Staging masculinity: male identity in contemporary American drama

Abstract

The men in plays such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman or Sam Shepard's True West are often presented as universal, with little attention given to their gender. Instead, their stories are viewed by author and critic as encompassing dynamics relevant to humanity rather than specifically to men. This study explores how masculinity is presented in the works of such leading male playwrights as Shepard, Miller, Eugene O'Neill, David Mamet, David Rabe, and August Wilson. It becomes apparent that male playwrights return often to the issues of troubled manhood, usually masked in other issues such as business or family. The plays indicate both the attractiveness of traditional masculinity and the illusive nature of this image, which all too often fractures and fails the characters who pursue it.