest Whig (liberal) - Tory (conservatives), Patriot - Loyalist
- Satiric farce (dramatic talent ↔ + partisan fervor)
- Only a few frequently anonymous.
II.1.1 Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814): Partisan Satirist.
● Bitter satire and poignant observations of liberty and patriotism
● Clearly amateurish and lacked any real dramatic talent.
● Works: The Adulateur (1773), The Group (1775), The Sack of Rome, The Ladies of Castile,
The Blockheads (1776).

II.1.2. Hugh Henry Brackenridge (1748-1816):

● War of the Belle-Letters
● Novel Modern Chivalry:
- The Battle of Bunkers-Hill (1776)
- The death of General Montgomery (1777)

II. 1.3 Political farce melodrama.

- The Fall of the British Tyranny (1776) - Unknown author.

II.2. Plays reflecting loyalist views during the revolution.

- Truth is not important, but propaganda.
- The battle of Brooklyn, a farce in two acts by author unknown (1776)

II.2.1 The Americans Roused in a cure for the spleen (bazo,colera), or amusement for a winter’s…
(1775)

II.3 Nonpartisan Drama: “Both Your Houses”

Colonel Robert Munford (c. 1713 - 1784), The Candidates and The Patriots (1978)

II.4. Royall Tayler (1757- 1826): The Beginnings of American Comedy

- Novel, The Algerine Captive (1797)
- Comic opera, May-Day in Town; or, New York in an Uproar
- The Contrast (1787)
- Sacred dramas in blank verse (very common-sassy): The origin of the Feast of Purim, Joseph
and His Brethren, The Judgement Of Solomon, The Island of Barataria.

II.5. William Dunlap (1766-1839): “Father of American Drama”

- 1st professional dramatist in America, theatre manager and producer, actor and playwright.
- A History of the American Theatre (1832) → Holds the records we have nowadays up to the
Revolution.
- Adaptation of August von Kotzebue’s The Stranger (theatre manager till 1812).
- As playwright: Sentimental comedy, patriotic drama, the ballad-opera, Gothic melodrama,
romantic tragedy, historic tragedy, farce melodrama, adaptations and translations.
- André, The Father, Leicester, The Italian Fathers -He did perform.

II.6 Post- Revolutionary Drama: Varied Directions

- Nationalistic and Political Plays (with a nationalistic spirit, political issues, patriot leadership,
and national affairs).
- Social farces and early Character Types (social and political themes, varied satire, character
types such as the Yankee, the Negro and the Indian).
- Romantic Tragedy, Strictly Moral Lessons and College Drama.
 II.4.1 THE CONTRAST BY ROYALL TYLER (1787)
Nation as an independent political unit.
Excellent acting-play.
Criticised because:
- Dialogue needed pruning?
- Soliloquies (the asides) not probables (beliable)?
- Chesterfield’s letters imprudent?
Positive criticism:
- Production of man of genius
- Sentiments
- Honest patriot heart (energy, eloquence)
For the modern reader:
- Sprightly, witty, funny
- Caricature rather than social comedy
- Farcical action - in dialogues, gestures and attitudes.

Why Successful?:
- Patriotism (Colonel Manly) - understood differently by English people.
- Mastery in Dialogue
- Yankee rustic (Jonathan)
- New England morality, childlike innocence.
- American ideals (+English traditions) - Contrast between both.
- Wit and humour unmatched → Fashion
- American successful play → Sentiment, moralising, nationalism
- National Triumph (outcome).

Questions for students (UNIT 1):

1. What are the main literary characteristics of Mrs. Warren 's The Group?
Kind of farce whose characters remind us of farcical characters and the text is made in a
poetic way.
2. How can you characterise Mrs. Warren's The Ladies of Castile?
It is a historical play

3. Judith Sargent Murray comments on Mrs. Warren.

She talks about intelligence and imagination, she talks about both sexes. She addresses the
difference between the sexes and the equality of the sexes. Also about the conditions of the
drama at that time - the prohibitions for drama: drama and acting was considered almost
sinful; some colonies did not allow it. Moreover, drama was considered a way of relaxing
morals, hence its hate.

THE CONTRAST – Royall Tyler

Structure
 ● Five acts with several scenes each.

Characters: through the names, one can guess what the characters are going to be like (Manly)
● Charlotte: Coquette, gossiper (w/Letitia), rejects marriage, and does not care about other
people’s emotions.
● Letitia: Rich girl, gossiper (w/Charlotte), and is softer than Charlotte. Her name means
“happiness” in Latin.
● Maria: Submissive character (follows her father orders), does not want to marry without love
but neither wants to break her word. She falls in love with Manly because he is a good man.
Intellectual, loves to read books. She’s the purest girl.
● Colonel Manly: American soldier, good man with established morals, and Charlotte’s
brother. Virtuous: more American, less refined in manners.
● Dimple: Maria’s fiance, wants to marry Letitia instead because of her wealthy lifestyle while
still seeing Charlotte; womaniser. He doesn't care about people’s feelings at all, and is a
compulsive liar. Villain: European fashion
● Van Rough: Maria’s father. At the beginning, shows strict character and stubbornness. Later,
his character turns out to be more gentle and easily accepts Maria’s and Manly’s marriage
because of their love.
● Servants: Jessany, Jonathan, Jenny (all their names begin with J). Like to interrupt scenes,
probably used as a change of direction by the author. They have American names (back at that
time). Jessany is easy to be fooled, and Jonathan has bad intentions towards him to make
himself worthy of Jenny, who will see a good difference between them.

Plot: The play starts with Charlotte and Letitia discussing Maria's reluctance to marry Billy Dimple,
despite a prior arrangement. Maria realizes she doesn't love Dimple after comparing his shallow love
letters to her intellectual books.

Maria laments the limited choices for women and her father's insistence on the marriage for financial
reasons. In Act II, Charlotte and Letitia are courted by Dimple, while Colonel Manly, Charlotte's
brother, appears unfashionable to society.

