Portrayal of Single Mothers the 20th Century Plays - Research Proposal Example

Client’s Portrayal of Single Mothers in Twentieth Century Plays Paul Zindel’s “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” And Andrea Dunbar’s “The Arbor: A Play ” Client’s Last Name Name of University Date Client’s Last Name 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------ Statement of the Problem ------------------------------------------------------ Significance of the Study ------------------------------------------------------ Hypotheses ------------------------------------------------------- 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- Related Literature -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. METHODOLOGY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Research Method --------------------------------------------------------------- The Study Area ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Client’s Last Name 3 Abstract In the plays by Paul Zindel titled “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” and Andrea Dunbar’s “The arbor”, the effects of abuse as related as a consequence of single parenthood, and as a result of single parenthood reveals the way in which society views alternative family styles. Cultural viewpoints can be a source of pressure that causes backlash within family units. How individuals deal with this backlash and what effect is manifested by those individuals can be highlighted by talented writers as they develop literature that reveals these manifestations. In Paul Zindel’s play, two daughters of an abusive single mother must find a way to grow and bloom despite this abuse. In Andrea Dunbar’s play, a girl who exists within an abusive family must find a way to cope with fathering children at a young age and surviving within a society. Both plays examine how dysfunctional alternative family styles perpetuate dysfunction. Using these pieces of literature can reveal aspects of culture relativism about these issues within the modern Western family. Client’s Last Name 4 Portrayal of Single Mothers in Twentieth Century Plays: Paul Zindel’s “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” And Andrea Dunbar’s “The Arbor: A Play” Introduction Paul Zindel, in his play “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” and Andrea Dunbar, in her play, “The Arbor: A Play”, examine the consequences of abuse within a dysfunctional family situation. In Zindel’s work, the play is based on a single mother who abuses her two daughters, creating different psychologies in each of them that drive the plot of the play. In “The arbor”, Andrea Dunbar writes about an abusive family situation within which a teenage girl bares children from multiple fathers. Dunbar wrote this play at a very young age, as a teenage girl who was living some of the aspects of her story. In looking at these two plays and in studying the associated literature, an understanding of the social issues of single parenting and the issues of abuse in the way it can relate to single parenting, can be found within the reflective literary pursuits of insightful playwrights. In the study of human existence, it is important to examine the relatable artistic efforts that reflect social issues and culturally related consequences. In looking at the literary work for the theatre, the emotional undercurrent within a dysfunctional family setting can be abstracted and put under a light of focus by the use of symbolism and revelation. Studying these works and analyzing the well-crafted words and nuances of the characters and plots, it is possible to see a new aspect of family, society, and/or Client’s Last Name 5 relationships. The way in which a writer uses the tools available can create a commentary that creates a voice that may not otherwise be heard. Hypothesis: A study of the plays “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” by Paul Zindel and of “The Arbor: A Play” by Andrea Dunbar, can reveal the cultural relativism of the issues of abuse and how it can relate to single parenthood. Literature Review Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” reveals a family that consist of a mother and two daughters who must cope with the abuses of the mother, living in a state of trauma and under a lack of security which is usually found within the home. Jerry and Helen Weiss, in their book, Lost and Found: Award-Winning Authors Sharing Real-Life Experiences Through Fiction, give a brief biography of Paul Zindel. Zindel, an American playwright born in Staten Island, New York, started writing as a teenager, crafting his first play while he was still in high school. As a college student he studied with Edward Albee, a notable playwright who wrote “Whose afraid of Virginia Woolf”, a riveting study of the twisted psychology of its characters (196-208). “The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man in the Gold Marigolds” was produced for the stage in 1964. Andrea Dunbar is a British playwright who started crafting her first play, “The Arbor: A Play” at the age of fifteen and by the time she was eighteen the play was produced on the London stage. Philip Roberts, in his book, The Royal Court Theatre and Client’s Last Name 6 the Modern Stage, discusses the autobiographical nature of Dunbar’s play. During a rehearsal of the play, he quotes her commentary as she notices differences from the way in which she remembers the scenes she sees before her (172). The play tells the story of a teenage girl who is pregnant and the effect of her condition on her family. Dunbar wrote the story when she was living in a home for battered women. The play was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1980.Andrea Dunbar died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 29, with only ever having written three plays and having been a single mother, leaving three children fathered by different fathers (Peacock, 188: Roberts, 172; Rolinson, 111). The plight of the single mother has been a social issue across cultures and continents. The issue that is central to the concept of a single parent is based on two issues, the first being the way in which one individual can balance effective nurturing and promotion of the survival of the family and the second issue