Woman, Artist, and Breadwinner in the plays of Henrik Ibsen, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Mill

323 Pages·2015·11.25 MB·English

I SEARCH;
PROBLEMS OF lEENTITY:
Woman, Artist, and
Breadwinner in the plays of
Henrik Ibsen, Tennessee Williams,
and Arthur Miller
NADA ZEINEDDINE
A thesis submitted for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
English Department,
University of Leicester
December, 19Ô3
UMI Number: U344563
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To the fragrant memory
of my father
and
To my mother
With gratitude for
her gracious loving -
past, present, and future
”I don’t understand it. Why did you ever do
that? Help me, Willy, I can’t cry. It seems
to me that you’re just on another trip. I
keep expecting you. Willy, dear, I can’t cry,
Why did you do it? I search and search and I
search, and I can’t understand it, Willy. I
made the last payment on the house today.
Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home . .
We’re free and clear. ... We’re free ...
We’re free . . . . We’re free . . . .
Linda Loman in
Death of a Salesman
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 1
Chapter I: Problems of Identity, as experienced by
the producer, in five plays by Henrik Ibsen 12
Chapter II: Problems of Identity, as experienced by
the producer, in four plays by Tennessee
Williams 123
Chapter III: Problems of Identity, as experienced by
the producer, in three plays by Arthur Miller 209
Conclusion 287
Bibliography
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Who kindly sets a wanderer on his way
Does e'en as if he lit another's lamp by his:
No less shines his, %Aien he his friend's hath lit.
To make verbal acknowledgements of my indebtedness to those who
have accompanied me through the four seaisons of writing a thesis, so
to say, is perhaps to remain indebted. Inarticulate though my
words may be, I must entrust them with my innermost feelings of
appreciation.
My profuse thanks are due to Dr. Gordon Campbell whose diligent
supervision has helped to bring this work to fruition. Dr. Campbell's
knowledgeable mind, his sustaining encouragement, and his tolerant
approach to literature and to the world it reflects are appreciatively
perceived, and will always be meaningfully remembered.
Professor J.S. Cunningham has been generous in the giving of
advice, support, and encouragement. His characteristic modesty
might be inclined to brush these words aiside, but this is where
writing can at least reciprocate some of the generosity. I thank
him for the perceptive critic, the good guide, and the stimulating
scholar that he has been, and always will be.
I wish to thank Professor P.A.W. Collins for his interest in
the work, and his invaluable support of me. Dr. Paris Leary has
encouraged the creation of this thesis; for that I thank him.
My heartfelt thanks are due to Mrs. Doreen Butler who has been
an agent in producing this thesis. She has not only coaxed her
typewriter to express my thoughts, but also offered me friendliness
and understanding.
Members of the library staff have made their direct or indirect
contributions to this thesis in ways ranging frcnn the seemingly
simple yet esteemed gesture of making me feel at home in a conducive
atmosphere to the more complex act of facilitating access to needed
material. In this connection, I wish to thank Mr. Chris West and
Mrs. Jill Peatro, former Heads of the Inter-Library Loan Section.
My speciauL thanks are for Mr. Charlie Nosfworthy, Miss Stella Fearo,
and Mrs. Linda Baines, members of the Issue Desk; and for Miss
Jayne Quinn, member of the Inter-Library Loan Section, who have
been kind to my thesis, and to me.
I suppose many a thank has remained unsaid, and many a person
unmentioned. That which remains to be said, those who are yet to
be thanked, I must leave, hoping that time and space allow the
unfolding of what might be valuable for them, and is so undoubtedly
for me.
Nada Zeineddine
.
15 12.1983
A Tribute to Mr# G. S. Fraser
"I lust to linger to the last"
G. 8. Fraser,
"Older"
Death claims its victims but they defiantly survive in the
vaults of memory. This is a tribute to the late Mr. G. S. Fraser
who had to confront the inescapable reality implied by him in his
expression; "the time comes when the leaf must fall". The leaves
of his life may have withered, but his "lust to linger" is satiated
for the present thesis is the leaf of a tree Mr. Fraser had planted
in the course of a creative life. His memory most preciously
lingers "to the last".
Preliminary Declaration;
I wish to acknowledge the fact that part of the material
produced in connection with Tennessee Williams and Arthur
Miller is, to a certain extent, related to the subject-matter
of my M.A. dissertation, presented in September, 1977.