In Act III, Dimple pursues Charlotte and Letitia for different reasons and wants Maria to break off the
engagement. He discovers Manly is Charlotte's brother but keeps his views on women hidden. Dimple
admires European culture.

In Act IV, Maria confides in Charlotte about her distaste for Dimple and her affection for Manly.
Family relationships are revealed, and Van Rough learns of Dimple's gambling debt.

In Act V, Dimple insults Charlotte and tries to force himself on her, but Manly intervenes. Dimple is
disgraced, Van Rough accepts Manly's proposal, and Maria ends up with Manly.

Setting: New York, various apartments/houses.

Genre/subgenre: Social comedy play. Satirical. Farce action.
Stage directions: The play does not have a significant amount of stage directions. It mainly focuses
on entrances or setting the space where the characters are when a scene/act begins. The stage direction
‘aside’ is commonly used to refer to the character talking to the audience and it adds a humorous
touch to the play.
Topics: Feminism, family and social relationships, love, the idea of the American man distanced from
Europe (contrast) American superiority. Patriotism. Money and status, the marriage market and
misogyny. Virtue and sin.

External factors:
Context: America had just won the Revolutionary War. In the year of its publication, 1787, the
constitution was ratified.
Author: Born in Boston, July 18, 1758 and belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential
families of New England. He received early education at the Latin School and graduated from
Harvard. During the Revolutionary War and after the war Shay’s Rebellion, acted as aide-de-camp
with the rank of Major of the Staff of General Benjamin Lincoln.
Purpose: Entertainment (sentiment) and social commentary, gender roles. Propaganda of American
nationalism: creating American culture (identity). Instruction.

Style: It is easy to read, and fluent. Ironic statements.

The language used depends on the character. The most evident ones are Charlotte, Letitia and Manly.
Charlotte uses a less elegant/formal vocabulary, more colloquial in some terms. Letitia, on the other
side, uses a more sophisticated style, both in her vocabulary and manners. In addition, Manly’s
language is very patriotic and formal.

UNIT 2: NINETEENTH-CENTURY ANTEBELLUM THEATRE

I. Drama of New Nation (1800-1865): A period of experimentation and imitation

Steady but unimpressive progress

Reputation of actors and managers
Power of influence of actors (+ managers)
Dramatist insignificant → Still no copyright
Imitate successful foreign plays –mainly German, among others.
Write for a particular actor (because of their fame, they would attract the public: in that way,
they made sure that the play was going to success).
Playwrights: Little professional status + no copyright → Not much gain.
American dramatists remain at the mercy of the manager.
1800-65: Handful of quality dramatists.
Criticism just started before the turn of the century.
Magazines: New York Clipper, New York Illustrated Times, New York Dramatic News and
Society Jou.

❖ Before the Civil War: Opportunity for dramatist - actor + manager (Payne, Brougham,
Boneicault)
 ❖ Trends - Entertainment, political weapons, glorifying nation (nationalism) and moral
behaviour teaching (religious nation)
❖ Serious drama: Imitation of romantic verse plays of England
❖ Native characters (Negro, Yankee, Indian) → Source of comedy.
❖ Cities grew → Social classes → Comedies of social caricature of certain classes.
❖ Interests → Experimenting and imitating with new plays.

II. Native American Character Types: Jonathan, Sambo and Metamora.

- Feelings of personal and national independence.
- Anti-foreign attitude (towards Irish and Germans) because of stereotypes of them being
drunkards –by the ‘American Party’ (antiforeign political party)
- The representative American man (Jonathan - The Negro - The Indian)

II.1. The Yankee Character

- David Humphrey’s The Yankee in England (1815) → Simplicity, knowledge of the world he
thinks he is right whatever he thinks. Rusty and sarcastic.
- Plays: Yankee girls.

II.2 The Negro Character

- Social inferior and exploited by the Yankee (Zekee, from Fashion)
- Also appears in novels like Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom's Cabin and Boucicault’s The
Octoroon.

II.3 The Indian Character

- The idea of natives being good by nature - borrowed from the Enlightenment period.
- Ponteach; or, the Savages of America (1776) by Robert Rogers
- Pocahontas (1830) by George Washington Parke Custis
- Metamora (1829) by John Augustus Stone (most successful on stage)
- This character evolves into the American backwoodsman, who substitutes the Indian
character in plays like James Kirke’s Paulding’s The Lion of the West (1831).
- The Indian ridiculed Brougham’s burlesques
- Po-Ca-Hon-Tas; or The Gen.. Savage (1855)

II.4 The Indian Replaced→ Appearance of ‘Backwoodsman’

- Context: When the frontier started to mean something.
- James Kirke’s Paulding’s The Lion of the West (1831)
- From ‘noble savages’ to ‘varmint Redskin’

III. Mirror of the times: Historical Context

 Slavery division: Not permitted in the North, but legal in the South.
Religion differences: North was Puritan (Calvinist) and South was rather Anglican and later
splitted into Baptist, and Methodist, among others.
Gold rush: they thought there was loads of gold, so people started to emigrate to the West
(California).
Mormons: They migrated to Utah 1846-48.
Antiforeignism: Expressed in certain associations like American Temperance (one does not
have to dream, abstinence).
Society: in the first half of the 19th century there was not a clear distinction between classes
yet. Social comedy grows and develops more.
Fashion: 1850s. A much more complete comedy, with better depicted characters and more
clear presented social classes. The very elite, the new rich.
- Middle class → The majority.
- Low classes → Most of them were black. A clear distinction. Melodrama.
Nationalism: There is no American cultural independence yet.

❖ Dependence upon foreign setting

❖ The American attitude toward the American people, society, and morals
❖ Concern for realistic touches: social comedies are much more realistic than those from the
18th century.

