THE ESCHATOLOGICAL VISION of ROBERT E. SHERWOOD Carroll C
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THE ESCHATOLOGICAL VISION OF ROBERT E. SHERWOOD Carroll C. Conklin III A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 1977 Approved by Doctoral Committee Advisor Department of English Graduate College Representative 11 ABSTRACT A survey of the relatively small body of criticism dealing with the works of Robert E. Sherwood indicates that, while most of Sherwood’s critics see him as general ly constructing his plays around theses of contemporary importance, there is a consensus that more often than not Sherwood failed to clearly express his philosophical or ethical message. Though the pacifism of the early plays and the militarism of the later ones has been duly noted, no one has yet uncovered the enduring concern of Robert Sherwood that inspired his best work and gives a sense of unity to the entire Sherwood canon. The purpose of this study is to define this hitherto unexamined theme central to the works of Robert Sherwood, that being an ultimate concern for the eschatological state of modem man. Beginning with The Road to Rome, Robert Sherwood’s plays depict a microcosm threatened with annihilation, an end that promises to be complete and irrevocable. References to the coming hour of doom occur repeatedly in the speeches of his characters, and in nearly all of the plays can be found situations or events characteristic of either primitive or Western eschatologi cal myths. One chapter is devoted to explaining the nature of 111 eschatology as understood in the context of this study, especially with regard to distinguishing between popular and philosophical eschatology and defining eschatological awareness. In subsequent chapters, this study examines individually the plays, novel, and prose writings of Robert Sherwood to identify the eschatological elements present in the work and to determine the contribution of each work toward the development of Sherwood's own escha tological awareness. In the early plays, instances of eschatological awareness occur without clear relation. In Reunion in Vienna, The Petrified Forest, and Idiot's Delight, the playwright depicts a modern world in a state of physical and moral degeneration that can be saved only through a cosmic regeneration. In his two best-known plays, Abe Lincoln in Illinois and There Shall Be No Night, this study finds the fullest expression of Sherwood’s escha tological vision, one which includes speculation on the nature of the "golden age" that inevitably follows the day of doom in eschatological myth. This study concludes that Robert Sherwood's works reveal a growing awareness of the nature and meaning of doom for this century and relate a personal quest to dis cover the proper place for the individual in light of modern eschatological realities. lv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 ESCHATOLOGY AND ESCHATOLOGICAL AWARENESS 8 Popular and Philosophical Eschatology 8 Escape from Time in Primitive and Western Eschatologies 11 Eschatological Awareness 24 Eschatological Occurrences in the Twentieth Century 28 THE ROAD TO DOOM: INTIMATIONS OF LAST THINGS IN THE EARLY WORKS 33 The Question of Consistency 33 Probing the Human Equation 40 Eschatology Without Direction 60 A WORLD IN NEED OF RENEWAL: THE ESCHATOLOGICAL NECESSITY 73 Renewal in Vienna 73 The Discovery of Meaning After a Long Journey Through a World Spent 94 Last Resort at the Border of Eschaton 108 TRACING THE GROWTH OF ESCHATOLOGICAL AWARENESS: ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS 130 V THE ESCHATOLOGICAL CONFRONTATION AND ITS NIGHTLESS AFTER 152 THE LAST OF LAST THINGS: REFLECTIONS ON AN ATEMPORAL MIRROR 174 BIBLIOGRAPHY 186 1 Introduction Long before his death in 1955» Robert Emmet Sherwood had, in the words of his biographer, John Mason Brown, "earned his place among the eminent.Harvard graduate, survivor of the First World War, one of America's first film critics, novelist, Hollywood scenarist, political speechwriter, federal administrator, historian, playwright- all these he could claim as accomplishments. Above all, during the last years of his life, he was acknowledged as one of America’s most distinguished men of letters and as one of this century's major American dramatists. An obit uary tribute by Maxwell Anderson celebrated Robert Sherwood as a writer of lasting importance: "Idiot *s Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and There Shall Be No Night are written with such wit, wisdom, humor and virtuousity in stagecraft that they put Sherwood in a class by himself among American playwrights."2 Far from being, as it might seem, merely the over- zealous reaction of a single admiring friend, this kind of extravagant praise for Sherwood was typical, even into the 1960s, of those who wrote about the man or his work. ^•John Mason Brown, The Worlds of Robert E. Sherwood: Mirror to His Times, 1896-1939 (New York: Harper & Row, 19^5), P. 9. ^Maxwell Anderson, "Robert Sherwood," Theatre Arts, 40 (February 1955)» 87. 