Trauma And Recovery:A Study Of Lanford Wilson's Talley Trilogy

Lanford Wilson is a famous American playwright who plays an important role in American drama circle.He has written more than forty plays and won many awards,including the Pulitzer Prize for drama.Fifth of July,Talley's Folly and Talley & Son are recognized as Wilson's masterpieces.Up to now,much research work has been done on the themes,characters and writing techniques of the three plays,but we can rarely find any study that has adopted the trauma theory.Therefore,taking Talley Trilogy as the research object,the thesis focuses on the analysis of the traumatic experiences of the main characters under the guidance of trauma theory so as to reveal the themes of trauma and recovery in the plays as well as the profound concern for the reality of the playwright.According to trauma theory,trauma starts from the happening of a traumatic event.The traumatic event can have lasting impact on the victims,always taking the form of various symptoms.Adopting effective methods of treating trauma,the victims are able to return to normal life.On the basis of the theoretical framework presented above,the thesis probes into the trauma of main characters in the trilogy.Firstly,the thesis examines the causes of trauma for each character,finding that the torture of the Vietnam War,the abandonment by the closest people and the lack of paternal love are the major factors that cause both physical and psychological trauma to Ken,Sally and Eldon.The thesis then discusses the consequences of trauma,revealing the pain and sufferings of main characters in the aftermath of traumatic events.Ken shows emotional numbness and loses the positive sense of self;Sally alienates herself from others and avoids anything related to the traumatic event;Eldon is continuously disturbed by both the hatred towards his father and the intrusion of traumatic memory.Finally,the thesis studies how main characters struggle with trauma.After establishing a sense of security and mourning the past,Ken and Sally get rid of their trauma and start a new life.However,Eldon remains traumatized due to his confrontation with new trauma and lack of support from other people.With aforementioned analysis,the thesis draws a conclusion: the life experiences of the main characters in the trilogy,to a large extent,are closely corresponding to trauma theory.Nevertheless,the characters' dealing with trauma does not follow exactly the pathand process put forward by the trauma theory,even showing two opposite outcomes: one is recovery from the trauma,and the other is keeping stuck in it.This arrangement of opposite endings,in the author's opinion,on the one hand,reflects the playwright's complex attitude comprised of expectation and worry towards people living in the plight,on the other hand,reminds us that effective methods must be adopted for the treatment of traumatized people in the real life.