III.1.2. THE COMIC IDEA WITH A FOREIGN SETTING

To moralise, to satirise, to inform, and to entertain. (not objective or detached views)

(James Nelson Barker, How to try a lover, 1817 -

Fashionable Life
Reaction to nationalistic pressures= nouveau riche gain social status
Genuine and imitated sophistication became evident.

ANNA CORA MOWA

Compromise of 1850 → Law that implied that if you had a black slave, and he ran into the North, you
could still bring him back to the South.
‘Bleeding Kansas’
Dred Scott decision →
John Brown

III.2.1. Racial groups: Irish

 - John Murdock’s The Triumphs of Love (1795).
- John Minshull’s Rural Felicity (1801).
- Heroic actions and comic traits → Popular hero.
- James Pilgrim, popular Irish-American farces: Paddy the Piper
- Shandy typical Irishman: quick with his wits, his fists, and a joke, softheartned hero:
protected widows, saved heroine and beat up ruffians.

An actor-manager-playwright, Brougham
Plays about Irish people
- The Irish Fortune Hunter (1856)
Boucicault’s play’s concerned with Ireland rathe r
Thr O’Dowd (1872)

III.2.2 Racial Groups: German

‘Dutchmen’ objects of ridicule, sometimes sympathy
The Persecuted Dutchman

III.2.3 Plays about Mormons

Anonymous Deseret Deserted; or, The Last Days of Brigham Young (1858); Life of the Mormons at
Salt Lake (1858) by C.W Taylor.
The Mormons; or Life at Salt Lake City (1858) by Dr Thomas Dunn English
Melodramatic escapes, rescues, disguises and revenge

III.2.4 Plays about the Movement Westward

Backwoodsman’s plays
Anonymous A Trip to California Gold Mines, and A Live Woman in the Mines (1857)
Fast Folks; or, Early Days of California, by Joseph A. Nunes
Social history, local colour, and folk drama.

III.2.5 Temperance plays

American Temperance Society, Boston 1826:
Clifton Tayleure, The Drunkard’s Warning 1856, H.Seymour, Temperance Doctor (n.d)

W.H. Smith’s The Drunkard: or The Fallen Saved

William W.

III.2.6 Slavery and the south

Congressional action in 1808 → Prohibits the importation of slaves.

“Fortunate” slave vs. black bondage:

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Octoroon
Mrs Stoewe’s second novel of slavery, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856)
III.3. The Appeal of Melodrama before the Civil War
 - Melodrama appealed to the majority: A way of making one feel something in theatre, but at
the same time not rough enough to make someone feel sad → Serious but laughable.
- Theatre controlled by manager (money) and actor (popularity). The playwright does not have
either of them.
Farce is related to melodrama as popular entertainment
(Mazeppa;or

III.4. Shortcuts to Popularity: Adaptations, Translations, Burlesques

- American dramatists looked to Europe - especially England: Characters, settings, themes,
plots.
- Authors: William Dunlap, John Howard Payne, Nathaniel Parker Willis, James Nelson
Barker, Richard Penn Smith.
- What did they do?
1. Complete play adapted to American circumstances - translated.
2. Particular characters or plot themes from successful plays,
3. Language of foreign dramatists.
- John Brougham and Dion Boucicaulr major adaptors of foreign literature
- American managers and actors suspicious of native authors
- Translations and adaptations
- Plays: Ten Nights in a Bar Room, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Rip Van Winkle.
- Dramatised novels of Cooper, Robert Montgomery Bird, William Gilmore Simms and John
Pendleton Kennedy, Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Poe’s The Gold Bug.
- Burlesque plays, ridiculous mocking of original work like Brougham’s Metamora (1847) and
Pocahontas highly appreciated.

III.5. Poets and Novelists as Playwrights

Washington Irving (with

Robert Montgomery Bird, Nathaniel Parker Willis or George Henry Boker

1st rate authors → No success
2nd rate authors → Some success

III.6. Transatlantic Evaluation: American Drama in England before the Civil War
- J.H.Payne first play at Covent Garden in 1815, foothold for AMERICAN DRAMA IN THE
LONDON THEATRE first black actor to perform it lasted 2 days.
-
Peculiar traits of
American poetic tragedy, The Gladiator, by R.M. Bird, mixed received in England
Most successful
Problems leading to the Civil War
Plays adapted

IV. Yankee Originality: America’s Contribution to World Theatre

❖ The Minstrel Show, The Showboat Theater and The Tom Show: the originally
American

The Minstrel Show

Thomas Dartmouth Rice ‘Father of American Minstrelsy’→ Song and dance between acts of play.
Then it developed on its own, something that people went to see as a whole performance. They were
white people painted and acting as black. It lasted from the beginning of the 19th century up to the
end of the 20th.

The Showboat Theater

William Chapman’s ‘drama barge’→ One-night shows; the entire spectrum of theatre fare
(Shakespeare, minstrels, melodramas, latest New York plays)

The Tom Show

Based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin → Attack on slavery, melodrama and spectacle play.
- George L. Aiken’s, but variety in the stage versions.
The Tommers, and “Tom Shows” were a family of troubadours living the various characters in the
melodrama. Its aim was to show that virtue must be rewarded and sin punished!

Questions for students (UNIT 2)

Introduction
Gives an idea of how the lives of playwrights, actors and managers were, and how they would write.
Also it has a bit of a biography of James A. Herne.

SHORE ACRES – James A. Herne

Genre: A comedy. A bit melodramatic and domestic(as most local colours)

Structure: Four acts.
Settings: (different settings)
- Act 2: A feast with food. A kitchen with a living room. Stairs, woodhouse and entrance door
can be seen as well.
- Act 3: Interior and exterior of the lighthouse
- Act 4: Same as act 2. Very well described and detailed.

Stage directions: According to the geographical, clothing and instruments descriptions, you get a
very detailed description of a certain place. This is really characteristic of a local colour literature that
developed in the half/middle of the 19th century up to the end of the century.
- First performed at the end of the 19th century.

Plot: The main line of the plot is a love story between Helen and Sam. However, it is a love story with
other topics embedded like that of Martin, the father, who wants to sell the farm and gets involved
with Blake but in the end, it does not succeed (landscape speculation).

First Act: The relationship between Helen and Uncle Nat is presented, which is important as they are
the main protagonists and is necessary to understand the events occurring later on. Blake suggests to
Martin future plans for his land to succeed, and he evaluates them. Helen and Sam forbidden love is
introduced: Martin wants Helen to marry Blake, a rich man, but she is in love with Sam, a yet
unsuccessful doctor. Conflict between Martin and Sam. Besides, Uncle Nat cares about the children.
Act 2: At the end of act two aunt Helen is trying to help Captain Ben.
Act 3: The lighthouse is off, which means that Uncle Nat does not want to…) They find out aunt
Helen is pregnant.
Act 4: This is happening on Christmas. This is 15 months later. They find out they were successful in
moving to the west, (or because moving to the West)
The only thing that could save the farm is an injection of money.

Characters: The children colour the scenes.

- Blake: Rich man with successful business. He wants to marry Helen and her father, Martin,
wants him to do it too. Both of them conceive people regarding their religion. That’s why her
father does not want her to marry Sam Warren, her daughter’s real love interest. Both of them
are conservative Christians, but they are judgemental too. In fact, Blake and him state that
women are not able to choose their lovers, but fathers and men in charge of them are the ones
to do it.
- Uncle Nat: veteran of war who receives a pension (in instalments or all together).

TRIFLES by Susan Glaspell (1916)

Genre: Thriller.
Structure: One single act.
Settings: The scene of a crime, a house where a husband has been killed -probably by his wife. All
the play seems to happen in the kitchen of the house, despite the crime had happened upstairs.
Characters: Quilt → Creativity and narrows.
- Women: Acknowledge the guilt and conceal it. They recognize the pain for crime and have
compassion over it (domestic violence) because they have insight, while the man are merely
surficial and working (representation of arrogance).

Plot: Play based on intuition → It's a play about a murder, that is never resolved officially, but it's
rather up to the reader to believe whether the woman killed the husband or not. The three women
found a killed bird in a cage, so it is intuitive that because of this, the wife might have killed the
husband (she might be a psycho). But once again, the play let it be up to the reader.
It's a play that talks about the relationships between man and woman, both inside and outside of a
home.
The author acknowledges the topic of domestic abuse and its implication in the relationship between
the husband and the wife, which is the reason that the woman had probably had killed the husband.
The other three women, besides, are aware of the abuse too.

Symbolism: Broken neck of bird → Joy; Symbol of man breaking the joy of the woman.
Broken neck of bird → Aggression; Represents the killing and it's an intuitive symbol to know that
the woman is a killer and might have killed the husband.
Man imprisons women → Woman imprisons birds → They are all imprisoned in an impeccable
system.
UNIT 3
➔ Early decades of the 20th century the United States emerged as a major power (diplomacy,
warfare, political and economic affairs).
◆ Civil War
◆ Economics, industry, culture and religious → All changed within a little period of
time, rapid changes
➔ Comparable accession of power in American writing (American culture in Whitman’s
Democratic Vistas, 1870): profound crisis in arts, manifest deficiencies, diseased corrosions
of American civilisation (‘fabled damned’)
➔ Period between wars & Great Depression:
◆ Cultural changes in Europe related to drama and theatre
◆ Changes in socioeconomic conditions in America
◆ Roaring 20s: very joyful but unconscious period in Europe and America
◆ Crash 1929
◆ Great Depression
➔ (no se que ha dicho aqui)
◆ Ambitious missions for the arts defining confidence and boldness, but also anxiety to
question traditions/contemporary environment to shape conditions to fulfil their
aspirations as humans and artists.
➔ Heirs of provincial culture in the 19th century, on ‘circumstances of civilization’, distant from
centres of power and taste in Europe.
➔ Literary pursuits insecure in experimental, still new society; writers with distinctive talents
partially alienated from institutions and prevailing tastes of environment
➔ Insecurities and alienation proved, in late 19th and 20th centuries, to be basis of American
tradition stimulus and threat
◆ American writers play leading role as innovators in literary revolution in English and
American letters during World War 1
➔ Americans rootlessness, accelerated historical change,and cultural dislocations, avoid
imitation of imported literary modes.

➔ Reassessment of American cultural traditions by creative writers and critics.

➔ Emerson’s awareness that traditions were in state of “transition”: stimulus to creativity in 20th
century
➔ Exploration of native past reshaped it into tradition more firm in its orientation
◆ To touch the mistreatments against the Indians in America. In the end of the Civil
War and perhaps 70s and 80s some people start to think that the indian are already
have all the continent for them, so that they can't start thinking of what the NAtives
are after all these battles with the Indians

➔ Poetry of Enikiy Dickinson (1890 & piecemeal until 1940s)

- One of the main poets of that period and still is today.

➔ New Englanders Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne remained highly esteemed.

➔ Poets Robinson, Frost paid tribute to New Englanders.
➔ Long-denominand New England tradition under attack for evasive gentility and prim
idealism. Puritan tradition under intense scrutiny.
➔ Changes in the 20th period
 ◆ New York City remained publishing centre of nation: Harlem fine avenues, night
spots featuring jazz music, congested slums – because metropolitan centre of black
culture in US:
● Rural Black people start to migrate to the cities for seeking a greater life, and
responding to residencial/economic segregation.
◆ Harlem Renaissance
● Heightened consciousness of racial and community identity, black
intellectuals launched in the 1920s the “Harlem Renaissance”
◆ To strengthen cultural traditions of their people and demonstrate achievements to
white society that ignored them
● Segregation in all places, and during the Harlem Renaissance they start
questioning this
◆ Greenwich Village -its inexpensive tenements and relative isolation from institutions
of native born white middle-class as haven of literary/intellectual bohemians
● In the Village, they have freedom to:
○ Pursue styles of living at odds with notions of propriety prevailing
elsewhere
○ Circumvent Prohibition laws against sale of alcohol
○ Experiment with political ideas and new literary forms.

