1. Modern American Drama “A Streetcar Named Desire” By Tennessee Williams
“All My Sons”
By Arthur Miller
“Desire Under the Elms”
By Eugene O’Neill

2. Modern American Drama The aim was to
“speak to a world in which the individual had been increasingly cut loose from the traditional "anchors" of religion, socio/political alignments, family relationships, and a defined self-image.”

3. Modern American Drama is…
Term used to define the most influential works of the 20th century
Written by and about Americans
Comments on social and cultural changes
Comments the idea of the “American Dream”
Distinct ‘features’ such as language, themes, style, characters and structure that are similar to each other

4. Most Influential Modern American Drama Playwrights:
Eugene O’Neill
Tennessee Williams
Arthur Miller
(America’s 3
Master Playwrights)

5. The three "giant" voices that emerged in the canon of American dramatists in the first half of the twentieth century, Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller, had several common goals.
Each pushed to change American drama into a forum of serious purpose.
Each sought innovative ways to externalize the emotional and psychological context of human consciousness
Each sought to capture the internal turmoil of "ordinary" individuals struggling to cope with thwarted dreams and life’s tribulations

7. Style: Modern Realism
Modern Realism: it represented everyday reality in a style that would seem familiar to the audiences that came to see these new plays.
Became increasing popular during social and cultural changes such as the escalation of immigration and poverty, women’s rights, the depression, crisis in religion, and the continual strive towards the ‘American Dream’.

8. Style: Expressionism
Used to portray the changing society, allowing the audience to look at it critically
the stage could be highly elaborate or bare. Lighting, costumes, music, and scenery could be similarly non-realistic
More like a dream
(may shift between
reality and dream,
past and present)

9. Common Themes Reality versus Illusion The struggle/ destruction of the
American Dream:
when it has no where to
go, it turns on itself
Statements of psychological and spiritual displacement
Loss of connections, loneliness, self deception

10. Common Themes Complicated dynamics of families
Looks at the genuine tragedy in American character and American life
The tragic hero
Retrogression into sexual hedonism

11. Tennessee Williams