Female-Enacted Violence Through Minority American Female Playwrights' Works
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2015 When Oppressed Women Attack: Female-Enacted Violence Through Minority American Female Playwrights' Works Kate Busselle University of Central Florida Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Busselle, Kate, "When Oppressed Women Attack: Female-Enacted Violence Through Minority American Female Playwrights' Works" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1481. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1481 WHEN OPPRESSED WOMEN ATTACK: FEMALE-ENACTED VIOLENCE THROUGH MINORITY AMERICAN FEMALE PLAYWRIGHTS’ WORKS by KATE BUSSELLE B.F.A., Michigan State University, 2013 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2015 Major Professor: Belinda Boyd © 2015 Kate Busselle ii ABSTRACT As an Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, theatrical violence is something that has always captivated me. When a female combat instructor once told me that even though I throw a great punch I will never be able to use it because women are always on the receiving end of violence in theatre, I wondered if this was truly the case. After a thorough exploration of several works with theatrical violence, I am glad to say that it is not the case. When most scholars examine violence in theatre, the focus is either male-centric or specifically on domestic violence situations involving a male abusing a female. I will examine theatrical violence through a new lens that has yet to be thoroughly critically explored: violence where the female is the aggressor. Through selected works of three American minority female playwrights: Suzan-Lori Parks’ In the Blood, Maria Irene Fornes’ Conduct of Life, and Young Jean Lee’s Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, I will analyze the female-enacted violence that occurs within these plays using feminist theories and psychology to examine how it happens, why it happens, who the victims are, and what these acts of violence say about minority American women in society today. I will explore the stage directions and dialogue surrounding the violence and analyzing the use or absence of weaponry, the breakdown or build-up of language prior to and after the violent action, and whether or not the violent action occurs before or after a violent action is committed against the female. For comparison, I will also analyze work by an American male playwright with violence in the same way: Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In my short time at University of Central Florida, there are a few individuals who have inspired me and pushed me further as an artist and scholar than I ever would have anticipated. To my thesis chair Belinda Boyd, thank you for your unending kindness, generosity, and inspiration. This process could not have gone this smoothly without you at the helm. To my committee members, John W. Shafer and Sybil St. Claire, thank you for leaping into the void with me and my thesis. A special thank you must go out to Kate Ingram and Jim Helsinger, who cultivated my artistic side during this scholarly endeavor and never stopped pushing me to be a better artist. To Jim Brown, Tori Oakes, and Trevin Cooper, thank you for taking me under your wings and guiding me on my path to become a theatre educator. My hope is to become as talented in the classroom as the three of you. Finally, my deepest thanks to Dr. Julia Listengarten, who has not only been an excellent educator, but a mentor, friend, and guiding light. Thank you for helping me see things from a new perspective. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 IN THE BLOOD BY SUZAN-LORI PARKS ................................................................................ 7 About the Playwright: Suzan-Lori Parks .................................................................................... 7 About the Work: In the Blood ..................................................................................................... 9 Female-Enacted Violence in In the Blood ................................................................................ 15 Female-Enacted Violence: Bully .......................................................................................... 15 Female-Enacted Violence: Hester ......................................................................................... 18 Attempted Acts of Female-Enacted Violence: “Don’t Make Me Hurt You” ........................... 22 SONGS OF THE DRAGONS FLYING TO HEAVEN BY YOUNG JEAN LEE .......................... 27 About the Playwright: Young Jean Lee .................................................................................... 27 About the Work: Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven ....................................................... 29 Female-Enacted Violence in Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven ..................................... 31 Female-Enacted Violence towards Others ............................................................................ 31 Self-Inflicted Female-Enacted Violence ............................................................................... 37 Violence Against the Playwright: The Hitting Video ............................................................... 39 Discussed and Attempted Acts of Female-Enacted Violence ................................................... 45 THE CONDUCT OF LIFE BY MARIA IRENE FORNES ......................................................... 49 About the Playwright: Maria Irene Fornes ............................................................................... 49 Personal History .................................................................................................................... 49 v A State of Fornesia: How to Define the Undefinable ........................................................... 51 About the Work: The Conduct of Life....................................................................................... 63 Female-Enacted Violence in The Conduct of Life .................................................................... 66 Domestic Violence and Rape .................................................................................................... 70 COMPARING VIOLENCE WRITTEN BY A MALE AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT .............. 85 Female-Enacted Violence in August: Osage County ................................................................ 86 Johnna: The Stealth Cheyenne .............................................................................................. 86 Barbara: Breaking Bottles, Babies, and Plates ...................................................................... 87 Violence Towards Objects ........................................................................................................ 91 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 94 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 96 vi INTRODUCTION As an Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, theatrical violence is something that has always captivated me. When I would watch Power Rangers as a child, I would always jump out of my seat or audibly gasp when a fight would make an unexpected turn. I worshipped my copy of The Princess Bride and was fascinated by the sword fighting sequences between Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin and the final duel between Patinkin and Christopher Guest. It was no surprise, then, when I reached my undergraduate study at Michigan State University, that I elected to take a course in stage combat. While training in unarmed combat, my female fight instructor told me, “Kate, you throw a great punch. It’s too bad you’ll never be able to use it.” When I asked her what she meant, she told me that women are always on the receiving end of violence in theatre. I wondered if this was truly the case. Violence is a universal experience. Everyone has hit someone in their lifetime, and everyone has been hit. For a majority of the population, these violent instances occur when we are very young and learning about boundaries. Early on, these tendencies are repressed into the deep recesses of our minds as our society tells us these tendencies are unacceptable. But for some, these tendencies are never dampened. Those few who never lose their violent tendencies expose the rest of us to the violent nature that we no longer possess. The sex of the violent offender does impact the type of crime one is likely to commit. “Both official reports (UCR [Uniform Crime Report]) and victimization studies (NCVS [National Crime Victim Survey]) show that women represent a small percentage of violent offenders” (Pollock and Davis 10). In regards to the most violent of crime, homicide, women are more likely to kill an acquaintance