FROM REALISM TO MODERN DRAMA

➔ Decline of theatre in 19th century, not onlyAmerican →Mass art

➔ Novel predominated → Social art of new bourgeoisie.
➔ Theatre lacked subtlety → literary platform for posturing
◆ They had other ways to portray the new issues which were not quite questioned
before (such as women and men relationships)
➔ Romanticism = emphasis in individual, actor as self-dramatising figure.
◆ The actor becomes a romantic figure who can change his form of living.

➔ XIX. Century America public myths of upward mobility → The American Dream.
➔ American actors no longer looked to Europe → Theater = distance and potential.
➔ Theater → Mirror of events and national spectacle.
➔ Realism = Notion of reality → Particular production style → Belasco = New system of
electric stage design.

BIRTH OF 20TH CENT. AMERICAN DRAMA → THE PROVINCETOWN PLAYER

The Provincetown players were a group of people that started to think about creating a theatrical
ensemble. Their characteristics were:

➔ Forms and convention not adequate to XX Century

➔ George Cram Cook, Floyd Dell and Susan Glaspell → Anarchism + visionary socialism and
mystical view of life + sex significance + woman’s role + liberating nature of art.
➔ Provincetown players (1915) = American plays, because they want to reaffirm the American
drama.
➔ Common = New aesthetic and moral development→ Not just surface art, it's rather
psychological.
- This all comes from the experimental theatre movement in Europe.

➔ Plays’ structure
- They wanted to follow the model of Greek theatre → Members of a clan.
- It has to do with primitive groups, and is related to religion in some way.
- No creation of one-act plays but lend itself to small theatre
- Space (lighting and effects) → Individual spiritual location.

➔ Plays:
★ 1915 - Suppressed Desires and Constancy by Susan Glaspell.
★ 1916 - O’Neill’s Bound East for Cardiff →Playwrights theatre

➔ Playwrights: John Reed, Louise Bryant, Floyd Dell, Neith Boyer, Hutchinson Hapgood,
Susan Glaspell, and others.

➔ Company:
★ Weekly bills (7-8/season -3 plays each)
★ 450 subs.
★ 8 Seasons = 93 plays (47 American playwrights) →Theater serious artistics activity and
importance of group working.

➔ WW1→ Collapse of Washington Square Players → Few original members of Provincetown

remained.
➔ 1920 - Greatest success of O'Neill's Emperor Jones →Also decline.
➔ 2nd stage (after WW1) → The Hairy Ape (1922) → O'Neill (main figure) withdrawn in 1926.
- Lacked individuals like George Cook and resident playwright like O'Neill.
- Less concerned with American repertoire, but Robert Edmond Jones.

➔ Closed in 1918 →Theater Guild (capital 500$ and lease to Garrick Theater)
➔ Improve Guild production standards and acting + experiment more + permanent ensemble
acting company + maintain a fine repertoire + establish Studio for Arts of Theater (more pro.
than Provincetown).

SUSAN GLASPELL (1882-1948)

➢ More controlled than O’Neill, more reticent (subtle) style, indirect.

 ➢ Visionary drive + Nietzsche life force <-> Tragic potential
➢ Comedies = Egocentrism of anarchists → The People, 1917; Close the book, 1917; Women’s
Honor, 1918, Tickless Time, 1918 → In-jokes, mocking of own pretensions and
over-seriousness.
➢ Weakness → Over-sentimentality (Bernice, 1919 and The Comic Artist, 1928)

➢ Early plays: Flawed (imperfect), effects too far, symbol too overt.
- The Outside (1917) From realism towards abstraction change
- The Inheritors (1921) Am. Idealism <-> Reaction and pragmatism

➢ Glaspell →Less battle self-environment and the others + different versions of social ideals.
➢ Tragic disintegration of American idealism <-> Materialism and political conservation.
- The Verge (1921) → Refusal to be contained by form or language + imperfect,
precious dialogue, collapse of comedy and pretentiousness.
- Alison’s House (1930) → Self-justification for violation of social taboo.

➢ Glaspell = Radicalism + conservatism → Celebrated old values.

➢ Idealism →Political pragmatism / Celebration of life → Biological group ethic
➢ Director of Mid-West Play Bureau for the Federal Theatre - one year.
➢ Contemptuous of social and artistic evasion and belief in incorruptible human nature and
desire to transcend materialism.
➢ Imagination in terms of symbols.
➢ Eclipse of later work + O’Neill → Conceal her achievement.

BOUND EAST FOR CARDIFF (1916) by O’Neill

Genre: Tragic drama.
Structure: One act play, one scene.
Settings: A ship sealing in the sea, way to Cardiff. A cabin full of bunk beds, with a dying man.
Before the outbreak of WW1.
Characters: The Captain, Olson, Scotty, Davis, Nitty, and others.
- Yank →Dying man. Rather realist, as he knows he is going to die, and religious in the end,
wondering if God would forgive him.
- Driscoll →Friend of dying man, accompanies him in every moment until he dies. Hopeful for
him to get better.
- Cocky → Narrates ‘stories’ of his past that are not true, he is a show off.

