MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Masculinity Crisis in “Blasted” and “Shopping and Fucking” Bachelor Thesis Brno 2012 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk David Ďulík Declaration I proclaim that this bachelor thesis is a piece of individual writing and that I used only the sources cited in the bibliography list. I agree with this bachelor thesis being deposited in the Masaryk University Brno in the library of the Department of English Language and Literature and with the access for studying purposes. ……………………….. David Ďulík 2 Acknowledgment First of all I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk for his support and time. I am grateful for his helpful suggestions and valuable comments. 3 List of Contents: 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 2 In-yer-face Theatre ............................................................................................................... 6 2.1 The Definition of In-yer-face Theatre and Its Origin ................................................... 6 2.2 Where In-yer-face Theatre Has Been Staged ................................................................. 7 2.3 The Crucial Names ....................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Profile of Society in 1990s, Profile of a Young Writer ................................................ 8 2.5 Masculine Identity and Its Forming ............................................................................ 10 2.5.1 Main Definitions ..................................................................................................... 10 2.6 The Process of Constructing Masculinity ...................................................................... 13 3 Shopping and Fucking ........................................................................................................ 16 3.1 The Quest .................................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Fatherhood .................................................................................................................. 19 3.3 Who is the breadwinner? ............................................................................................ 25 4 Blasted ................................................................................................................................ 33 4.1 The Butterfly Effect of the Inside World .................................................................... 33 4.2 Power .......................................................................................................................... 40 5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 45 List of References .................................................................................................................. 48 4 1 Introduction In-yer-face theatre emerged in Great Britain in the 1990s. The crisis of masculinity is perceived as being the major topic of in-year-face theatre. If the masculinity is somehow problematic and the phenomenon is reflected in the plays of in-yer-face theatre, it is challenging to question who the male protagonists of the crucial plays of the 1990s are and which features of masculinity in crisis they present. This thesis is divided into two main parts. The theoretical part attempts to come with thorough research of publications, specific web pages and newspaper articles related to the subject of in-yer-face theatre. The aim is to define in-yer-face theatre, its authors and the most significant works. Further it attempts to explore the background of society of the era of in-yer- face theatre. For the purpose of this thesis, which means dealing with the masculinity crisis in the plays, it is essential to narrow the range of 1990s plays, and focus just on two crucial works. Such selection allows deeper insight. Further, it is reasonable to examine masculinity in crisis in a sociological point of view. Specifically, at this point the theoretical part comes with the theory of masculinity in crisis. It mainly concentrates on “identity” and on the process of forming masculine identity. In the practical part, the plays Shopping and Fucking and Blasted are studied to find in male characters features confirming assumption that they are examples of masculinity in crisis. The work also tries to identify what elements of masculinity in crisis the male characters in both plays share, whether there are any common aspects. Such perspectives might hopefully draw the picture of the main male representatives of in-yer-face theatre and help to define who represents the position of masculinity in crisis. 5 2 In-yer-face Theatre 2.1 The Definition of In-yer-face Theatre and Its Origin “In-yer-face theatre is the kind of theatre which grabs the audience by the scruff of the neck and shakes it until it gets the message“ (Sierz, Inyerface-theatre.com.). According to Macmillan Dictionary, the expression means “extremely direct, in a way that is deliberately intended to shock or annoy people (799). Theatre critics agree that the term “in-your face” comes from American sport journalism. It was first recognized in 1970s and twenty years later the term already soaked in mainstream slang, meaning something aggressive or provocative. In terms of theatre it began to be considered as being forced to see something close up, having one´s personal space invaded. “In-yer-face theatre shocks audiences by the extremism of its language and images; unsettles them by its emotional frankness and disturbs them by its acute questioning of moral norms” (Sierz, Inyerface-theatre.com). Most in-yer-face plays are not interested in showing events in a detached way and allowing audiences to speculate about them; instead, they want audiences to feel the extreme emotions that are being shown on stage. In sum, it is evident that key feature of in-yer-face theatre is its ability and intent to shock and to bring extreme emotions to an audience. It happens not only by images and form of language, but also by situations when one character humiliates another, or when there are subjects mentioned on stage which everyone would not dare to raise. The boundaries are pushed further to change and question what is normal. Moreover, the author should be young as in-yer-face theatre is a theatre of young writers. This is more explained and explored in one of further chapters. 6 2.2 Where In-yer-face Theatre Has Been Staged In-yer-face drama has been staged by new writing theatres such as the Royal Court, Bush, Hampstead, Soho Theatre, Finborough, Tricycle, Theatre Royal Stratford East, all of which are in London. Aleks Sierz concludes that in-yer-face plays were not exclusively phenomenon of the capital city. He conveys other important places in Scotland or in the USA (Sierz 13). In later years the most significant plays were staged all around the world. 2.3 The Crucial Names The most significant authors are believed to be those one, whose plays were visited, staged and discussed the most. This chapter attempts to find three most significant authors by summarizing views of three different theatre experts. First, according to Aleks Sierz the most significant names of in-yer-face theatre are Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill and Anthony Neilson. Other names are often mentioned: Simon Block, Jez Butterworth, David Eldridge, Nick Grosso, Tracy Letts, Martin McDonagh, Patrick Marber, Phyllis Nagy, Joe Penhall, Rebecca Prichard, Philip Ridley, Judy Upton, Naomi Wallace and Richard Zajdlic. Secondly, a theatre editor Naihma Khan in one of her latest articles introduces revival performance of Philips Ridley‟s The Pitchfork Disney. She explains that in 1991 it was one of the plays that started the in-yer-face period, along with Sarah Kane‟s Blasted and Mark Ravenhill‟s Shopping and Fucking. Finally, an article on a website of Victoria and Albert Museum presents “in-yer-face“ theatre noting the names Sarah Kane and Mark Ravenhill already in the introduction of the article. 7 It can be concluded that Sarah Cane and her Blasted together with Mark Ravenhill and his Shopping and Fucking are usually considered as main representatives of “in-yer-face” theatre. 2.4 Profile of Society in 1990s, Profile of a Young Writer Conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1990 had a remarkable impact on British society. Thatcher believed in personal responsibility and standing up for what you believe in. One of the things she was famous for saying was that there was „no such thing as society‟. Historians agree that her government focused on the market primacy, especially on the primacy of economic individual rights. Another important aspect was her style of governance as she centralized a great deal of power to herself. Exit of Margaret Thatcher, the fall of Berlin Wall, the end of Cold War and dramatic changes in Eastern Europe allowed to start up to explore new found freedom. Such time was the unprecedented opportunity for young playwrights. Dromgoole agrees that “… in nineties, some theatres gave young writers complete freedom. There were no ideologies, no rules, no „taste‟” (Sierz 37). As Kritzer assumes youthful drama broke through unpleasant atmosphere of preceding years due to the unfolding of events in 1990s. It created “the condition