Abstract
Beth Henley (1952- ) and Ntozake Shange (1948- ) are renowned U.S. women playwrights. Exploring into the feminist insights of these contemporary writers, this paper will attempt to demonstrate that though their most celebrated plays, Crimes of the Heart and for colored girls, display noticeable dissimilarities in the structure, tone and technique, yet they are also characterized by parallel feminist visions with regard to women’s suffering in a predominantly patriarchal society. Both plays revolve around the painful experiences of women who have been subordinated by a male-dominated culture. In their struggle to find new positive images of self, these women endeavor to redefine the meaning of their humanity and to create invigorating images of the future. Rejecting conventions and rising above suffering and silence, they find their redemption in a mystical sense of feminine unity, a sisterly bond of love and care among women to transcend the degenerate forces, which have long subjugated and banished them.
Highlights
In spite of the disparity of their dramaturgy, Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart (1979) and Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (1974) have much in common and are distinguished by similar feminist views
Exploring into the feminist insights of these contemporary writers, this paper will attempt to demonstrate that though their most celebrated plays, Crimes of the Heart and for colored girls, display noticeable dissimilarities in the structure, tone and technique, yet they are characterized by parallel feminist visions with regard to women’s suffering in a predominantly patriarchal society
Rejecting conventions and rising above suffering and silence, they find their redemption in a mystical sense of feminine unity, a sisterly bond of love and care among women to transcend the degenerate forces, which have long subjugated and banished them
Summary
In spite of the disparity of their dramaturgy, Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart (1979) and Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (1974) have much in common and are distinguished by similar feminist views. Both made immediate successes for promising women playwrights and aroused controversial debates among feminist critics Both plays deal with relationships among women who have led troubled lives and are in desperate quest of solutions to their pressing problems, attempting at the same time to redefine their existence and hopefully to develop an alternate vision of the future. These women have to recognize that their subordination is not predestined by nature, but is societally enforced before they are able to better their conditions and achieve their salvation through a sense of feminine unity—a bond of sympathy and compassion among the tormented women to surmount the dehumanizing powers that have long oppressed them and caused their misery and despair Both plays are concerned with issues of family and community and examine the origins of domestic abuse suggesting the high costs women have to pay to find their identities as fully independent creatures. Both plays end with a scene offering women a glimpse of hope for survival through love, care and companionship with other women
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