The dialectic of theatrical space and domestic space in modern American and British drama (1900--1939)

The dissertation focuses on reading the dialectic of theatrical space and domestic space in three different Western traditions. Relying on the theories of Michel Foucault, Hanna Scolnicov, Gaston Bachelard, and Umberto Eco, a reading of theatrical spatial representation of domestic drama emerges as putting social and political rights of women for the audience's inspection. Examining specific plays produced during the flourishing years of modern American drama that include Susan Glapsell's Trifles, Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra and Desire Under the Elms, and Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes reveals the social and political implications of oppressed women in the home. Women committing domestic violence geared toward immediate family members are revealed through the text of each play as a guide for the audience to see the apparent domination of women in the house as a symptom of denial of power.;Similarly, in English drama, most notably in the works of Elizabeth Robins and John Galsworthy, a growing awareness arises among social activists, at that time, for the need of presenting plays to the public that address social and political reform for women in English society. In Robins' Votes for Women and Galsworthy's Loyalties, the audience is able to achieve a positive inclination, because the female character is basically working to maintain a stable and imagined bliss of the home. Through the use of onstage lookers, who represent their same fears of the New Woman and who at the end feel sympathetic with the "feared" female character, the playwrights make certain that domestic politics are tied to national politics.;The role of domestic living in national life is further investigated in the Dublin trilogy of Sean O'Casey. Domesticity on the Irish stage carries importance due to its sensitive relationship with ideas of Irish nationalism. The trilogy, and mostly Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars enact the prejudices of the audience toward women and their role in national struggle.;Therefore, modern playwrights show through theatrical representation of domestic space the national benefits of giving more legal, social, and political rights to women.