The Anti-Hero As Social Critic: Two Original Scripts
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The Anti-Hero as Social Critic: Two Original Scripts by Jeremy W. White, M.A., B.F.A. A Dissertation In Fine Arts - Theatre Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved Norman Bert Chair of Committee Dorothy Chansky William Gelber Brian Steele Michael Stoune Dominick Casadonte Interim Dean of the Graduate School December 2013 Copyright 2013, Jeremy W. White Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Over the course of writing this dissertation there have been many people who have provided assistance. I would like to thank my dissertation committee of Norman Bert, Dorothy Chansky, William Gelber, Michael Stoune and Brian Steele for their invaluable feedback and encouragement as this process moved from rough idea to completion. I would also like to thank the cast and crew of The Solution for their hard work which helped mold the play into its final form which is presented here in this dissertation, especially director Cheramie Howe for her tireless efforts in bringing the script to life. I would also like to thank Dorothy White, Mary Margaret White, and Gwendolyn Balboa for their unceasing personal support throughout this process. ii Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... iv I. THE UN-HERO ..................................................................................................1 II. EXAMPLES OF THE UN-HERO IN THE THREEPENNY OPERA AND A DOLL’S HOUSE .........................................................................22 III. THE CREATION OF THE SOLUTION .....................................................47 IV. THE CREATION OF AGGROCULTURE ..................................................62 V.CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ............................................80 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................90 APPENDICES A. FULL TEXT OF THE SOLUTION ...............................................................93 B. FULL TEXT OF AGGROCULTURE ..........................................................195 iii Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 ABSTRACT This dissertation will demonstrate how anti-heroic characters found in dramatic literature can serve as catalysts for a change in social discourse through questioning the nature of the social mechanisms which create the real-life antagonistic forces they struggle against. It focuses on a specific type of anti-hero which I have dubbed the un- hero, a dramatic protagonist who, whether by circumstances of birth or association (or lack thereof), finds himself situated in the position of outsider. The forces which relegated this character to this position often take the form of social norms and cultural hegemony, an assumed righteousness and rightness that places the character in the minority or in the position of the oppressed. From that position, the playwright uses the un-hero to wage war against the system through the dramatic narrative, exposing the inherent unfairness of the system with an eye toward altering the status quo, both in the world of the play as well as the real world of the viewing audience. As per the requirements for a Playwriting specialization PhD., two original full-length play scripts will be created to demonstrate the concepts examined in this dissertation. Chapter 1 investigates the concept of the anti-hero in its various incarnations and the theoretical basis for the anti-hero as social commentator. Chapter 2 shows the historical basis for the dramatic anti-hero as social commentator through examples of dramatic works, focusing on two plays featuring prominent anti-heroic protagonists: Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera. Chapter 3 describes the writing process which led to the creation of The Solution, an original play. This piece was written and produced before the bulk of the research for this dissertation was compiled and analyzed, and represents an early generalized attempt at creating an iv Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 anti-heroic character. By comparison, Chapter 4 details the creation of the second original script, Aggroculture, which will incorporate the concepts discussed in the first two chapters of this dissertation regarding the un-hero. Chapter 5 draws conclusions and speculates into possibilities of continued research with the ideas presented in previous chapters. The scripts of the two original plays are included in the appendices. v Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 CHAPTER 1 THE UN-HERO “Even the wholly anti-social can be a source of enjoyment to society so long as it is presented forcefully and on a grand scale.” – Bertolt Brecht (“SOT” 187). The origin of this dissertation is rooted in my love of villains. Even from early childhood when I would watch professional wrestling on television, I found myself truly enjoying the performances of the “heels” (the bad guys) much more than the “babyfaces” (the good guys). In films I often find myself more engaged with the antagonist rather than the heroic protagonist. If one were told to think of the Star Wars film series and then asked to name the first thing that pops into his or her head, chances are the answer would be the evil Darth Vader rather than the heroic Luke Skywalker. Great villains, to paraphrase an old dramatic writing adage, are what make great heroes. They create the conflict that the hero must overcome in order to win the day, rescue the princess, save the galaxy. The greater, more fully-realized the villain, the greater the conflict. It was this love for villainy which provided the spark for the first play in this dissertation, The Solution. As I began writing the script, admittedly before much research on this topic was done, the problem was simple: can I write a play where the audience will cheer for a thoroughly “bad” character? The Solution, very much succeeded in pulling the audience along and having them identify with, at his very best, a morally dubious protagonist or anti-hero. While I feel the process and production of writing The 1 Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 Solution was overall a success, as I began to research I discovered (somewhat to my dismay) that Klaus, the protagonist, only represented one aspect of the anti-heroic mode. True, he is certainly a morally “bad” person, but could he have been something else, something more than simply bad? Could the anti-hero be more than just a bad guy we root for? As I delved into the material on the subject from both the literary and dramatic fields, the scope of the anti-hero became far more vast than I had originally imagined, and new questions began to arise: why is the anti-hero “anti,” and to what is he or she the antithesis? What dramaturgical purpose or function does the character type serve? Are there aspects of the anti-hero which can more effectively serve a dramatic/social need than the traditional hero? The conclusions I have formulated stem from these questions. This dissertation will demonstrate how certain anti-heroic characters found in dramatic literature can serve as catalysts for a change in social discourse through questioning the nature of the social mechanisms which create the real-life antagonistic forces they struggle against. Chapter 1 investigates the concept of the anti-hero in its various incarnations and the theoretical basis for the un-hero. Chapter 2 shows the historical basis for the dramatic anti-hero as social commentator through examples of dramatic works, focusing on two plays featuring prominent anti-heroic protagonists: Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Chapter 3 will describe the writing process which led to the creation of The Solution, an original play. This piece was written and produced before the bulk of the research for this 2 Texas Tech University, Jeremy W. White, December 2013 dissertation was compiled and analyzed, and represents an early generalized attempt at creating an anti-heroic character. By comparison, Chapter 4 will detail the creation of the second original script, Aggroculture, which will incorporate the concepts discussed in the first two chapters of this dissertation. Chapter 5 will compare the two plays, discuss the implications of the two applications, and draw conclusions. For the purposes of this dissertation the term “anti-hero” and “un-hero” will be designated gender-neutral. The use of the term “anti-heroine” to describe a female character with anti-heroic traits would be inappropriate because the root term “heroine” is most often used to describe a female supporting character that is attached to the masculine hero, usually as the object of affection or desire. As we will see throughout, the anti-hero is most certainly un-attached to anything except him or herself. Though I will make use of the nominative “he” extensively in the pages that follow, it should be understood that “anti-hero” applies to protagonists of either sex. The term “anti-hero” is often found to be nebulous and fleeting in definition, changing over time, its meaning and application reflective and reactive to contemporary social practices. The term seems to describe