Plot: Men on a ship on their way to Cardiff. Cocky is showing off (lying) and others are hearing it.
Yank is ill, sleeping on his bunk bed. Driscoll attends to him, and they remember their friendship (and
killing) over the years, and he dies by his side. Intention of lacking plot → To create an atmosphere
and focus on these two characters.
Style: Psychological, tragic ending. He puts characters from different nationalities (all speak English)
and tries to imitate their way of talking in this play.
Topics: Death, masculinity, loneliness, religion. Another topic tackled is the idea of people not
knowing what to do; that is, there is a situation in front of them (a man dying) but they seem to not see
it and try to avoid talking about it → Representation of miscommunication.
- The Melting Pot → The mix of nationalities in the US because of immigration.
 UNIT 3 (II)

❖ Excitement of Harlem and Village (tourist attractions) “The Jazz Age” or “The Twenties”.
❖ Experimentation with radical ideas and new modes in arts not unique to the 1920s decade.
❖ Response to crisis in American culture, more during World War I (1914-18) and aftermath.
❖ The war “make the world safe for democracy” (Wilson” as senseless slaughter in the name of
a “botched civilization”.
❖ Post-war diplomacy (League of Nations) seemed a futile and cynical charade. (Hemingway,
Dos Pasos, pacifist philosopher John Dewey or poet Ezra Pound).
❖ 1920s extended crisis into 1930s and sharpened writers’ sense of urgency about
mission
❖ Illicit traffic in “bootleg” (contrabando) liquor promoted gang warfare: decay in
private/public morals
❖ Poverty in rural areas (1920s, 1930s) stock market crash, (1929) bankrupted….
❖ Great Depression (1930): industrial retrenchment, widespread unemployment and
violence of industrial strife between corporation and labour force
❖ Roosevelt’s “New Deal” (1933) to cope with crisis
❖ Writers re-examined traditions/social problems. Looked to Europe for ideas,
programs, forms.
❖ Karl Marx’s indictment of capitalism and economic/historical theories, widely
influential in literary /intellectual circles after 1915.
❖ Interest in European radicalism, (anarchism & communism)
❖ (1917) Russian Revolution: hope of new solution to social/political problems
❖ Max Eastman & John Reed (The Masses, The Liberator, The New Masses), official
journal of American Communist party
❖ Critique of American society by other conservative papers – The American Mercury –
and liberal – The New Republic, The Nation
❖ Disillusion of many intellectuals:
➢ Suppression of dissent in Russia, demands for conformity within communist
organisations and alignment of Stalinist Russia with Hitler’s Germany
❖ Marxism shaped careers of critics/fiction writers ….
❖ Freudian Psychoanalysis:
➢ Unconscious or irrational in human psyche
➢ Dramas & dream symbols generated in the mind by mechanisms;
psychological and social, or sexual repression;
➢ “Discontents”
➢ Physic experience masked by common language & conscious operations of mind
➢ Capacity of “depth psychology” to diagnose psychic illness and try to cure it
➢ Quest for sexual liberation & disdain for established conventions
➢ Readier acceptance of psychoanalysis in america than in europe
■ Fad in journalism (1920s) later novels and interpretations
 ➢ Rival psychoanalysts: Alfred Adler and Carl Jung, added new versions to
psychoanalysis
➢ By 1940: the “psychiatrist”, “archetypal symbol” and “Oedipus complex”: part of
modern mythology + infused literature.
➢ James Joyce’s new techniques of “realism”: ordinary life with hidden depths of
psychological/social reality & new novelistic conventions for classical myth, parodic
manipulations of language, expresisonistic effect, and allusive symbolic forms.
➢ Comparably innovative achievements in music (Stravinsky, Hindemith, and
Schoenberg) cacophonous to large audiences but provocative to vanguard writers.
➢ 1913, a painting exhibition, the “Armory Show”, had a similar effect in introducing
contemporary modes of painting.
➢ Emigration of European artists to the US (more 1930s and 40s), with totalitarian
regimes (also from US to Europe)
➢ Revolution: tendencies in modern culture + accidental circumstance + concerted
effort of influential writers (politically conservative)

THE HAIRY APE by Eugene O’Neill

Which is the plot? "Hairy Ape" is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill, first
performed in 1922. The play explores themes of class struggle, identity, and alienation. Here is a brief
summary:

The story revolves around the central character, Yank, a physically powerful but uneducated laborer
who works in the stokehold of a transatlantic ocean liner. He is proud of his work and considers
himself an essential part of the ship's machinery, likening himself to a beast of industry.

However, Yank's world is turned upside down when he encounters the upper-class daughter of a steel
magnate, Mildred Douglas. She visits the stokehold, and her reaction to Yank and his fellow workers
is one of disgust. This interaction shatters Yank's sense of self-worth and identity.

Yank becomes obsessed with Mildred and her world, believing that he must find his place in the
upper-class society. He embarks on a quest to prove that he is not a "hairy ape" but a man worthy of
respect. This journey leads him to various encounters and struggles, including involvement with labor
unions and confrontations with the police.

As the story unfolds, Yank's search for identity and belonging ultimately ends in tragedy. He becomes
increasingly alienated and disillusioned, culminating in a violent and confrontational climax with
Mildred. The play ends with Yank's physical and emotional disintegration.

"Hairy Ape" is a powerful exploration of the dehumanizing effects of industrialization, class divisions,
and the search for personal identity. Yank's journey serves as a metaphor for the struggle of the
working class in a rapidly changing and industrialized society.

Which are the literary characteristics in this play?

