Twins in Plays of the 1970S, 1980S, and 1990S. Shellie Kaye O'neal Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2001 The Anxious *Double: Twins in Plays of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Shellie Kaye O'neal Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation O'neal, Shellie Kaye, "The Anxious *Double: Twins in Plays of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s." (2001). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 358. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/358 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete 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 comer 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 copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE ANXIOUS DOUBLE: TWINS IN PLAYS OF THE 1970S, 1980S, AND 1990S A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Theatre by Shellie O'Neal B.A., The University of Texas at Tyler, 1994 M.A., The University of Texas at Tyler, 1995 August, 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3021447 Copyright 2001 by O'Neal, Shellie Kaye All rights reserved. UMI__ _® UMI Microform 3021447 Copyright 2001 by Bell & 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. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©Copyright 2001 Shellie Kaye O'Neal All rights reserved ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For Lynn My mirror twin and soul-mate iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................... v INTRODUCTION............................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 AN OVERVIEW OF TWINS IN DRAMATIC LITERATURE.......................................13 2 DOUBLES AND MIRRORS.............................. 32 3 TWINS' IDENTITIES................................ 52 4 THE BOND WHICH OVERCOMES BARRIERS OF LANGUAGE AND DEATH........................................82 5 TWINS AND THEIR SEXUALITIES.....................113 6 TWINS AND THE GROTESQUE......................... 141 7 TWINS IN FILMS OF THE 1970S, '80S, AND '90S----186 CONCLUSION................................................ 222 REFERENCES................................................ 232 VITA...................................................... 247 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Twin characters have consistently appeared in dramatic literature throughout history. Playwrights from Shakespeare to Goldoni have employed twins in works which usually rely upon the device of mistaken identity. However, twin characters who have appeared in plays of the last thirty years have been employed with more weighty intentions. This dissertation analyzes recent playwrights' portrayals of twins and the playwrights' detailed explorations of the anxieties which drive the twins' relationships with each other and society. Recent playwrights have also employed twins to symbolize fears peripheral to the phenomenon of twins: anxieties which plagued these three decades play heavily into these works, including tensions in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movements, concerns over the stewardship of our country's prosperity, as well as the deterioration of the family unit. Conpersonas (1974) by Paul Stephen Lim and Corpse! (1985) by Gerald Moon each toy with twins' entangled identities, thereby preying upon postmodern fears concerning fragmented selfhood. Marina Carr's Portia Coughlan (1996) and Mark Handley's Idioglossia (1987) each explore the intimacy of the twin bond and use this bond to highlight the society member's fear of being abandoned and falling prey to v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. loneliness. The Wedding of the Siamese Twins (1984) by Burton Cohen and Side Show (1996) by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger capitalize upon America's guilt concerning its prosperity, which society may view as being gained by the exploitation of other countries and her countrymen. These plays each feature as protagonists conjoined twins who are victims of society's exploitation while Philip Ridley exploits his twin protagonists' fears to create his horrific play, The Pitchfork Disney (1991). The audiences' and critics' reception of these plays confirms Rene Girard's theory of scapegoating: twin characters today have replaced groups such as African-Americans and women as the "other" and are being used as society's scapegoats. These playwrights suggest that twins are somehow responsible for the tensions presented in these works, and the audience members viewing these productions ritually slay twins on stage to vicariously experience violence and transport evil away from the community via these twin scapegoats. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION The prevalence of twin images in popular culture is not an unusual phenomenon. Twins were employed in the mythology of ancient cultures ranging from the Romans to the Hebrews and have since consistently appeared as major characters in the literature of a vast array of different cultures. Today, television commercials advertising products from chewing gum to shampoo capitalize on the popularity of twin imagery as do the marketing schemes of department stores and talk shows. While these contemporary uses of twins highlight the cuteness of twin pairs, our society's fascination with twins has led some to suggest this characteristic stems not from mere curiosity but from a deep-rooted anxiety, perhaps even an inescapable fear, of twins. To be sure, the concept of the double is inextricably linked with anxiety, which, in fact, is the mechanism which drives the meaning of the double. For the purposes of this dissertation, "anxiety" will be employed to denote the discomfort and disjointedness which the double often arouses in society and between the twins themselves. The manifestation of this anxiety has taken different forms throughout time, including cultural practices such as the Yoruban ritual of killing of one or both of the twins at 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 birth or the exiling of the twins and mother to a "twin town." This anxiety has also presented itself through various cultures' myths and literature. Numerous anthropological studies such as John Lash's 1993 Twins and the Double and Taiwo Oruene's 1985 study of Yoruban twins have explored cultural practices regarding the treatment of twins. Literary studies have been conducted on works concerning the double, especially concentrating on works such as Dostoyevsky's The Double, Goethe's Faust, Edgar Allan Poe's William Wilson and Maupassant's He. However, a study has not yet concentrated specifically on the portrayal of twins in dramatic literature in spite of the appearance of a number of psychologically profound plays written in the last thirty years of the twentieth century. This idea of anxiety as it drives playwrights' works merits exploration, inasmuch as prior to the 1970s, playwrights primarily employed twin protagonists in lighthearted works. In brief, playwrights of twin plays preceding the 1970s