Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 20 (2016), Se ille, Spain, ISSN 1133-309-X, pp. 219-222
INTERTEXTUALITY IN AMERICAN DRAMA.
DREW EISENHAUER AND BRENDA
MURPHY, EDITORS.
McFa land & Co., 2013, pp. 268. ISBN: 978-0-7864-
6391-6.
CRISTÓBAL CLEMENTE
Uni e sidad de Se illa
c is obal_cleme[email p o ec ed]
Recei ed 16 h Sep embe 2016
Accep ed 5 h No embe 2016
The p esen olume akes on he ascina ing and shape-
shi ing p ojec o assessing he di e en concep s and
mani es a ions o “in e ex uali y” in a numbe o Ame ican au ho s
known o hei d ama ic me i s. This book di ides he ask in wo
pa s, each one subdi ided in wo sec ions. In his way, we ind a
i s pa de o ed o li e a y in e ex uali y, wi h a sec ion ocused on
poe s‟ imp in on d ama ic ex s and he o he dealing wi h
playw igh s and he in e connec ion be ween pe o mance ex s. In
he second pa , unde he heading “cul u al in e ex uali y,” we ind
a mo e eclec ic milieu dis ibu ed be ween “cul u al ex s” and
“cul u al con ex .”
This collec ion o essays is in oduced by D ew Eisenhaue ,
one o he wo edi o s, who opens by e lec ing abou he na u e o
he co e opic, s a ing om he deba e whe he hea ical
pe o mance quali ies as a “ ex ” a all. Eisenhaue explains ha
pe o mances a e o en “cul u al „ ex s‟” as well as “linguis ic ones.”
The e o e, he elabo a es on how d ama ic ex s a e in e wined no
only wi h he hea ical medium, bu also wi h a as numbe o
cul u al and social mani es a ions h ough aspec s like language,
aes he ics, his o y o echnology. Then, he au ho o e s a b ie
accoun o he his o y o he concep o in e ex uali y and how i has
shi ed h ough he yea s, om Julia K is e a o Roland Ba hes o
pos -s uc u alism. He concludes by a ge ing he esou ce ulness o
he e m ega dless o pe iod, p o ing i o be a sou ce o inno a ion
ha pushes he bounda ies o he meaning o he ex . Eisenhaue
concludes by poin ing ou ha i is p ecisely hese di e en
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Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 20 (2016), Se ille, Spain, ISSN 1133-309-X, pp. 219-222
app oaches o inno a i e in e ela ion ha will be ep esen ed by he
di e en au ho s ga he ed in his olume.
The i s sec ion o he book begins wi h a e ealing accoun
by He man Daniel Fa ell III abou Eugene O‟Neill‟s ime as an
adap e a he an o iginal playw igh , and how his pe iod a ec ed
his s yle, his e sion o Cole idge‟s The Ancien Ma ine being he
cen al example. Fa ell akes a s uc u alis app oach o
in e ex uali y o illus a e how he expe imen al c ea i i y in
O‟Neill‟s adap a ion p e igu es he pos mode n concep o “de ising”
(whe e di ec o , designe and playw igh collabo a e in a c ea i e
collec i i y) and, a he same ime, cap u es echoes o Japanese
hea e and he abandoned adi ion o Ame ican pagean d ama.
Taking on he same play, Rupend a Guha Majumda examines he
c ea i e p ocess behind he incep ion o he adap a ion. Coinciding
wi h Fa ell, Majumda minimizes he c i ical ailu e o he play,
highligh ing i s las ing in luence on O‟Neill‟s wo k, d awing examples
om plays such as The Iceman Come h, Whe e he C oss Is Made, o ,
mos p ominen ly, Long Day‟s Jou ney in o he Nigh and A Moon o
he Misbego en.
Also abou O‟Neill bu his ime ocusing on A Moon o he
Misbego en, Au élie Sanchez analyzes how he comedic elemen s
and he s uc u e o he play i sel ha k back o Williams
Shakespea e‟s A Midsumme Nigh ‟s D eam, and also how Roman ic
symbolism, mainly ha o he moonligh , is a ai sha ed wi h John
Kea s‟s odes. The in luence o hese wo sou ces, howe e , eaches
e en u he , acco ding o Sanchez. F om Shakespea e‟s comedy we
can see elemen s like “comic e e sals and me amo phoses,”
“ hea ical illusion” o a blend o comedy and agedy. The agicomic
aspec b ings abou melancholy, which is a main nexus wi h Kea s‟s
poe y, and is di ec ly p esen in he play wi h he quo a ion o “Ode
o a Nigh ingale.” Mo e aspec s a e explo ed, bu all o hem,
Sanchez concludes, can be a meaning-shi ing mul i ace ed moon
ha illus a es a melancholic jou ney om sadness in o libe a ion.
The las wo essays o his i s sec ion shi he au ho
discussed o Susan Glaspell, whe he i is some o he p ose o plays.
Michael Wine sky‟s piece deals wi h essen ial in luence o Roman ic
ex s and au ho s in Glaspell‟s e e ences, using as examples he
no els The Glo y o he Conque ed and Judd Rankin‟s Daugh e , as
well as he mid-ca ee play Inhe i o s (1922). Th ough hese wo ks
Wine sky elabo a es on how Glaspell used Roman ic discou se and
ideology o ee alua e he idea o mo al li e a u e and he na u e o
Re iew o In e ex uali y in Ame ican D ama
221
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 20 (2016), Se ille, Spain, ISSN 1133-309-X, pp. 219-222
cul u al hie a chies, mos ly ha o he u ban agains he u al. On
he o he hand, Noelia He nando-Real chooses o alk abou he
in e ex ual ela ion be ween Glaspell‟s play Alison’s House and he
poe y o Emily Dickinson. The play, conside ed mos ly by c i ics o
be an adap a ion o Dickinson‟s li e, is domina ed by he poe ‟s “wo k
and cha ac e .” Aside om he plo being loosely biog aphical, he e
is a co ela ion be ween he use o symbols like he eclusi e house,
a he same ime a sou ce o p o ec ion and isola ion, and he ma ble
ea able, signi ying dea h. Thus, he in luence o he poems “The
g a e my li le co age is” and “They shu up me in P ose” p o es
essen ial in he p esen a ion o domes ici y, seclusion and mo ali y
in Alison‟s House.