 ​ Expressionism: "The Hairy Ape" is often classified as an expressionist play, which
means it focuses on the emotional and psychological experiences of the characters
rather than a realistic portrayal of the world. Expressionist plays often use distorted
and symbolic settings and characters to convey the inner turmoil and alienation of
the individual. In "The Hairy Ape," the characters and settings are stylized to
emphasize the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and class division.
​ Alienation and Isolation: The play explores the theme of alienation and isolation in a
modern, industrialized society. The protagonist, Yank, feels like an outsider and
struggles to find his place in a world that devalues him because of his social class
and appearance. His journey reflects the alienation of the working class in a rapidly
changing and dehumanizing industrial world.
​ Social Critique: "The Hairy Ape" is a social critique that highlights the dehumanizing
effects of industrialization and class division. It portrays the harsh and inhumane
treatment of the working class and critiques the capitalist system, which treats
laborers as cogs in the machinery of industry.
​ Symbolism: The play uses symbolic elements to convey its themes. Yank's
association with the term "hairy ape" symbolizes his primal and animalistic nature,
contrasting with the dehumanizing effects of modern industrial society. The steel
jungle, where much of the play is set, is a symbolic representation of the harsh,
mechanized world that Yank and other laborers inhabit.
​ Psychological Depth: O'Neill delves into the psychological depth of the characters,
particularly Yank, as they grapple with their identities and their places in the world.
The play explores Yank's internal struggles and how they lead to his ultimate
downfall.
​ Theatrical Techniques: O'Neill's use of theatrical techniques, such as stark lighting,
minimalistic sets, and stylized dialogue, contributes to the expressionist nature of the
play. These elements help create a sense of heightened emotion and tension on
stage.
​ Social Realism: While "The Hairy Ape" is expressionist in nature, it also contains
elements of social realism, portraying the grim realities of the working-class
experience and the injustices they face in society.
​ The Tragic Hero: Yank can be seen as a tragic hero, a character who is brought down
by his own flaws and the circumstances of his world. His downfall is a central
element of the play's structure, and his struggle for identity and belonging is a key
part of his tragic arc.

These literary characteristics combine to create a powerful and thought-provoking play that

explores themes of class, identity, and the human condition in a rapidly changing and

industrialized world.

Which style is this play related to?

"The Hairy Ape" is related to the style of expressionism, known for its focus on
conveying intense emotions and psychological experiences of characters, often
through symbolic and stylized elements.

Are there any specific topics which are somehow repeated?

Interpretation of the play in terms of social relationships, economical.

Which kind of spaces are described here?

SUMMARY OF HAIRY APE

"Hairy Ape" is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill, first performed in 1922. The

play explores themes of class struggle, identity, and alienation. Here is a brief summary:

The story revolves around the central character, Yank, a physically powerful but uneducated

laborer who works in the stokehold of a transatlantic ocean liner. He is proud of his work and

considers himself an essential part of the ship's machinery, likening himself to a beast of

industry.

However, Yank's world is turned upside down when he encounters the upper-class daughter of a

steel magnate, Mildred Douglas. She visits the stokehold, and her reaction to Yank and his fellow

workers is one of disgust. This interaction shatters Yank's sense of self-worth and identity.

Yank becomes obsessed with Mildred and her world, believing that he must find his place in the

upper-class society. He embarks on a quest to prove that he is not a "hairy ape" but a man worthy

of respect. This journey leads him to various encounters and struggles, including involvement

with labor unions and confrontations with the police.

As the story unfolds, Yank's search for identity and belonging ultimately ends in tragedy. He becomes

increasingly alienated and disillusioned, culminating in a violent and confrontational climax with Mildred.

The play ends with Yank's physical and emotional disintegration.

"Hairy Ape" is a powerful exploration of the dehumanizing effects of industrialization, class divisions, and

the search for personal identity. Yank's journey serves as a metaphor for the struggle of the working class

in a rapidly changing and industrialized society.

Spaces in the hairy ape

"The Hairy Ape" by Eugene O'Neill primarily takes place in several locations that are significant to the
story. Here are some of the key locations in the play:

​ The Stockroom of a Transatlantic Ocean Liner: The play opens in the stokeroom of a large
ocean liner, where the main character, Yank, and his fellow stokers work. This is the gritty and
industrial setting where Yank and his colleagues shovel coal to power the ship.
​ Fifth Avenue, New York: In one of the scenes, Yank goes to Fifth Avenue, the heart of
upper-class New York City, where he encounters Mildred Douglas, the daughter of a wealthy steel
magnate. This interaction serves as a stark contrast between Yank's working-class world and the
upper-class society.
​ The I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) Headquarters: Yank eventually becomes involved
with the labour union known as the I.W.W., and there are scenes that take place at the union's
headquarters. The I.W.W. plays a role in Yank's quest for identity and belonging.
​ The Zoo: In a later part of the play, Yank ends up in the Central Park Zoo, which serves as a
symbolic location where Yank confronts his sense of alienation and his perception of himself as a
"hairy ape."

These locations serve as settings that reflect the social and economic divisions within the play,

emphasizing the stark contrast between the working-class environment of the stokeroom and the

upper-class world represented by Fifth Avenue.

Humour, irony?

"The Hairy Ape" is not a comedy and doesn't focus on humor. It contains moments of irony,
particularly in highlighting the contrast between working-class and upper-class characters, but its
primary focus is on exploring social issues and the human condition, making it more tragic and
introspective than humorous. Certainly, here are more concise examples of irony in "The Hairy Ape":
1. Class Irony: The play highlights the irony of the working-class character Yank, who
believes in his strength and dignity but ends up feeling more alienated when he encounters the upper
class.
2. Label Irony: Mildred's nickname for Yank as "the hairy ape" is ironic because it
underestimates his complexity and desire for self-discovery.
3.Social Irony: The play exposes the irony of the class system, revealing the injustices and
inequalities within society.
Symbols, images?

"Hairy Ape" by Eugene O'Neill is rich in symbolism, which is used to convey deeper thematic and
character meanings. Here are some of the key symbols in the play:

The Hairy Ape: The title itself is a symbol. "The Hairy Ape" represents the dehumanization of the
working class and their alienation in an increasingly industrial and mechanized world. Yank's
nickname, "the hairy ape," reflects how society perceives and marginalizes him as a brute or a mere
cog in the machinery of industry.

The Stokeroom: The stokeroom of the ocean liner is a symbol of the working-class environment. It
represents the oppressive and dehumanizing nature of industrial labor, where workers like Yank are
physically and emotionally drained by their work.

Mildred Douglas: Mildred symbolizes the upper class and the stark contrast between the privileged
elite and the working class. Her reaction to Yank and the stokers represents the upper class's disdain
and detachment from the struggles of the lower classes.

