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Feminist/Brechtian Theory in the Plays of Paula Vogel

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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2000 Re-visionary bodies: Feminist/Brechtian theory in the plays of Paula Vogel Shannon Kay Hammermeister University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Hammermeister, Shannon Kay, "Re-visionary bodies: Feminist/Brechtian theory in the plays of Paula Vogel" (2000). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1201. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/kv7h-7aty This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm m aster. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may b e from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon th«e quality of the copy subm itted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor qiuality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard marginzs, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a comiplete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the (deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand c»mesr and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this cx3py for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to o^rder. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arlaor, Ml 48106-1346 US*A 800-521-0600 UMI’ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. RE-VISIONARY BODIES: FEMINIST/BRECHTIAN THEORY IN THE PLAYS OF PAULA VOGEL by Shannon Hammermeister Bachelor of Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1996 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree College of Liberal Arts English Department G raduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 1403074 Copyright 2001 by Hammermeister, Shannon Kay Ail rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform 1403074 Copyright 2001 by Beil & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. 60X1346 Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Shannon Hammermeister 2001 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval IINTV The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas November 6 The Thesis prepared by Shannon Hammermeister Entitled Re-Visionary Bodies: Feminist/Brechtian Theory in the Plays of Paula Vogel is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts EximnationfCommitCee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examination Committee énember Examination Compiÿtee Member ---------------- 'Grfiduate Colley e Faculty Representative J PR/1017-S3/I-00 U Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Re-visionary Bodies: Feminist/Brechtian Theory in the Plays of Paula Vogel by Shannon Hammermeister Dr. Evelyn Gajowski, Examination Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas Paula Vogel adapts Bertolt Brecht’s Verfi-emdungseffekt, social gestus, historicization and episodic structure in the plays The Baltimore Waltz. And Baby Makes Seven. Hot ‘N’ Throbbing, and Desdemona: a plav about a handkerchief to re-vision constructions of gender, sexuality and feminine desire, to re-define the American theatrical canon, and to create her own gestic, feminist theater. In The Baltimore Waltz. Vogel re-visions the AIDS virus in order to expose and critique stereotypes surrounding AIDS. In And Babv Makes Seven. Vogel engages in a re-visionary dialogue with Edward Albee’s classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in order to question and re­ invent the American nuclear family. In Hot ‘N’ Throbbing. Vogel re-visions the feminist pornography debate in order to examine the destructive effects of domestic violence and pornography on men, women and children. In Desdemona. Vogel re-visions Othello in order to give voice to the silenced, feminine voices in Shakespeare’s classic. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION; SERIOUS COMEDY..................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 LEARNING THE GRAMMARS OF GRIEF: AIDS COMEDY IN THE BALTIMORE WALTZ.......................................................................22 CHAPTERS WHO’S NOT AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF: FEMINISM AND FAMILIES IN AND BABY MAKES SEVEN ...........................................47 CHAPTER 4 VOICING VIOLENCE IN HOT ‘N’ THROBBING.................................76 CHAPTER 5 WHY DESDEMONA IS A PLAY ABOUT A HANDKERCHIEF 104 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION: REVISIONARY BODIES ............................................ 141 APPENDDC 1 COPYRIGHT/QUOTATION PERMIS SION FORMS........................... 149 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................... 154 VITA ..........................................................................................................................................160 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Evelyn Gajowski for her constant support as a mentor and for her lessons in the language of feminism, my thesis committee - Dr. Sharon Moore, Dr. Chris Hudgins and Julie Jensen — for their invaluable assistance and input with this project, and, most of all, my mother, Susan Hammermeister, for encouraging me to re-vision my world without fear. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: SERIOUS COMEDY “When something seems ‘the most obvious thing in the world’ it means that any attempt to understand the world has been given up.” — Bertolt Brecht, “Theater for Pleasure or Theater for Instruction” “For me being a feminist means looking at things that disturb me, looking at things that hurt me as a woman. We live in a misogynist world and I want to know why.” — Paula Vogel, Interview with David Holmberg In his 1936 essay “Theater for Pleasure or Theater for Instruction,” German playwright and theorist Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) articulates the true function of his now infamous epic theater by contrasting the experience of the epic theater audience member with that of the realistic or “dramatic theater” audience member. The dramatic theater spectator, Brecht proposes, views the events unfolding onstage and experiences a frisson of Aristotelian identification with the characters and the dramatic world presented, “laugh[ing]” when they “laugh,” “weep[ing]” when they “weep” (71). He (for all theatrical spectators in Brecht’s essays are masculine) comments: Yes, I have felt like that too — Just like me — It’s only natural — It’ll never change - The sufferings of this man appall me, because they are inescapable - That’s great art; it all seems the most obvious thing in the world . (71) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 With this first person interior monologue, Brecht implies that in a typically realistic or “dramatic” theatrical event spectators come away comfortably cleansed, with a sense all is indeed right with society and its rigid, hierarchical structures. These spectators are content to view “obvious” theatrical representations of “sufferings” rather than facing the ugliness and degradation of these sufferings themselves. The epic theater’s spectator, on the other hand, “laughs” when characters “weep”
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