| "Ailment Drama" is a title I have given to dramatic pieces that utilize similar devices and follow a specific model while revolving around the family and illness. This dissertation is an attempt to provide foundation for "diagnosing," or identifying, these types of plays through exploration of six known and four original pieces.; Part One includes an introduction and one chapter. The Introduction explains my approach and goals, while identifying and defining two key terms employed throughout the study: illness and family. Chapter One examines a sample of twentieth century plays written by American playwrights, which includes: Trifles (Susan Glaspell), Plumes (Georgia Douglas Johnson), A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams), Long Day's Journey into Night (Eugene O'Neill), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Edward Albee), and Fool for Love (Sam Shepard). Extracted from these pieces are twelve common devices and eight steps employed by playwrights; together they suggest that certain factors are inherent to "Ailment Drama" pieces. Both devices and steps are detailed throughout the chapter.; Part Two includes four more chapters and four original plays. Chapter Two explores Lullaby, a full-length domestic drama written prior to any research in the area of "Ailment Drama." Chapter Three is a look at Reflections, a second full-length domestic drama which was written intentionally to conform to the model identified in Part One of this study. Chapter Four takes Elegance, a one-act domestic comedy, and compares it to the model to determine whether length or tone is a factor when "diagnosing" "Ailment Drama." And Chapter Five takes Astral Point Problem, a second one-act domestic comedy, and continues the experiment started in Chapter Four; this play is used to gain a more solid perspective of the possibility that devices and model transcend the genre and length of the work. |
