The Feminist Narrative In Contemporary Western Drama

In contemporary western drama,the power of female narrative is playing an important role gradually.Feminist drama has been accepted and supported by the public from margin to center.Paula Vogel,who has won many awards,including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama,the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and the Obie etc.,is one of the most influential female playwrights in contemporary American drama.Her work is known for dealing with a range of sensitive and controversial social and cultural issues.As a female playwright,Vogel empowers female characters to narrate,to stand on the center of the stage and tell their stories,to show their true lives and struggles.Her plays do not attempt to provide a fixed,permanent perspective.Instead,they’re dialogues with the audience in the theater.On the basis of literature review and a close reading of Vogel’s plays,it is found that her female narrative is to mold the female character as the subject in essence.Focusing on this idea,Vogel depicts the themes of body narrative,reconstruction of history and deconstruction of gender identity.She flexibly uses the techniques of Brechtian theory to defamiliarize the canon,organizing the play by means of non-linear structure and narration voice.This thesis attempts to analyze the female issues and female narrative in Vogel’s plays from the perspective of dramaturgy,exploring her writing techniques.Hopefully,the thesis can bring some enlightenment for the future production of female drama.