Violence as an Escape for Women In 20th Century American Drama

Abstract

This dissertation will consist on a study of the treatment of Violence in North American plays written by women in the early 20th Century, providing an account of different types of violence according to authors such as Randal Collins (Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory, 2008) and explaining the differences and similarities on their treatment. This analysis will focus on the literary text- and the film adaptation(s) if there are any- of three different plays: Trifles, a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell, originally performed in 1916; and two plays by Lillian Hellman: The Children’s hour (1934) and The Little Foxes (1939). The aim of this study is to identify how violence was tackled by several female playwrights and to determine whether or not we can find a pattern in their drama. In order to carry out this study, we will explain how violence is exerted and in which ways it represents the only visible escape for the main female characters