Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1956. / Vita. Typescript. Abstracted in Dissertation abstracts, v. 16 (1956) no. 11, p. 2170-2171. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-300).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 260 p. : music. Includes bibliographical references.

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The language of flowers was a popular phenomenon in the United States in the nineteenth century. This dissertation on American literature looks at several American women authors’ use of the language of flowers in their novels. I examine the use of the language of flowers in Margaret Fuller’s “Magnolia of Lake Pontchartrain,” “Yuca Filamentosa,” and poetry such as “To Sarah,” Elizabeth Stoddard’s The Morgesons, Edith Wharton’s Summer, Mary Austin’s Santa Lucia: A Common Story and Cactus Thorn, and Susan Glaspell’s The Verge. Through analysis of language of flowers dictionaries, historical studies of the language of flowers, feminist history and theory, and close readings of the sketches, poems, novels, and plays themselves, I will show that American women continued to use and be influenced by the language of f lowers for close to a decade. I will also show that these women writers’ use of the language of flowers shows evolving social attitudes toward women and standards of femininity in American society during the nineteenth and early-twentieth century.

A presente dissertação se propõe a traçar o desenvolvimento do Expressionismo desde sua origem na Alemanha da década de 1910 até o teatro estadunidense da década de 1920, assim como a influência desse movimento de vanguarda na obra do dramaturgo americano do pósguerra, Tennessee Williams. Para esse fim, a relação entre artes visuais, teatro, literatura e cinema é apresentada, definindo essa dissertação no campo dos Estudos Interdisciplinares. A análise será principalmente enfocada nas peças expressionistas americanas da década de 1920 dos dramaturgos Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Elmer Rice e Sophie Treadwell, e em quatro peças de Tennessee Williams e suas respectivas versões fílmicas: The Glass Menagerie (1944), Orpheus Descending (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Primeiramente, serão apresentadas as origens do Expressionismo na Alemanha na década de 1910 para definir as características do movimento. Posteriormente, serão identificadas características expressionistas no teatro, literatura e cinema estadunidense da década de 1920. Por fim, será verificada a influência do movimento expressionista na obra de Tennessee Williams, tanto em suas peças quanto nas versões fílmicas. O objetivo dessa dissertação é provar a ligação entre a obra de Tennessee Williams e as peças de dramaturgos expressionistas estadunidenses anteriores, assim como discutir a inter-relação e o aspecto colaborativo entre artes visuais, teatro, literatura e cinema. / The aim of this thesis is to track the development of Expressionism from its roots in Germany in the 1910s to its outcome in the American theatre in the 1920s, as well as the influence of the avant-garde movement in the work of the postwar American playwright Tennessee Williams. For the purpose of the present thesis, a relation including the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema will be traced, thus setting this work in the field of Interdisciplinary Studies. The analysis will mainly focus on 1920s American expressionist plays by Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Elmer Rice and Sophie Treadwell, and four plays by Tennessee Williams and their respective film adaptations: The Glass Menagerie (1944), Orpheus Descending (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Firstly, the origins of Expressionism in Germany in the 1920s are presented to define the characteristics of the movement. Later, expressionistic aspects are identified in 1920s American theatre, literature and cinema. And finally, the influence of the expressionist movement is verified in the work of Tennessee Williams, both in his plays and film versions. The objective of this thesis is to prove the connection of Tennessee Willliams's work with that of earlier American expressionist playwrights, as well as to discuss the interrelation and collaborative aspect of the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema.

This thesis explores the status of a specific subset of absent characters within twentieth century American drama. By borrowing the term “proximate cause” from tort law and illuminating its intricacies through David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, this thesis re-appropriates proximate cause for literary studies. Rather than focus on characters whose existence remains the subject of critical debate, this set of absent characters presumably exists but never appear onstage. Despite their non-appearance onstage, however, these absent characters nonetheless have a profound effect upon the action that occurs during their respective plays. Highlighting the various ways in which these characters serve as the proximate cause for the onstage action of a given play will expand the realm of drama and literary studies in myriad ways.

A presente dissertação se propõe a traçar o desenvolvimento do Expressionismo desde sua origem na Alemanha da década de 1910 até o teatro estadunidense da década de 1920, assim como a influência desse movimento de vanguarda na obra do dramaturgo americano do pósguerra, Tennessee Williams. Para esse fim, a relação entre artes visuais, teatro, literatura e cinema é apresentada, definindo essa dissertação no campo dos Estudos Interdisciplinares. A análise será principalmente enfocada nas peças expressionistas americanas da década de 1920 dos dramaturgos Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Elmer Rice e Sophie Treadwell, e em quatro peças de Tennessee Williams e suas respectivas versões fílmicas: The Glass Menagerie (1944), Orpheus Descending (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Primeiramente, serão apresentadas as origens do Expressionismo na Alemanha na década de 1910 para definir as características do movimento. Posteriormente, serão identificadas características expressionistas no teatro, literatura e cinema estadunidense da década de 1920. Por fim, será verificada a influência do movimento expressionista na obra de Tennessee Williams, tanto em suas peças quanto nas versões fílmicas. O objetivo dessa dissertação é provar a ligação entre a obra de Tennessee Williams e as peças de dramaturgos expressionistas estadunidenses anteriores, assim como discutir a inter-relação e o aspecto colaborativo entre artes visuais, teatro, literatura e cinema. / The aim of this thesis is to track the development of Expressionism from its roots in Germany in the 1910s to its outcome in the American theatre in the 1920s, as well as the influence of the avant-garde movement in the work of the postwar American playwright Tennessee Williams. For the purpose of the present thesis, a relation including the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema will be traced, thus setting this work in the field of Interdisciplinary Studies. The analysis will mainly focus on 1920s American expressionist plays by Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Elmer Rice and Sophie Treadwell, and four plays by Tennessee Williams and their respective film adaptations: The Glass Menagerie (1944), Orpheus Descending (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Firstly, the origins of Expressionism in Germany in the 1920s are presented to define the characteristics of the movement. Later, expressionistic aspects are identified in 1920s American theatre, literature and cinema. And finally, the influence of the expressionist movement is verified in the work of Tennessee Williams, both in his plays and film versions. The objective of this thesis is to prove the connection of Tennessee Willliams's work with that of earlier American expressionist playwrights, as well as to discuss the interrelation and collaborative aspect of the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema.