The Cage at the Zoo: When Yank finds himself in a cage at the zoo, it symbolizes his own perception
of himself as an animal, or "hairy ape." It reflects his alienation and the feeling of being trapped and
out of place in the world.

Fire: Fire is a recurring motif in the play, symbolizing both the power of the stokers' labor and their
destructive potential. It represents the duality of industry, as it can both create and destroy.

The I.W.W. Banner: The banner of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) symbolizes the hope
of the working class to unite and fight for their rights. Yank's involvement with the I.W.W. represents
his search for identity and a sense of belonging within a larger social movement.

Mirrors and Reflections: Mirrors and reflections appear throughout the play, often showing Yank's
struggle with his own identity and self-image. They highlight his growing disillusionment and his
realization of how society perceives him.

The Monkey House: The monkey house at the zoo serves as a metaphor for the human condition,
highlighting the idea that humans, like the caged animals, are products of their environment and can
be reduced to primal instincts.

These symbols and motifs contribute to the play's themes of class struggle, identity, and alienation,
and they provide a deeper layer of meaning to the characters and their experiences.

Are the characters realistic, expressionistic?

Certainly, here's a shorter overview of the main characters in Eugene O'Neill's "The
Hairy Ape":
 ​ Yank: The central character, a brutish stoker representing the alienated
working class.
​ Paddy: An older stoker and mentor to Yank with a nostalgic worldview.
​ Mildred Douglas: A wealthy upper-class woman who triggers Yank's journey.
​ Long: Yank's friend and confidant in the stokehole.
​ Aunt: A fellow worker and symbol of marginalized working-class women.
​ Second Engineer: Represents authority and upper-class disdain for stokers.
​ Secretary: Advocates for workers' rights as a member of the Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW).

These characters play vital roles in exploring class conflict and the dehumanizing
impact of industrialization in the play.

Do you find any points in common or differences with la anterior?

"Bound East for Cardiff" and "The Hairy Ape" are both plays by Eugene O'Neill with
nautical settings, but they differ in tone and themes. "Bound East for Cardiff" is a one-act
play focused on a dying sailor's introspection, while "The Hairy Ape" is a full-length play
that explores broader social and class themes, featuring more complex characters and a
different style.

Long Day’s Journey by Eugene O’Neill

Genre: Theatre, it's a kind of autobiography since every topic covered is related to the life of
the author and his real family issues.

Structure: Four acts, three of them with only one scene (1,3,4) and second act with two
scenes.

Time: All the play is happening on the same day, at different hours of the day.
Act 1: 8:30 AM, August day, 1912.
Act 2: Scene 1 - 12:45 PM, Scene 2 - After lunch time.
Act 3: 18:30 PM.
Act 4: Midnight.

Time lines: PRESENT (complete, they rely on it, influences the present) - PRESENT
(insecure, consequences of the past) - FUTURE (not talked about, uncertainty) - The most
important for them is the past.

Space: The setting is the living room of the Tyrone family, despite other places of the house
being mentioned like the kitchen, the porch, the bedroom upstairs, especially when talking
about Mary. It's not very decorated, and dimly lit. Each part of the house might be associated
with one kind -the upstairs part with Mary, and she barely goes out and is addicted to
morphine as her secret, so the most reserved part of the house is linked to her. The kitchen is
related to the servants, where they spend most of their time as their job requires. On the other
hand, the porch (the outside part of the house) is associated with the men, who are
traditionally the ones who work and face the problems of the outside world, and go to bars to
drink.

Characters: The Tyrone family, James Tyrone, the alcoholic father; Mary Tyrone, the
morphine-addicted mother, ‘Jamie’ Tyrone, the oldest son a lover of alcohol (a bum); and
Edmund Tyrone, the youngest ill son (consumption). There is a secondary character,
Cathleen, a very talkative, young servant. There’s also Bridget, the cook, who is mentioned
but never appears on stage -she is said to have a strong temper.

Topics:
- Lack of communication - Implicit messages
- Addiction
- Vices - Alcoholism
- Trauma and guiltiness
- Fall out of favour
- Popularity
- Death and sickness
- Death of an infant
- Catholic faith vs Philosophical thinking (pragmatism)

Plot: A broken home of Irish origin with its addictions and personal relationships, and how
they deal with them and interact with each other. The father is a retired actor who made a lot
of money and has now spent it in bad real-estate investments; besides, he has become a very
stinky (tacaño) person- always lights off, no redecorating, weary to pay for his son
sanatorium, and always looks for the cheapest option. Mary, the mother, is always at home
and has no friends, she is addicted to morphine as a result of everything she has been through
-her husband being an alcoholic and stinky person, who always carried her to motels and left
her alone, and the trauma of her son dying when he was two years old. She is very anxious
when she has no morphine, and she is in denial of her addiction, her husband’s problem with
alcohol, and his son’s illness. Jamie is called a ‘bum’ constantly by his family, since he has
gone from being top of his class to not doing anything and falling into disgrace by always
drinking and partying. He seems to have a problem with alcohol too. Edmund is the youngest
of the family, he has been away for a while in the navy and he has returned home very ill with
consumption. He’s working as a journalist on the town’s paper. They all have problems with
each other because of past trauma and addiction, and there is a notably lack of
communication.

Motifs: Home and family, past and present, life and death, religion vs atheism, addictions as
a way of escapism.

Symbols: Fog and foghorn that gets increasingly worse as the play advances, as everyone
gets more wasted, that is, the weather progression. The weather progression, at the
beginning, means that there are gonna be problems, and later on when Mary gets worse she
says that she loves the fog, and thus the fog happens to mean the worsening of her condition
and has an Irish meaning too.
The lightbulbs.

Style and stage directions: They are very direct and strict, they know where to stand and
what face to put on. The scenes are described very clearly with concise stage directions. The
dialogues are mostly between two characters- when there is another, he usually just stands
around or leaves the scene.

Language: Colloquial, middle class -poverty-. There is a lot of bad language -insults- that
depict the epoch.