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Between the Lines: The Play’s the Thing
By Lee Ann Alexander
February 21, 2005
As happenstance would have it, I saluted
Arthur Miller’s
The Crucible in last month’s column. This month the literary community
and the world at large lost the renowned author at the age of 89. As the media
reminded us of all the legendary playwright’s celebrated works, I paused to
remember my discovery of Miller, and I couldn’t help but think of all the
theatrical gems we’ve been afforded by twentieth-century playwrights. In
celebration of all these great works, I’ve postponed my planned topic this month
in order to focus on plays and playwrights like Miller who’ve shaped literature
in the last century.
Theater and literature have shared an
interesting relationship. Historically, some of the earliest written works, now
referred to as classics, were plays—comedies, tragedies, and satires. (What
introductory literature course doesn’t include Plato’s
Republic?) Though we most likely think of novels when we think of
literature, plays have stayed with us and the theater remains an exciting forum
for great literature.
Miller’s passing reminds me of a very
special era in theater. In the twentieth century, great playwrights like Miller,
Eugene O’Neill, and Tennessee Williams mirrored the same movements that we
credit to Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Hemmingway, and all the other standout writers
of American literature and established American theater. This column’s highlight
of great twentieth-century playwrights is not exhaustive by any means; there
were other great writers like Orson Welles, Saul Bellow, and so on. But for the
sake of a concise tribute, here is a look at Miller, Williams, and O’Neill, who
were recently labeled the “triumvirate of writers who redefined the parameters
of the American stage.” 1
Arthur Miller
A New York native, Miller was born in 1915.
His most famous work is
Death of a Salesman, but he wrote well over a dozen plays and
screenplays, a novel, and an autobiography. His marriage to Marilyn Monroe
brings his public life into the center of attention, but it’s the genius of his
work that truly is captivating.
While I’m saluting contributions to American
theater, many observers have noted what a
friend Miller was to British theater. However, it’s his conscience toward
larger humanity that has made the biggest impact:
“[Miller] embodied and had written about so
much of the experience of the 20th century—the Depression, the Holocaust, the
McCarthy era, the Cold War—and was at once a survivor, a historian, an
imaginative interpreter and a counselor. To some, he gave the appearance of
being the self-conscious sage….”2
Eugene O’Neill
O’Neill’s work dates earlier than
Miller and Williams, and he is considered America’s first major playwright.
O’Neill won four Pulitzers and the esteemed Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936
for his body of work.
He was born into a theatrical family in 1888
and had tempestuous early years. Apparently he channeled all of his life’s
experiences and passion into his writing. His most famous work, noted for its
incredible passion and emotion reminiscent of the Greek classics, is
Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Though reflective of the anguish and
despair of a disillusioned generation, there is something powerful—if not
beautiful—in its dark passages:
I have had the
same experience. Became the sun, the hot sand, green seaweed anchored to a rock,
swaying in the tide. Like a saint’s vision of beatitude. Like the veil of things
as they seem drawn back by an unseen hand. For a second you see—and seeing the
secret, are the secret. 3
Tennessee Williams
Williams is considered a key figure in
Southern literature but his works transcended regionalism and helped shape
American theater along with Miller, who was born just three years later.
Williams won two Pulitzers, and no one can catalog American theater without
referencing
A Streetcar Named Desire,
The Glass Menagerie, and
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Williams approached his art with a love and
respect for the craft. In his production notes to The Glass Menagerie, he
touches upon the purpose and the possibilities of theater, reflecting how he
would help usher in a new vision for the theater:
Truth, life, or
reality is an organic thing which the poetic imagination can represent or
suggest, in essence, only through transformation, through changing into other
forms than those which were merely present in appearance…. These remarks… have
to do with a conception of a new, plastic theatre which must take the place of
the exhausted theatre of realistic conventions if the theatre is to resume
vitality as a part of our culture. 4
Clearly Williams’ vision helped usher in a
revitalized theater, and now we have a literary heritage of great dramas
influenced by the style and craftsmanship of Williams and his peers.
Bottom Line
While I’ve always thought of this column as
a book review, I’m reminded this time that literature embraces more than just
books. In this era of global media, we should be cognizant more than ever of the
various art forms within the domain of literature.
For Fun
bullfight: A Literary Review
Reader Recommendations
Thanks to everyone who responded to the
Da Vinci Code column in January.
Along the lines of adventure/mystery novels, Caya Jappinen of Connecticut
recommends the works of
Helen MacInnes. I am embarrassed to say I was not familiar with these
novels, but it turns out this writer was hugely popular and her works were
received very favorably. These novels cover espionage and international politics
from World War II through the Cold War. And happily for us, Caya points out,
these books are largely free of inappropriate content.
Lagniappe
Check out the
ProLiteracy Worldwide site fostering literacy for adults and their families.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2005, Lee Ann
Alexander
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Lee Ann Alexander
is ninetyandnine.com’s book columnist. If you have suggestions on topics
to explore, email her at Books@ninetyandnine.com.
- French, Phillip.
“Voice of America.” The Observer. 13 Feb 2005.
- BBC.
“Legacy of an ‘American Titan.’” 11 Feb 2005.
- O’Neill, Eugene. Long
Day’s Journey into Night. (Act IV).
- Williams, Tennessee.
The Glass Menagerie. Dramatists Play Service Inc.: New York, 1975. Page
7.
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