2 Harrison Smith in another prose elegy "bitterly" lamented the passing of such a "protean genius"j "There are few men of letters of this country and this generation to whom we owe so much."3 In an unpublished doctoral dis sertation, Paul Charles Harris's analysis of the major Sherwood plays concluded "that Robert Sherwood should be considered as a major American dramatist of the first half of the twentieth century."^ In a collection of plays that included Idiot's Delight, Joseph Mersand pre dicted that Sherwood's "substantial heritage of work, principally in the drama, • • . should earn him a perman ent position in American letters."3 Even as late as 1966, eleven years after his death and more than a quarter century after his last major drama, his critical standing was still relatively high, as evidenced by Jean Gould's conclusion that "Robert Sherwood's contributions to drama tic literature are large, and his position as a play wright-citizen is close to the top."^ Yet within the last ten years, Robert Sherwood's critical reputation has fallen below these predictions. ^Harrison Smith, "Robert E. Sherwood," Saturday Review, 38 (November 26, 1955)» 24. ^Paul Charles Harris, Jr., "The Relation of Dramatic Structure to the Ideas in Robert E. Sherwood's Dramatic Works," Diss. Stanford 1959» p. 313» 5joseph Mersand, ed., Three Dramas of American Realism (New York* Washington Square, 19^7), p. 10» ^JeanGo&lda Modern American Playwrights (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1966), p. 117. 3 In short, he has been quietly ignored. The published editions of his plays are all out of print. The appear ance of a full-length (though unfinished) biography in 1965 and 1970 by John Mason Brown has prompted no new critical interest in Sherwood. Since 1970» there have been no publications concerned specifically with Sherwood's oeuvre. His name is mentioned only in histories of the American theater as a figure of some significance in its development. Hardly considered a dramatist of enduring power by anyone today, Robert Sherwood’s critical recep tion has shrunk from an awe for a "protean genius" to a literary apathy toward an obscure historical personality. Tacit acceptance of John Mason Brown's opinion that Robert Sherwood serves primarily as a "mirror to his times" has done much to leave him stranded in his historical milieu and perhaps provides the best explanation for the dearth of critical attention the Sherwood canon, once so highly regarded, has received. That Sherwood was an artist specifically of and for his time seems to be the fundamental assumption behind the only book-length cri tical works on Sherwood. In Robert E. Sherwood, R. Baird Shuman acknowledges both Sherwood's limitations as a playwright and the fact that "despite the eminence which Sherwood gained during his lifetime , there are few critics who would call him a truly great figure in Araer- 4 ican theater."7 Yet Shuman credits Sherwood as an accom plished playwright who at one time made a significant contribution to American theater: ”His plays, for the most part works which demonstrate a high degree of com petence, reflect his warm humanity and his genuine concern for mankind. American theater is stronger because Robert Emmet Sherwood was integrally a part of it during the crucial years in its struggle toward identity.”® In Robert E. Sherwood: Reluctant Moralist, Walter J Meserve sees Sherwood’s chief accomplishments in drama as manipulating audiences and refining "hokum": "As well as any of his contemporaries and better than most, he knew the theatrical tricks which would bring laughter and applause. People wanted to be entertained, and he gave them the hokum that he loved and the spectacle that he did so well, at the same time providing simple messages that were effective in the theater.Meserve finds most of the plays to be interesting but rarely profound: "For those who look for a meaningful analysis of man in drama, the plays of O’Neill, Anderson, Barry, Wilder and even 7r. Baird Shuman, Robert E. Sherwood, Twayne United States Authors Series, No. 58 (New York: Twayne, 1964), pp. 142-143. ®Shuman, p, 146. ^Walter J. Meserve, Robert E. Sherwood: Reluctant Moralist, Pegasus American Authors, ed. Richard M. Ludwig (New York: Pegasus, 1970)» p. 222. 5 Saroyan must be considered. But not the works of Sherwood."10 To Meserve, Sherwood's plays reflect the thinking of an idealist and romantic who could address himself comfortably only to the simplest and most general kinds of ideas, intellectually and tempermentally "incapable of dealing effectively with man's essential problems."H Meserve finally comes to regard Sherwood as "a very successful dramatist whose plays had been perceptively created for the moment, of the moment,"12 but who, as an artist, bears little other than historical significance for the present.