Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1999 Reflections of Science and Technology in American Drama From 1913 to 1941. Charles Keith Cockrell Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Cockrell, Charles Keith, "Reflections of Science and Technology in American Drama From 1913 to 1941." (1999). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6935. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6935 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. 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REFLECTIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN AMERICAN DRAMA FROM 1913 TO 1941 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 Charles Keith Cockrell B.S., Lamar University, 1974 M.S., Lamar University, 1980 May 1999 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9936086 UMI Microform 9936086 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedication Without the kindness, dedication, and superb editorial skills of Dr. Billy J. Harbin this study would not exist. For all of his encouragement, and possibly even more for his rigorous insistence on only the highest quality of work, this dissertation is dedicated to him. I would also like to thank my wife Sallie for the exhilarating excitement she displayed at the completion of each phase of this study. In this, as in all things, she has improved my life. Thanks must also go to Les Wade, Femi Euba, John Lowe, and Emily Batinski for their superb suggestions, and to my family for their support not only during this study but during my entire extended college career. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Preface "And John Henry said to the Captain, Lord, a man ain't nothing but a man. But before I '11 let a machine drive me down I '11 die with my hammer in my hand Lord, Lord, I'll die with my hammer in my hand." -- "John Henry" -- American Folk Song "Back in Ohio, where I come from, I done a lot of dreaming and I traveled some. But I never thought I 'd see the day When I got to take a ride on the Santa Fe" -- "On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe" -- Johnny Mercer and Harry Graham Initial reaction to the concept of this study by theatrically knowledgeable individuals has divided itself into two clearly identifiable positions. Supporters of the first stance believe that no significant element of science and technology exists in the drama of the years covered by this study (1913-1941). Those taking the second position are aware that a few plays from the era exist that boast a technological orientation often naming The Hairy Ape and The Adding Machine, occasionally adding the recently resuscitated Machinal but assume that the science and technology is portrayed in an unfailingly negative manner. Both positions have much evidence to recommend them. Support for the first position is self-evident. The plays in this dynamically-changing, technologically- oriented quarter century that actually take science and technology as their theme are surprisingly few. In these iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. twenty-five years that routinely saw some two hundred plays professionally produced in each theatrical season, only six significant plays take science and technology as their primary theme. Statistically speaking, that number being less than one-tenth of a single percent of the plays produced is so negligible as to be of little importance Furthermore, in support of the second position, the few well-known plays from the era which do explore the relationship of science and technology to humanity are overwhelmingly negative. The margin in fact is five to one. The three vehemently anti-technology plays mentioned in the first paragraph of this preface, The Hairy Ape, The Adding Machine, and Machinal, are joined by Robert Sherwood's Reunion in Vienna, which the author calls a play about "science hoist with its own petard" (There Shall be No Night xi), and Eugene O'Neill's Dynamo. The sixth, and only dissenting, play is Sidney Howard's Yellow Jack. This last play celebrates science, while the others castigate it with a fervor usually reserved for religious matters. Such poverty of material combined with such unity of viewpoint would seem to indicate an infertile field for study. Nevertheless, while neither is completely false, these two positions alone do not tell all the story. Admittedly, the number of plays dedicated exclusively to science and technology in this time period are few; however, the plays that deal primarily with other themes iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. but include science and technology within their framework are many. The works of Eugene O'Neill, Maxwell Anderson, Clifford Odets, Lillian Heilman, Robert Sherwood, and Susan Glaspell are full of references to science and technology. Authors who would seem even more unlikely to treat science and technology because of their normally comedic bent-- such as George Kelly, Philip Barry, S. N. Behrman, Thornton Wilder, and George S. Kaufman and his various collaborators constantly refer to the science and technology of their time. Nor is all of this reference negative. Some playwrights scorned science and technology and even sought to fight against them, while some dreamed of being part of the brave new world engendered by them. Overall, in these plays the disdain for the regimented, technological world is easily balanced by the admiration given to the very creators of that world, the scientists; the broken clock so often used as a metaphor for the failure of technology is no more often mentioned than the automobile, a symbol of beauty and of freedom because of the mobility it conferred upon its owners. With the exception of anachronistic plays (those set in other, older times), not a single work by a significant author was discovered which did not mention science and technology in some fashion; and the attitudes toward technology in these plays, rather than being uniform, ran the gamut from sheer disdain to near worship. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The following study attempts first to prove that far from being a barren prospect, a rich and fertile collection of technological references exists in the dramatic literature of the era from 1913 to 1941. Second, that literature, far from being unified in condemnation of science and technology, reflects a veritable rainbow of responses, both positive and negative. The study documents hitherto ignored dramatic references to science and technology, and by discerning themes and attitudes made important either by repetition or through intensity of feeling, draws conclusions from this vast, amorphous, and previously unstudied field of data, hopefully adding to our knowledge and understanding of this exciting era in American drama. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction