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The Plays of Beth Henley

By Plunka, Gene A.

The Plays of Beth Henley Drama

The Plays of Beth Henley

By Plunka, Gene A.

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Description
Beth Henley's twelve complete plays (three of which have been turned into films) have achieved worldwide production. At age 29, she produced her first full-length drama, Crimes of the Heart, which won a Pulitzer Prize and garnered three Academy Award nominations as a film. Her Mississippi upbringing and her penchant for the eccentricities of southern culture, however, have caused critics to categorize her writing as a kind of southern gothic folklore inspired by feminist ideology. This book, the first critical study of Henley's complete plays, attempts to dispel the common stereotypes that associate Henley's work with regional drama and sociological treatises. It argues instead that Henley can best be perceived as a dramatist who delineates an existential despair manifested in various forms of what Freud calls the modern neurosis. The book maintains that Henley's plays must be understood as universal statements about the angst of modern civilization, and Henley's characters are assessed in light of Freud's proposition that cultural restrictions create neurotic individuals. The introduction provides a brief account of Henley's childhood and career. Early chapters summarize the theory of the modern angoisse espoused in Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, while later chapters relate this theory to thematic and stylistic elements of Henley's most popular play, Crimes of the Heart, as well as Am I Blue, The Wake of Jamie Foster, The Miss Firecracker Contest, The Debutante Ball, The Lucky Spot, Abundance, Signature, Control Freaks, Revelers, L-Play, and Impossible Marriage.
Product details
Binding:
Paperback
Edition:
illustrated
Number of Pages:
236
Release Date:
2005-02-28
Publication Date:
2005-02-24
Publisher:
McFarland
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
0786420812
ISBN13:
9780786420810
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Minimum Reading Age:
18
Weight:
390 g
Height:
152 cm
Width:
229 cm
Thickness:
14 cm
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