being on of the loneliness of having the sole adult responsibility of the family. Children who are considered illegitimate have problems that are associated with “legal and social construction”, and also have a unique lived experience (Swain, 6). According to Cynthia García Coll, Janet L. Surrey, and Kathy Weingarten. Mothering against the Odds: Diverse Voices of Contemporary Mothers, “Children raised by single mothers will need to understand what happened to their father, the story of his one-time presence and of his present absence. Self esteem is strengthened and shame is countered by cognitive clarity over what happened”(164). The problems associated with single motherhood create issues that can perpetuate if dealt with on strictly a guttural level as opposed to a cognitive level. Client’s Last Name 7 Physical abuse creates a multitude of manifestations in behavior and development. According to Clifford Dorne in An Introduction to Child Maltreatment in the United States: History, Public Policy, and Research, children who are abused display “more avoidant and dissociate symptoms than the non-abused sample” (26). This separation from society can create behaviors that are over-sexualized and inappropriate, as well as a continuation of abuse through generations. Older children develop a severity in life dysfunction. (Dorne; Sanford; Howing). Andrea Dunbar spent years as an adult as an alcoholic, living as an example of the product of an abusing environment even as she wrote about those experiences (Rolinson, 111). According to Maynard, cultural relativism “involves understanding another culture in its own terms sympathetically enough so that the culture appears to be a coherent and meaningful design for living” (Maynard, 58). In trying to comprehend a culture that allows the abuse of children to exist, examining the personalization of those events, through the imaginative work of a writer, creates a voice and a focus in which to expand this understanding. In the act of crafting a play, a writer will draw on many resources, including autobiographical resources. Zindel suggests that many of his characters and stories are based on people his met and his own experiences, many of which occurred in high school (Weiss, 208). When crafting a play, social commentary is provided within the conflict, which can be personal, social, or philosophical (Hatcher, 71). As a writer, it is an important process to break the work down and analyze how the emotional content is presenting itself. It is important to develop the analysis in regard to either the intrinsic (Aristotelian) or the extrinsic (Platonic). The extrinsic form of analysis will examine the Client’s Last Name 8 morality of what is presented, while the intrinsic form will analyze the relationships between what is analyzed (Smiley, 53). Writers who are working on plays that address social issues examine both the intrinsic and the extrinsic in order to fully develop work that has relevant commentary. Methodology Research for this paper will be done by examining relative literature, both for the methodology in creating a play, the history and analysis of the plays and their writers, and the psychology behind abuse and single motherhood. A comparison will be made between the psychologically relevant literature and the construction of the plays. In making an analysis between the psychology and the plays, conclusions will be drawn about the way in which the plays develop their themes and how it relates to the cultural experiences of single motherhood and the relevant connections to abuse. In the analysis of the stories that are told and how the characters represent culturally relevant experiences, the cultural relativism will be developed in order to understand how the plays exposes societal views on the alternative family structure. This study will examine how those pressures contribute to the pressures and dysfunctions that in turn contribute to abuse. As well, the study will emphasis the way in which the characters exemplify attributes of classic abuse symptoms, as well as consequences of the single mother social situation. As this analysis is developed, it is desired to find the hope within what is represented in the radiated, or damaged marigolds in Zindal’s play that still can bloom and grow despite such a torn and abused start at the beginning of life. Client’s Last Name 9 Works Cited Dorne, Clifford K. An Introduction to Child Maltreatment in the United States: History, Public Policy, and Research. Monsey, N.Y.: Criminal Justice Press, 2002. Dunbar, A. (1980). The arbor: A play. London: Pluto Press/Royal Court Theatre Society. García Coll, Cynthia T., Janet L. Surrey, and Kathy Weingarten. Mothering against the Odds: Diverse Voices of Contemporary Mothers. New York: Guilford Press, 1998. Hatcher, Jeffrey. The Art & Craft of Playwriting. Cincinnati, Ohio: Story Press, 2000. Howing, Phyllis T. Maltreatment and the School-Age Child: Developmental Outcomes and System Issues. Haworth health and social policy. New York: Haworth Press, 1993. Maynard, Trisha, and Nigel Thomas. An Introduction to Early Childhood Studies. London: SAGE, 2004. Peacock, D. Keith. Thatchers Theatre: British Theatre and Drama in the Eighties. Contributions in drama and theatre studies, no. 88. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1999. Roberts, Philip. The Royal Court Theatre and the Modern Stage. Cambridge studies in modern theatre. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Rolinson, Dave. Alan Clarke. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005. Sanford, Victoria, and Asale Angel-Ajani. Engaged Observer: Anthropology, Advocacy, and Activism. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2006. Client’s Last Name 10 Smiley, Sam, and Norman A. Bert. Playwriting: The Structure of Action. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. Swain, Shurlee, and Howe, Renate. Single Mothers and Their Children. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Weiss, M. Jerry, and Helen S. Weiss. Lost and Found: Award-Winning Authors Sharing Real-Life Experiences Through Fiction. New York: Forge, 2001. Zindel, Paul. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds: A Drama in Two Acts. New York: Harper Trophy, 2005. Read More