A presente dissertação se propõe a traçar o desenvolvimento do Expressionismo desde sua origem na Alemanha da década de 1910 até o teatro estadunidense da década de 1920, assim como a influência desse movimento de vanguarda na obra do dramaturgo americano do pósguerra, Tennessee Williams. Para esse fim, a relação entre artes visuais, teatro, literatura e cinema é apresentada, definindo essa dissertação no campo dos Estudos Interdisciplinares. A análise será principalmente enfocada nas peças expressionistas americanas da década de 1920 dos dramaturgos Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Elmer Rice e Sophie Treadwell, e em quatro peças de Tennessee Williams e suas respectivas versões fílmicas: The Glass Menagerie (1944), Orpheus Descending (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Primeiramente, serão apresentadas as origens do Expressionismo na Alemanha na década de 1910 para definir as características do movimento. Posteriormente, serão identificadas características expressionistas no teatro, literatura e cinema estadunidense da década de 1920. Por fim, será verificada a influência do movimento expressionista na obra de Tennessee Williams, tanto em suas peças quanto nas versões fílmicas. O objetivo dessa dissertação é provar a ligação entre a obra de Tennessee Williams e as peças de dramaturgos expressionistas estadunidenses anteriores, assim como discutir a inter-relação e o aspecto colaborativo entre artes visuais, teatro, literatura e cinema. / The aim of this thesis is to track the development of Expressionism from its roots in Germany in the 1910s to its outcome in the American theatre in the 1920s, as well as the influence of the avant-garde movement in the work of the postwar American playwright Tennessee Williams. For the purpose of the present thesis, a relation including the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema will be traced, thus setting this work in the field of Interdisciplinary Studies. The analysis will mainly focus on 1920s American expressionist plays by Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Elmer Rice and Sophie Treadwell, and four plays by Tennessee Williams and their respective film adaptations: The Glass Menagerie (1944), Orpheus Descending (1957), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). Firstly, the origins of Expressionism in Germany in the 1920s are presented to define the characteristics of the movement. Later, expressionistic aspects are identified in 1920s American theatre, literature and cinema. And finally, the influence of the expressionist movement is verified in the work of Tennessee Williams, both in his plays and film versions. The objective of this thesis is to prove the connection of Tennessee Willliams's work with that of earlier American expressionist playwrights, as well as to discuss the interrelation and collaborative aspect of the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema.

The purpose of this study was to describe how gender was portrayed and to determine how gender roles were depicted and defined in a selection of Modern and Postmodern American plays. This study was based on the symbolic interaction theory of gender that suggests that social roles are learned over time and are subject to constant reinforcement. The significance of this study was derived from the broad topic of gender because gender issues are relevant to a variety of fields and exploring the effects of gender in one field contributes to the understanding of gender in another field. The plays in this study were Votes for Women, Robins; Trifles, Glaspell; Our Town, Wilder; Moon for the Misbegotten, O'Neill; The Glass Menagerie, Williams; Death of a Salesman, Miller; A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry; Funnyhouse of a Negro, Kennedy; Uncommon Women and Others, Wasserstein; Fefu and Her Friends, Fornes; spell #7, Shange; Fool for Love, Shepard; Fences, Wilson; Oleanna, Mamet; and How I Learned to Drive, Vogel. Two of the study's research questions explored the types of gender roles and behaviors that the characters presented. Two questions focused on considering if the time period or the sex of the playwright were factors in the presentations of gender. Gender behaviors were divided into four categories: Behavior Characteristics, Communication Patterns, Sources of Power, and Physical Appearance. Using narrative analysis techniques, the plays were analyzed for the specific traits in each category. The majority of the characters were assigned traditional gender roles and displayed traditional gender behavior traits. Based their gender roles and behavior in their roles, characters faced limitations that confined their actions and restricted their choices. Characters experienced consequences for their behaviors, and female characters received harsher punishments for deviant behaviors than male characters. Gender portrayal in Modern plays was more in keeping with traditional patterns than in Postmodern plays. Female playwrights presented more diverse roles for female characters and often explored gender as a major theme in their plays. Where applicable, race, in concert with gender, was an additional factor that governed characters' behaviors by further restricting behavior or possible actions.