Visions of tragedy in modern American drama : from O'Neill to the twenty-first century
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Bibliographic Information
Visions of tragedy in modern American drama : from O'Neill to the twenty-first century
（Methuen drama）
Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2018
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This volume responds to a renewed focus on tragedy in theatre and literary studies to explore conceptions of tragedy in the dramatic work of seventeen canonical American playwrights. For students of American literature and theatre studies, the assembled essays offer a clear framework for exploring the work of many of the most studied and performed playwrights of the modern era. Following a contextual introduction that offers a survey of conceptions of tragedy, scholars examine the dramatic work of major playwrights in chronological succession, beginning with Eugene O'Neill and ending with Suzan-Lori Parks. A final chapter provides a study of American drama since 1990 and its ongoing engagement with concepts of tragedy.
The chapters explore whether there is a distinctively American vision of tragedy developed in the major works of canonical American dramatists and how this may be seen to evolve over the course of the twentieth century through to the present day. Among the playwrights whose work is examined are: Susan Glaspell, Langston Hughes, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, August Wilson, Marsha Norman and Tony Kushner. With each chapter being short enough to be assigned for weekly classes in survey courses, the volume will help to facilitate critical engagement with the dramatic work and offer readers the tools to further their independent study of this enduring theme of dramatic literature.
Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors
Foreword
by Christopher Bigsby, University of East Anglia, UK
Acknowledgements
Introduction
by David Palmer, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, USA
1. Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953)
by Jeffery Kennedy, Arizona State University, USA
2. Susan Glaspell (1876-1948)
by Sharon Friedman, New York University, USA
3. Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
by Jonathan Shandell, Arcadia University, USA
4. Thornton Wilder (1897-1975)
by Jackson R. Bryer, University of Maryland, USA
5. Lillian Hellman (1905-1984)
by Anne Fletcher, Southern Illinois University, USA
6. Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)
by Susan C. W. Abbotson, Rhode Island College, USA
7. Arthur Miller (1915-2005)
by Stephen Marino, St. Francis College, USA
8. Edward Albee (1928-2016)
by Natka Bianchini, Loyola University Maryland, USA
9. Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965)
by Deirdre Osborne, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
10. Amiri Baraka (1934-2014)
by Harvey Young, Northwestern University, USA
11. Adrienne Kennedy (1931-)
by Werner Sollors, Harvard University, USA
12. August Wilson (1945-2005)
by Sandra G. Shannon, Howard University, USA
13. Sam Shepard (1943-2017)
by Shannon Blake Skelton, Kansas State University, USA
14. David Mamet (1947-)
by Brenda Murphy, University of Connecticut, USA
15. Marsha Norman (1947-)
by David Palmer, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, USA
16. Tony Kushner (1956-)
by Claire Gleitman, Ithaca College, USA
17. Suzan-Lori Parks (1963-)
by Soyica Diggs Colbert, Georgetown University, USA
18. American Theatre Since 1990
by Toby Zinman, University of the Arts, USA
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Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
