Vital Contradictions: Characterization in the Plays of Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov and O'Neill

ISBN-13: 9789052019918 / Angielski / Miękka / 2002 / 208 str.

Maufort, Marc

Opis

This close study of selected plays by four of the greatest early modern playwrights, namely Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov and O'Neill, examines how these plays challenge long-standing traditions and assumptions of nineteenth-century theatre and reassert serious drama s place in great literature. The book studies the chief characters from some of the best-known plays of each playwright, recognizing that what gives them strength as artistic creations and makes them so memorable is the essential contradiction at the core of each figure. Michael Manheim explores the complexity of such characters as Ibsen s Peer Gynt and Hedda Gabler, Strindberg s Miss Julie, Chekhov s Uncle Vanya and Dr. Chebutykin, and the members of O Neill s Tyrone family."

Recenzje

"The book is not only enjoyable to read, but also challenges our preconceptions about some dramatic characters that haunt the imaginations of several generations." (Felicia Hardison Londré, University of Missouri, Kansas City)

Spis treści

Contents: Ibsen: Peer Gynt - The Wild Duck - Hedda Gabler - Strindberg: Miss Julie - Easter - A Dream Play - Chekhov: Ivanov - The Sea Gull - Uncle Vanya - The Three Sisters - The Cherry Orchard - O'Neill: More Stately Mansions - The Iceman Cometh - A Long Day's Journey into Night - Hughie - A Moon for the Misbegotten - Inner Contradictions - Dramatic Characterization.

O autorze

The Author: In addition to being the author of books on the Shakespearean history play and the plays of Eugene O'Neill, as well as many papers, articles and reviews, Michael Manheim was editor of the recent Cambridge Companion to Eugene O'Neill. Before retiring to Vermont, he taught Shakespeare and modern drama for many years at the University of Toledo (Ohio), and served in various professional capacities inside and outside the university. He is a past president of the Eugene O'Neill Society.