A Critical Study of the Family Crises in Sam Shepard’S Buried Child and True West
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ABSTRACT RITUALS AND MYTHS: A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE FAMILY CRISES IN SAM SHEPARD’S BURIED CHILD AND TRUE WEST In this thesis, I examine two plays by Sam Shepard, Buried Child and True West, and how the family crises in each culminate in an act of ritual. Applying the framework of Rene Girard, I explore how these two plays express Girard’s theory of the role of ritual sacrifice in communities—specifically, that rituals can be traced back to an ancient act of sacrifice in which a community killed a scapegoated victim to maintain social cohesion and de-escalate the growing antagonism that threatened their society. Writing in the late 70s, Shepard’s work can be seen as a commentary on the Vietnam War. His work at this time reflects an American society that was increasingly aware of the sacrifices deemed necessary to maintain American exceptionalism. Shepard’s plays depict moments of ritual, but also confront the audience with their inherent violence and injustice. He works to deconstruct social myths that conceal this truth, particularly the “social myth” of traditional family roles. Ultimately, Shepard exposes the violence weaved into the social fabric of America, but also confronts the chaos that could erupt if that social fabric were to unravel. Nicholas Wogan May 2019 RITUALS AND MYTHS: A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE FAMILY CRISES IN SAM SHEPARD’S BURIED CHILD AND TRUE WEST by Nicholas Wogan A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English in the College of Arts and Humanities California State University, Fresno May 2019 APPROVED For the Department of English: We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree. Nicholas Wogan Thesis Author William Arce (Chair) English Steven Adisasmito-Smith English Melissa Gibson Theatre-Arts For the University Graduate Committee: Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship. Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me. Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was only made possible by the support of my thesis committee. Thank you to William Arcé, my Thesis Chair, who has supported my growth as a scholar and has championed me when I needed it most. I’d also like to thank Melissa Gibson, whose incredible knowledge of Theatre history was immensely helpful, as well as Steve Adisasmito-Smith, who challenged my intellectual abilities but also gave me essential words of encouragement. The writing of a thesis can be a solitary, lonely task; all three members of my committee took my work seriously, and gave their best efforts. Their support gave me crucial perspective. I deeply appreciate the value of what they have given me, and I hope to honor their efforts through my continuing work as a scholar of English. I’d also like to thank my wonderful family, who occasionally endured my long rants on mimesis, post-modern theatre, and a variety of other completely abstract and unrelatable topics. Additionally, I’d like to thank the courageous and talented Lauren Folland for having such a powerful work ethic in her own pursuits that I had to mimetically copy it to get this project done. Thank you to my friends Manraj, Aaron, Steve, Myers, and all the rest. Shout outs to Kevin for the long esoteric talks, and shout outs to the Writing Center for giving me a source of income and the most pleasant job that I’ve ever had. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: THESIS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: INFANTICIDE AND SACRIFICAL VIOLENCE IN SHEPARD’S BURIED CHILD ..................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 9 Critical Overview ...................................................................................................... 11 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 15 Collapsing Differentiation of Family Roles .............................................................. 20 Exposing Ritualized Violence ................................................................................... 33 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 3: MIMETIC VIOLENCE AND THE FAILURE OF RITUAL IN SHEPARD’S TRUE WEST ................................................................................... 43 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 43 Critical Overview ...................................................................................................... 45 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 48 Mimetic Rivalry in True West ................................................................................... 51 When Ritual Fails ..................................................................................................... 57 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 4: THESIS CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 64 CHAPTER 5: CODA ........................................................................................................ 67 WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED ............................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 1: THESIS INTRODUCTION One of the essential American myths is that individuals have control over their own destinies. It is an implicit assurance that, for those who wish to start anew, America provides a unique opportunity for self-transformation. This promise, kept or unkept, was essential to the life and art of Sam Shepard. Shepard left the military family in which he was raised to make a living as a big-city playwright. He promised himself never to become his father—this promise freed him to choose his own path. This path led him to the off-off-Broadway theatre scene in New York. Through theatre, Shepard could explore the personalities he encountered growing up, but also take imaginative creative leaps. Writing throughout the 60s and 70s, Shepard’s work resonated with a period of American history in which there were massive cultural changes in civil rights, gender dynamics, and political resistance. These changes led many Americans to challenge social norms that had once been unquestioned, including traditional family values that were often seen as the foundation of American prosperity. Questioning his own connection to family and place of origin, Shepard recognized the elusiveness of these institutionalized sources of meaning. Shepard’s personal history influenced his artistic career, and led him to explore “family” as a socially constructed myth. Shepard’s complicated relationship with his father, Sam Rogers, is well-known to those that have studied Shepard’s career as a playwright (the pen-name of Shepard suggests an intentional distancing from the surname “Rogers”). The biographer John Winters writes that “to his son, Sam Rogers embodied violence: his butch haircut was an emblem of his military life and all that that suggested” (21). After returning from the second World War, Sam Rogers struggled with alcoholism, and was known to become physically violent toward his family. Winters writes that Rogers “took out his life’s disappointments on the people and things around him” and 2 2 even “beat the family pets” (21). The violent presence of Sam Rogers in his son’s early life was assuredly a factor in Shepard’s escape to New York, where he pursued a new start in experimental theatre. In his art, Shepard began to confront the social forces that led so many men, Shepard’s father included, into a horrifically destructive war. Part of this confrontation is Shepard’s emphasis on the contradictions surrounding the romanticized ideal of the American family unit. In American society, family has typically defined the roles and behaviors that are socially acceptable: particularly relevant to Shepard, it defined the roles available to men. At the time of Shepard’s youth World War II had ended, and America’s triumph suggested a legitimization of traditional American values, at least to those back home. Yet many of those who had fought in the war, such as Sam Rogers, struggled to return to domestic life. Many men of the time were failing to find fulfilment in the traditional male role of family patriarch, and American culture provided conflicting messages on the role that men should play in society. The social upheaval of the 70s, and the emergence of the Vietnam War, were a collapse of the ideal domestic space immortalized in T.V. shows like Father Knows Best (which ran from 1954 to 1960). The horrors of war, now increasingly depicted on television, made old notions of honor