| In 1931, Eugene O'Neill made the first notations in his work diary concerning a cycle of plays entitled "A Tale of Posessors, Self-Dispossessed." O'Neill's work marked the beginning of a serious dramatic concern. The confrontations in these dramas reveal a dilemma of the American experience: this is a nation of "possessors dispossessed." Through the analysis of selected plays by Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, David Mamet, and Sam Shepard, this dissertation examines the condition of dispossession as it manifests itself within three thematic areas: the self, the home, and the environment.; Chapter One serves as a definition of the drama of dispossession in relation to the three thematic areas. Essentially, the condition of dispossession results from the actions of dramatic characters attempting to realize the "ideal" of possession as it is projected by the individual and the culture. Most often, due to individual or cultural limitations, their actions lead to dispossession or the separation from the ideal of possession they seek.; The remaining chapters of the dissertation analyze selected plays which highlight this condition of the American experience. Major plays discussed include O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon and Long Day's Journey Into Night, Miller's Death of a Salesman, Albee's A Delicate Balance, The Glass Menagerie by Williams, Glengarry Glen Ross by Mamet, and Shepard's Buried Child. The concluding chapter seeks to demonstrate the interrelationship of the sources of dispossession as they relate to each theme. |
