Susan Glaspell, playwright of social consciousness

Susan Glaspell (1876-1948), founding member of the Provincetown Players and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, wrote fourteen plays. Her main social concern in all these dramatic works was the individual in conflict with an oppressive society which seeks to stifle autonomy. Three areas in which the individual opposes society are discussed in this study: the individual in conflict with the family which is depicted as a microcosm of society; the woman in conflict with society's roles and stereotypes; and the artist in conflict with society's images and expectations. Glaspell's plays are analyzed using the method of critic Kenneth Burke, including discussion of associational clusters, the agent-scene ratio, and patterns of symbolic action.; The individual in conflict with the family is analyzed in four plays, the short farces "Suppressed Desires" and "Tickless Time," the one-act play "Close the Book," and the full-length play Inheritors. The social concerns related to this area are categorized from the most private issues of protecting the family unit to the more public issues of appearing respectible in society. The woman in conflict with society's dictates is discussed in relation to five Glaspell works, the one-act plays "Trifles," "Woman's Honor," and "The Outside," and two full-length plays, Bernice and The Verge. These works are examined chronologically, to determine any changes in Glaspell's feminist concerns. The social concerns of the artist in conflict with society's expectations are examined in the one-act play "The People," and four full-length plays, Chains of Dew, The Comic Artist, Alison's House and Springs Eternal. These issues are discussed from the more private issues of protection for the artist to the more public issues of the artist's influence on and responsibility to society.; For clarity and focus, each play is discussed in only one category. However, the social concerns of an individual play may not be limited to just one of these groups. A summary of the social concerns of each play, listed in chronological order, is provided in an appendix. Also included in this study is a biographical chapter, which explores the development of Glaspell's writing and her ideas.