In he second sec ion o he olume, he scope changes o
examine he ela ionship be ween di e en d ama ic ex s,
some imes e en by he same au ho . Such is he case o he i s
essay in his sec ion, whe e K is in Benne explo es he sha ed
elemen s o emale cha ac e s in Tho n on Wilde ‟s d ama, mo e
speci ically The Skin o Ou Tee h, The Long Ch is mas Dinne and
Ou Town. Inspi ed by his own mo he and sis e s, we lea n how
Wilde , al hough no s ic ly a eminis , ends o po ay he s uggle
o women o iden i y in a cons aining wo ld, o he poin o ,
acco ding o Benne , p e igu ing Judi h Bu le ‟s e lec ions abou
gende . The nex essay, by S ephen Ma ino, also deals wi h Wilde ‟s
hea e, bu his ime in i s ole as an in luence on A hu Mille ,
especially in his ea ly pe iod. Ma ino poin s o Ou Town as a
unning inspi a ion o Mille , especially when he pu oge he his
c i ical essay “The Family in Mode n D ama” and he wo e sions o
A View om he B idge, also highligh ing he con as be ween
“poe ic” d ama and “ ealis ic” d ama. The second sec ion closes wi h
a piece by Jason Sha e on he di e en hea ical adap a ions o
Washing on I ing‟s iconic sho s o y Rip Van Winkle. Sha e shows
how a mos ly desc ip i e s o y wi h li le dialogue became one o he
hea ical sensa ions o he 19 h cen u y hanks o melod ama.
The hi d sec ion is dedica ed o he analysis o cul u al ex s;
he i s essay, by F anklin J. Lasik, su eys he concep o “ emale
u opia” in se e al o Cha lo e Pe kins Gilman‟s no els and Susan
Glaspell‟s The Ve ge. Lasik examines how Gilman‟s ideas o an ideal
emale socie y shaped The Ve ge‟s p o agonis ‟s s uggle o eedom.
The nex piece, by Sa ah Wi he s, also alks abou Glaspell, bu his
ime abou he play Inhe i o s and how i po ays he concep o
on ie , while also obse ing he in e ac ions be ween loss and
222 C is óbal Clemen e
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos 20 (2016), Se ille, Spain, ISSN 1133-309-X, pp. 219-222
cul u al inhe i ance. The hi d essay, by Annalisa B ugnoli, mo es
on o Eugene O‟Neill, explo ing how he ope o “di ine hiddenness,”
God‟s delibe a e absence, connec s O‟Neill‟s wo k wi h ex s as
di e se as he Bible, he wo ks o F ied ich Nie zsche and hose o
Ca l Jung. The inal essay in he hi d sec ion, w i en by Emeline
Jou e, goes back o Glaspell‟s The Ve ge, wi h an assessmen o he
in e ex ual mani es a ions o insani y in his piece abou women‟s
emancipa ion.
The las sec ion o he book is de o ed o cul u al con ex ,
and s a s wi h an essay by Lisa Hall Hagen abou he in e sec ions
o c ime and gende in plays like Susan Glaspell‟s T i les, Mau ine
Dallas Wa kins‟s Chicago and Sophie T eadwell‟s Machinal. Hagen
illus a es how hese sub e si e plays ake elemen s om eali y and
d ama o become du able wo ks ep esen a i e o hei au ho s. Nex
is Je ey E ic Jenkins‟s piece abou he oles o his o y, memo y and
nos algia in Tho n on Wilde ‟s Ou Town, and how hey a e
condi ioned by he au ho ‟s unde lying eligious conce n. A e his
essay, Ramón Espejo Rome o o e s his e lec ion abou he pe cei ed
uni e sal quali y o A hu Mille ‟s Dea h o a Salesman, b ough
abou by his ansla ion o he play. The nex piece, by G aham
Wol e, examines he in e ex ual connec ions in John Gua e‟s Six
Deg ees o Sepa a ion and i s amous co e mo i , while he las ex ,
w i en by Sha on F iedman, akes on Susan Glaspell‟s challenge o
na i ism when she adap ed o he s age he sho s o ies she w o e
o Ha pe ‟s Mon hly.
This compelling olume p o es o be a meaning ul e o in
showing he in e wo en in icacies and mul iplici ies o he loom ha
is in e ex uali y, which a e e en mo e highligh ed in a medium as
polyphonic as d ama. Indubi ably, s uden s o hea e and schola s
alike may ind his book allu ing o i s a ious explo a ions o
in e ex uali y on he Ame ican s age. Howe e , conside ing his
book g ea ly ocuses on ea ly o mid- wen ie h cen u y in gene al and
O‟Neill and Glaspell in pa icula , i would ha e been in e es ing o
see bo h ea lie and mo e con empo a y ins allmen s, as he pieces
abou Rip Van Winkle o Six Deg ees o Sepa a ion demons a e.
Addi ionally, a li le mo e cohesion in he dis ibu ion o ex s would
ha e been use ul, bu i could be a gued ha he hopsco ch-like
na u e o some app oaches o in e ex uali y calls o jus such a
winding oad.